Browsing by Author "Artis, Sharnnia"

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    The Effects of Age, Computer Self-Efficacy, and the Design of Web-Based Training on Computer Task Performance
    Artis, Sharnnia (Virginia Tech, 2005-03-18)
    By the year 2020, it is projected that 30% of the United States population will be comprised of people age 65 and older (Administration on Aging, 2004). Individuals over age 65 will continue to constitute a larger proportion of the total population because people are living longer and healthier lives. With older adults living longer, this senior population leads very active lives and often has great interest in modern technology such as the Internet (Nielsen, 2002). Given the use of computers in the workplace and homes and the increase in the number of older adults in the next 20 years, the use of computers by older adults is a significant issue that should be addressed (Czaja, 1996). Computer tasks involve cognitive skills that may be challenging for older adults. Most of the literature suggests that cognitive skills decline as individuals age (Baddeley, 1981; Foos, 1989; Salthouse, 1996; Welford, 1985). Decrements in working memory could place older adults at a disadvantage when performing computer-interactive tasks. To increase the success of older workers' performance with computer technology, web-based training programs designed to accommodate age-related cognitive declines may be an effective avenue to deliver computer training to younger and older adults. The objectives of this study were to explore computer self-efficacy differences between younger adults (18-24 years old) and older adults (65 and older) and to determine if the design of a web-based training system affects individual performance when completing a computer task. Four hypotheses were tested in this study: older adult-centered web-based training program would yield better performance for both younger and older adults; older adults would have lower computer self-efficacy than younger adults; participants with higher computer self-efficacy would perform better on a computer task; and participants with higher usability ratings would perform better on the computer task. Results of the study did not directly support any of the hypotheses. However, age-related differences were evident in training time, task completion time, performance score, and usability ratings. The older adult participants had longer training and task completion times, lower performance scores, and higher usability ratings. Results were discussed in terms of limitations and implications of older-adult centered training programs.
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    The Effects of Perceived Organizational Support on Training and Safety in Latino and Non-Latino Construction Workers
    Artis, Sharnnia (Virginia Tech, 2007-07-20)
    Workplace safety, if not managed appropriately, can result in human and economic tolls. The need to establish and maintain a safe working environment has probably never been more important. Despite a mounting emphasis on safe work practices, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a total of 5,702 fatalities in the United States in 2005. Among these fatalities, Latino workers, defined as both foreign-born and native-born (U.S.-born) workers of Latino ethnicity (BLS, 2006; Dong and Platner, 2004), accounted for 16% of those fatalities (BLS, 2006). Researchers are increasingly acknowledging that organizational factors are important in workplace safety (Hofmann, Jacobs, and Landy, 1995; Hurst, Bellamy, Geyer, and Ashley, 1991). However, there is a lack of cross-cultural comparison in this area. With the continuing increase in Latino construction workers and the level of injuries and fatalities, little attention has focused on the comparison of employment relationships between Latino and non-Latino construction workers and their supervisors and work environment. Therefore, this research endeavor used social exchange theory to examine the role of organizational factors in small construction firms to help explain why Latino workers have a disproportionate number of construction casualties compared to their non-Latino counterparts and to design a safety training program to help reduce the number of injuries, accidents, and fatalities in the workplace. The results of this is research endeavor demonstrated that both Latino and non-Latino and Latino groups had relatively equal perceptions of organizational support and distributive justice implying that Latinos and Latinos have identical support needs or that the construction firms' practices meet the support the workers need regardless of ethnicity. In addition, the study found ethnic group differences for safety climate, safety behavior, and cultural dimensions, which may contribute to the disproportionate number of fatalities for Latino workers. After uncovering group differences, this study tested the affect of training on perceived organizational support, distributive justice, safety climate, and safety behavior. This research demonstrated that providing training, of any type, as a source of perceived organizational support increases workers' perception of organizational support. Additionally, the study concluded that embedded sources of perceived organizational support in the training program increase workers' perceptions of distributive justice and safety climate. As a result, guidelines to improve workers' perception of organizational support and safety climate were created. Since high perceptions of safety climate are linked to less risky safety behaviors, embedding perceived organizational support into training programs can have an indirect affect on the workers' safety behavior. For that reason, improving the safety behavior of workers and the workers' perception of a safe work environment can lead to reduced accidents, injuries, and fatalities in the construction industry.
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    The Pact: A framework for retaining 1st year African American Engineering Men
    Waller, Tremayne; Artis, Sharnnia; Watford, Bevlee A. (American Society for Engineering Education, 2007)
    In 2001, the National Science Foundation (NSF) reported that 8.1% of the total science and engineering degrees offered at the baccalaureate level were awarded to African-Americans. In 2004, Caucasian men composed of 69.3% of the science and engineering degrees whereas African-American men accounted for 5.9%.1 African-American men are still disproportionately represented in the engineering and science fields. In order to address this need, Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering has developed The VT PACT, a retention program for first-year African- American men in engineering. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: 1) to discuss how the book titled, The Pact, written by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt was used as a framework to develop the The VT PACT and 2) to discuss the impact of The VT PACT for the 2005-2006 academic year and the 2006 fall semester.2 The researchers provide brief background on statistics for African-American men pursuing degrees in engineering, an overview of retention programs geared toward African-American men and an overview of the book, The Pact. Following the overview of The Pact, this paper explains the process used to align The Pact as a framework to set a pact among first-year African-American men in engineering. Then the paper concludes with how The VT PACT impacted the first-year African American males in engineering for the 2005-2006 academic year and the 2006 fall semester and recommendations for future VT PACT cohorts.