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JanFeb2014

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Wharton On the Radio PEGASUSA012 PEGASUSA012/TH I N KSTOCK; I MAG ESOU RCE /G LOW I MAG ES THE WHARTON SCHOOL of the University of Pennsylvania and Sirius XM Radio will create a 24/7 radio channel that will feature Wharton faculty and alumni, as well as business leaders, discussing a range of business topics. Programming currently in development includes "Market Update with Jeremy Siegel," a weekly analysis of the stock market; and "Launch Pad," a program on new venture creation hosted by Karl Ulrich, professor of entrepreneurship and e-commerce. Also in production are "When Things Go Wrong," in which listeners share poor customer service experiences with host Christian Terwiesch, professor of operations and information management; and "Sports Business," a behind-the-scenes look at the sports industry with host Kenneth Shropshire and Scott Rosner, who are the director and associate director, respectively, of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative. The channel, called "BusiBus ness Radio Powere Powered by the Wha Wharton School," will launch i in early 20 2014 via satelli on satellite SiriusXM channel 111. It also availwill be ava mobile able on m devices through throug the SiriusXM SiriusX Internet radio app. Site Helps Profs Find the Right Words PROFESSORS OFTEN CONVEY information to their students about everything from attendance and grading to extra credit and office hours. But no matter how often professors repeat themselves, some students inevitably don't get the message. Purdue PassNote is a free website designed to help professors find the messages most likely to get students' attention. Developed by faculty at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, the site offers a drop-down menu from which instructors select green, yellow, or red tabs to describe their level of concern regarding a specific student behavior. The site then suggests statements, which instructors can cut and paste into an email, posting, or Facebook or Twitter message to students. The statements are based on a study led by research scientist Matt Pistilli, who examined effective communication methods in education. His research indicated, for example, that sentences intended to correct student behavior should be no longer than 54 words—students tend to stop reading after that. If instructors want to improve students' work ethic, the site suggests statements such as "it is very important that you seek additional help before the next test to improve your grade." To improve attendance, it recommends a message such as "attending class each day on time can improve your chances of success." The school will refine the site as more instructors use it. "We'll be looking at which phrases get used, which ones are never used, and what the final messages look like," says Pistilli. "We'll take this information and combine it with the direct feedback we get from users to continually improve the tool." PassNote is available at purdue. edu/passnote. BizEd January/February 2014 59

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