Class instructors at Arizona State University monitor students’ attendance for classes in which attendance is either mandatory or encouraged. Class monitoring can be done using traditional systems such as sign sheets and roll calls. From my initial observations while attending a class which utilized a sign sheet for class attendance monitoring, I thought the process took long and was inefficient. As a result, I created an automated system that would replace the traditional systems and improve the class monitoring process. Thus, this study aims to determine whether the automated system reduced the time it takes to monitor class attendance, and whether it was efficient.
To examine the above question, the automated system was deployed to 2 classes at Arizona State University. Additionally, surveys were distributed to 2 instructors and 33 students and they were asked to respond to questions relating to class attendance and the monitoring systems which were being used alternatively with the newly-created automated system. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that use of an automated system reduced the time it takes students to mark their presence, and thus increase the time used for other class activities. The results also indicate that the design of the automated system affects the overall time it takes to monitor attendance. On this basis, it is recommended that instructors utilize an automated system to monitor class attendance. Further research is needed to study the time it takes instructors to set up different monitoring systems in order to ascertain that an automated system reduces the overall time it takes to monitor attendance compared to other traditionally used systems.
public health sphere.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were collected from 55 adults from the South Phoenix community between November 2009 and September 2010. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant permission and transcribed. Of those collected, 48 transcribed interviews were analyzed using a codebook designed by the researcher. Percent agreement evaluated inter-rater reliability.Results: Latino immigrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health quality is heavily dependent on personal responsibility and not an intrinsic attribute of a given place. Emotional contentedness and distress, both factors of mental health, are impacted by cross-cultural differences between Latino and U.S. culture systems.
Conclusions: As people’s personal perceptions of differences in health are complex concepts influenced by personal backgrounds, culture, and beliefs, attempting to demark a side of the border as ‘healthier’ than the other using personal perceptions is overly simplified and misses central concepts. Instead, exploration of individual variables impacting health allowed this study to gain a more nuanced understanding in how people determine quality of both personal and environmental health. While Latino migrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health is based on personal responsibility and choices, many nonetheless experience higher levels of contentedness and emotional health in their country of origin.