TNTLab

We are the Technology iN Training Laboratory, a lab of industrial/organizational psychologists dedicated to researching the Internet and related technologies as they can be used to improve both the study of work and work itself.

Too many technologies are being blindly adopted by organizations and educational institutions with little research to support those decisions. The mission of this lab is to sort the wheat from the chaff - to investigate how knowledge and skill acquisition is affected by the use of new technologies and further, to refine those technologies to improve learning outcomes. We thus operate at the intersection of several fields - industrial/organizational psychology, human resources, organizational behavior, educational psychology, educational technology, instructional design, and many others.

Our current focus is on the use of technology to improve training and education through the use of online social network sites, 3D virtual worlds (MUVEs), and other interactive web-based applications. We also study the use of the Intneret for unproctored testing, like college exams and post-training knowledge measures.

If you are considering adopting a new technology in your organization and would like us to assist you in evaluating its effectiveness, see this info or contact us directly.

Statistics Textbook Published!

Inspired partly by my success at explaining How to Compute ICCs in SPSS on my blog, and partly because I think significance testing is usually not well-understood by most students in statistics courses, I wrote a statistics textbook entitled A Step-by-Step Introduction to Statistics for Business, published by SAGE. It's a concise, one-semester introduction to the topic based around a chapter-by-chapter exploration of how small business owners can solve practical problems with statistics. It's accompanied by click-by-click video demonstrations of all skills in both SPSS and Excel, tied closely to chapter contents, plus an online random dataset generator for learners to test their computational skills (and instructors to generate problem sets!). If you'd like to teach or learn about statistics in business, I strongly recommend it!

Upcoming Presentations and Publications

Bold indicates student author and italics indicates faculty author.

Brusso, R. C. & Orvis, K. A. (in press). The impeding role of initial unrealistic goal-setting on videogame-based training performance: Identifying underpinning processes and a solution. Computers in Human Behavior.

Landers, R. N. & Goldberg, A. S. (in press). Online social media in the workplace: A conversation with employees. In M. D. Coovert & L. F. Thompson (Eds.), Psychology of Workplace Technology. New York: Routledge Academic.

Schmidt, G. B. & Landers, R. N. (in press). Solving the replication problem in psychology requires much more than a website. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice.

Bauer, K. N., Orvis, K. A., Ely, K., & Surface, E. A. (2013, May). Reexamining the construct of motivation in learning contexts: A meta-analytic path analysis. Poster to be presented at 25th Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, DC.

Landers, R. N. (2013, May). Mid-semester student feedback online: Improving your course and evaluations. Invited talk for the Old Dominion University Faculty Summer Institute, Norfolk, VA.

Recent Presentations and Publications

Landers, R. N. (2013). A step-by-step introduction to statistics for business. London: SAGE.

Brusso, R. C., Paddock, A., & Hatfield, J. (2013, April). Gamification: A new approach to serious games in training. In M.A. Lodato (Chair), R.C. Brusso (Co-Chair), & R. Wisher (Discussant), I-O’s role in emerging training technologies. Symposium presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Houston, TX.

Landers, R. N. (2013, April). Gamification: A new approach to serious games in training. In M.A. Lodato (Chair), R.C. Brusso (Co-Chair), & R. Wisher (Discussant), I-O’s role in emerging training technologies. Symposium presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Houston, TX.

Major, D. A., Orvis, K. A., Bauer, K. N., Morganson, V. J., & Henson, J. M. (2013, April). Antecedents and consequences of voluntary professional development among STEM majors. Poster to be presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Houston, TX.

Landers, R. N. (2013, March). Online instruction in higher education and organizations: Catching up and moving forward. Invited talk for Syracuse University School of Information Studies, Syracuse, NY.

Landers, R. N. (2013, March). An online social network site with gamification to encourage student collaboration, learning, mentoring, and retention. In Social Media in the Classroom. Symposium presented at the Virginia Open and Digital Learning Resources Conference, Fredericksburg, VA.

Mahan, L., Morganson, V. J., & Bauer, K. N. (2013, February). The effects of positive marginality on women in STEM majors. Poster presented at the 5th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

Brusso, R. C., Orvis, K. A., Bauer, K. N., & Tekleab, A. G. (2012). Interaction among self-efficacy, goal orientation, and unrealistic goal-setting on videogame-based training performance. Military Psychology, 24, 1-18.

Bauer, K. N., Brusso, R. C., & Orvis, K. A. (2012). Using adaptive difficulty to optimize videogame-based training performance: The moderating role of personality. Military Psychology, 24, 148-165.

Brusso, R. C., Orvis, K. A., Bauer, K. N., & Tekleab, A. G. (2012). Interaction among self-efficacy, goal orientation, and unrealistic goal-setting on videogame-based training performance. Military Psychology, 24, 1-18.

Landers, R. N. & Callan, R. C.. (2012). Training evaluation in virtual worlds: Development of a model. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 5(3), 1-20.

Biderman, M. D. & Reddock, C. M. (2012). The relationship of scale reliability and validity to respondent inconsistency. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 647-651.

Landers, R. N. & Sackett, P. R. (2012). Offsetting performance losses due to cheating in unproctored internet testing by increasing the applicant pool. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 20, 220-228.

Callan, R. C. & Landers, R. N. (2012). Learning theory. In M. R. Marvel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of New Venture Management (pp. 308-309). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Callan, R. C. & Landers, R. N. (2012). Social networks. In M. R. Marvel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of New Venture Management (pp. 423-425). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Landers, R. N. & Callan, R. C. (2012). Learning. In M. R. Marvel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of New Venture Management (pp. 305-308). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Landers, R. N. & Reddock, C. M. (2012). Psychological views. In M. R. Marvel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of New Venture Management (pp. 383-386). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Reddock, C. M. & Landers, R. N. (2012). Human resources. In M. R. Marvel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of New Venture Management (pp. 238-239). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mahan, L., Morganson, V. J., & Bauer, K. N. (2012, November). The effects of positive marginality on women in STEM majors. Poster presented at the 14th Annual Tidewater Student Research Poster Session, Newport News, VA.

Major, D. A., Orvis, K. A., Morganson, V. J., & Bauer, K. N. (2012, August). Integrating proactive personality into a SCCT model to predict professional development. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL.

Callan, R. C. & Landers, R. N. (2012, April). Effects of experience and learning control on time and learning. In T. S. Behrend (Chair), R.N. Landers (Chair), & K. Kraiger (Discussant), Building a science of learner control in training: Current perspectives.  Symposium presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA.

Landers, R. N. & Callan, R. C. (2012, April). Using social networking sites with gameification to support employee learning.  In G. Schmidt (Chair), R.N. Landers (Chair), & J. Stanton (Discussant), The impact of social media on work.  Symposium presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA.

Landers, R. N., Reddock, C. M. & Mogan, T. (2012, April). Learner control: Update and extension of Kraiger and Jerden (2007). In T. S. Behrend (Chair), R.N. Landers (Chair), & K. Kraiger (Discussant), Building a science of learner control in training: Current perspectives.  Symposium presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA.

Major, D. A., Orvis, K. A., Morganson, V. J. & Bauer, K. N. (2012, April). Testing a social cognitive career theory model of professional development. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA.

Brink, C. D. & Landers, R. N.(2012, March). Gamification: More than just goal-setting. Paper presented at the 2012 conference of the Virginia Social Science Association, Norfolk, VA.

Landers, R. N. & Callan, R. C. (2011). The seriousness of casual games: The psychology of gameification in undergraduate education and employee training. In M. Ma, A. Oikonomou, & L. C. Jain (Eds.), Serious Games and Edutainment Applications (pp. 399-424). Surrey, UK: Springer.

Weathington, B. L. & Reddock, C. M. (2011). Equity sensitivity in "fringe" benefit value and satisfaction. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 13, 44-59.

Landers, R. N., Reddock, C. M., Callan, R. C. & Cavanaugh, K. J. (2011, October). The evolving role of the Internet for employees and students. Symposium presented at the Fall 2011 conference of the Virginia Psychological Association.

Landers, R. N. (2011, August). Researching and teaching a Second Life: A tutorial on virtual worlds.  Workshop presented at the 2011 annual conference of the Academy of Management, Organizational Behavior division, San Antonio, TX.

Barton, H., Landers, R. N., Lynch, J. D., Schmidt, G. B., & Teahen, J. A. (2011, August). The future of management and social media. Panel presented at the 2011 annual conference of the Academy of Management, Organizational Behavior division, San Antonio, TX.

Landers, R. N. (2011, May). Ready to MUVE: Exploring the potential of 3D virtual worlds in recruitment, selection, training, and virtual teamwork.  Invited talk for the Human Resources Research Organization [HumRRO].

Reddock, C. M., Biderman, M. D., & Nguyen, N. T. (2011). The relationship of reliability and validity of personality tests to frame-of-reference instructions and within-person inconsistency. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 19, 119-131.

Johnson, R. C. & Landers, R. N. (2011, April). Designing training with discussion in virtual worlds: A longitudinal investigation. In R.N. Landers (Chair), T. Behrend (Chair) & J.M. Stanton (Discussant), Empirical evidence for emerging technology: MUVEs/Virtual worlds in HR. Symposium presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Landers, R. N. (2011, April). Multi-user virtual environments and virtual worlds: Definitions, demonstration and history. In R.N. Landers (Chair), T. Behrend (Chair) & J. Stanton (Discussant), Empirical evidence for emerging technology: MUVEs/Virtual worlds in HR. Symposium presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Johnson, R. C., Leffler, G. P.,  & Landers, R. N. (2011, April). Predicting dishonest online test taking behavior in unproctored internet-based testing. Poster presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Reddock, C. M. & Landers, R. N. (2011, April). Personality and synchronicity interaction predicts training performance in online discussion. Poster presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Cavanaugh, K. J. & Landers, R. N. (2011, March). Predicting job success from Facebook profiles. Paper presented at the 2011 annual conference of the Virginia Social Science Association, Norfolk, VA.

Landers, R. N., Sackett, P. R., & Tuzinski, K. A. (2011). Retesting after initial failure, coaching rumors, and warnings against faking in online personality measures for selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 202-210.

Schmidt, G.B. & Landers, R.N. (2010). Strengthening shared identity in I/O psychology through online social networks. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 3, 286-288.

Landers, R. N. (2010, October). A hands-on introduction to social media. Workshop presented at the Fall 2010 conference of the Virginia Psychological Association.

Landers, R.N. & Schmidt, G.B. (2010, August). Making and managing connections to colleagues, employees and students through online social networks. Workshop presented at the 2010 annual conference of the Academy of Management, Organizational Behavior divison, Montreal, Canada.

Schmidt, G.B., Kane, G.C., Landers, R.N., Lynch, J.D., Teahen, J.A., & VanDervort. (2010, August). Making management knowledge connections through online social networking sites. Panel presented at the 2010 annual conference of the Academy of Management, Organizational Communication and Information Systems division.

Schmidt, G. B. & Landers, R. N. (2010, August). Online social media in our professions and professional lives. Caucus presented at the 2010 annual conference of the Academy of Management, Montreal, Canada.

Landers, R.N. (2010, April). Social media is coming to psychology: What should we do now?! Invited talk for the Virginia Psychological Association.

Johnson, R.C. & Landers, R. N. (2010, March). Anonymity and agency in discussion. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Virginia Social Science Association.

Landers, R.N. (2010, March). Integrating technology into training and education: What we know and what we wish we knew. Invited talk for the ODU College of Business and Public Administration Dean's Seminar Series.