Balancing the COVID-19 Disruption to Undergraduate Learning and Assessment with an Academic Student Support Package: Implications for Student Achievement and Engagement

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced emergency pivot to online teaching and assessment, an Academic Safety Net was implemented at a regional Australian university to provide academic student support. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to compare student performance between 2019 and 2020. More students withdrew from subjects in 2020, while fewer students remained enrolled but failed. While there was no overall year effect for overall student achievement, exam achievement increased and on-course assessment achievement decreased in 2020. When achievement was analysed according to an assessment task change, a year effect emerged, with the magnitude and direction of the effect dependent on the task changes. The results indicate that the enrolment component of the Academic Safety Net was an effective equity measure that enabled students an extended opportunity to self-withdraw in response to general impacts of the pandemic; while the results component protected the integrity of results awarded during the emergency pivot.

Change in occupational tasks and its implications: evidence from a task panel from 1973 to 2011 for Western Germany

The change of tasks in occupations is of interest to economic and sociological research from three perspectives. The task-based technological change approach describes tasks as the link between capital input and labor demand. In human capital theory, tasks are used to distinguish between general and specific human capital. Moreover, in institutional economics or sociology, it is argued that the specificity of occupations influences the marketability of the corresponding skills and tasks. However, data sources that illustrate task change within occupations are rare. The objective of this paper is therefore to introduce a task panel, which is created based on 16 cross-sectional surveys from between 1973 and 2011 of the German microcensus (Labor-Force-Survey), as an additional source to monitor task change. I present and discuss the harmonization method for eleven main activities that are exercised by the incumbents of the occupation within 176 occupational groups. To demonstrate the research potential of this novel data source, I develop an alternative theoretical view on the task-technology framework and classify the harmonized tasks according to their relationship to technological inventions in the third industrial (micro-electronic) revolution (technologically replaceable, technology-accompanying, technology-complementary and technologically neutral). Matching the task panel to an already existing Occupational Panel (OccPan) for Western Germany from 1976 to 2010, I can use fixed-effect regressions to show that changes of tasks within occupations correspond with theoretical expectations regarding the median wage growth of an occupation. The task panel can be matched to any data set containing a German classification of occupations from 1975, 1988 or 1992 to investigate further effects of task change on individual labor market success.

The Effect of a Concept Mapping Intervention on Shared Cognition and Adaptive Team Performance Over Time

Research has demonstrated the value of team adaptation for organizational teams. However, empirical work on interventions that teams can take to increase adaptive team performance is scarce. In response, this study proposes a concept mapping intervention as a way to increase teams’ ability to adapt following a task change. Particularly, this study examines the effect of a concept mapping intervention on team transition adaptation (the drop in performance after a change) and reacquisition adaptation (the slope of performance after the change) via its effect on task mental models and transactive memory systems. We conducted a longitudinal experimental study of 44 three-person teams working on an emergency management simulation. Findings suggest that the concept mapping intervention promotes reacquisition adaptation, task mental models, and transactive memory systems. Results also suggest that task mental models mediate the effect of the concept mapping intervention on reacquisition adaptation. A post hoc analysis suggests that the concept mapping intervention is only effective if it leads to high task mental model accuracy. Our study presents concept mapping as a practical intervention to promote shared cognition and reacquisition adaptation.

Leadership competencies of first-level military leaders

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the quality of the leadership competencies of first-level military leaders according to three behavioural dimensions: task, change and relational competencies.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) among first-level commanders (N = 89), whose leadership competencies were assessed by their subordinates (N = 1,655). The Leader Reward and Punishment Questionnaire was used to assess task competencies, the Transformational Leadership Behaviour Inventory was used to assess change competencies and the Extended Authentic Leadership Measure was used to assess relational competencies. Cluster analyses were conducted to identify the level of leadership competencies in the sample and to determine the commanders' leadership profile.FindingsThe study reveals that in terms of leadership competencies, only two competencies from task, two from change and none from the relational dimension are sufficient. In addition, the results highlight that the relational competencies of leadership are connected to each other, while task and change leadership competencies are not.Practical implicationsThe study results make it possible to work out the main principles for a leadership development programme for first-level commanders. In addition, the developed methodology makes it possible to assess the leadership competencies of individual commanders using the three-dimensional framework.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates how quality of the leadership competencies and profiles of first-level EDF commanders are determined within three behavioural dimensions: task, change and relational competencies.

The Joint Effects of Leadership Style and Magnitude of the Disruption on Team Adaptation: A Longitudinal Experiment

Here, we report a longitudinal experiment testing the combined effects of leadership style and the magnitude of the disruption on team adaptive performance over time. We hypothesized that teams led by a directive leader would outperform teams led by an empowering leader when task conditions do not change (pre-change), while teams with an empowering leader would outperform teams with a directive leader under changing task conditions (post-change), especially when task changes are high in magnitude. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a 2 (leadership: directive/empowering) x 2 (magnitude of the disruption: low/high) experiment with repeated measures of team performance before and after the change occurred. Sixty-seven three-member teams participated in a computer-based firefighting simulation. Evidence from discontinuous growth modeling partially supported our hypotheses by showing that before the task change, directively led teams outperformed teams led by an empowering leader. After the task change, however, directively led teams still outperformed teams with empowering leaders. The magnitude of the disruption had a significant main effect on team adaptive performance but did not significantly moderate the effect of leadership style. Implications for the team adaptation literature and the management of teams under complex, changing conditions are discussed.

Temporal codes of visual working memory in the human cerebral cortex

Visual working memory (vWM) is an important ability required for various cognitive tasks although its neural underpinnings remain controversial. While many studies have focused on theta (4-7 Hz) and gamma (> 30 Hz) rhythms as a substrate of vWM, here we show that temporal signals embedded in alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) bands can be a good predictor of vWM capacity. Neural activity of healthy human participants was recorded with magnetoencephalography when they performed a classical vWM task (change detection). We analyzed changes in inter-peak intervals (IPIs) of oscillatory signals along with an increase in WM load (a number of to-be-memorized items, 1-6). Results showed a load-dependent reduction of IPIs in the parietal and frontal regions, indicating that alpha/beta rhythms became faster when multiple items were stored in vWM. Furthermore, this reduction in IPIs was positively correlated with individual vWM capacity, especially in the frontal cortex. Those results indicate that vWM is represented as a change in oscillation frequency in the human cerebral cortex.

The Role of Epistemic Curiosity in Game-Based Learning: Distinguishing Skill Acquisition From Adaptation

Background Videogames are emerging as increasingly popular tools for training complex skills, in part due to their potential for improving the transfer of learning to changing demands. One caveat is that training outcomes are primarily influenced by a learner’s capability and willingness to engage in adaptive learning processes. The present study examined the role of epistemic curiosity as a predisposition for seeking information and resolving gaps in knowledge. Method Using a game-based learning environment with strong cognitive and perceptual-motor demands, we tested the effects of interest- and deprivation-type epistemic curiosity on performance during skill acquisition and adaptation to unforeseen change. A task-change paradigm and piecewise latent trajectory model disentangled the effects on performance trajectories corresponding to skill acquisition and adaptation. Results Interest-type epistemic curiosity, but not deprivation-type, was positively related to baseline performance, even after controlling for cognitive ability and videogame experience. Moreover, the positive effect of interest-type epistemic curiosity on post-change performance (i.e., adaptation) was fully mediated by pre-change performance. Discussion These findings indicate that interest-type epistemic curiosity is particularly important in the earlier phases of learning, but explains little variability in adaptive performance beyond its direct influence on performance acquired prior to change. This research speaks to the roles of individual differences in cognition and motivation during game-based learning.

The Abbreviated Vigilance Task and Its Attentional Contributors

Objective: To measure contributing attentional processes, particularly that of executive attention, to two iterations of the abbreviated vigilance task. Background: Joel Warm was at the forefront of vigilance research for decades, and resource theory is currently the dominant explanation for the vigilance decrement. The underlying mechanisms contributing to both overall performance and the decrement are only partly understood. Method: Seventy-eight participants answered questionnaires about their attentional skills and stress state, performed the Attention Network Test and two blocks of the 12-min abbreviated vigilance task, with a brief break between the two vigils during which they viewed images intended to affect performance. Changes in oxygenated hemoglobin were measured with functional near-infrared imaging. Results: Expected patterns were observed for both iterations of the abbreviated vigilance task, with performance declining after the first 2 min. Manipulations intended to evaluate whether executive processes contributed to vigilance performance failed to observe an effect. Other factors, particularly orienting and alerting attentional networks, task engagement, and subclinical ADHD symptomology were associated with performance. Significant factors for the first and second vigilance blocks were different. Conclusion: We suggest that (a) cognitive control is not a predominant factor, at least for the abbreviated vigilance task, and (b) attentional mechanisms and stress states affecting performance on the abbreviated vigilance task change over time. Application: Potential applications of this research include the use of breaks for sustained attention tasks involving high sensory load, and implications for the use of the abbreviated vigilance task as a proxy for general vigilance processes.