Communication and Information Sciences

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the quality attributes of information products from the end-users’ perspective and to measure the impact of these attributes on intention to use. An information product is defined as a highly interdependent package of information that can be digitalized and/or transmitted and distributed in digital form (e.g., a web portal, a software). The quality of an information product consists of three basic component can be derived from the information content (e.g., accuracy and applicability), the physical medium (e.g., timeliness and speed), and the service (e.g., reliability and responsiveness of the product provider). This research draws its theoretical frame from notions of quality, use motivation and intention-to-use. We propose a conceptual framework to investigate the impact of perceived quality and motivations on intention-to-use of an information product. Using a popular and general web portal (Excite.com) as an information product, we conducted an experimental study to explore the importance of 21 quality attributes and 7 motivations. We next measured the impact of perceived web portal quality and motivations on the intention-to-use of the web portal, particularly focusing on personal, information and search services. The experiment was conducted using 142 subjects. Among the 21 quality attributes which theoretically consist of web portal quality, based on what kind of services participants use, highly related quality attributes varied. When it comes to the use of the web portal for personal, information, and search services, applicability always appeared as significantly correlated. One of the most significant findings in this study is the identification of four groups of quality factors perceived by users of web portals. The factors are Content relevancy, Communication interactiveness, Information currency, and Instant gratification. This finding shreds new lights to the understanding of web portals and suggests that there are some quality attributes that are particularly relevant to web portals intention-to-use. Furthermore, social escapism motivation, information motivation, interactive control motivation, and socialization were all highly correlated to each of the following: personal, information, search, and overall intention-to-use. In this research, the use of a web portal could be considered as a social computing activity. When we considered quality factors and motivations at the same time to explain intention-to-use of web portal, social escapism motivation was identified as the main determinant of intention-to-use of the web portal. The findings of this study should help IT professionals to design, develop and deploy more effective general web portals.

Dissertation Committee: Tung Bui (Chairperson), Andrew Arno, Rebecca Knuth, Dennis Streveler, and Robert Aune

Abstract: This study investigates how culture affects initial online trust formation at the individual level. In IS research culture was often analyzed either at the national level or at the organizational level, if culture was investigated at all. Little work has been done on culture and online trust. I will attempt to link cultural constructs to the online initial trust model that was presented by McKnight in 2002. First, I will replicate McKnight’s trust model with new subjects and with new tasks, then I will attempt to integrate cultural factors into the trust model. Culture survey scales will be adopted from the 2006 Srite and Karahanna’s study.

Dr. William Remus Chair
Dr. David Ashworth Member
Dr. Kentaro Hayashi Member
Dr. Dan Wedemeyer Member
Dr. Dharm P. Bhawuk Outside Member

Abstract: Literature shows that games can provide an engaging, dynamic, and authentic learning context. Many of the studies on games in the classroom show that games can support teaching standards and outcomes; however, a need exists for research that identifies actual uses of games through the analysis of the social and cognitive affordances employed by student gamers to achieve learning. Such an understanding can inform the design of effective educational games and aid in the appropriation of commercial games for educational use. A study informed by Ethnomethodology using methods of grounded theory provided a detailed description of the use of video games for learning in educational contexts. Results show that learning occurs across multiple levels: the mastery of the computer interface, followed by the mastery of the game interface and upon which groups can achieve advanced strategy aimed at goal achievement. Learning occurs across multiple granularities: occurring either in short episodes; sequences of episodes; or as trends. Learning can be triggered by multiple cues, such as failure, game visualizations or specific representations, as well as by peers or teachers in the social environment. Students used affordances provided by the game interface and learning environment, specifically: the visual representations provided in games afford particular kinds of action; the persistent display of historical context, and present and future potentials motivated learning; specific cues grabbed student attention, focusing their efforts on new or underutilized game tasks; consistent and well organized visualizations encouraged learning; and information presented in a plurality of channels was more effective for learning.

The use of social peers in collaborative learning had several effects on the learning process: peers used strategies of disclosure and negotiation to reach shared meaning objects' purpose and to select game strategies. Peer groups served both cooperative and competitive roles: serving as an information source and to gauge performance. Implications are offered to students, educators, and game designers to better play, implement and design games for learning. A brief comparison of the findings and existing theory will be discussed, comparing results with existing theories of collaborative learning and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT).

Committee: Daniel D. Suthers (Chair), Violet Harada, Joung-Im Kim, Devan Rosen, Dan Wedemeyer, R. Kelly Aune.