Social media technologies were introduced among the modern society and are part of its routine in many ways--knowledge acquisition and sharing, interpersonal relationships, media diffusion--sometimes complementing and even substituting tools that were specifically designed for similar activities. This research compares social media sites and…

Districts expend a considerable amount of time, effort, and resources providing student performance data to teachers to inform instruction, and examining those data for organizational decision-making. Yet rarely, if ever, are these outcome data connected to what goes on in classrooms. In this experimental study, the author reports on the…

The purpose of this research is to explore the possibility of viable learning organizations based on identifying viable organizational learning mechanisms. Two theoretical foundations, complex system theory and viable system theory, have been integrated to provide the rationale for building the sustainable organizational learning mechanism. The…

Describes the first stage in a study of home information systems in the United Kingdom that is being conducted to develop a theory of household information systems that will inform investors, producers, and consumers in a given region. Highlights include methodology, questions for structured interviews, task model, and technical model. (Author/LRW)

Discusses participatory strategic planning and describes the use of IBM's Application Transfer Study process at Jacksonville State University to develop a master plan for a campuswide information system. Planning in academe is discussed, and the use of questionnaires and interviews for needs assessment is described. (three references) (LRW)

Describes a series of exploratory experiments that investigated information professionals' and geographers' use of geographic materials. Mental models used in the manipulation of geographic data are discussed; the improvement of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is addressed; and Spotlight, a new interactive tool for exploring maps, is…

Students enter the introductory Management Information Systems (MIS) class having heard all the hype regarding the information technology (IT) profession, but often knowing little of the realities. In an effort to have general business students gain a deeper understanding of the IT profession and the IT professional, the authors developed an…

Examines the role of physical surroundings and artifacts and how they contribute to the knowledge work occurring there, based on preliminary analysis of data collected in interviews and observations of a research group over a four-month period. General issues of the interaction between information work and environment can be revealed and applied…

The influences of a student's prior knowledge and desired goal on the difficulties and benefits associated with using hypertext were examined in this study. Participants, 12 students from an undergraduate course in educational psychology, were assigned to either the low or high prior knowledge category. Within these two groups, subjects were…

This paper summarizes results of telephone interviews with key personnel at 19 (out of 22) agencies receiving grants under the Center for Mental Health Services program, one part of a 5-year evaluation study examining the impact that utilizing measurable outcomes has on service systems. This component focused on the conceptualization and…

Discusses an empirical study that examined the relative efficiency of individual differences variables and user-based situational variables as predictors of the actual information/knowledge needed by users to accomplish word processing tasks. Information seeking versus information use is discussed, and results of canonical correlation analyses are…

Sixteen courses were taught over a 2-year period at eight universities using Perseus, a HyperCard-based hypermedia information system that contains multimedia information about the Greek world, in order to examine how type of assignment influenced student perceptions about the Perseus interface and learning performance. Data collection methods…

Describes methods being used to evaluate the impact of the Integrated Information Center (IIC) on users at the University of Minnesota. The model underlying the evaluation is explained, and three methods used to assess the IIC are discussed: survey questionnaires, interviews, and longitudinal evaluation. (Contains 14 references.) (LRW)

This study was designed to assess the effects of a specific cooperative learning strategy in an introductory college business information systems course. The cooperative approach's impact on student achievement and on a number of personal and social attributes was examined. A total of 117 college sophomores and freshmen enrolled in 3 sections of…

This paper examines how discourse analysis can be used as a methodology for understanding the mental models that influence how people navigate the Internet. Discourse analysis provides a methodology with which to articulate the relationships between language, social context, and the cognitive processes that underlie discourse perception and…