Publication Information |
Description and Links |
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| Cassandra M. McCormack, Michelle Garrison, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2024). Design of a Continuous Melatonin Monitoring System: A Needs Assessment for Direct and Indirect Users. Poster presented at SLEEP 2024.. | This poster described the development of the needs assessment protocols for direct (i.e., patient) and indirect (i.e., sleep researchers or clinicians) users of a continuous melatonin monitoring device. |
| Cassandra M. McCormack & Barrett S. Caldwell (2024). Sleep Management: The Use of Continuous Physiological Monitoring to Support Patient Self-Care. HFES Annual Conference Proceedings. | This paper identifies five core data-driven patient tasks that could be completed using a digital interface for a continuous melatonin monitoring device. It also models the information flows through the digital interface and relates those to a sleep health context-specific information processing model. This provides a basis from which to develop initial, low-fidelity wireframes for use in the patient needs assessment interviews so that the research team can get immediate feedback regarding information presentation needs and preferences, which will be critical when dealing with a novel biomarker that presents challenges to accurate, timely, and actionable information presentation to people who are not sleep experts. |
| Cassandra M. McCormack, Barrett S. Caldwell, & Michelle Garrison (2024). Supporting Sleep Health and Chronic Care Management Information for Patient Self-Care. IISE Annual Meeting. | This paper identifies and describes the interrelationships between internal and environmental factors, the circadian rhythm, melatonin cycles, and chronic condition outcomes. This serves as a foundation from which to develop needs assessments aimed at sleep researchers/clinicians and patients. |
| Lacey Davis & Barrett Caldwell (2024). Developing Adaptive Information Presentation for Spaceflight Crews and Ground Support for Human Spaceflight Beyond Low Earth Orbit. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. | |
| Cassandra M. McCormack, April Savoy, Anna Mathew, Alexis Marcum Gilmore, Elizabeth Cottingham, Amee Sangani, Barrett Caldwell, Richard J. Holden, Michael Weiner (2024). Characterizing barriers to closing cross-institutional referral loops: Workflow and information flow analysis. Applied Ergonomics. | The specialty referral process consists of primary care clinicians referring patients to specialty consultants. This care transition requires effective care coordination and health information exchange between care teams; however, breakdowns in workflow and information flow impede "closing the referral loop" and delay or prevent referrers from receiving the consultant's "visit notes," particularly in cross-institutional referrals. This study aimed to describe and map the referral process as it occurs in clinics and identify and characterize work system barriers affecting its performance. Referrers and consultants were interviewed about their perceived workflows, barriers, and clinical outcomes to inform a workflow analysis. Link to access publication |
| Lacey Davis & Barrett Caldwell (2023). Distributed Supervisory Coordination and Function Allocation Between Multi-Teams in Crewed Space Exploration with Time Delays. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2023. | Function allocation and distributed task coordination are complex challenges facing many multi-team systems. These challenges are intensified in the case of human expeditions to and exploration of Mars, due to the impact of one-way light-time communication delays that can exceed 20 minutes. Research to identify, enhance, and support new requirements for task coordination and communication include considerations to mitigate the impact of delays through improved state monitoring and crew coordination and knowledge sharing techniques. Effective coordination for human cislunar and Mars exploration operations, including servicing, assembly, and maintenance activities, require effective and adaptive function and task allocation constrained by available bandwidth and crew member workload capability. The authors describe some of their previous research and ongoing activities, including improvements to time-delayed information and data displays to support mission control and spaceflight crew member situational awareness when conducting both routine operations and real-time responses to emerging anomalies. Link to access publication |
| Randall Spain, Benjamin Goldberg, Shannon Bailey, Stephanie Fussell, Allison Bayro, Kelly Hale, Aaron Jones, Rachel Regina, Bob Thomas, Kevin Owens, Nathan Lau, Abhraneil Dam, Karen Chen, Luke Sturgeon, Monifa Vaughn-Cooke, & Nuela Chidubem Enebechi (2023). Human Factors Extended Reality Showcase. | Alternative format session at HFES 2023 Annual Meeting where Extended Reality (XR) technologies were showcased, including hands-on demonstrations. Link to access publication |
| Cassandra M. McCormack, Anna Matthew, April Savoy, Barrett S. Caldwell, & Michael Weiner (2022). Characterization and Severity Assessment of Barriers to Consultant Information Gathering in Cross-Institutional Referrals. Poster presented at HFES Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA. | |
| Cassandra M. McCormack & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Learner-Centered Design of Online Courses: A Transdisciplinary Systems Engineering Case Design. Transdisciplinary Engineering 2022, Cambridge, MA, USA. | |
| Lacey Davis & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Benefits of Transdisciplinary Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Education. Transdisciplinary Engineering 2022, Cambridge, MA, USA. | |
| Winnie Chen, Nicholas M. Houghton, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Reducing the "Fog of Uncertainty" Surrounding Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response Operations. Transdisciplinarity and the Future of Engineering. | Evaluating the initial impact of a large-scale disaster can be difficult and
misdiagnosing the breadth and severity of an event may lead to a misallocation of
response resources. During natural disaster response preparation, multiple classes of
distributional and deep uncertainty affect decision making, increasing the range of
effects influencing strategic and tactical resource allocation plans. Planning tools
for humanitarian aid and disaster response (HADR) centers must address robustness
of operations despite these "fog of uncertainty" factors, rather than calculate an
efficient point estimate. This paper addresses needs to identify and improve issues
affecting HADR response, including mechanisms to increase the robustness of
HADR plans and response capabilities. It is not necessary nor viable to eliminate all
uncertainty in response allocation decisions. Instead, an exogenous uncertainties,
policy levers, relationships, and measures (XLRM) chart would serve as a useful
decision-support tool to identify highly impactful variables which most significantly
influence uncertainty while supporting risk management and decision-making when
planning or executing a response. Furthermore, such considerations would mitigate
some of the fog of uncertainty associated with coordinating an initial response to a
disaster. The authors address changing tempo and decision / action cycles ranging
from strategic planning to tactical response in HADR centers, focusing on XLRM
examination and implementation. Link to access publication |
| V. Sinclair-Chapman, C. Chapman, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Institutional Equity with a Lean Process Improvement Lens: Developing a Robust Recruiting and Retention of URM Scholars. IISE Annual Conference 2022, Seattle, WA, USA. | |
| Mackenzie A. Richards, Antonella Campos Iannacone, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Social Justice and Equity as Operating Range: Enriching Success Pathways for Underrepresented Minority Students. IISE Annual Conference 2022, Seattle, WA, USA. | American colleges and universities are urgently addressing issues of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). This phenomenon can be modeled as a response to multiple shocks to the social and organizational environment. At the enterprise level, the goal of EDI initiatives is to support and include underrepresented minorities (URM) within the institutions by expanding organizational operating ranges and creating an environment of success. Individual students are faced with making decisions to help them increase the value of their own experience and reach success. The authors describe a project to help expand the range of " success pathways" for those individuals, especially URM undergraduate students. Identifying experiences associated with success pathways represents a value chain with three domains of success outcomes: 1) becoming a competitive candidate for job positions and career success; 2) experiencing a positive and supportive college experience; and 3) research preparation and introduction to success pathways via graduate school. It is important to track programs and pathways across a variety of STEM majors, including each domain of success outcomes, so that students are more aware of the options available to help them. This allows students to expand their own "operating range" and self-definition of success; administrators become more able to identify how to limit negative student outcomes through a systematic process evaluation. The authors discuss how decision analysis associated with EDI pathways to increase the quality of URM student experiences can help assess and improve their resilience and robustness of these students in a more just and timely manner. Link to access publication |
| Cassandra M. McCormack & Barrett S. Caldwell (2022). Creating a Novel Hypermedia Interface for an Interdisciplinary Systems Engineering Course. IISE Annual Conference 2022, Seattle, WA, USA. | Interdisciplinary systems engineering (SE) courses are characterized by challenges associated with effective content presentation and delivery. Integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives regarding systems dynamics and systems thinking requires that students understand and apply a variety of connections and relationships between those perspectives. In doing so, the students develop a "systems mindset" that is defined by the ability to identify applications of systems dynamics outside of the boundaries of the classroom context and across a range of naturally occurring and human-engineered contexts. Non-hierarchical information structures made up of networks of relationships among concepts, previously described as "hypermedia," represent both an important toolset and a cognitive challenge to supporting effective SE education. Hypermedia interfaces emphasizing non-sequential, associative links to connect text and media content can demonstrate and support the exploration of these complex, conceptual relationships. However, purely unstructured navigation through interdisciplinary SE content can impose a cognitive load that hampers, rather than facilitates, connectivist learning (especially in novices). In this paper, the authors present a novel design for a hypermedia interface that supports associative links between SE content elements through the use of thematic tags. These tags allow the user to navigate through all instances of the topic presented in both paragraph-style lecture notes and captioned videos, enabling a more holistic exploration of thematic references throughout the course content. The authors describe the development and implementation of the tagging processes, which provide further insight into the interconnectedness of an interdisciplinary, systems-based approach to the design and delivery of SE education. Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell, Siobhan M. Heiden & Michelle Jahn Holbrook (2021). Human Factors and Patient Self-Care. The Patient Factor: A Handbook on Patient Ergonomics. | This chapter addresses the human factors issues associated with patient self-care as an important set of critical activities, particularly in the domain of chronic care. Three human factors considerations can help organize understanding of self-care tasks: signal detection (recognizing important aspects of the environment for focus and effort); situation awareness (incorporating those environmental signals for recognition and projection of future task demands); and usability (performance and satisfaction with tasks and tools). Patients’ ability to increase their signal detection and situation awareness capabilities through self-care tasks represents a form of expertise development that is important in improving health outcomes. Managing chronic conditions and coordinating information among multiple clinicians is also a situation awareness and information-sharing need for patient self-care. Improving device and information usability to permit patients to more effectively detect health signals, understand their health status, and perform self-care tasks can also increase shared situation awareness between patients and clinicians. Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell (2021). Space Exploration and Astronomy Automation. Springer Handbook of Automation. | The history of automated systems operating in space environments extends approximately 75 years; practical automated tools to support astronomical observation have existed for nearly 200. Physical servomechanisms using timers and simple predeveloped rules have evolved to hardware (and, increasingly, software) capabilities with years of functioning on the Martian surface and traveling to the heliopause at the edge of interstellar space. Modern spaceflight operations represent an increasing capability to enable distributed coordination among multiple automation systems, complex communication networks, and multidisciplinary communities of scientists and engineers. This chapter addresses issues of automation and autonomy applied to software and hardware operations, as well as functions and constraints for communication, cooperation, and coordination. Examples of distributed spaceflight operations using a supervisory control paradigm include current human exploration activity, scientific communities conducting physics and planetary science study, and plans for advanced human-agent and human-human systems integration. Link to access publication |
| Shantanu Gupta, Mayur Deo, Mary E. Johnson, Brandon J. Pitts, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2021). Exploratory Study of Pilot Perceptions of Submitting Weather Reports. HFES 65th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, USA. | Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell & Michael E. Splitt (2021). GA Pilot Information and Weather Technology and the Cockpit: Fixed Wing and Rotorcraft Issues. AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum. | This paper describes multiple research activities supported through an FAA Center of Excellence, focused on reducing gaps and risks associated with general aviation pilot decision making and use of aviation weather information. Multiple sources of information uncertainty and variability affect pilot decision making, including temporal (including delays in information availability), geographical / terrain, and sensor coverage considerations comparing towered airport, unstaffed airfields, and non-airfield locations. These issues of information availability / uncertainty / variability affect general aviation fixed-wing and rotorcraft operations, and different types of rotorcraft mission operations, in different ways. Operational use of such information for pilots in the cockpit is quite distinct from deeper meteorological research or forecasting questions or information use. This paper discusses some of these questions, and provides examples of recent areas of investigation, from a perspective (and recognizing constraints) of weather information presented to pilots to support weather-related aviation environment awareness and decision making. Link to access publication |
| Daphne Fauber & Barrett S. Caldwell (2021). Combining science fiction and science fact: race for the red planet. Technology and Engineering Teacher. | The History Channel article on the Space Race explains, "Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for [the Cold War], as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and-by extension-its political-economic system." [...]since 2014 astronauts at the International Space Station have been using 3D printers to create tools they do not have readily available (Wood & Casteel, 2017). In Douglas Adam's 1979 book, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the characters place an alien called a babel fish in their ears in order to be able to understand any language. Since 2015, real-time translation apps have been available for widespread use (Wood & Casteel, 2017). Science fiction serves as a creative outlet to ponder the consequences and potential of technological innovations and inventions before they become reality. Because of this quality, the use of science fiction to provide context to design-based learning has nearly limitless applications in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms. Link to access publication |
| Cassandra M. McCormack (2021). Information Architecture and Cognitive User Experience in Distributed, Asynchronous Learning: A Case Design of a Modularized Online Systems Engineering Learning Environment. MS Thesis. | Systems engineering (SE) is an increasingly relevant domain in an increasingly interconnected world, but the demand for SE education is impeded by the challenges of effectively teaching interdisciplinary material that emphasizes the development of a mentality over specific skills. A modularized, asynchronous, distributed course configuration may provide an advantageous alternative to more traditional hybrid course designs. Online courses have been a topic in the educational field since the establishment of the internet. However, the widespread disruptions to higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the demand for and difficulty of developing deliberate and robust learning environments designs that consider a variety of traditional and non-traditional students. This thesis presents a case design of a learning environment for an interdisciplinary-focused, introductory graduate-level systems course that has previously been designed for, and taught in, a hybrid environment. The case design will emphasize the information architecture (IA) and user experience (UX) prototype design of the learning environment as informed by user-centric principles, cognitive theories and analyses, the IA literature, and existing course content. This focus on learner knowledge development ("beyond-the-screen") factors rather than the direct user interface ("at-the-screen") provides design recommendations and insights that are robust to changing user interface trends and preferences. A distribution of learners with varying backgrounds, learning needs, and goals associated with the material will be identified. These individual differences can dramatically impact the effectiveness of potential interventions, particularly when different types of learners have directly conflicting needs. Thus, the online learning environment will utilize adaptable interfaces to move away from a "one-size-fits-all" design approach. Content modularization and non-sequential, tag-based navigation were utilized to address the challenges of teaching highly interdisciplinary material. This thesis emphasizes a learning environment design that aims to teach highly interdisciplinary systems subject matter to a variety of learners with a variety of characteristics in an asynchronous, online format while making use of existing course material. Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell (2020). Eleven Years, Five Flavors: Systems Engineering Education Since IERC 2009. Proceedings of the 2020 IISE Annual Conference, Virtual Online Presentation. | This paper provides a timeline of the development of a Perspectives on Systems Engineering (PoSE) course, including integrated on-campus and online lecture delivery. Based on the original discussion of PoSE in a 2009 IERC paper, the course described four distinct approaches to SE. In addition, this paper describes associated elements of the development of a cross-disciplinary education, engagement, and research initiative at the authors institution that provided additional emphases on the development and delivery of the PoSE course as a multi-dimensional hybrid course. After 11 years and multiple offerings of the course, the current paper discusses the evolution of the course and emphasis on flavors of SE, including the elaboration of a fifth SE flavor. Descriptions of two phases of course development and delivery in both in-class and online contexts help to identify critical aspects of PoSE relevant to different learner needs and priorities. Lessons learned from multiple iterations of the PoSE course provide guidance for future versions of SE education for both traditional student and other working professional contexts. Link to access publication |
| Bruce R. Thomadsen, Peter J. Biggs, Gene A. Cardarelli, James C. H. Chu, Robert A. Cormack, Wenzheng Feng, H. Thompson Heaton II, Jessica R. Hiatt, Jonathan N. Law, Jeffery P. Limmer, Zoubir Ouhib, Sujatha Pai, Sushakumari Pillai, Michael R. Ringor, Mark J. Rivard, Timothy J. Waldron, Barrett S. Caldwell, Randall W. Holt, Tina L. Pike, Habib Safigholi, Christopher Stacey, & Frank Weigand (2020). Electronic intracavitary brachytherapy quality management based on risk analysis: The report of AAPM TG 182. Med. Phys. | Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide guidance on quality management for electronic brachytherapy.
Materials and Methods: The task group used the risk-assessment approach of Task Group 100 of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Because the quality management program for a device is intimately tied to the procedure in which it is used, the task group first designed quality interventions for intracavitary brachytherapy for both commercial electronic brachytherapy units in the setting of accelerated partial-breast irradiation. To demonstrate the methodology to extend anexisting risk analysis for a different application, the task group modified the analysis for the case ofpost-hysterectomy, vaginal cuff irradiation for one of the devices.
Results: The analysis illustrated how the TG-100 methodology can lead to interventions to reduce risks and improve quality for each unit and procedure addressed.
Conclusion: This report provides a model to guide facilities establishing a quality management program for electronic brachytherapy. Link to access publication |
| Michelle Jahn Holbrook & Barrett S. Caldwell (2019). Development of a Multi-Layer Systems Engineering Visualization for Diabetes Team Coordination. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, USA. | Systems engineering tools have proven helpful for healthcare organizations to map sociotechnical systems, particularly prior to health IT implementation. However, these systems engineering tools are limited in that they cannot easily capture the complexities of chronic care activities. The purpose of this work is to introduce Diabetes care Roles, Information Flows and Team coordination (DRIFT), a tool and visualization framework that addresses system granularity, temporal dynamics, and sociotechnical factors within a chronic care context. Task analyses, process mapping, and information flow attributes from (N=30) semi-structured interviews of diabetes care team members were synthesized in the creation of DRIFT, including recommendations for incorporation into clinical care team coordination tasks. Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell & Dawn R. Whitaker (2019). Challenges and Successes of STEM Engagement of Apollo 50th Anniversary Events for a Post-Apollo Audience. 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Washington D.C., USA. | The author has been deeply involved in education and public outreach events associated with the 50th Anniversary of NASA's Apollo missions (particularly Apollo 11, but also including Apollo 8) as a participant, planner, and audience member. However, there are multiple challenges in providing public engagement opportunities for an event that is now seen, for a majority of the population, as history rather than memory. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) engagement efforts for K-12 and college campus audiences must now consider that it is not only these audiences, but their parents as well, who are too young to remember the Apollo "Moon Shot" missions of 1968-1972. However, the Apollo 11 moon landing remains a critical historical event not only for the memories of specific individuals, but from a broader cultural and social context for the general public.
The development of Apollo 11 anniversary activities also draws on the author's observational experience of the Total Solar Eclipse across the United States in August, 2017. Although STEM educators and NASA public engagement efforts (including the NASA Space Grant College and Fellowship program) spent multiple years in planning education, research, and local program activity events for the eclipse transit, public awareness cannot be said to focus as uniquely or intensely on even such a major astronomical event until relatively soon before the event. An important lesson can be drawn from such experiences that can be generalized to many STEM engagement efforts: the focus and enthusiasm for the event by STEM professionals will not likely be matched by the public until it is too late to start the planning effort. In addition, some audiences will not be aware of the specific challenges and specific STEM constraints associated with engagement efforts.
This presentation includes general discussion of STEM engagement and public outreach activities conducted by organizations such as NASA Space Grant Consortia, as well as specific efforts associated with public enthusiasm and engagement associated with the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary celebrations. Lessons learned can be applied to a variety of STEM engagement efforts, including those with growing historical perspective and reflective capabilities. By contrast, the presentation will also address future STEM engagement planning needs for additional space-related events, such as the 2021 Total Solar Eclipse. Link to access publication |
| Deepti Surabattula, Steven J. Landry, & Barrett S. Caldwell (2019). Evaluating and designing procedures in safety critical environments: a framework and taxonomy based on a critical review and synthesis. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science. | Past research in procedure following has primarily concentrated on the effect of procedure-related factors on procedure compliance and non-compliance. Non-compliance is generally considered to be uniformly negative, rather than the outcome that results from other factors. However, there is a general consensus that procedures are not designed for all situations, and that non-compliance can improve outcomes under certain situations. It is therefore important to understand procedure following based on outcomes and not only procedure compliance or non-compliance. To that end, a framework and taxonomy for understanding procedure following has been developed that enables researchers to focus on the outcome of following procedures, not simply on compliance and non-compliance. Link to access publication |
| Jordan Hill (2019). Information Requirements for Function Allocation during Mars Mission Exploration Activities. PhD Dissertation. | Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu (2019). Determining System Requirements for Human-Machine Integration in Computer Security Incident Response. PhD Dissertation. | Link to access publication |
| Michelle Jahn Holbrook (2019). A Systems Engineering Analysis of Opportunities for Pharmacists on Diabetes Care Teams. PhD Dissertation. | Diabetes is one of the most significant global healthcare challenges of the 21st century: it is estimated that one in three adults will have diabetes in the United States in the year 2050. As a result, healthcare organizations are integrating systemic changes to address the needs of expanding chronic care patient population, including shifting towards a patient-centered medical home philosophy and introducing new health information technology tools to help share the workload for diabetes care activities. Advanced educational opportunities, collaborative-practice agreements, and a shifting model towards community-based care clinics affords opportunities for pharmacy professionals to participate in a more central role on the diabetes care team.
This dissertation work explores the intersection of diabetes care coordination and health information technology (IT), with a specific focus on the potential for pharmacist involvement on the diabetes care team. Studies I and II aimed to define the existing diabetes care team as a system, with identifying the specific roles, information flows, tasks, and temporal and geospatial attributes for providing effective care. Study I used a questionnaire and social network analysis tools to identify the key members of the diabetes care team. The results indicated that these team members were the primary care provider, endocrinologist, nurse, pharmacist, dietitian, and social worker. Study II used semi-structured interviews and team task analysis for thirty (N=30) diabetes care team member participants (N=5 for each category indicated in Study I). The results from Study II led to the creation of a new systems engineering analytical framework, titled Diabetes care Roles Information Flows and Team Coordination (DRIFT). This framework expanded existing chronic care and healthcare systems engineering frameworks through the inclusion of granularity, temporal, and sociotechnical factors in a three-dimensional systems model. Study II also provided confirmatory support for the inclusion of pharmacists for sharing more care coordination activities on diabetes care teams.
The results from studies I and II were synthesized to identify potential engineering health IT solutions to gaps in diabetes care activities. The results synthesis was the foundation of a new health IT system prototype, eVincio, developed by the author for this dissertation work. eVincio is comprised of a patient-facing mobile application and a provider-facing desktop software that worked together to help healthcare professionals visualize patient care activities via the DRIFT analytical framework. Study III was a formative usability assessment of the eVincio prototypes with six (N=6) pharmacist participants. Results revealed that eVincio could be very beneficial for helping healthcare professionals visualize patient care activities and identify gaps in care coordination, particularly for professionals who work as case managers, population health analysts, or have some aspect of quality monitoring in their role. As the eVincio system is still in a prototype stage of development, additional studies need to be conducted to determine system requirements for interoperability, evidence-based guidelines, and fulfilling end-user requirements. Link to access publication |
| Jordan R. Hill, Barrett S. Caldwell (2019). A bootstrap method for the analysis of physiological data in uncontrolled settings. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, USA. | There are difficulties associated with analyzing physiological data sets, especially those that are collected at high frequency and those obtained from uncontrolled, non-laboratory task settings. Difficulties include the fact that the data are not independent and not always normally distributed. The authors used a bootstrap ANOVA method to analyze physiological responses collected during the performance of field science deployments in a Mars exploration analog study, and to identify differences in the physiological responses by different task performers in different tasks. The method used addressed the dependence and unknown a priori distributions of the data and provided information as to whether or not the collected responses to each task were statistically significant. Despite the fact that the independence and distribution difficulties were addressed, there were still limitations to the method, which include: the reduction of the power of the analysis, the increased computational resources required, and the limitation that the method does not output p-values to support traditional human factors analyses of whether or not statistical differences exist. Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu, Robert S. Gutwiller, Barrett S. Caldwell (2019). Observing Cyber Security Incident Response: Qualitative Themes from Field Research. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, USA. | Cyber security increasingly focuses on the challenges faced by network defenders. Cultural and security driven sentiments about external observation, as well as publication concerns, limit the ability of researchers to understand the context surrounding incident response. Context awareness is crucial to inform design and engineering. Furthermore, these perspectives can be heavily influenced by the targeted sector or industry of the research. Together, a lack of broad contextual understanding may be biasing approaches to improving operations, and driving faulty assumptions in cyber teams. A qualitative field study was conducted in three computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs) and included perspectives of government, academia, and private sector teams. Themes emerged and provide insights across multiple aspects of incident response, including information sharing, organization, learning, and automation. The need to focus on vertical integration of issues at different levels of the incident response system is also discussed. Future research will build upon these results, using them to inform technology advancement in CSIR settings. Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu, Kelly A. Sprehn, Barrett S. Caldwell (2019). Informing Hybrid System Design in Cyber Security Incident Response. HCI Conference Proceedings 2019, Orlando, FL, USA. | Computer security incident response is a complex socio-technical environment that provides first line of defense against network intrusions, but struggles to obtain and keep qualified analysts at different levels of response. Practical approaches have focused on the larger skillsets and myriad supply channels for getting more qualified candidates. Research approaches to this problem space have been limited in scope and effectiveness, and may be partially or completely removed from actual security operations environments. As low-level incident response (IR) activities move towards automation, context-based research may provide valuable insights for developing hybrid systems that can both execute IR tasks and coordinate with human analysts. This paper presents insights originating from qualitative research with the analysts who currently perform IR functions, and discusses challenges in performing contextual inquiry in this setting. This article also acts as the first in a series of papers by the authors that translate these findings to hybrid system requirements. Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu & Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Using Simulation Modeling Methods to Study Teams Doing Taskwork. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. | Link to access publication |
| Michelle A. Jahn & Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Developing Distributed Expertise Coordination Models of Diabetes Care Teams. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. | Link to access publication |
| Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Considering the Future of Land Grant Ergonomics Education. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2018 International Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. | Link to access publication |
| Siobhan M. Heiden & Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Multi-level, multi-discipline, and temporally-diverse handoffs in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare Symposium, Boston, MA, USA. | Link to access publication |
| Omar Eldardiry (2018). Improving Information Alignment and Distributed Coordination for Secure Information Supply Chains. PhD Dissertation. | Link to access publication |
| Siobhan Heiden (2018). Information and coordination for tracking TBI recovery: A functional needs assessment. PhD Dissertation. | Link to access publication |
| Jordan R. Hill, Barrett S. Caldwell, Michael Downs, Michael J. Miller, Darlene S. Lim (2018). Remote Physiological Monitoring in a Mars Analog Field Setting. IIE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering. | The ability to remotely monitor physiological parameters of individuals while working in an extreme environment is useful for promoting health and safety. There is limited evidence of real-time, remote ambulatory physiological monitoring during field science tasks with readily available, Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products. The Zephyr BioHarnessTM was integrated into NASA's BASALT Mars Analog field deployment for real-time, remote physiological monitoring of extravehicular crew during tasks approximating those that will be performed during planetary exploration (field traverses and sample collection). This project was included in BASALT to assess the feasibility of using COTS physiological monitors to stream live data and develop protocols for real-time health status determination under remote networking conditions in a field geology setting. Physiological monitoring data were transmitted from a field setting to a remote monitoring site at 1 Hz resolution in 23 out of 28 simulated EVAs. Outages were generally attributed to the difficulties of implementing a field network in an environment such as the ones in which BASALT operated, rather than inherent issues with the COTS instrumentation. Results of this study indicate that this application of COTS physiological monitoring is potentially applicable to a range of field research tasks. Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu, Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Using Simulation Modeling Methods to Study Teams Doing Taskwork. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. | Traditional human factors approaches to team research are inherently limited by the time and resources required to conduct laboratory and field studies. Teams can be described as systems, which can be broken down into components, behaviors, and relationships. Simulation modeling techniques have been successfully in studying dynamic and emergent aspects of systems, including human groups, and are good candidates for team research methods. An example model described in this article acts as a feasibility test for incorporating aspects of teamwork and taskwork into computational models. Aspects of systems engineering are presented, and methods for operationalizing components are discussed. Key modeling topics, such as functionality and convergence, are highlighted. By integrating simulation methods into human factors subject areas, researchers may be able to study more diverse sets of people, apply a wide array of experimental treatments, and observe emergent behaviors of humans with less time and resources. Link to access publication |
| Megan Nyre-Yu, Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Supporting Advances in Human-Systems Coordination through Simulation of Diverse, Distributed Expertise. Systems. | Distributed expertise task environments represent a critical, but challenging, area of team performance. As teams work together to perform complex tasks, they share much information and expertise to efficiently and effectively coordinate activities. Information coordination and alignment is affected by many factors, including communication styles and distributions of domain and interaction expertise. This study was part of a series of work performed in the authors' lab to explore feasibility of using software simulation methods as a complement to other human factors methods to explore information alignment in teams. More specifically, this study aimed to operationalize specific parameters identified in group dynamics, management, and cognitive psychology literatures. Such research can provide an operationalized model that incorporates some of these key factors in information alignment and how these factors impact overall task performance of teams in complex
environments. Simulation methods were applied to explore time-based performance outcomes. Model convergence and functionality were established through a series of model-based statistical analyses, which can be later validated with supplementary field studies. Results indicate that this style of simulation modeling is feasible, and provides directions for additional examination of factors affecting team configuration, process, and performance in complex systems. Link to access publication |
| Jordan R. Hill, Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Toward Better Understanding of Function Allocation Requirements for Planetary EVA and Habitat Tasks. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. | The authors participated in a Mars planetary science research analog that included simulated extravehicular activity (EVA) and intravehicular (IV) crewmembers with delayed communications with Earth. Within the analog context, the authors considered which information streams and sources were monitored by IV crewmembers throughout the simulated EVAs. The capabilities of IV crewmember monitoring were compared to information considered critical for the successful completion of EVA on Mars, suggesting gaps for improved human-automation function allocation. The authors' findings support available literature that indicate that new mission architectures for planetary exploration mandate increased autonomy from Earth-based controllers. This autonomy will result in too many mission-critical data streams for the attentional capabilities of relatively small crew. Results of this work can inform further investigation into evolving concepts of mission operations that incorporate effective human-automation teaming to support dynamic function allocation for spaceflight exploration tasks. Link to access publication |
| Siobhan M. Heiden, Barrett S. Caldwell (2018). Considerations for developing chronic care system for traumatic brain injury based on comparisons of cancer survivorship and diabetes management care. Ergonomics. | Experts in traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation recently proposed the framing of TBI as a chronic disease rather than a discrete event. Within the framework of the Chronic Care Model (CCM), a systematic comparison of three diseases – cancer survivorship, diabetes management and TBI chronic care – was conducted regarding chronic needs and the management of those needs. In addition, comparisons of these conditions require comparative evaluations of disease management characteristics and the survivor concept. The analysis found diabetes is more established within the CCM, where care is integrated across specialists and primary care providers. No single comparison provides a full analogue for understanding the chronic care health delivery system for TBI, indicating the need for a separate model to address needs and resources for TBI survivors. The findings from this research can provide practitioners with a context to develop a robust continued care health system for TBI. Link to access publication |
| Jordan Hill (2017). Providing Real-Time Ambulatory Physiological Monitoring During Spaceflight Exploration Analog Science Tasks. MS Thesis. | Link to access publication |
| Siobhan M. Heiden, Michelle A. Jahn, Barrett S. Caldwell (2017). Expanding medication decision support in community pharmacies without sacrificing usability. Proceedings of HFES Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, USA. | Patient safety has been an area of intense attention and research across disciplines for nearly two decades, with medication safety being a key concern. Many community pharmacies have installed software programs with algorithms to detect and alert pharmacists of potentially harmful drug interactions. Despite the improvements that have been made in reducing medication errors by using these engineering interventions, there are information gaps in addressing broader contextual information related to patients’ health goals. Focusing on the role and work tasks of community pharmacists helps to address the usability issues that could arise if medication decision support tools expanded to include an increasing range of medication alerts. The authors’ goal is to improve alignment between healthcare professional needs and patient health goals, while recognizing the unique work demands and patient interaction opportunities of community pharmacists. Link to access publication |
| Elliott Williams (2017). Bridging User Research and Interface Design Through Information- Driven Conceptual Modeling. Proceedings of HFES Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, USA. | The significance of user research in usability analysis, and the role it plays in a properly-executed design process, is a well-studied aspect of human-computer interaction. Yet user research does not directly translate to the organization and architectural knowledge necessary for design. A conceptual model of information alignment and access, oriented toward modeling information flows and knowledge architecture, connects the needs identified in user research to the structure and visualization of the design. I conducted information architecture and website redesign efforts for both a small-scale university research group and a distributed STEM outreach organization. By comparing these efforts, I identify how conceptual models change in response to organization size, user needs, hierarchy, and knowledge scope. I reassert the significance of conceptual models for bridging user research to design, and identify how changes in the model signify changes in the design. Link to access publication |
| Michelle A. Jahn, Barrett S. Caldwell (2017). Community Health Integration through Pharmacy Process and Ergonomics Redesign (CHIPPER). Ergonomics. | Link to access publication |
| Siobhan M. Heiden, Richard J. Holden, Catherine A. Alder, Kunal Bodke, Malaz Boustani (2017). Human factors in mental healthcare: A work system analysis of a community-based program for older adults with depression and dementia. Applied Ergonomics. | Mental healthcare is a critical but largely unexplored application domain for human factors/ergonomics. This paper reports on a work system evaluation of a home-based dementia and depression care program for older adults, the Aging Brain Care program. The Workflow Elements Model was used to guide data collection and analysis of 59 h of observation, supplemented by key informant input. We identified four actors, 37 artifacts across seven types, ten action categories, and ten outcomes including improved health and safety. Five themes emerged regarding barriers and facilitators to care delivery in the program: the centrality of relationship building; the use of adaptive workarounds; performance of duplicate work; travel and scheduling challenges; and communication-related factors. Findings offer new insight into how mental healthcare services are delivered in a community-based program and key work-related factors shaping program outcomes. Link to access publication |