Search results

Blockchain technology is an indispensable solution for all professionals. However, auditors have not been adequately prepared to use blockchain technology. This study aims to examine the impact of technostress on auditors’ acceptance to use blockchain technology.

A model combining the technostress and factors from the technology acceptance model is proposed. Data were obtained from 142 auditors in the Big 4 and non-Big 4 firms through previously tested and validated questionnaires.

As hypothesized, the results show that technostress influences the perceived usefulness and ease of use of blockchain technology. This study finds that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are significant predictors of attitudes toward use decisions, while the latter is a significant predictor of behavioral intention to use blockchain technology. The results are valuable to accountants, auditors and audit firm managers.

This paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of technostress on auditor acceptance to use blockchain technology, which is deemed as a debate viewpoint.

The current study aimed to explore the extent of accounting graduates’ abilities (AGAs) in Jordan to use modern information technology systems (MITSs) to make optimal financial decisions (OFDs). To carry out this study, the descriptive analytical approach was used to collect and analyze data. Accordingly, an electronic questionnaire was designed and distributed to 5,000 students in 30 universities in Jordan. However, only 1,067 questionnaires were valid for analysis, which constituted the sample of study. To test the research hypotheses, the descriptive analysis and multivariate regression test were used. The results indicated that the majority of accounting graduates (AGs) in Jordanian universities (JUs) do not realize the importance role of MITSs to make OFDs. In addition, the biggest challenge face AGs in JUs is the weakness of current accounting curricula in JUs in terms of not including materials related to MITSs and the role of these systems in performing accounting tasks. Finally, the study found that the current abilities of AGs in JUs moderate negatively and significantly the positive relationship between the use of MITSs and making OFDs. Accordingly, the study recommended that JUs work on developing accounting curricula through including modern courses related to the use of MITSs in performing accounting tasks.

Natural dyeing has existed in human life from past to present. Although it lost its importance after the industrial revolution, it has started to make again a name for itself today with the increase in environmental awareness. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the Hibiscus sabdariffa L. can be used in the coloring of woolen fabrics and as a natural antibacterial agent for these fabrics.

Within the scope of the study, it was investigated whether the antibacterial activity of the Hibiscus sabdariffa L. can be transferred to woolen fabrics. In the study, woolen fabric samples were dyed with and without mordant with the help of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. extract. After the dyed fabric samples were washed and dried, their color values were measured, and antibacterial effect tests (against Staphylococcus aureus – Escherichia coli), washing and rubbing fastness tests were carried out. In addition to these, scanning electron microscopy images of dyed fabric samples were taken and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy analyzes were also performed.

As a result of the study, it has been determined that the antibacterial activity of the Hibiscus sabdariffa L. can be transferred to woolen fabrics without the use of any chemicals.

Natural antibacterial agent for woolen fabrics was obtained within the scope of the study without the use of chemicals.

This purpose of this study is to examine future fears and reassurances about the nature of the recent artificial intelligence (AI) language model-based application, ChatGPT, use in the fields of scientific research and academic works and assignments. This study aims at exploring the positive and negative aspects of the use of ChatGPT by researchers and students. This paper recommends some practical academic steps and suggestions that help the researchers and publishers curtail the percentage of spread of unethical works such as plagiarism.

The emergence of OpenAI’s Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) has recently sparked controversy and heated debate among academics worldwide about its use and application. The concern of experts and researchers about the GPT-3 platform entails how it would be of much support to the researchers and academic staff and how it might be used and misused to negatively affect academic and scholarly works. This research explored future fears and reassurances about the nature of Chat GPT-3 use at academic and scientific levels. The data for this research was obtained through the qualitative interviews of seven experts in AI, scientific research and academic works. The findings of the study showed that ChatGPT-3 has significant potential and is helpful if used wisely and ethically at scientific and academic levels. On the other hand, the results reported the experts' fears of the frequent use of ChatGPT including the misuse of ChatGPT as a tool to plagiarize and make the researchers dependent, not self-reliant and lazy. The widespread concern of many scholars is that ChatGPT would lead to an increase in the possibility of plagiarism and provide less control over research and writing ethics. This study proposed some stages and suggested that AI language model programs, including ChatGPT, should be integrated with widespread publishers and academic platforms to curtail the percentage of plagiarism and organize the process of publishing and writing scientific research and academic works to save the rights of researchers and writers.

The findings of the research presented that ChatGPT can act as a potential and useful tool if used wisely and ethically at scientific and academic fields. On contrast, the results also reported the negative aspects of the extensive ChatGPT's that leads to the spread of plagiarism and making the researchers and the students machine-dependent, not self-reliant and lazy. This study proposed some stages and suggested that AI language model programs, including ChatGPT, should be integrated with widespread publishers and academic platforms to curtail the percentage of plagiarism and organize the process of publishing and writing scientific research and academic works to save rights of researchers and writers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to highlight the relationship between using ChatGPT and the spread of both positive and negative aspects of its extensive use in scientific research and academic work. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it presents the concerns and future fears of people in academia as they cope with and deal with the inevitable reality of AI language models such as ChatGPT.

In 2022, the Baltimore professional development school (PDS) partner schools, John Ruhruh Elementary/Middle School (JREMS) and Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) received funds through a Maryland Educational Emergency Revitalization (MEER) grant to determine (a) to what extent additional resources and professional development would increase JREMS teachers’ efficacy in technology integration and (b) to what extent NDMU professional development in the form of workshops and self-paced computer science modules would result in greater use of technology in the JREMS K-8 classrooms. Results indicated a statistically significant improvement in both teacher comfort with technology and integrated use of technology in instruction.

Survey data were collected on teacher-stated comfort with technology before and after grant implementation. Teachers’ use of technology was also measured by unannounced classroom visits by administration before and after the grant implementation and through artifacts teachers submitted during NDMU professional development modules.

Results showing significant increases in self-efficacy with technology along with teacher integration of technology exemplify the benefits of a PDS partnership.

This initiative was original in its approach to teacher development by replacing required teacher professional development with an invitation to participate and an incentive for participation (a personal MacBook) that met the stated needs of teachers. Teacher motivation was strong because teammates in a strong PDS partnership provided the necessary supports to induce changes in teacher self-efficacy.

This study aims to investigate the use of social networking sites (SNS) by researchers and their behaviours when conducting research-related activities by applying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) theory.

An online survey was distributed. This study’s design is derived from the UTAUT framework’s questionnaire items. The sample of this study comprised 216 respondents from 40 universities in the United Kingdom. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.

Respondents revealed a positive relationship between the four constructs of the UTAUT framework (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition) associated with their intention to use SNS.

Most of the respondents were from the University of Strathclyde, so the authors cannot generalize the findings to other universities.

The findings will offer an extensive understanding of the value of SNSs, which will aid researchers to increase their visibility, and research activities online.

The results will provide an in-depth knowledge of the importance of SNSs, helping scholars to become more visible and engage in online research. A number of factors impacted how researchers behaved on SNSs and what they intended to use for research-related activity. School administrators, experts and other sponsors could take action to promote the use of SNSs in educational settings based on the findings. The study’s findings offer insightful knowledge to those who create SNS websites. By using this information, they will be able to improve these sites for research and study and gain a better understanding of the demands of SNS users.

The current study seeks to investigate, why and how faculty members of Indian central universities are using academic social networking sites (ASNs) for research communication and information dissemination, as well as validate and update the results of previous scholarship in this area. To achieve this, the paper uses structural equation model (SEM).

A simple random sampling method was adopted. Online survey was conducted using a well-designed questionnaire circulated via email id among 3384 faculty members of Indian Central Universities. A SEM was designed and tested with International Business Machines (IBM) Amos. Apart from this, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22 and Microsoft Excel 2010 were also used for data screening and analysis.

The study explores that most of the respondents are in favour of using the ASNs/tools for their professional activities. The study also found that a large chunk of the respondents used ASNs tools during day time. Apart from it, more number of faculty members used ASNs in research work than general purpose. No significant differences were found among the disciplines in use behaviour of ASNs in scholarly communication. Three hypotheses have been accepted while two were rejected in this study.

The study was confined to the twelve central universities, and only 312 valid responses were taken into consideration in this study.

The paper demonstrates the faculty members’ use behaviour of ASNs in their research communication. The study also contributes new knowledge to methodological discussions as it is the first known study to employ SEM to interpret scholarly use of ASNs by faculty members of Indian central universities.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the potential of data analytics to enhance project delivery. Yet many argue that its application in projects is still lagging behind other disciplines. This paper aims to provide a review of the current use of data analytics in project delivery encompassing both academic research and practice to accelerate current understanding and use this to formulate questions and goals for future research.

We propose to achieve the research aim through the creation of a systematic review of the status of data analytics in project delivery. Fusing the methodology of integrative literature review with a recently established practice to include both white and grey literature amounts to an approach tailored to the state of the domain. It serves to delineate a research agenda informed by current developments in both academic research and industrial practice.

The literature review reveals a dearth of work in both academic research and practice relating to data analytics in project delivery and characterises this situation as having “more gap than knowledge.” Some work does exist in the application of machine learning to predicting project delivery though this is restricted to disparate, single context studies that do not reach extendible findings on algorithm selection or key predictive characteristics. Grey literature addresses the potential benefits of data analytics in project delivery but in a manner reliant on “thought-experiments” and devoid of empirical examples.

Based on the review we articulate a research agenda to create knowledge fundamental to the effective use of data analytics in project delivery. This is structured around the functional framework devised by this investigation and highlights both organisational and data analytic challenges. Specifically, we express this structure in the form of an “onion-skin” model for conceptual structuring of data analytics in projects. We conclude with a discussion about if and how today’s project studies research community can respond to the totality of these challenges. This paper provides a blueprint for a bridge connecting data analytics and project management.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of health beliefs and trust by senior adults as associated with the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, for the acceptance of smart technology with a focus on smartwatch technology.

Structural equation modeling is used to conceptualize the model using survey data collected from 243 randomly selected senior adults 60+ years of age.

This paper presents that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust and health belief are direct and indirect predictors of senior adults’ technology acceptance and intention to use smartwatch technology.

The study reveals the moderator effect of social influence on relation between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and intention to use. The authors highlight the effect of health belief and trust on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and the role of intention to use smartwatch technology.

The authors contribute bridging developers of health technologists and senior adults as end-user perspectives. For marketing of health-care technology products, specifically smartwatch, to seniors, a focus on health beliefs and trust is essential to build, maintain and improve perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

The present study contributes empirical evidence to the literature on factors affecting the acceptance of the smartwatch technology by senior adults.

This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics.

In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices.

This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution.

The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction.