Motivating Sustainable Resource Consumption Through the Design of Goal Setting in Smart Meter User Interfaces

Smart meter user interfaces can be designed to promote sustainable resource consumption by individuals. Although goal setting is a promising artifact for smart meter user interfaces, it is still unclear how goal-related design features (DFs) should be designed to be particularly effective in motivating individuals. Drawing on goal-framing theory and employing a design science research approach, we designed and evaluated different design options for four goal-related DFs (i.e., consumption display, evaluative standard, goal incentive, reference group) in the context of households’ energy consumption in three design-evaluation cycles. Our results suggest that while one design option for consumption displays and evaluative standards is better suited than others to motivate sustainable behavior, the effects of goal incentives and a goal’s reference group depend on individuals’ personal preference for either collaboration or competition. Our study contributes to information systems research with novel insights on goal-related DFs and how they affect sustainable resource consumption

Adoption of Immersive Technologies in Manufacturing SMEs – A Strategy-as-Practice Perspective on their Affordances, Constraints and Responses

Immersive technologies (ImT) provide affordances for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing industry, such as the enhancement and recreation of aspects of the physical world. These affordances are critical due to changes in the SMEs’ environment including increasingly virtualized collaboration and digitization of work practices. However, the adoption of ImT by manufacturing SMEs is still low. Drawing on the Technology Affordances and Constraints theory, and applying a Strategy-as-Practice approach, this study researches the adoption of ImT as a strategic response to environmental changes in German-based manufacturing SMEs. The findings reveal the critical role of constraints of ImT, which act as hindrances to implementation. Specifically, realizing the affordances of ImT requires consideration of, and responses to, the constraints manufacturing SMEs experience, including the constraints associated with the providers of ImT. Thus, this paper expands the understanding of the factors which influence implementation and strategizing of ImT in SMEs

The Role of Digital Technologies in Enabling Digital Transformation to Address Societal and Business Challenges - A Sociotechnical Perspective

The ubiquity of digital technologies in everyday professional and non-professional life is increasingly blurring the line between physical and digital worlds and inducing changes in society and industry, which are summarized under the term digital transformation (DT). At the societal level, formerly non-digital decision contexts (e.g., health, resource consumption) are now becoming digital technology-enabled and connected (e.g., smart health trackers, smart home solutions) and have the potential to influence individuals’ decision-making and behavior. By allowing for data collection, processing, and retrieval, digital technologies can facilitate more conscious decisions and sustainable behaviors, both being important levers for addressing societal challenges such as achieving sustainable health or sustainable resource consumption. However, for digital technologies to realize their full potential, their impact on individuals using the digital technology-enabled devices also needs to be considered, including impacts on decision-making processes, trusting beliefs, and user perceptions like perceived usefulness. Therefore, we require a good understanding of both, the technical component (i.e., digital technologies) and the social component (i.e., individuals, society, organizations) which together form a sociotechnical system, also referred to as an information system (IS) artifact. Such a sociotechnical perspective is also relevant for DT on an organizational level, where digital technologies are increasingly used to innovate an organization’s business model (i.e., its products, processes, and value proposition) to stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment. For example, organizations adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable virtualized work practices and collaboration (e.g., remote maintenance, virtual site visits) to address business challenges caused by disruptions in their environment. However, technology adoption requires significant financial and human resources, and not every available technology is tailored to the needs of every organization. Combined with low success rates for organizational DT, we require a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges digital technologies present, as well as of how their adoption enables successful DT. Taken together, this thesis is motivated by two overarching research questions focusing on how digital technologies can be used to enable societal DT to address societal challenges, and how digital technologies can be used by organizations to enable organizational DT to cope with business challenges. Against this backdrop, five studies were conducted and published as part of this dissertation. The first three articles relate to the societal context and investigate how decision support systems (DSS) and Green IS artifacts influence individuals’ decision-making and behavior to address two pressing sustainability challenges of society: achieving sustainable health through managing societal crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving sustainable resource consumption to contribute to the globally agreed sustainable development goals. The fourth and fifth article relate to the organizational context and examine the adoption of ICTs and immersive technologies in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that aim to overcome business challenges (e.g., comply with government regulations, adapt to changing market requirements) through organizational DT. More specifically, the first article investigates how individuals searching for a medical practice to go to can be assisted by a DSS providing crowding information (i.e., how busy a location is) complemented by a temporal cue (i.e., how timely the information was retrieved). Users of such DSS can consider crowding information in their decision-making, which is relevant because crowds represent an increased risk of infection – particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results reveal that the presence of crowding information leads to a selection of less crowded locations and that this effect is strengthened by temporal cues indicating a timely (i.e., close to real-time) retrieval of such information. Moreover, the effect of timely crowding information on users’ decision-making is strongest for users with low (vs. high) health anxiety, a particularly relevant moderator in this research context. The second and third article relate to the societal challenge of achieving more sustainable resource consumption in private households. They investigate how individuals can be motivated to reduce their resource consumption through a Green IS artifact that allows them to set a consumption goal. To that end, the second article examines the effect of one’s relative performance (i.e., performing better or worse than others) and a goal’s evaluative standard (i.e., a goal referring to one’s own or others’ consumption intensity). The results demonstrate that individuals who perform worse than others reduce their resource consumption to a higher degree with a goal referring to others than with a goal referring to themselves. In contrast, better-performing individuals reduce their resource consumption more fiercely with a goal referring to themselves than with a goal referring to others. These findings are confirmed by the third article. However, the third article goes beyond the results of the previous study by examining two additional goal-related design features: goal incentives (i.e., collaboration vs. competition) and a goal’s reference group (i.e., anonymous vs. familiar others). The results show that individuals have a personal preference for a particular goal incentive, with individuals who prefer collaboration showing a preference for familiar collaborators, whereas those who prefer competition generally prefer anonymous competitors. The fourth article shifts the focus to the organizational context and on how ICTs enable SMEs from the event industry to innovate their business model to respond to business challenges caused by environmental disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The results demonstrate the importance of evaluating digital technologies on the basis of affordances (i.e., opportunities) and constraints (i.e., hinderances) and from the perspective of different relevant stakeholders (i.e., SMEs and their customers). In terms of enabling new business models to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in the short and medium term, readily available ICTs exhibit greater affordances and, more decisively, weaker constraints than more sophisticated ICTs and thus are preferred by SMEs in the event industry and their customers. The fifth article examines the adoption of immersive technologies (e.g., augmented and virtual reality technologies) in manufacturing SMEs. The results demonstrate that the consideration of different stakeholder perspectives (e.g., SMEs, suppliers) and particularly the consideration of existing constraints play a critical role in the overall assessment of digital technologies for their use in organizational DT. In addition, the findings reveal which measures are essential to overcome existing constraints in order to reach organizational, actor, environmental, and technological readiness to enable SMEs to realize the affordances of digital technologies. Overall, this dissertation provides an advanced understanding of how digital technologies enable DT in society and industry, thereby allowing for ways to address societal and business challenges. The studies comprised in this thesis contribute to research on user behavior and decision-making in digital environments by highlighting the influential role of crowding information, temporal cues, and personalized goal-related design features on users’ real-world behavior. Moreover, the results contribute to research on DT and organizational technology adoption by allowing for a more holistic understanding of the role of technology affordances and constraints as success factors for digital technology adoption in SMEs. Apart from these contributions to research, this thesis also offers valuable insights and actionable recommendations for practitioners looking for ways to manage societal or business challenges. Specifically, design recommendations for designers of DSS and Green IS artifacts are provided to address societal challenges, along with guidance for managers and executives of SMEs who are facing business challenges and are looking for ways to succeed in their organizational DT

Real-time crowding information can help contain Covid-19

A study shows that when people have crowding information about medical practices, they tend to select less crowded ones - by Martin Adam, Dominick Werner, Charlotte Wendt and Alexander Benlia

Welche Überzeugungen haben Lehrkräften an berufsbildenden Schulen zu digitalen Schreibtools und wie nutzen sie diese? Eine Fragebogenstudie in Hamburg und Niedersachsen

Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien sowie digitale Bildungsressourcen haben sich rasant entwickelt und wurden schnell in Bildungskontexte eingeführt. Lehrer*innen übernehmen eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Integration dieser technologi-schen Ressourcen in den Unterricht. Laut dem „will, skill, tool“-Modell spielen neben digitalisierungsbezogenen Kompetenzen auch Überzeugungen und Vorerfahrungen in der Nutzung von digitalen Tools eine große Rolle bei der Integration digitaler Medien in den Unterricht. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, zu ermitteln, wie Lehrer*innen an berufsbildenden Schulen in Norddeutschland digitale Schreibtools in ihrem Unterricht einsetzen und welche Überzeugungen sie gegenüber deren Einsatz im Unterricht haben. Mit einem quantitativen Online-Fragebogen, den 81 Lehrer*in-nen beantworteten, wurden die erforderlichen Informationen erhoben. Die Ergebnis-se zeigen, dass Lehrkräfte Textverarbeitungsprogramme im Unterricht nutzen und den Umgang mit ihnen thematisieren. Elaboriertere Schreibtools werden bisher wenig verwendet, jedoch nicht, weil die Lehrkräfte die Nutzung ablehnen, sondern weil sie wenig Informationen über deren Verfügbarkeit und Qualität haben.   Abstract (english): What beliefs do teachers at vocational schools have about digital writing tools and how do they use them? - A questionnaire study in Hamburg and Lower Saxony Information and communication technologies and digital educational resources have undergone rapid development and have been rapidly introduced into educational contexts. Teachers play a key role in integrating these technological resources into the classroom. According to the ‚will skill tool‘ model, in addition to digitisation-related competences, beliefs and prior experience in the use of digital tools play a major role in the integration of digital media into the classroom. The aim of this study is to find out how teachers at vocational schools in northern Germany work with digital writing tools in their lessons and what beliefs they have about their application in the classroom. Through an online quantitative questionnaire in which 81 teachers participated the necessary information was collected. The results show that teachers apply word processors in class and discuss how to use them. More elaborate writing tools are not worked with much, not because teachers refuse to, but because they have little information about their availability and quality

Digital unterstütztes Schreiben im inklusiven Schulkontext. Aktuelle Anforderungen in der Lehrer:innenbildung

Die zunehmend schriftliche Kommunikation in Schule und Beruf zeigt den Stellenwert und die Relevanz einer ausgebildeten Schreibkompetenz. (Deutsch-)Lehrer:innen benötigen Wissen über die Weiterentwicklung von Schreibkompetenzen, um Schüler:innen passgenau individuelle Schreiblernsettings anzubieten. Der gezielte Einsatz digitaler Tools ermöglicht dabei, diese Aufgaben im Rahmen des eigenen Könnens, im jeweiligen Tempo und in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen bedarfsorientiert zu bearbeiten. Für einen inklusiven Unterricht mit spezifischen Anforderungen einzelner Schüler:innen eröffnen sich somit neue Potentiale. Das digital unterstützte Schreiben als aktuelle Anforderung an Lehrer:innen sollte somit als fester Bestandteil in allen Phasen der Qualifikation, insbesondere der universitären, gefasst werden. Das Ineinandergreifen der drei Bereiche Schreiben, Inklusion und Digitalisierung und deren Verankerung in einem Seminar der Lehrer:innenbildung thematisiert vorliegender Artikel. (DIPF/Orig.

Report and preliminary results of R/V POSEIDON cruise POS539, Varna (Bulgaria) - Varna (Bulgaria) November 6 - November 21, 2019

The R/V POSEIDON cruise POS539 took place in the northwestern basin of the Black Sea (42°30’N to 44°N and 29°E to 31°E). The overarching aim of the campaign was to obtain sediment and water samples, including suspended particle material, from the various redox zones of the Black Sea. The campaign lasted between November 6th and November 21st 2019 and the collected samples were taken in order to investigate the activity and physiology of microorganisms involved in the conversion of nitrogen compounds and degradation of organic carbon under various oxygen conditions. The main topics of the cruise were: (a) to quantify the contribution of archaeal nitrifiers to the nitrogen and carbon cycles, b) to measure the production and consumption of the powerful greenhouse gases CH4 and N2O, c) to record palaeoenvironmental changes in high resolution, and d) to describe the complexity and identity of biopolymers. For this, water and sediment samples were retrieved from 10 discrete shelf and slope stations. First, ‘deep water’ transect was conducted, which included three stations with water depths over 2000 m. The second perpendicular transect encompassed stations that gradually transitioned from the deep parts of the slope towards the shelf (ca. 80 m depth). Additionally, two stations were setup north and south of the shelf transect, respectively, for paleoceanographic studies. Throughout the cruise the weather conditions were overwhelmingly good, only towards the end of the campaign gusty winds of 7 Bft were recorded. The recorded oceanographic conditions were in agreement with the expected water properties at all stations. Station activities were completed on November 20th at 14:00 local board time. On November 21st at 10:30 local time, R/V POSEIDON reached the port of Varna, Bulgaria, thus concluding the POS539 expedition. Analyses and results from the samples and experiments will provide a basis for our understanding of the microbial control on the carbon and nitrogen cycle of the Black Sea.13032

Perineuronal nets in HVC and plasticity in male canary song

peer reviewedSongbirds learn their vocalizations during developmental sensitive periods of song memorization and sensorimotor learning. Some seasonal songbirds, called open-ended learners, recapitulate transitions from sensorimotor learning and song crystallization on a seasonal basis during adulthood. In adult male canaries, sensorimotor learning occurs each year in autumn and leads to modifications of the syllable repertoire during successive breeding seasons. We previously showed that perineuronal nets (PNN) expression in song control nuclei decreases during this sensorimotor learning period. Here we explored the causal link between PNN expression in adult canaries and song modification by enzymatically degrading PNN in HVC, a key song control system nucleus. Three independent experiments identified limited effects of the PNN degradation in HVC on the song structure of male canaries. They clearly establish that presence of PNN in HVC is not required to maintain general features of crystallized song. Some suggestion was collected that PNN are implicated in the stability of song repertoires but this evidence is too preliminary to draw firm conclusions and additional investigations should consider producing PNN degradations at specified time points of the seasonal cycle. It also remains possible that once song has been crystallized at the beginning of the first breeding season, PNN no longer play a key role in determining song structure; this could be tested by treatments with chondroitinase ABC at key steps in ontogeny. It would in this context be important to develop multiple stereotaxic procedures allowing the simultaneous bilateral degradation of PNN in several song control nuclei for extended periods

TXS 0506+056 with Updated IceCube Data

Past results from the IceCube Collaboration have suggested that the blazar TXS 0506+056 is a potential source of astrophysical neutrinos. However, in the years since there have been numerous updates to event processing and reconstruction, as well as improvements to the statistical methods used to search for astrophysical neutrino sources. These improvements in combination with additional years of data have resulted in the identification of NGC 1068 as a second neutrino source candidate. This talk will re-examine time-dependent neutrino emission from TXS 0506+056 using the most recent northern-sky data sample that was used in the analysis of NGC 1068. The results of using this updated data sample to obtain a significance and flux fit for the 2014 TXS 0506+056 "untriggered" neutrino flare are reported