Computer Sciences Commons^™

Striving To Earn More: A Survey Of Work Strategies And Tool Use Among Crowd Workers, Toni Kaplan, Susumu Saito, Kotaro Hara, Jeffrey P. Bigham

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Earning money is a primary motivation for workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk, but earning a good wage is difficult because work that pays well is not easily identified and can be time-consuming to find. We explored the strategies that both low- and high-earning workers use to find and complete tasks via a survey of 360 workers. Nearly all workers surveyed had earning money as their primary goal, and workers used many of the same tools (browser extensions and scripts) and strategies in an attempt to earn more money, regardless of earning level. However, high-earning workers used more tools, were more …

Modeling Contemporaneous Basket Sequences With Twin Networks For Next-Item Recommendation, Duc Trong Le, Hady W. Lauw, Yuan Fang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Our interactions with an application frequently leave a heterogeneous and contemporaneous trail of actions and adoptions (e.g., clicks, bookmarks, purchases). Given a sequence of a particular type (e.g., purchases)-- referred to as the target sequence, we seek to predict the next item expected to appear beyond this sequence. This task is known as next-item recommendation. We hypothesize two means for improvement. First, within each time step, a user may interact with multiple items (a basket), with potential latent associations among them. Second, predicting the next item in the target sequence may be helped by also learning from another supporting sequence …

Security Risk Tolerance In Mobile Payment: A Trade-Off Framework, Yong Chen

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Security is identified as a major barrier for consumers in adopting mobile payment. Although existing literature has incorporated security into the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance, and the Use of Technology (UTAUT) and it has investigated the way in which security affects consumers’ acceptance of mobile payment, security is a factor only in diverse research models. Studies of mobile payment that focus on security are not available. Additionally, previous studies of mobile payment are based on Direct Carrier Billing- (DCB)-based mobile payment or Near Field Communication- (NFC)-based mobile payment. The results regarding security might not be …

Optimization Of A Cyclic Express Subway Service, Hai Wang, Jiangang Jin, Jingfeng Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With rapid population growth and increasing demand for urban mobility, metropolitan areas such as Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai are increasingly dependent on public transport systems. Various strategies are proposed to improve the service quality and capacity of bus and subway systems. Express trains-i.e., trains that skip certain stations-are commonly used, because they can travel at higher speeds, potentially reduce travel time, and serve more passengers. In this paper, we study cyclic express subway service (CESS), in which express trains provide routine transport service with cyclic (periodic) station-skip patterns that can be used in daily service. We propose an exact Mixed …

On The Fintech Revolution: Interpreting The Forces Of Innovation, Disruption And Transformation In Financial Services, Peter Gomber, Robert J. Kauffman, Chris Parker, Bruce W. Weber

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Firms in the financial services industry have been faced with the dramatic and relatively recentemergence of new technology innovations, and process disruptions. The industry as a whole, and many newfintech start-ups are looking for new pathways to successful business models, the creation of enhanced customerexperience, and new approaches that result in services transformation. Industry and academic observers believethis to be more of a revolution than a set of less impactful changes, with financial services as a whole due formajor improvements in efficiency, in customer centricity and informedness. The long-standing dominance ofleading firms that are not able to figure out how …

Towards Easy Comparison Of Local Businesses Using Online Reviews, Yong Wang, Hammad Haleem, Conglei Shi, Yanhong Wu, Xun Zhao, Siwei Fu, Huamin Qu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the rapid development of e-commerce, there is an increasing number of online review websites, such as Yelp, to help customers make better purchase decisions. Viewing online reviews, including the rating score and text comments by other customers, and conducting a comparison between different businesses are the key to making an optimal decision. However, due to the massive amount of online reviews, the potential difference of user rating standards, and the significant variance of review time, length, details and quality, it is difficult for customers to achieve a quick and comprehensive comparison. In this paper, we present E-Comp, a carefully-designed …

A Proposal For A Decentralized Liquidity Savings Mechanism With Side Payments, Adam Fugal, Rodney Garratt, Zhiling Guo, Dave Hudson

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In most countries, the central bank provides the medium to physically settle the smallest payments (cash) and the means to electronically settle the largest payments, which typically are wholesale payments between banks. For the latter purpose the central bank usually operates a system through which banks can settle payments in central bank money. Historically, interbank payments were settled via (end of day) netting systems, but as volumes and values increased central banks became worried about the risks inherent in deferred net settlement systems, so most central banks opted for the implementation of a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system. With …

The Wider Impact Of A National Cryptocurrency, Dennis Ng, Paul Griffin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study looks at the impact of a national cryptocurrency on the payment landscape in the midst of the rise of globalpublic cryptocurrencies and interest from central banks in a possible national cryptocurrency. The impacts are analysed for consumers, merchants, banks,payment providers, international money transfer operators and central banks.The study analyses the pros and cons for each player with an overall impactranking. There is a particular emphasis on central banks as they hold key regulatory oversight for economic and financial matters affecting a country.Whilst finding that there is an overall benefit, there are also significant risks. A sandbox approach is …

Reserved Optimisation: Handling Incident Priorities In Emergency Response Systems, Muralidhar Konda, Supriyo Ghosh, Pradeep Varakantham

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Emergency (medical, fire or criminal) Management Systems(EMSs) are crucial for ensuring public safety and security. Typically in many cities, less than 20% of the cases received by EMSs belong to the extremely serious category and require immediate help. Rest of the incidents typically are less serious and thereby allow more flexibility in response time. Therefore, for efficient management of EMS requests, several EMSs now categorise an incoming emergency request into apriority level based on well studied “triaging” methods. Leading research on optimising emergency response has either focussed on data-driven models for settings with homogenous incidents or on generic heuristics (that …

Virtual Smarts - Optimizing The Coalescing Of People For Collective Action Within Urban Communities, Stephen Thomas Ricken

Dissertations

Despite the importance of individuals coming together for social group-activities (e.g., pick-up volleyball), the process by which such groups coalesce is poorly understood, and as a consequence is poorly supported by technology. This is despite the emergence of Event-Based Social Network (EBSN) technologies that are specifically designed to assist group coalescing for social activities. Existing theories focus on group development in terms of norms and types, rather than the processes involved in initial group coalescence. This dissertation addresses this gap in the literature through four studies focusing on understanding the coalescing process for interest-based group activities within urban environments and …

Epoca House: The Implementation Strategy, Courtney Thomas, Yaffa Fain, Shuxiao Teng, Mingjun Xie

School of Professional Studies

This capstone report provides a written strategic implementation plan for EPOCA House. EPOCA, Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement, is a non-profit dedicated to creating better resources and opportunities for prisoners and ex-prisoners in Worcester. The organization’s most recent initiative, EPOCA House, is a transitional facility that will provide reentry services and temporary housing to ex-offenders in and around the Worcester area. Recently, Massachusetts passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill that will dramatically reduce the number of people being incarcerated; however, little attention is focused on what will happen to individuals after they leave prison. At the same …

A Guide For Hiring Mature Employees At Ascentria, Binghe Change, Calleigh Leach, Elsie Lu, Hongquiang You, Mengge Wang, Nina Mariotti

School of Professional Studies

This paper will explore existing literature on aspects of an intergenerational workplace in a nonprofit organization and provide recommendations for recruiting and retaining older employees for a human service organization, Ascentria Care Alliance, in Worcester, MA. The paper will review research on trends in the nonprofit industry, a comprehensive breakdown of generational workplace values, reasons people are returning to work and effective marketing strategies that appeal to older generations. Marketing strategies specifically will explore best practices for website design, social media usage, and job descriptions. Additionally, this paper will research case studies of nonprofits with successful intergenerational workforce initiatives, as …

Clear The Air: Moving Towards A More Supportive, Welcoming, Tobacco-Free Clark University, Edward Aroko, Simon Elliot, Jackson Espe, Donovan Smith, Michael Spanos

School of Professional Studies

The deleterious health effects of the consumption of tobacco products, especially for youth, have been documented thoroughly and are nearly universally recognized. Numerous federal, state, and local regulations, coupled with health education and tobacco cessation initiatives have been launched to address these effects. Although these pushes have done much to reduce the rates of preventable health conditions and death due to the usage of tobacco, there remains much work to be done at the local level to discourage and disrupt patterns of substance use and abuse. The mission of Clark Clear the Air is to propose various and creative ways …

Inbound Marketing, Hasini Assiriyage, Isabelle Zoeckler, Emmanuel Aghado, Kefu Bu, Xiouyu Jiang, Rajesh Kamble, Yan Wang

School of Professional Studies

This study looks into inbound marketing practice through the process of secondary research. This insight on best practices and market examples have been employed in order to identify the benefits of Inbound Marketing for the School of Professional Studies at Clark University. Through the research, this team has consolidated a number of recommendations for the SPS marketing strategies moving forward. A focus has been placed on identifying solutions, which were effective and financially feasible. The primary solutions are internally sourced; with a future long term recommendation of seeking advice from a third party firm to automate the process.

Adult Learners: A Targeted Marketing Approach, Sarah Baldelli, Camilo Botero, Camille Ferreol, Caleb Horton, Xinyue Ma, Stefan Sprinkmoller

School of Professional Studies

The development of the Adult Learner Capstone Project started with a focus and need to learn more about affinity groups in the Worcester area in order to reach the potential adult learner demographic. Although some partnerships already existed, the Director of Marketing and Communications for Graduate Admissions, Tara Probeck, yearned to explore the potential partnerships and alternative uses of professional organizations to market to the current working professionals. From this idea, our capstone project was introduced in hopes of establishing a comprehensive and exhaustive list of potential organizational partnerships, specific for the School of Professional Studies.

My Choice Greens, Alina Zulfikarova, Amelia Mohr, Hesi Zhang, Ruiqi Huang, Sean Tatar, Yuhao Zhou, Zijun Zhou

School of Professional Studies

My Choice Programs for Independent Living is a nonprofit in Worcester, Massachusetts that helps individuals with special needs. In 2016, My Choice Programs added a branch to their organization called My Choice Greens. My Choice Greens is committed to growing fresh produce in their hydroponic farm. The profit generated from selling their vegetables is put back into direct programming for My Choice Programs. My Choice Greens is the first hydroponic farm in Worcester, but unfortunately not many people are aware of their program. Also, since they are a small nonprofit, they do not have sufficient funding or resources to market …

Optical Heritage Museum: An Interactive Touch, Connor Guerin, Ankur Halwai, Jinzhao Liu, Qi Liu, Yangjing Wang, Yashaswini Bharti

School of Professional Studies

Optical Heritage Museum (OHM) was established in 1983 with the aim to preserve, promote and display historical artifacts of the optics industry and educate all of its vital role optics has played in societal development. Over the years, the museum has grown in its physical space along with exhibit development to engage audiences in innovative, effective methods. Clark University’s School of Professional Studies department and curator of Optical Heritage Museum, Mr. Whitney’s Whitney, have establish a collaboration that has spanned over two semesters with the goal to support and aid in improving OHM. Our capstone group was assigned the task …

Leicester Research A Study In Effective Technology In Education, Jimeshkumar Chauhan, Anna Lakomy, Li Liu, Christina Mccarthy, Scott Mccarthy, Roman Pena, Emilie Smiley

School of Professional Studies

The LPS Research Team has been tasked with researching and recommending a technology plan for a new school that Leicester Public Schools is planning to build. In this paper, we present an overview of the our goals and our client’s goals, an introduction to industry trends, and discuss our findings based on research conducted via interviews with schools that have undergone similar projects. We also outline the conclusions drawn from this research and our analysis of the data we uncovered, and make specific recommendations for technology to be utilized in Leicester’s new school. Finally, we present a 3-part framework that …

Leicester Public Schools Information And Data Portal: Research And Recommendations, Yue Cen, Natalie Bonetti, Rashida Buchanan, Sathark Jain, Yuwei Wong

School of Professional Studies

The purpose of this project is to develop a strategy for the creation of a multifaceted portal to help with the organization and dissemination of information about the Leicester public school district. The functionality of this portal is to provide comparative financial, demographic, and academic data to other relative school districts in the area, both for the parents’ and for the city’s reference. It will be an examination into the best practices for creating a portal, both technological and aesthetic recommendations, as well as research into the value the publication of this data would provide for the parents of current …

Water In Worcester A Campaign For Public Fluoridation, Ryan Early, Xiao Gu, Yajing Huang, Lauren Meininger, Emma Phillips, Yao Su

School of Professional Studies

Water in Worcester: A Campaign for Public Fluoridation arose as a project from our sponsors, Chris Philbin, Vice President of Government Relations at UMass Memorial Health Care, and Joe O’Brien, former Worcester Mayor, Executive Director of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and Clark University Adjunct Professor. Our goal has been to produce resources that will support the fight for fluoridation in the City of Worcester. Fluoridation has failed to pass in Worcester on four separate occasions, but Mr. Philbin and Mr. O’Brien believe that the time has come to try again.

In order to fluoridate Worcester’s water supply, the municipal …

Canine For Disabled Kids Awareness Campaign Research And Implementation Plan, Jiamin Gu, Kendall Harcourt, Chang Liu, Kiamu Liu, Jemmie Tejada

School of Professional Studies

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) service animals are: “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities” ( ADA, 2015). On the other hand, emotional support animals are: “dogs that provide comfort and support in forms of affection and companionship for an individual suffering from various mental and emotional conditions.” In addition, an emotional support animal is not required to perform any specific tasks for a disability like service dogs are (Ibid).

The ADA limits the number of questions that can be asked to protect the privacy of utilizers. In fact, …

Life Can Change In The Blink Of An Eye Capstone, Christopher Rutigliano, Jillian Elalaoui, Kristin Humphrey, Phillip Gates, Mohamed Ndjikam, Highness Meena, Adam Menard, Spencer Pickney

School of Professional Studies

Texting and driving is one of the most widespread and uncontrollable of epidemics that have arose to prominence in the 21st century. Texting and driving is now a global issue, that has left nations across the road scrambling to implement new laws and preventative measures to stunt the increasing rates of accidents and fatalities caused by texting and driving. The severity of the issue has lead to a multitude of different entities ranging from domestic and foreign governments, cell phone and car manufacturers, cell phone carriers, and insurance agencies to seek new methods to prevent texting and driving. Determining the …

A Social Media Plan For The Changemakers’ Playground, Meng Cong, Ciara Kilian, Xinling Wang, Sumanth Wilson, Chenyu Yan

School of Professional Studies

The purpose of this project was to create a social media plan for the Changemakers’ Playground campaign. The Changemakers’ Playground is a website thought up by our client, Sarah Lange, whereby ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things in their community can be celebrated for the work they are doing. Each person featured on the website, also known as a Changemaker, was interviewed by Sarah and that interview was split into three videos to be posted on the Changemakers’ Playground website throughout the week they are being featured. In short, our task was to create the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram content to …

Computer Science Minor Marketing Plan, Shannon Oryniak

Senior Honors Projects

Computer Science is one of the fastest growing industries with the highest job demand. It has allowed us to do things we’d never dream capable, and bring to life creations and projects in every field.

While it may not seem like it, computer science involves a great deal of creativity. There are thousands of different ways to code a program and billions of different uses for them. While not everyone may want to code programs for a living, I do believe having an understanding of computer science can be beneficial for any major or any career. Entrepreneurs can learn to …

Blockchain: The Backbone Of Supply Chains In Omni-Channels, Yejin Lee

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

From the financial industry to the healthcare industry, many use cases for blockchain have been explored and adopted. However, unlike most industries, the retail industry has yet to fully explore blockchain’s capabilities, for the industry’s priority is in improving its practices first. One of its practices in the works is omni-channels, which face struggles of its own, that oftentimes result from supply chain inefficiencies. This paper will utilize already explored blockchain potentials as a guide to explore and introduce new potentials in blockchain for supply chain in omni-channels.

Ai: Augmentation, More So Than Automation, Steven M. Miller

Asian Management Insights

The take-up of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled systems in organisations is expanding rapidly. Integrating AI-enabled automation with people into workplace processes and societal systems is a complex and evolving challenge. The articles takes a managerial perspective on how firms can effectively deploy human minds and intelligent machines in the workplace.

Applications Of Varying Leadership Structures For Software Engineering Teams, Elliot Sandfort

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis explores the similarities and differences between applications of managing software engineering teams in Design Studio and the state of the practice. Information about the leadership structure of Design Studio teams was gathered over 3 semesters of Design Studio experiences with two companies: Hudl and TD Ameritrade. Information about leadership concepts in the state of the practice was gathered from experiences and observations with three different companies: Hudl, Garmin, and TD Ameritrade. From these experiences and observations, it can be concluded that the leadership structure of Design Studio is valuable as a student learning experience, and with proper consideration …

Budgeting In Student Life: An Educational Website, Heather Grunden

Honors Projects

An applied honors project in the form of a website prototype. The purpose of this website is to introduce college students to the concept of budgeting and to teach them the core steps of creating their own budget, since many existing budgeting applications are pay-to-use, and the free options tend to have little to no instruction.

Use Of The Proof-Of-Stake Algorithm For Distributed Consensus In Blockchain Protocol For Cryptocurrency, Spencer J. Hosack

Honors Scholar Theses

Recent attention to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has opened investors and the public to the realm of digital currency. Greater exposure around the world has led to a frenzy of entry into the market and a test into the long-term feasibility of Bitcoin being able to remain a functioning peer-to-peer (P2P), decentralized currency. Its main structure is supported by the Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocol in which users can elect to participate in determining transaction approval and ensuring an honest blockchain. This system relies on elected users to expend computational power and energy to solve puzzles to prove the accuracy of the …

Blockchain: Technical Review, Evan D. Poff

Marriott Student Review

This review of blockchain technology accompanies the article "Strategic Implications of Blockchain."