Abstract not found

Although gender differences in a technological world are receiving significant research attention, much of the research and practice has aimed at how society and education can impact the successes and retention of female computer science professionals—but the possibility of gender issues within software has received almost no attention. If gender issues exist with some types of software features, it is possible that accommodating them by changing these features can increase effectiveness, but only if we know what these issues are. In this paper, we empirically investigate gender differences for end users in the context of debugging spreadsheets. Our results uncover significant gender differences in self-efficacy and feature acceptance, with females exhibiting lower self-efficacy and lower feature acceptance. The results also show that these differences can significantly reduce females ’ effectiveness.

This study uses the modified Gompertz model and sparse data to analyze the growth rates of different types of computer and Internet-related crimes. The Gompertz model is an appropriate diffusion model because it is capable of modeling two opposite behaviors: (1) acts of attacks and imitation of attacks and (2) deterrence acts to prevent such attacks. In addition, this model can handle sparse data adequately. The model was used to analyze various types of attacks. The results indicated that growth patterns of computer and Internet crimes differ in growth patterns and that a relationship exists between occurrences of such security breaches and uses of certain security technologies. Thus, for example, financial fraud and denial of service are growing at a faster pace. The study also found, for example, that an increase in virus-related incidents does not necessarily increase anti-virus software use.

Abstract—E-communication in businesses has been the target of intense research. The media richness hypothesis has been influential in some e-communication research circles and has also been strongly attacked by social theorists. It is argued in this paper that this theoretical polarization involving advocates of the media richness hypothesis and social theorists is due to two problems. The first is that there is a wealth of empirical evidence that provides direct support for the notion that human beings prefer the face-to-face medium for a variety of business tasks that involve communication, which seems to provide support for the media richness hypothesis. The second problem is that the media richness hypothesis is built on a vacuum, as no underlying explanation was ever presented by media richness theorists for our predisposition toward rich (or face-to-face) media. The main goal of this paper is to offer a solution to these problems by providing an alternative to the media richness hypothesis, referred to here as media naturalness hypothesis, developed based on Darwin’s theory of evolution. The media naturalness hypothesis argues that, other things being equal, a decrease in the degree of naturalness of a communication medium (or its degree of similarity to the face-to-face medium) leads to the following effects in connection with a communication interaction: (1) increased cognitive effort, (2) increased communication ambiguity, and (3) decreased physiological arousal. Like the media richness hypothesis, the media naturalness hypothesis has important implications for the selection, use,

This study examined the direction and time-frame of relationships between perceived self-efficacy in classroom management and the three dimensions of burnout among 243 secondary school teachers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated that perceived self-efficacy had a longitudinal effect on depersonalization and a synchronous effect on personal accomplishment. However, the direction was reversed for the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion; the time frame was synchronous. It was concluded that perceived self-efficacy in classroom management must be taken into consideration when devising interventions both to prevent and to treat burnout among secondary school teachers.

anonymous referee for very helpful comments. Partial financial support from the World Bank through RPO 676-24 is gratefully acknowledged. Intergenerational Transfers and the Demonstration Effect How can parents secure old-age support in the form of care, attention or financial transfers from their children? We explore the enforcement of implicit intergenerational agreements from a fresh angle by studying the possibility that the child's conduct is conditioned by the parents ' example. Parents can take advantage of this learning potential by making transfers to their own parents when children are present to observe such transfers. Parents who desire old-age support have an incentive to behave appropriately. The idea that the parents ' behavior is aimed at inculcating desirable behavior in their children generates testable hypotheses about transfers that we investigate using household survey microdata. The demonstration-effect approach also has implications for such diverse phenomena as population aging and the labor market participation of women. An aged woman lived with her son and his family. At each meal, a worthless chipped bowl was used for the elderly woman's food. One day, the old woman died. Her son, observing that he no longer needed the bowl, announced that he would finally throw away the piece of junk. "Father, " cried the man's own young child, "you can't throw away Grandma's bowl. I must keep it for when you are old. " (An ancient Korean tale, quoted in The Boston Herald, October 19, 1990.) I.

This paper uses the original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its extension models to explain the factors affecting the use of the mobile Internet services in Korea. Based on data collected from a questionnaire survey, we show that social influence and self-efficacy variables significantly affect perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, respectively. The data also reveal that both perceived usefulness and ease of use explain a significant percentage of the variations in the attitude toward using the mobile Internet, which in turn influences the actual usage frequency.

This article presents a theoretical rationale for using the Internet to conduct persuasive public health interventions. Through an examination of the conceptual bases of persuasion, it is posited that the World Wide Web and other Internet-based resources have many of the characteristics necessary for persuasive communication and may, in fact, constitute a hybrid channel that combines the positive attributes of interpersonal and mass communication. The notion that the Internet features many of the persuasive qualities of interpersonal communication makes it a prime candidate for the application of key behavioral science theories and principles to promote healthier behaviors. The broad reach that the Internet shares with many mass communication channels indicates an economy to Internet-based efforts to communicate with large audiences. It is concluded that if the Internet can be used for persuasive health communication and its reach continues to expand, it is time for public health professionals to explore the design and evaluation of Internet-based interventions directed at health behavior change. Within the �eld of public health, much attention has been devoted to potential uses of the

Learning to program is difficult for many students. Although several factors that affect learning to program have been identified over the years, we are still far from a full understanding of why some students learn to program easily and quickly while others flounder. Two constructs that may affect learning to program are self-efficacy and mental models. Self-efficacy is the individual’s judgment of his or her ability to perform a task in a specific domain (Bandura 1986). A mental model is a person’s internal (mental) representation of real world objects and systems (Norman 1983). Separate research on self-efficacy and mental models has shown that both are important to knowledge acquisition and transfer. Using a path-analytic approach, this research investigates the joint effects of self-efficacy, mental model, and previous experience on learning to program in an introductory course. The results show that self-efficacy for programming is influenced by previous programming experience, and student self-efficacy increases substantially during an introductory programming course. Furthermore, students ’ mental models of programming influence their self-efficacy, and both the mental model and self-efficacy have a direct effect on overall success in an introductory course.

Learning to program is a unique experience for each student, and it is not fully understood why one person in an introductory programming course learns to program better and more quickly than the next. Self-efficacy is an individual’s judgment of his or her ability to perform a task within a specific domain [1]. A mental model is a person’s internal (mental) representation of real world objects and systems [9]. Research has shown that high selfefficacy and a good mental model are important to knowledge acquisition and transfer. This research investigates the effects of students ’ self-efficacy and mental models of programming on learning to program. The results show that self-efficacy for programming is influenced by previous programming experience and increases as a student progresses through an introductory programming course. The results also show that the student’s mental model of programming influences self-efficacy and that both the mental model and self-efficacy affect course performance.