Dr. Sears receives a 2009 IBM Faculty Award

Date Posted: - 4/9/2009

UMBC Information Systems Department Chair, Dr. Andrew Sears, has received an IBM Faculty Award for this year. The award in the amount of $40,000 will support Dr. Sears’ research activity entitled, "Interruption recovery in an aging workforce: The role of cognitive abilities and visual cues."

Dr. Sears’ says, “Research in this area is essential so that we better understand the challenges older workers experience and develop techniques that allow these individuals to continue to be productive.” His proposed research will examine interruptions while interacting with information technologies, as they have been acknowledged as being pervasive features of modern technology that often have negative consequences.

He notes that researchers have studied the implications of interruptions, methods of identifying “interruptible moments”, and tools that can help individuals manage and recover from interruptions. While researchers acknowledge that attention, cognitive workload, and related factors are important in understanding the implications of interruptions, existing research has not addressed these issues in the context of an aging workforce. Dr. Sears further explains, “This is particularly important because, with age, individuals often experience changes in their physical, perceptual, and cognitive capabilities.”

The proposed research will investigate the relationship between cognitive status and the ability to recover from interruptions during interactions with information technologies. Simultaneously, the research will seek to identify the types of visual cues that individuals use as they recover from interruptions and continue with their original task. The outcomes will provide insights that can guide the development of new tools that will allow users of information technologies, including older adults, to better manage and recover from interruptions.