The effect of self‐directed work teams on work ethic

This study examined the work ethic of manufacturing machine operators between self‐directed work teams and traditional work groups using four work ethic subscales: dependable, considerate, ambitious, and cooperative (Dawson, 1999 ; Petty, 1991 ). Differences in measured work ethic scores were also compared across six demographic variables: age, gender, level of education, years of full‐time work experience, years of experience as a supervisor, and work shift preference. Findings showed that there were significant differences in the work ethic between those two team structures and age groups. Implications for future research were presented.     

Searching images in daily life

With the proliferation of images in daily life, it is crucial to investigate what, where, why and how people search images in response to their everyday needs. In order to examine the daily needs of image searchers, a survey questionnaire was administered to 58 college students. The results demonstrated that the majority of college students use Google or Google Image for searching images, because of its familiarity and user-friendly interface. Although searchers reported a high success rate (85.6%) of image retrieval, they wanted search engines to return more relevant images and fewer irrelevant and redundant images. They also desired search engines to provide high resolution and full scale images. Students searched for images for various purposes, including to: prepare presentation materials, use as computer wallpaper, get ideas for purchasing, travel destinations, or beauty/fashion items, see what something looks like, verify names, solve problems, out of curiosity, and so on. Some types of needs revealed that users were interested in associated textual information, as well as the image itself. The implications for image retrieval system design are 1) it is proposed that metadata information (size, quality, type, copyright information) be utilized in browsing or navigating images, and 2) further research on an information retrieval system that can support users looking for both text and images concurrently is suggested.     

End users’ trust in data repositories: definition and influences on trust development

While repositories’ efforts to build trustworthy digital repositories (TDRs) led to the establishment of ISO standards, much less research has been done regarding the user’s side, despite calls for an understanding of users’ trust of TDRs. In order to learn about users’ perspectives on trust in digital repositories, the present study investigated users’ definitions of trust and factors that influence users’ trust development, particularly addressing the users of three data repositories in the United States. A total of 19 participants were interviewed in this study. The results of this study indicate that users’ definition of trust is largely based on a lack of deception, when it comes down to the specific context of data repositories. Regarding factors influencing the development of users’ trust in repositories, organizational attributes, user communities (recommendations and frequent use), past experiences, repository processes (documentation, data cleaning, and quality checking), and users’ perception of the repository roles were identified.     

A microfluidic manifold with a single pump system to generate highly mono-disperse alginate beads for cell encapsulation

Cell encapsulation technology is a promising strategy applicable to tissue engineering and cell therapy. Many advanced microencapsulation chips that function via multiple syringe pumps have been developed to generate mono-disperse hydrogel beads encapsulating cells. However, their operation is difficult and only trained microfluidic engineers can use them with dexterity. Hence, we propose a microfluidic manifold system, driven by a single syringe pump, which can enable the setup of automated flow sequences and generate highly mono-disperse alginate beads by minimizing disturbances to the pump pressure. The encapsulation of P19 mouse embryonic carcinoma cells and embryonic body formation are demonstrated to prove the efficiency of the proposed system.     

Assessment and Learning of Qualitative Physics in Newton's Playground

ABSTRACT

Digital games are very popular in modern culture. The authors are examining ways to leverage these engaging environments to assess and support student competencies. The authors examine gameplay and learning using a physics game they developed called Newton's Playground. The sample consisted of 167 eighth- and ninth-grade students who played Newton's Playground for about 4 hr over the course of 1.5 weeks. Findings include significant pretest–posttest physics gains, and significant relations between in-game indicators and learning.     

The Effect of Addition and Subtraction Practice within a Word-Problem Intervention on Addition and Subtraction Outcomes

This study examined the influence of addition and subtraction practice embedded within a word-problem intervention for Grade 3 students experiencing word-problem difficulty. Students (N = 448) were randomly assigned to one of two variants of a word-problem intervention or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Within the word-problem interventions, students participated in targeted addition and subtraction fact and computation practice for approximately 3 minutes of each 30-minute session across 47 intervention sessions, but also continually practiced addition and subtraction through word-problem solving. At posttest, students who participated in the intervention demonstrated improved single-digit addition and subtraction performance as well as improved double-digit addition and subtraction performance. At follow-up in Grade 4, persistence of effects was only identified for double-digit addition. Considering addition and subtraction are foundational to many other mathematics skills, addition and subtraction practice serves as an important component of mathematics intervention.     

The Contribution of HBCUS to the Preparation of African American Women for Stem Careers: A Case Study

This study uses case study analysis to explore the ways that Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college, promotes the attainment of African American women in STEM fields. Although limited to one institution, the findings shed light on the ways that institutional characteristics, policies, and practices may mitigate the barriers that limit attainment of African American women in STEM fields. Drawing on the findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for improving policy and practice as well as recommendations for additional fruitful research.