Beth H. Jones

On the efficacy of smartphone security

We survey and assess undergraduate student use of smartphone security practices in 2014.We compare our results to 2011 results of the same survey instrument.Students are complacent in following appropriate security practices.Students must be made more aware of security issues and should be taught the precautions that they can take to protect their information and thwart nefarious activities Welfare effects depend on ex-ante or ex-post assumptions about quality information.Instituting training and awareness education may help curtail the complacent behavior. Perhaps no prior technology has more expediently and more ubiquitously usurped the landscape than mobile technology. Smartphones are used for social interactions, financial transactions, to increase employee productivity, and in academic pursuits. Smartphones have established omnipresence on college campuses, where students are using them for all aspects of their daily life. With such significant usage, concerns for the security of data and personal information become paramount. This study employs a survey instrument to assess undergraduate student use of smartphone security practices in 2014, and compares this behavior to results from the same survey instrument when administered in 2011. Results indicate a worrisome trend, for while more students have smartphones and a higher percentage use them for financial purposes, risky behavior continues and, in several cases, has worsened. When good security practices are not followed, their efficacy is diminished and users are left more vulnerable than ever.

An Empirical Analysis of Negotiation Teaching Methodologies Using a Negotiation Support System

This article describes an experiment that compared different methods of teaching undergraduates the fundamentals of negotiation analysis. Using student subjects, we compared three conditions: reading, lecture-only, and lecture accompanied by student use of a computerized negotiation support system (NSS). The authors examined two facets of learning: comprehension and attitude about the learning experience. Comprehension was measured with quiz scores and attitude was measured by responses on a questionnaire. Results show that comprehension was significantly better in the lecture and lecture/NSS conditions than in the reading condition (no difference in comprehension between lecture and lecture/NSS). Attitude measures show students had a more positive attitude toward the material and about the learning experience in the lecture/NSS condition than the lecture-only; in turn, the attitude of lecture-only subjects was better than the reading-only group.

Computer-Aided Negotiation for Classroom Instruction: Assessing Neural Network Potential

In an article previously published in this Journal [1], we described a computer system designed to enhance student learning in the area of dispute resolution. Working with this system, based on the concept of Problem Structure Analysis [2], students could literally see how possible settlements were affected as assumptions about negotiation situations were varired. We believe this helps students in their understanding of how decision analysis techniques can be applied in the area of negotiation. In the present article we describe an extension of that system, designed to further enhance student understanding of the potential as well as the limits of technology in negotiation. Students participated in an experiment that demonstrated how certain types of information could be useful in a negotiation situation.