Digital Commons Network^™

Putting Students In Their Place. The Role Of Placement Testing In Language Programs, Troy L. Cox, Matthew P. Wilcox

Faculty Publications

A perennial issue that nearly all language programs face with the arrival of new students is: where is the best place for each student to begin their course of study within our curricular structure given their current language abilities? When students have no previous language learning experience, the decision seems easy: place them in the beginning- level class. But when students have prior experience, deciding where they belong becomes more complicated given the wide range in the quality and quantity of previous exposure and the level of ability attained. Programmatic exigencies and resources may constrain student placement even further.

In …

Intermittent Digital Fasting: The Mental Health Benefits Of A One-Hour Daily Social Media Hiatus, Austin Lahue, James Gaskin, Kennedy Daniel

Faculty Publications

In an era where social media ubiquity persists, concerns over its impact on mental health have escalated. This preliminary study investigates the effects of a one-hour daily social media hiatus on the mental wellbeing of 60 college students over two weeks. Unlike common interventions demanding prolonged abstinence, this research explores a more feasible, short-term avoidance approach. The experimental design, including treatment and control groups, illuminates the potential mental health benefits of brief, yet regular, digital disengagements. Preliminary results suggest that even minimal breaks from social media can yield significant improvements in users' mental health. Interestingly, these benefits come not from …

Did I Buy The Right Gadget? A Methodological Replication Study, Paul A. Weisgarber, Joseph S. Valacich, Jeffrey L. Jenkins

Faculty Publications

This study is a methodological replication of Valacich et al.’s (2018) experiment, which investigated the evaluability hypothesis in the context of technology product assessment. The evaluability hypothesis suggests that the evaluation context significantly influences how users assess and perceive technology features. More specifically, it posits that the perception of technology features, as well as the ultimate selection of a technology product, is likely to differ depending on whether a single technology is evaluated in isolation or multiple technologies are evaluated simultaneously. Our replication study consisted of 310 participants who evaluated two wireless internet products with two product features – connection …

Alterity As A Mirror Of Identity: Primo Levi’S Self Representation In Other People’S Trades, Ilona Klein

Faculty Publications

Primo Levi reveals much about himself in the fifty-one short essays of L’altrui mestiere (Other People’s Trades). This study analyzes L’altrui mestiere as the awareness of the “self” through the observation of “otherness” — other people, but also other living beings which are not human (mammalian animals and insects), others as minerals, and others as hypotheses, theories, writings, microcosmic or macrocosmic conceptions that Levi uses to weave a discourse of “alterity” as a mirror of “identity.” L’altrui mestiere’s narrative pattern revolves around contrasts and comparisons between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the canny and the uncanny, the …

Detecting Social Desirability Bias With Human-Computer Interaction: A Mouse-Tracking Study, Paul A. Weisgarber, Joseph S. Valacich, Jeffrey L. Jenkins, David Kim, Manasvi Kumar

Faculty Publications

Social desirability bias undermines self-report accuracy, necessitating novel approaches to detect and mitigate its impact. This study aimed to investigate the influence of social desirability on questionnaire responses by analyzing mouse cursor movements and answering behaviors. Respondents (n=238) completed a health and wellness questionnaire while their mouse cursor data was recorded. The results revealed that individuals under a higher social desirability treatment exhibited significantly longer response times and slower mouse cursor speeds, supporting the hypothesis that they may engage in more cautious and deliberate responding. However, no significant differences were found in terms of mouse cursor deviations or answer switches …

Regulating Gender Diversity: Evidence From California Senate Bill 826, Abigail Allen, Aida Wahid

Faculty Publications

Do gender diversity quotas enhance firm value? This broad question has sparked significant debate because while diversity is generally thought to improve board functioning, prior research in international settings suggests mandating diversity may have adverse consequences if it moves firms away from market equilibrium. Exploiting the political events leading up to the passage of California Senate Bill 826 as an exogenous shock to assess the market implications of board gender composition, we document either significantly positive or insignificant 2-day abnormal returns for California firms across a variety of model specifications. Importantly, this finding contradicts the strong claims of contemporary studies …

Do Audit Partners Exhibit Hometown Bias?, Yuzhou Chen, Timothy Seidel, Aleksandra "Ally" B. Zimmerman

Faculty Publications

We investigate whether audit partners exhibit greater leniency towards audit clients located in their childhood or pre-professional home state. While prior research has examined the audit quality effects of geographic distance between an auditor and client as well as auditors’ social ties to company management or directors, this study uniquely examines auditors’ psychological affinity to places rather than people. Using hand-collected data on audit partners, company managers, and directors, we find evidence of partners exhibiting hometown bias in the form of greater leniency towards clients’ opportunistic reporting. However, we find no evidence to suggest that these psychological biases affect audit …

Strategic Alignment, Performance, And The Moderating Effect Of Regulatory Fit, Hayden T. Gunnell, Steven D. Smith, Travis W. Steadman

Faculty Publications

We examine how the alignment of performance measurement and strategy affects performance on a multidimensional task. Our experiment varies both the strategy (speed versus accuracy) of the hypothetical firm for which participants work and the individual performance measure that is reported to them, creating two conditions of clear alignment and two of clear misalignment. We find that while workers are responsive to the performance measure regardless of its alignment, they are also sensitive to the strategy such that costly alignment effects are observed. We also predict and find that workers respond asymmetrically to misalignment in accuracy performance but not in …

Effects Of Cognitive And Social Demands On Linguistic Production For People With Moderate, Mild, Or No Aphasia, Tyson G. Harmon, Emily Mcdonald, Kyle Steele

Faculty Publications

Background: Most everyday communication occurs in situations where cognitive and social demands are present. These types of situations may compound language deficits for people with aphasia (PWA). An understanding of the language interference that may occur from cognitive and social demands is an important precursor for assessment and intervention that addresses everyday communication situations.

Aims: To determine how cognitively and socially demanding conditions affect micro- and macrolinguistic production for people with moderate, mild, or no aphasia during narrative discourse and to compare effects among groups.

Method: Thirty participants with mild (n = 9), moderate (n = 9), or no (n …

Learning From Secondary Blended Teaching Practitioners: Selecting Activities And Connecting In-Person And Online Learning, Michelle Jensen, Charles R. Graham, Cecil R. Short

Faculty Publications

Implementation of blended teaching (BT) practices is increasing rapidly in K-12 classrooms. This trend creates an urgent need for professional development to support BT. An understanding of how experienced teachers implement BT can inform teacher educators and professional development leaders as they develop training to support this practice. We interviewed 24 secondary educators implementing BT strategies to determine what activities they include in the online space and how they connect them to in-person learning. Qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that experienced blended teachers used a variety of online activities, providing opportunities for learners to interact with content, other …

Academic Communities Of Engagement: Exploring The Impact Of Online And In‑Person Support Communities On The Academic Engagement Of Online Learners, Kristian J. Spring, Charles R. Graham, Courtney N. Hanny, Sara Tuiloma, Kamal Badar

Faculty Publications

Institutions of higher education are interested in supporting the academic success of their students in the most effective ways possible. Increasingly, this means engaging students in a blend of both online and in-person learning activities as well as connecting students with supportive communities in both modalities. This research explores the efforts of an institution that is trying to create positive post-secondary learning experiences for thousands of adults who have experienced significant barriers to accessing higher education through traditional routes. Students around the world are supported through both online and local, in-person communities created to support their academic engagement. In this …

Chatbots Mitigate Help-Seeking Avoidance, James Gaskin, Eva Blondeel, Ryan Schuetzler, Rachel Serre, Jacob Steffen, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

This research explores the transformative role of large language model (LLM) chatbots in fostering help-seeking behaviors among introverted and underrepresented students in educational settings. Despite the importance of help-seeking for academic success, certain groups exhibit avoidance behaviors due to self-presentation concerns and stereotype threats. By integrating LLM chatbots as non-judgmental, anonymous teaching assistants in an introductory information systems course, the study demonstrates how technology can mitigate these behaviors and promote inclusivity. The chatbots provided real-time, unbiased support, significantly enhancing the students' willingness to engage in help-seeking behaviors without fear of judgment. This practical application of chatbots not only supports academic …

Assessing Virtual Reality’S Influence On Honesty In Reporting, Jeffrey Pickerd, Nathan Waddoups, David A. Wood, Xiaomei (Grazia) Xiong

Faculty Publications

Organizations, businesses, and society are exploring and adopting virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR is expected to boost the global economy by $1.5 trillion by 2030. In this study, we focus on the effect of VR on an important accounting variable—reporting honesty. We examine reporting honesty across two tasks, various measures, and various populations, that are commonly used in existing research. In our initial experiment, participants misreported more in a dice rolling task when performing it in a VR setting than in a non-VR setting. However, in a second and third experiment attempting to replicate and extend our …

Religion And Lgbtq Suicidality: A Systematic Review, Michael A. Goodman

Faculty Publications

Studies have consistently shown that LGBTQ individuals are at increased risk for several mental and physical health challenges including suicidality. The relationship between religion and LGBTQ wellbeing in general and LGBTQ suicidality in specific has increasingly been the subject of scholarly investigation. This systematic review examines all peer-reviewed articles included in the EBSCO PsychInfo database since 2000 (49 studies in all). These studies reveal a complex relationship which is both nuanced and at times contradictory. The majority of studies (65%) found at least one religiosity related predictor to be a risk factor for LGBTQ suicidality, 53% found at least one …

Parent Motivations For Enrolling Their Young Children In Early Childhood Programs: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behaviour, Rachel A. Mcgovern, Camilla Hodge, Edward Ruddell

Faculty Publications

This study used the theory of planned behaviour to identify and determine the relative influence of factors influencing parents’ decisions to enrol their young children (3 to 5 years old) in early childhood programs at a specific museum venue. An eliciting questionnaire was distributed to museum members with at least one child 3–5 years old to elicit outcome expectancies, normative beliefs, and control beliefs, and these responses were developed into items for the main questionnaire. Regression and correlation analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with parents’ intention to enrol their children. Parents across socioeconomic and educational backgrounds indicated they …

Understanding Product Interest Through Mouse-Cursor Tracking Analysis, Christopher Coors, Jeffrey Jenkins, Joseph S. Valacich, Markus Weinmann

Faculty Publications

With third-party cookies being banned, alternative methods to assess users’ interests online are necessary. We propose that analyzing mouse cursor movements can help address this need. Based on the response activation model, we hypothesize that interest in a product will decrease the user’s movement speed and increase the number of submovements. We conducted an online study that monitored users’ mouse movements while they were presented with several products and navigated to a button to indicate purchase intention (yes/no). Following this, participants ranked their interest in each product. Contrary to our prediction, we found that product interest increased speed and decreased …

Moral Decision-Making In Organizations, Maryam Kouchaki, Isaac Smith

Faculty Publications

Research on moral decision-making in organizations has expanded significantly over the past few decades. In this review, we build on prior comprehensive reviews on the topic to provide an updated view of the field, based on the latest findings. We first provide a brief historical overview of influential theories of moral decision-making and then describe the individual characteristics, interpersonal factors, and organizational factors that have been shown to influence people's morally relevant choices, as well as the cognitive, affective, and even physiological processes at play. We then provide a more critical view of the field and focus on what we …

The Reno Court Of Inquiry, Albert Winkler

Faculty Publications

Following the Battle of the Little Big Horn, there had been many accusations of poor conduct, neglect of duty, or outright cowardice leveled chiefly at both Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen for their actions or inactions at the engagement, which could have led to the destruction of Custer's command. Most significantly, Frederick Whittaker's attack on Reno and Benteen in his A Complete Life of Gen. George Armstrong Custer published in December 1876 was simply scathing.

How Can Chatbots Improve The Gender Gap In Information Systems?, Rebecca Berthelsen, Cherileigh L. Chandler, Lauren Dean, Mark Keith, Ryan M. Schuetzle, Degan Kettles, Greg Anderson

Faculty Publications

The underrepresentation of women in STEM fields, including information systems (IS), is an ongoing issue that warrants our efforts to understand why a gender gap exists in this domain and what can be done to mitigate it. Prior research shows that women often have lower levels of self-efficacy than men regarding information systems tasks, which may explain the discrepancy between genders. In a previous study, we explored the effectiveness of a chatbot programming tutor in building self-efficacy of IS students and found that chatbot usage, which was self-reported, improved self-efficacy for all students but had a greater effect on self-efficacy …

An Integrated Model For Information Adoption & Trust In Mobile Social Commerce, Fulya Acikgoz, Abdelsalam Busalim, James Gaskin, Shahla Asadi

Faculty Publications

Despite the growing importance of mobile social commerce (ms-commerce), little research has been conducted on the effects of informational and social factors on users’ post-adoption behavior. We, therefore, build on the understanding of mobile social commerce in the UK market and how it affects users’ post-adoption behaviors. Our theoretical model leverages the information adoption model, social support theory, and social influence theory. Data was gathered from 377 ms-commerce users from the UK and analyzed via Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM). The research findings show that both informational and social factors have a positive impact on information adoption in ms-commerce apps. Furthermore, …

What Are University Students Doing With Language?: A Proportional Description Of University Student Mode And Register Use, Brett James Hashimoto

Faculty Publications

The extent to which university students read, write, speak, and listen in a range of registers is not completely understood, but such descriptions could lead to better designed curriculum for English learners. The purpose of this study is to estimate the proportions of time American university students spend reading, writing, speaking, and listening in various registers. The present study combines diary and survey techniques to describe the language use behavior for 53 university students. The results indicated that nearly half of university student language use time is spent listening (49.5 %), followed by reading (20.7 %), writing (18.2 %), and …

Teaching Positive Psychology Lessons In An Intensive English Program, Carolee Rogers, Benjamin L. Mcmurry, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

This article investigates the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in an intensive English program for non-matriculated university students. Interventions based on the PERMA model were implemented through weekly 65-minute lessons given during the first class of each week. These were followed by short daily activities during the rest of the week. Using positive psychology topics as the content, students concurrently engaged in language learning activities. Each participant was asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the semester consisting of five open-ended questions relating to the PPIs, the lessons, the activities, the topics, and how they felt the …

Development Of A Framework Of Key Internal Control And Governance Principles For Robotic Process Automation (Rpa), Marc Eulerich, Nathan Waddoups, Martin Wagener, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Although robotic process automation (RPA) usage is growing rapidly in accounting, concerns are emerging regarding the internal controls and overall governance structure surrounding RPA. To help address these concerns, we use a design science research approach and work with a Fortune 500 company to develop an RPA governance framework. The framework consists of 4 governance areas and 14 control requirements, which help maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with the use of RPA. We validate that the framework is useful and generalizable to many organizations by presenting the framework to and subsequently interviewing and surveying 84 professionals at …

Does Leaving Faith Mean Leaving Family? Longitudinal Associations Between Religious Identification And Parent-Child Relationships Across Adolescence And Emerging Adulthood, Justin J. Hendricks, Sam A. Hardy, Emily M. Taylor, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The present study investigated the parent-child relational repercussions of converting to religion, switching, or de-converting from religion. Qualitative research indicates that these religious changes may negatively affect parent-child relationship quality, however, few quantitative studies investigate this issue. Subsequently, we utilized structural equation modeling to test if changes in religious identification during adolescence and emerging adulthood predicted worse parent-child relationship quality using three waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 2,352). We found that deconversion between Waves 1–2 significantly predicted poorer parent-child relationship quality at Wave 2 and father-child relationship quality at Wave 3. Further, deconversion between …

The Naci Way: Connecting Native Groups And Teachers Through Culturally Responsive Instructional Design, Stephanie West, Heather Francis, Cally Flox, Brenda Beyal, Emily Soderborg, Jason K. Mcdonald

Faculty Publications

In 2018, the BYU ARTS Partnership Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI) was developed in response to teacher questions regarding the teaching of Native topics. Despite increased movements towards reconciliation, Native groups continue to be marginalized in Westernized educational settings. Additionally, teachers lack clear guidelines regarding the respectful teaching of Native topics. Describing the challenges we, the NACI team members, faced in our six-year journey partnering with Native groups in Utah, we outline key instructional design decisions we made and identify the culturally responsive principles that guided those decisions. We also advocate for the application of culturally responsive principles and practices …

Effects Of Cognitive And Social Demands On Linguistic Production For People With Moderate, Mild, Or No Aphasia, Tyson G. Harmon, Emily Mcdonald, Kyle Steele

Faculty Publications

Background

Most everyday communication occurs in situations where cognitive and social demands are present. These types of situations may compound language deficits for people with aphasia (PWA). An understanding of the language interference that may occur from cognitive and social demands is an important precursor for assessment and intervention that addresses everyday communication situations.

Aims

To determine how cognitively and socially demanding conditions affect micro- and macrolinguistic production for people with moderate, mild, or no aphasia during narrative discourse and to compare effects among groups.

Method

Thirty participants with mild (n = 9), moderate (n = 9), or no (n …

Speculative Practicescapes Of Learning Design And Dreaming, Eamon Costello, Jason K. Mcdonald, F. Macgilchrist, P. Jandrić, H. Carbonel, S. Crighton, A. Buch, M. A. Peters

Faculty Publications

This article addresses a serious issue that besets learning design: its over-reliance on frameworks that promise particular outcomes for individual learners that accord with pre-defined metrics. This is partly a function of the nature of learning design and devel- opment itself which is commonly seen as outcome-oriented activity that should ben- efit individual learners in specific ways. An alternative approach is adopted here which calls attention to other happenings at the heart of education, including positive emo- tions we experience that are made known through less measurable and more fleeting points of reference. Hence, we draw on sources such as …

Teacher Motivational Behaviors In A Remote Versus An In-Person Class, Mariia Shishmareva, Jennifer Bown, Teresa Bell, Dr. Wendy Baker Smemoe, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

Motivation in language learning has been studied for quite a long time. However, until recent years, the focus has been on motivation in face-to-face (FTF) learning environments. Motivation in online learning can be different due to many factors. This study compared how a language instructor used motivational strategies in a FTF vs. in a synchronous online class; and how students reacted to these motivational strategies. For these purposes the Motivational Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT) was used for observations. Results showed that while the teacher used many of the same motivational strategies in both sections, strategies in the categories social …

Who Do I Want To Be Now That I’M Here? Refugee Entrepreneurs, Identity, And Acculturation, Lisa Jones Christensen, Arielle Newman

Faculty Publications

This article focuses on a subset of refugees who engage in entrepreneurship shortly after relocating to a new host community; it explores identity-related antecedents and integration consequences of different entrepreneurship strategies in the new location. It draws from acculturation psychology and founder identity theory to argue that, post-arrival, new refugees consider (a) how to prioritize the identity associated with their former life and (b) the degree of connection they desire in the host community. For some, these preferences drive heterogeneous entrepreneurial behaviors associated with different acculturation outcomes—including marginalization, separation, integration, and assimilation. Specifically, we describe two refugee entrepreneur identity management …

The Role Of Trauma-Informed Care In Sustaining The Well-Being Of Refugee Entrepreneurs, Arielle Badger Newman, Lisa Jones Christensen

Faculty Publications

Many international aid organisations encourage refugees to engage in entrepreneurship after relocation to a new host country. Yet, this encouragement may be based on data about entrepreneurship from non-refugee populations, particularly those who do not experience the common traumas of forced relocation. This chapter addresses the topic of trauma and refugee entrepreneurship by asking the following question: How can support organisations encourage well-being (or mitigate ill-being) for entrepreneurial refugees? In doing so, we propose how organisations supporting refugee entrepreneurship can incorporate trauma-informed practices. Specifically, there are four “Rs” to being trauma-informed, which correspond to: realisation, recognition, response, and resistance to …