This thesis develops a framework for studying the adoption of innovations in an industrial marketing setting. The framework relates the trait of organisational dispositional innovativeness to Rogers (1983) definition of innovativeness, time of adoption, using constructs already identified in the diffusion of innovation literature. The resulting framework is tested for four different innovations using structural equation modelling.

"Lead users" are defined as being at the leading edge of markets, and as having a high incentive to innovate. Empirical research has shown the value of lead user need and solution data to new product development processes. However, the nature of the lead user construct itself has not been studied to date. In this paper we fill this significant gap by proposing and evaluating a continuous analog to the lead user construct, which we call leading edge status (LES). We establish the validity and reliability of LES and examine the characteristics of users having high levels of this variable. We also offer a first exploration of how LES is related to traditional measures in diffusion theory such as innate innovativeness and time of adoption. We find a strong relationship and explain how users with high LES can offer a contribution to both predicting and accelerating early product adoption.

Researchers conducted focus group interviews with 54 undergraduate university students majoring in computer science (CS), computer engineering (CE), and information technology and informatics (ITI) to determine why students choose a particular information technology (IT) related major and an IT career. Results suggest that students in the study who chose IT majors and careers were influenced by positive experiences in high school, interest in computing, an aptitude for math and physics, perceived job prestige, the expectation of a good salary, the encouragement of family members, and the influence of a key individual such as a teacher or work supervisor. In the interviews, students also expressed opinions related to the job market, prospective salaries, career obstacles and rewards. This research is significant because results can possibly influence the recruitment, retention, and career preparation of potential IT workers, an employment sector that has a shortage of qualified, well-educated employees.

Defines authentic assessment and provides a table comparing authentic and traditional assessment strategies. Outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using authentic assessment techniques and provides a list of high-quality scholarly references on this topic.

Looks at the relationships between faculty use of effective educational practices and student engagement in these activities

Description: "This toolkit...is targeted primarily at those grantees who will be working with an external evaluator or conducting their own rigorous internal evaluations, but we believe anyone who is seeking to design a useful evaluation can benefit from it."

Covers basic principles of questionnaire construction as well tips for effective wording and questionnaire format.

Suggestions for the improvement of multiple-choice tests using "item analysis" statistics, frequently provided by testing software packages.

Abstract: Transformational faculty-development efforts must involve systematic, goal-directed, sustained activities that are integral to the daily work of academic community members.