Information asymmetries and identification bias in P2P social microlending

The Internet has created new opportunities for peer-to-peer (P2P) social lending platforms, which have the potential to transform the way microfinance institutions raise and allocate funds used for poverty reduction. Depending upon where decision-making rights are allocated, there is the potential for identification bias whereby lenders may be motivated to give to specific projects with which they have an affinity without regard to whether it represents a sound financial investment. Using data collected from Kiva, we present empirical evidence that distant upstream lenders do not have adequate information about local business and loan conditions to make sound microfinance funding decisions, but instead make decisions based on identification biases. Furthermore, more information provided on the P2P lending site about the prospective loan does not improve the lender’s information about the loan conditions, but rather exacerbates the identification bias effect.     

Information and communication technology and the sustainability of microfinance

Information and communication technology (ICT) is an important driver in the maturing microfinance industry. Microfinance providers, both non-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) and for-profit banks, provide financial services to the poor that are critical for eradicating poverty and promoting economic development in developing nations. As the industry matures, MFIs face an increasingly competitive environment forcing them to balance the dual goals of outreach and sustainability. Interestingly, ICT may be both the instigator of this new environment and the potential solution to MFI survivability. We propose research directions on the role and impact of ICT in the microfinance industry, with special attention given to the industry’s stakeholders and to the value chain of microfinancial services that are provided to the poor people in the world who need access to them. This research is at the intersection of inquiry on ICT for development and the digital divide, the impact of microfinance on poverty and development, and the use of information technology (IT) in the financial services industry. It is aimed at encouraging new research that explores important issues with respect to microfinance services to open up a dialogue and debate among interested academic researchers, microfinance institution leaders, and public policy-makers. We discuss the role and impact of ICT at the customer level, the microfinance institutional level, the donor level, and the microfinance industry level, with insights that showcase the value chain impacts and transformations that are occurring as a basis for assessing the extent to which ICT supports the sustainability of microfinance.     

Safety leadership and systems thinking: application and evaluation of a Risk Management Framework in the mining industry

Abstract

Safety leadership is an important factor in supporting safety in high-risk industries. This article contends that applying systems-thinking methods to examine safety leadership can support improved learning from incidents. A case study analysis was undertaken of a large-scale mining landslide incident in which no injuries or fatalities were incurred. A multi-method approach was adopted, in which the Critical Decision Method, Rasmussen’s Risk Management Framework and Accimap method were applied to examine the safety leadership decisions and actions which enabled the safe outcome. The approach enabled Rasmussen’s predictions regarding safety and performance to be examined in the safety leadership context, with findings demonstrating the distribution of safety leadership across leader and system levels, and the presence of vertical integration as key to supporting the successful safety outcome. In doing so, the findings also demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to examine and learn from incidents in terms of what ‘went right’. The implications, including future research directions, are discussed.

Practitioner Summary: This paper presents a case study analysis, in which systems-thinking methods are applied to the examination of safety leadership decisions and actions during a large-scale mining landslide incident. The findings establish safety leadership as a systems phenomenon, and furthermore, demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to learn from incidents in terms of what ‘went right’. Implications, including future research directions, are discussed.     

The educo‐politics of curriculum development: A response to Peter Fensham's ‘time to change drivers for scientific literacy’

Abstract

Fensham (2002) proposes that we modify the composition of those involved in the political power struggle ('educo‐politics') over who determines the science curriculum. He suggests that ‘societal experts’ are better situated than academic scientists to decide what knowledge is worth having, although his plan for curriculum development includes academic scientists deciding what science content supports the issues initially identified by societal experts. However, Fensham's proposal lacks the educo‐politics needed to counter the customary devious educo‐politics we have come to expect from those who support the status quo—particularly some academic scientists. Fensham's proposal gives academic scientists unnecessary political advantage. School science for an informed citizenry will continue to be marginalized if its supporters do not win at educo‐politics. Curriculum developers have few universal principles of action to follow other than Sgt. Jablonski's (of Hill Street Blues) ’Do it to them before they do it to you.’ This article clarifies some of these Jablonskian counter‐educo‐politics.     

State of Science: ergonomics and global issues

In his 1993 IEA keynote address, Neville Moray urged the ergonomics discipline to face up to the global problems facing humanity and consider how ergonomics might help find some of the solutions. In this State of Science article we critically evaluate what the ergonomics discipline has achieved in the last two and a half decades to help create a secure future for humanity. Moray’s challenges for ergonomics included deriving a value structure that moves us beyond a Westernised view of worker-organisation-technology fit, taking a multidisciplinary approach which engages with other social and biological sciences, considering the gross cross-cultural factors that determine how different societies function, paying more attention to mindful consumption, and embracing the complexity of our interconnected world. This article takes a socio-historical approach by considering the factors that influence what has been achieved since Moray’s keynote address. We conclude with our own set of predictions for the future and priorities for addressing the challenges that we are likely to face.

Practitioner Summary: We critically reflect on what has been achieved by the ergonomics profession in addressing the global challenges raised by Moray's 1993 keynote address to the International Ergonomics Association. Apart from healthcare, the response has largely been weak and disorganised. We make suggestions for priority research and practice that is required to facilitate a sustainable future for humanity.     

Student perspectives on mentoring in a science outreach project

Abstract

The focus of this paper is an examination of mentorship relationships developed as a result of six students’ participation in a local community science centre sponsored through an NSERC/CRYSTAL project. Each year, a number of students participate in after‐school activities sponsored by the community science centre. Much of this work involves a one‐to‐one approach, with a middle years or high school student working with a professor partner. The professor acts as a mentor to the student, facilitating learning in a manner not always feasible within a school setting with large class sizes. For some students this research may be the basis of a science fair project; for others if is simply a study based on individual interest. Mentored students were interviewed about the nature of that mentorship, with the goal of describing the experience from the students’ perspective. Questions focused on the student's experience of working with a mentor, including how the mentorship relationship was formed, what the importance of the voluntary nature of mentoring was, what the benefits and challenges of working with a mentor were, how the mentorship relationship affected the level of content knowledge the student gained, and what effect the mentoring relationship had on the student's continuing interest in science. The mentorship program offers students the opportunity to work within a developing community of practice.     

Infusing learning into the information systems organization

Contemporary information systems (IS) organizations need mechanisms to cope with both the complexity that is created by rapid technological change and escalating business demands, and the resulting uncertainty engendered in organizational operations and policies. The IS function will not be in a position to manage such changes effectively unless it undergoes a fundamental restructuring towards becoming a ‘learning’ organization. This paper presents a framework that identifies the core drivers than an IS organization can proactively influence as it attempts to become learning-oriented. The framework identifies three essential components: (1) the learning context that defines various dimensions for measuring organizational and individual performance; (2) procedures and management initiatives that will facilitate individual learning to improve such performance; and (3) norms and culture that are established by the leadership to encourage learning. Using a case study methodology, the actions taken by one specific IS organization in its attempts to infuse learning capabilities among its members are examined. The conceptual framework for examining what it takes to be a learning IS organization and the detailed documented experiences of one specific organization may provide valuable insights to other IS organizations in their efforts to become more adaptive and responsive to change.     

Data mining for exploring hidden patterns between KM and its performance

A large volume of works have addressed the importance of Knowledge management (KM). However, there are increasingly numerous concerns about whether the KM efforts can be fairly reflected and transformed into the business performance. Even though the KM contribution is qualitative and hard to measure, some works using statistical methods declare that a specific KM style may produce a better corporate performance. Statistical methods attempt to summarize yesterday’s success rules, while data mining techniques aim to explore tomorrow’s success clues. This study challenges the issue of what the hidden patterns between KM and its performance are, and whereby identifies the reality of whether a better performance is resulted from a special KM style. The analysis results using Bayesian network classifier and rough set theory show that it is not easy to support that a special KM style would produce a similar performance.     

A teamwork model for understanding an agile team: A case study of a Scrum project

ContextSoftware development depends significantly on team performance, as does any process that involves human interaction.ObjectiveMost current development methods argue that teams should self-manage. Our objective is thus to provide a better understanding of the nature of self-managing agile teams, and the teamwork challenges that arise when introducing such teams.MethodWe conducted extensive fieldwork for 9 months in a software development company that introduced Scrum. We focused on the human sensemaking, on how mechanisms of teamwork were understood by the people involved.ResultsWe describe a project through Dickinson and McIntyre’s teamwork model, focusing on the interrelations between essential teamwork components. Problems with team orientation, team leadership and coordination in addition to highly specialized skills and corresponding division of work were important barriers for achieving team effectiveness.ConclusionTransitioning from individual work to self-managing teams requires a reorientation not only by developers but also by management. This transition takes time and resources, but should not be neglected. In addition to Dickinson and McIntyre’s teamwork components, we found trust and shared mental models to be of fundamental importance.     

Downloading or uploading? The information economy and Africa's current status

Abstract

While Africa is confronted with the urgency to provide its citizens with the basic requirements of life such as peace, food, education, health, shelter, safe drinking water, etc., the rest of the world and the developed nations in particular are fast heading towards a globally networked information economy. This raises questions about what the information economy holds for Africa and specifically what opportunities, challenges and impacts it may have. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the current state of affairs of the information economy in Africa by implementing a generic conceptual framework that includes ICT hardware, software and services, informatization and e‐commerce. The paper also identifies the basic challenges that Africa faces in developing and benefiting from the information economy.     

A study on the challenges and opportunities of speech recognition for Bengali language

Speech recognition is a fascinating process that offers the opportunity to interact and command the machine in the field of human-computer interactions. Speech recognition is a language-dependent system constructed directly based on the linguistic and textual properties of any language. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems are currently being used to translate speech to text flawlessly. Although ASR systems are being strongly executed in international languages, ASR systems’ implementation in the Bengali language has not reached an acceptable state. In this research work, we sedulously disclose the current status of the Bengali ASR system’s research endeavors. In what follows, we acquaint the challenges that are mostly encountered while constructing a Bengali ASR system. We split the challenges into language-dependent and language-independent challenges and guide how the particular complications may be overhauled. Following a rigorous investigation and highlighting the challenges, we conclude that Bengali ASR systems require specific construction of ASR architectures based on the Bengali language’s grammatical and phonetic structure.

     

On the irrationality of mind-uploading: a rely to Neil Levy

In a paper in this journal, Neil Levy challenges Nicholas Agar’s argument for the irrationality of mind-uploading. Mind-uploading is a futuristic process that involves scanning brains and recording relevant information which is then transferred into a computer. Its advocates suppose that mind-uploading transfers both human minds and identities from biological brains into computers. According to Agar’s original argument, mind-uploading is prudentially irrational. Success relies on the soundness of the program of Strong AI—the view that it may someday be possible to build a computer that is capable of thought. Strong AI may in fact be false, an eventuality with dire consequences for mind-uploading. Levy argues that Agar’s argument relies on mistakes about the probability of failed mind-uploading and underestimates what is to be gained from successfully mind-uploading. This paper clarifies Agar’s original claims about the likelihood of mind-uploading failure and offers further defense of a pessimistic evaluation of success.     

Successful extreme programming: Fidelity to the methodology or good teamworking?

ContextDeveloping a theory of agile technology, in combination with empirical work, must include assessing its performance effects, and whether all or some of its key ingredients account for any performance advantage over traditional methods. Given the focus on teamwork, is the agile technology what really matters, or do general team factors, such as cohesion, primarily account for a team’s success? Perhaps the more specific software engineering team factors, for example the agile development method’s collective ownership and code management, are decisive.ObjectiveTo assess the contribution of agile methodology, agile-specific team methods, and general team factors in the performance of software teams.MethodWe studied 40 small-scale software development teams which used Extreme Programming (XP). We measured (1) the teams’ adherence to XP methods, (2) their use of XP-specific team practices, and (3) standard team attributes, as well as the quality of the project’s outcomes. We used Williams et al.’s (2004a) [33] Shodan measures of XP methods, and regression analysis.ResultsAll three types of variables are associated with the project’s performance. Teamworking is important but it is the XP-specific team factor (continuous integration, coding standards, and collective code ownership) that is significant. Only customer planning (release planning/planning game, customer access, short releases, and stand-up meeting) is positively related to performance. A negative relationship between foundations (automated unit tests, customer acceptance tests, test-first design, pair programming, and refactoring) is found and is moderated by craftsmanship (sustainable pace, simple design, and metaphor/system of names). Of the general team factors only cooperation is related to performance. Cooperation mediates the relationship between the XP-specific team factor and performance.ConclusionClient and team foci of the XP method are its critical active ingredients.     

Artificial agents and the expanding ethical circle

I discuss the realizability and the ethical ramifications of Machine Ethics, from a number of different perspectives: I label these the anthropocentric, infocentric, biocentric and ecocentric perspectives. Each of these approaches takes a characteristic view of the position of humanity relative to other aspects of the designed and the natural worlds—or relative to the possibilities of ‘extra-human’ extensions to the ethical community. In the course of the discussion, a number of key issues emerge concerning the relation between technology and ethics, and the nature of what it is to have moral status. Some radical challenges to certain technological presuppositions and ramifications of the infocentric approach will be discussed. Notwithstanding the obvious tensions between the infocentric perspective on one side and the biocentric and ecocentric perspectives on the other, we will see that there are also striking parallels in the way that each of these three approaches generates challenges to an anthropocentric ethical hegemony, and possible scope for some degree of convergence.     

Information Security Policy Compliance: Leadership and Trust

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of trust variables (trust: competence, trust: benevolence, trust: integrity) on leadership regarding the organization’s information security policy (ISP) compliance. An instrument with four constructs was used to collect data from 474 non-management subjects from various organizations in the USA. Collected data were analyzed through multiple regression procedure. Results revealed that all trust variables (trust: competence, trust: benevolence, trust: integrity) were influential in predicting the leadership regarding the organization’s ISP compliance. The findings are discussed and implications for practice are outlined. Conclusion, limitations, and recommendations for future research are drawn.     

Investigating chemistry students’ learning about the relationship between the temperature and the pressure of a gas using a microcomputer‐based laboratory (MBL): A word of caution

Abstract

Learning chemistry with understanding is a challenge. From a social constructivist position, we view students’ chemistry learning from experiments as involving the shared negotiation of meaning that uses experimental data to confirm or challenge their existing scientific theories. This study focuses on the practices related to the use of a microcomputer‐based laboratory (MBL) in a high school chemistry course in which students were studying gases and kinetic theory. Given the widely accepted view that the use of such technology is a ‘cure‐all’ for educational problems, student learning using this technology might be considered disappointing. We find that little or no higher‐order thinking was employed as students engaged in using the MBL and that some alternative conceptions were still evident. It is necessary to consider the students’ and the teacher's use of such technology in the experimental context if the promise of its use is to be realized.     

Event-driven web application testing based on model-based mutation testing

ContextEvent-Driven Software (EDS) is a class of software whose behavior is driven by incoming events. Web and desktop applications that respond to user-initiated events on their Graphical User Interface (GUI), or embedded software responding to events and signals received from the equipment in its operating environment are examples of EDS. Testing EDS poses great challenges to software testers. One of these challenges is the need to generate a huge number of possible event sequences that could sufficiently cover the EDS’s state space.ObjectiveIn this paper, we introduce a new six-stage testing procedure for event-driven web applications to overcome EDS testing challenges.MethodThe stages of the testing procedure include dividing the application based on its structure, creating functional graphs for each section, creating mutants from functional graphs, choosing coverage criteria to produce test paths, merging event sequences to make longer ones, and deriving and running test cases. We have analyzed our proposed testing procedure with the help of four metrics consisting of Fault Detection Density (FDD), Fault Detection Effectiveness (FDE), Mutation Score, and Unique Fault.ResultsUsing this procedure, we have prepared prioritized test cases and also discovered a list of unique faults by running the suggested test cases on a sample real-world web application called Academic E-mail System.ConclusionWe propose that our suggested testing procedure has some advantages such as creating functional graphs with requirements document, resolving the problem of removing infeasible test cases with these graphs and conditions on the “add edge” operator before creating mutants. But the suggested testing procedure, like any other method, had some drawbacks. Because most of the stages in the approach were performed manually, the testing time was increased.     

Towards a Politicized Notion of Citizenship for Science Education: Engaging the Social Through Dissensus

Abstract:

This theoretical article draws from the political thought of Jacques Rancière to trouble some taken-for-granted conceptions of citizenship education. Rancière's notion of politics and dissensus (as opposed to consensus) can lay the groundwork for a version of citizenship that challenges what is deemed sensible, visible, who is counted in communities and on what grounds. This version of citizenship, based on politics and dissensus, disrupts the taken-for-granted social order and seeks to establish equality for those who are what Rancière calls “the part of no part.” In science, math, and technology education this means rethinking how we approach social and political issues and civic identities, where consensus seeking and nonactivist choices for students prevail. I conclude the article by outlining examples of science education research that work to “redraw the lines” of the social (the social being the stakes of the political); in particular, the Idle No More movement, which is at the forefront of both scientific and political activism in the geographic space known as Canada.