Assumption-aware tools and agency; an interrogation of the primary artifacts of the program evaluation and design profession in working with complex evaluands and complex contexts

Like artisans in a professional guild, we evaluators create tools to suit our ever evolving practice. The tools we use as evaluators are the primary artifacts of our profession, reflect our practice and embody an amalgamation of paradigms and assumptions. With the increasing shifts in evaluation purposes from judging program worth to understanding how programs work, the evaluator’s role is changing to that of facilitating stakeholders in a learning process. This involves clarifying purposes and choices, as well as unearthing critical assumptions. In such a role, evaluators become major tool-users and begin to innovate with small refinements or produce completely new tools to fit a specific challenge or context.We interrogate the form and function of 12 tools used by evaluators when working with complex evaluands and complex contexts. The form is described in terms of traditional qualitative techniques and particular characteristics of the elements, use and presentation of each tool. Then the function of each tool is analyzed with respect to articulating assumptions and affecting the agency of evaluators and stakeholders in complex contexts.     

Optimal designs for additive mixture model with heteroscedastic errors

This paper presents a study of D- and A-optimality of direct sum designs for additive mixture models when the errors are heteroscedastic. Sufficient conditions are given so that D- and A-optimal designs for additive mixture models can be constructed from the D- and A-optimal designs for homogeneous models in sub-mixture systems.     

社会化网络3维用户界面设计分析与研究

为了寻找三维用户界面设计策略，在归纳2维（2D）与2．5维（2．5D）用户界面包含的内容与设计策略的基础上，从3维（3D）用户界面的交互任务、信息呈现和用户搜索行为三方面进行了分析，整合了用户需求、空间行为、空间任务，创新性地构建了面向真3D空间的“需求-任务-层次模型”，为3D用户界面的构建提供了新的思路。此外，从细节层面对3D用户界面具体设计原则进行分析，提出了“信息呈现设计矩阵”，对3D用户界面设计具有一定的指导意义。     

Characterization of singular balanced fractional sm factorial designs derivable from balanced arrays with maximum number of constraints

An upper bound on the maximum number of constraints for s-symbol balanced arrays is derived. It is shown that balanced fractional s^m factorial designs derived from some balanced arrays with the maximum possible number of constraints become singular.     

“定岗双元”：STW在健雄职业技术学院的本土化探索和实践

在西方职业教育发展过程中,STW是一个理论与实践探讨的热点。在科学借鉴西方国家STW成功经验的基础上,健雄职业技术学院结合自己实际校情,就＂定岗双元＂人才培养模式进行了探索,较好地解决了高职学生从学校到工作的过渡性问题。     

多代合居模式下的卫浴空间通用设计

老年人、青年人、儿童多代合居的家庭,因生活方式的差异致使传统的卫浴空间设计显现出诸多问题。在空间规划、设施配置、氛围营造三个方面引入通用设计理念,合理设计卫浴空间使合居家庭的生活更加融洽。     

The economic design of multivariate binomial EWMA VSSI control charts

Since multi-attribute control charts have received little attention compared with multivariate variable control charts, this research is concerned with developing a new methodology to employ the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) charts for m-attribute binomial processes; the attributes being the number of nonconforming items. Moreover, since the variable sample size and sampling interval (VSSI) MEWMA charts detect small process mean shifts faster than the traditional MEWMA, an economic design of the VSSI MEWMA chart is proposed to obtain the optimum design parameters of the chart. The sample size, the sampling interval, and the warning/action limit coefficients are obtained using a genetic algorithm such that the expected total cost per hour is minimized. At the end, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out to investigate the effects of the cost and the model parameters on the solution of the economic design of the VSSI MEWMA chart.     

Measuring Sharedness of Team-Related Knowledge: Design and Validation of a Shared Mental Model Instrument

Many researchers have explored how people share and construct similar mental models in teams. They have claimed that successful team performance depends on a shared mental model of team members about task, team, equipment and situation. Most of the literature has illustrated simplified relationships between a team's mental model and their performance without a valid instrument addressing the confined and relevant constructs of a shared mental model. This paper describes the instrument development steps and the conceptual framework for factors associated with shared mental models. After development and refinement, the instrument was finalized for use to measure team-related knowledge. The final instrument consists of 42 items that are linked to the five emergent factors of shared mental models including general task and team knowledge, general task and communication skills, attitude toward teammates and task, team dynamics and interactions, and team resources and working environment.     

Usability Study of a Distance Continuing Education Website for Human Service Professionals

ABSTRACT

A usability test of a distance continuing education website for human service professionals is discussed. The website's purpose was to help meet the continuing education needs of human service professionals in a largely rural Midwestern state. The purpose of the usability evaluation was to assess the website's ease of use, efficiency, and user satisfaction in a representative sample of human service professionals. Users completed eleven basic search tasks with the site and report their impressions of the information presented. In addition, performance data including success, time on task, and efficiency were gathered. Implications of user satisfaction and performance data highlight the importance of stakeholder's involvement in the early stages of website design.