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1 – 10 of 108The study examines how the technical features and associated social practices of an anonymous, text-based online forum intended for young people make it a unique platform for…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines how the technical features and associated social practices of an anonymous, text-based online forum intended for young people make it a unique platform for acquiring and sharing health information among peers.
Design/methodology/approach
The features and content of a young people's section of a popular Finnish discussion forum were examined with a focus on health-related threads. Observational notes and thread content were analysed with a focus on the forum's affordances for health information practices.
Findings
The findings indicate that the forum's affordances including anonymity, persistence, searchability, cohesion and tolerance enabled the pooling of peer experiences, opinions and experience-based advice on health, rather than sharing factual information or embracing reciprocal discussion. As such, instead of competing for a cognitive authority position with medical authorities or offering emotional support like tight online support communities, the anonymous forum served as a platform for young people to gain information on others' experiences and opinions on sensitive, mundane and disnormative health issues and for reflecting their own lived experiences to those of others.
Originality/value
The study is original in its approach to examining the affordances of an online platform for health information practices. It helps in understanding young people's ways of using different resources to meet their diverse health information needs and the value of gaining access to experiential health information.
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Social networks (SNs) have recently evolved from a means of connecting people to becoming a tool for social engineering, radicalization, dissemination of propaganda and…
Abstract
Purpose
Social networks (SNs) have recently evolved from a means of connecting people to becoming a tool for social engineering, radicalization, dissemination of propaganda and recruitment of terrorists. It is no secret that the majority of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) members are Arabic speakers, and even the non-Arabs adopt Arabic nicknames. However, the majority of the literature researching the subject deals with non-Arabic languages. Moreover, the features involved in identifying radical Islamic content are shallow and the search or classification terms are common in daily chatter among people of the region. The authors aim at distinguishing normal conversation, influenced by the role religion plays in daily life, from terror-related content.
Design/methodology/approach
This article presents the authors' experience and the results of collecting, analyzing and classifying Twitter data from affiliated members of ISIS, as well as sympathizers. The authors used artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning classification algorithms to categorize the tweets, as terror-related, generic religious, and unrelated.
Findings
The authors report the classification accuracy of the K-nearest neighbor (KNN), Bernoulli Naive Bayes (BNN) and support vector machine (SVM) [one-against-all (OAA) and all-against-all (AAA)] algorithms. The authors achieved a high classification F1 score of 83\%. The work in this paper will hopefully aid more accurate classification of radical content.
Originality/value
In this paper, the authors have collected and analyzed thousands of tweets advocating and promoting ISIS. The authors have identified many common markers and keywords characteristic of ISIS rhetoric. Moreover, the authors have applied text processing and AI machine learning techniques to classify the tweets into one of three categories: terror-related, non-terror political chatter and news and unrelated data-polluting tweets.
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Ravinesh Rohit Prasad and Ramadhani Lausi Mkumbachi
Higher education plays a vital role in educating citizens about climate change and promoting pro-environment behavior. Based on this statement, this study aims to analyze and…
Abstract
Purpose
Higher education plays a vital role in educating citizens about climate change and promoting pro-environment behavior. Based on this statement, this study aims to analyze and evaluate students’ perception of climate change at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. The study aims to understand the main ideas and concepts of climate change by analyzing information habits and individual opinions on the causes of climate change as perceived by the students of two student organizations aimed at environmental protection.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was used to gather data on students’ perceptions and information habits toward climate change. The data were collected through a questionnaire to characterize students from the socio-demography and their perceptions, information habits and knowledge relating to climate change. This paper uses the case study method to examine students’ climate change perceptions at two different student organizations at the same university. The research study involved a focus group technique. Two focus groups at the University of the South Pacific were administered. The focus groups’ selection in this study took into account the aims and objectives of the students’ organization toward climate change awareness, adaptation, mitigation and environment protection.
Findings
The focus groups participants believe that climate change is a serious problem in the South Pacific region. Results suggest significant differences in climate change perception at the two students’ organizations chosen for this study. Students at the Econesian society nicknamed climate change as a nuclear weapon for the South Pacific responsible for changes in the habitat, coral bleaching, lifestyle changes, mother of all other environmental problems and the introduction of invasive species into Fiji. Students at Wantok Moana-related climate change to drastic weather changes, lack of fish feed and additional toxins in the sea. The results also showed that students at the Econesian society have a better understanding of climate change than the students of Wantok Moana.
Practical implications
This paper provides an insight into how students of Small Islands Developing States view climate change and the factors affecting their opinions. It also shows how climate change perception varies within the same university. This implies the need to integrate climate change into the higher education curriculum and more research on this topic.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to compare and contrast university students’ climate change perception in Fiji. The results make an essential contribution to the extant climate change literature by identifying and categorizing climate change perception and the factors that shape students’ perception of climate change from the university students’ perspective in Fiji.
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Book review by Peter Maresco. Ricardo Semler, Maverick: The Success Story Behind the Worldʼs Most Unusual Workplace, New York: Warner Books, 1993. ISBN 9780446516969
Lisa and Rick Agee of New Milford, Connecticut, are in their second full year of trying to turn their lifelong dream of being financially independent from corporate life into a…
Abstract
Lisa and Rick Agee of New Milford, Connecticut, are in their second full year of trying to turn their lifelong dream of being financially independent from corporate life into a reality.They are placing their bets on their product line of goat's milk based soap products (www.Goatboy.us). Goat's milk is said to have important skin benefits for the user over commercially made bar soap products such as Dove, Ivory, Dial, Olay, Zest and Irish Spring.
Gamification is a booming motivational approach in information systems. Leaderboards play a key role in gamification; however, there are mixed findings regarding the heterogeneous…
Abstract
Purpose
Gamification is a booming motivational approach in information systems. Leaderboards play a key role in gamification; however, there are mixed findings regarding the heterogeneous motivational impacts of leaderboard positions. This study aims to clarify the motivational effects of high and low leaderboard positions by assembling diverse behavioral measures and self-reports. The measures used in this study shed a light on the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of motivation facilitated by leaderboard positions. The authors inspect motivation in relation to satisfaction and frustration of competence need.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online experiment set in a crowdsourcing context, asking the participants to compete in an image tagging game. Participants' leaderboard positions were manipulated to be either high or low for five consecutive rounds. The number of clicks, tags, duration of tagging and persistence on the task were measured as indicators of motivation.
Findings
High ranks on leaderboards induced complacent behaviors choosing easy ways to maintain their positions, while low ranks led the participants to stick to the right process of the task with intensified motivation round after round. However, neither of the motivations seemed to be of intrinsic nature.
Originality/value
The present study provides conclusive evidence on the varying motivational impact of leaderboard positions. The authors also demonstrate how the “needs-as-motive” model (Sheldon and Gunz, 2009) applies to gamification. Its implications in self-determination theory and gamification literature are discussed.
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Nina Steinhauer, Michael Gros, Martin Ebner, Markus Ebner, Anneliese Huppertz, Mike Cormann, Susanne Biermeier, Lena Burk, Konstanze Edtstadler, Sonja Gabriel, Martina Wintschnig, Christian Aspalter and Susanne Martich
Due to the important role of orthography in society, the project called IDeRBlog presented in this paper created a web-based tool to motivate pupils to write text as well as to…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the important role of orthography in society, the project called IDeRBlog presented in this paper created a web-based tool to motivate pupils to write text as well as to read and to comment on texts written by fellow students. In addition, IDeRBlog aims to improve student’s German orthography skills and supports teachers and parents with training materials for their students. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
With the aid of learning analytics, the submitted text is analyzed and special feedback is given to the students so that they can try to correct the misspelled words themselves. The teachers as well as the parents are benefiting from the analysis and exercises suggested by the system.
Findings
A recent study showed the efficiency of the system in form of an improvement of the students’ orthographic skills. Over a period of four months 70 percent of the students achieved a significant reduction of their spelling mistakes.
Originality/value
IDeRBlog is an innovative approach to improving orthography skills combining blogging and new media with writing and practice.
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Eleonora Masiero, Giulia Leoni and Carlo Bagnoli
This paper aims at exploring the historical roots of ideals-based accountability (IBA) in a family business of the past. It examines the narrative accounts of the history of an…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at exploring the historical roots of ideals-based accountability (IBA) in a family business of the past. It examines the narrative accounts of the history of an Italian long-lived family business written by one of its latest business owners to determine how and to what extent it was used to discharge a more ethical form of accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive thematic analysis informed on the conceptual framework of IBA is conducted on the unpublished manuscript by Angelo Barovier, the oldest leader of the Barovier’s family business.
Findings
The retrospective narrative served the family owner as a means for IBA, unveiling to the present and future generations of family owners the values and ideals that had motivated the ancestors to sustain the family business throughout the centuries despite the financial performance or the adversities.
Research limitations/implications
This paper reveals the historical roots of IBA as grounded in family business historical narratives. It contributes to management and family business history by showing the historical relevance of ideals and values for the development and sustainment of a family business.
Practical implications
This study opens to a larger application of IBA also in contemporary businesses, as a tool to foster and disseminate a more ethical form of accountability and to a further extent support the construction of a more ethical society.
Originality/value
This paper connects the newly developed IBA framework, conceived for family businesses, to a management history perspective showing its potential for the intergenerational transmission of business culture.
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Fethiye Ozis, Shannon Lynn Isovitsch Parks, Deborah Lynne Sills, Mustafa Akca and Christine Kirby
This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate sustainability with innovation in engineering design.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept of paradigm shift was introduced in the classroom by using a tangram activity to help students understand that sustainable design requires out-of-the-box thinking. Instructors from three institutions teaching various levels of sustainability courses to engineering majors used the activity to introduce sustainable design, then measured the understanding and appreciation of the concepts introduced through the tangram activity with pre- and post-activity surveys.
Findings
Findings from the study indicate that students’ perceptions of sustainability significantly improved due to the activity, without regard to the institution. The activity also significantly improved students understanding of the connection between sustainability and innovation, across all three institutions, across all majors and across all years of study except second-year students. Improving engineering students’ views on sustainability may lead, over time, to changes in the industry, in which environmental performance is incorporated into the engineering design process.
Originality/value
Active learning approaches are needed for affective-domain learning objectives in the sustainability field for students to learn the necessary attitudes, values and motivations to implement sustainability in engineering design. Simple, easily implemented active learning techniques, such as the tangram activity presented here, can be implemented across the curriculum or to the public to introduce the paradigm shift necessary with sustainable design.
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