Convergent designs in fine fashion: An evolutionary model for stylistic innovation

In this paper we propose and test an evolutionary model of stylistic innovation, that is the change in the aesthetic and symbolic elements of products and services. Style is an increasingly relevant phenomenon in many industries and our goal is to develop a model of how styles get introduced and adopted. We build on existent literature on technological change to frame the dynamics of how style changes across time. In the model we propose, companies face periods of ferment with relevant stylistic variations and periods of convergence on a single trend—that is the stylistic convergent design versus the technologic dominant design. We identify the drivers of convergence in stylistic innovation. We test the model with a longitudinal empirical study (1984-2002) in the fine fashion industry, explaining the main differences between a stylistic and a technological evolutionary model.     

R&D priority-setting for global catastrophic risks: The case of the NASA planetary defense mission

"Mission-oriented" public research organizations invest in R&D to improve decision-making around complex policy problems from climate change to asteroid impacts, thus producing public value. However, the estimation of benefits produced by such R&D projects is notoriously difficult to predict and measure - a challenge that is magnified for global catastrophic risks (GCRs). GCRs are highly uncertain risks that may pose enormous negative consequences for humanity. This article explores how public research organizations systematically reduce key uncertainties associated with GCRs. Building off of recent literature highlighting the organizational and political factors that influence R&D priority-setting at public research organizations, this article develops an analytical framework for explaining R&D priority-setting outcomes that integrates the key stages of decision analysis with organizational and political dynamics identified in the literature. This framework is then illustrated with a case study of the NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which addresses the GCR of near-Earth object (asteroid and comet) impacts. The case study reveals how organizational and political factors interact with every stage in the R&D priority-setting process - from initial problem definition to project selection. Lastly, the article discusses the extent to which the case study can inform R&D priority-setting at other public organizations, particularly those addressing GCRs.     

复杂适应系统理论在管理领域的应用

当前管理模式面临复杂性的挑战,迫切需要实现从简单性向复杂性转变,复杂适应系统(CAS)理论对于解决复杂系统中的各种复杂问题和现象具有重要的指导意义和应用价值。本文简要介绍了CAS理论的基本思想、相关概念和研究问题的方法,就CAS理论在管理领域的应用研究进行了综述,对后续研究中应该注意的问题进行了分析和总结。     

Factors underlying students' decisions to use mobile devices in clinical settings

University policies prohibiting use of mobile devices by medical students during clinical placements are contradicted by regular use by physicians. Consequently, many students use their mobile devices, which can be beneficial for learning but may put patient privacy at risk. This study explores the reasons underlying students' decisions about using mobile devices in clinical settings. We used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design involving a questionnaire and focus groups. Qualitative data from the questionnaire and focus groups was analysed through thematic analysis. We found students were aware of the risks mobile devices posed to professionalism and medical practice. Despite prohibitions, many made individual decisions to use mobile devices because the benefits outweighed the risks. These students were influenced by an organised, strategic approach to learning and a motivation to comply with the beliefs and behaviours of their medical teams and conform to physicians' directives in order to participate in their community of practice. Many students appear to be transferring everyday use of mobile devices to clinical settings. There is a need to understand and promote aspects of learning that are enhanced by mobile devices in clinical settings, while articulating clear guidelines and boundaries compatible with the professional behaviour expected of students.     

Materials-to-develop-with: The making of a makerspace

Celebrating hands-on making and technological inventiveness, the Maker Movement promotes the popularity of new makerspaces: learning environments filled with diverse materials for youth’s creative projects. Described as “constructionist learning environments,” makerspaces can be challenging to design because materials require substantial budgetary investments. Because the practical demands of space and cost often dominate decisions concerning a new makerspace, less attention is paid to how the choice of materials inadvertently limits who uses the space, how learning happens, or how materials in a space will interact and intra-act over time. Building on theories of constructionism and relational materialism to analyze and theorize learning in makerspaces, we take a case-based approach to illustrate the co-development of 3D printing materials, youth and educational programs at an out-of-school makerspace. In the process, we demonstrate the need to rethink the role of materials in human development and educational design. We introduce the concept of materials-to-develop-with to explain how objects can be internalized and drive the development of spaces, people and learning opportunities.     

Developing ‘active citizens’: Arts Award,creativity and impact

Creativity has become the new watchword in UK academic and policy circles. Within this context, policy discussions about the arts and their impact emphasise economic benefits over educational value, drawing clear distinctions between quantifiable or ‘hard’ measures of impact and those described as ‘soft’, less tangible and lacking a strong evidence base. Departing from the binary logics often underpinning notions of arts impacts, this article is novel in exploring the entwined relationship between impacts seen as ‘hard’ and ‘soft’. We draw on research examining the links between arts education and young people's future trajectories and use the concept of ‘active citizenship’ to show how informal, softer skills fostered through creative learning are an important part of citizenship-making for some young people. Participants’ accounts show how improvements in soft skills can give young people opportunities for agency, which shape progression pathways leading to measurable change. This finding is directly relevant in the context of evaluations of arts impacts in the UK and abroad, and should encourage further examination of the impact of creative learning on transfer of skills as well as policy developments in this area.     

Quantifying Qualitative Scholarship: A Fool’s Errand or a Methodological Necessity?

This paper describes our efforts to systematically generate knowledge from ethnographic and other qualitative scholarship as a way of bridging intellectual gaps found in quantitative research. We ground this scholarly endeavor in the study of gangs, which has a lengthy history in the field of criminology, yet lacks a coherent, coordinated, and comparative understanding of gang dynamics, behavior, and impacts. We discuss the importance of acknowledging the multiple and mixed methodologies used in gang scholarship and detail the inductive, deductive, and iterative process that helped us (1) develop a comprehensive coding instrument for coding a range of qualitative works, (2) establish the instrument’s inter-rater reliability, and (3) remain cognizant and reflexive about the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, we share the critical yet informative challenges we faced throughout the project and conclude with reflections on why the project was unsuccessful in the way we originally envisioned.     

A focus on time-lapse ethnography: learning to teach

This article makes the claim that developing ethnographic work through follow-up interviews can add to our understanding of researched phenomena and explores how using concepts from Bourdieu and theories on the social construction of time strengthen the research design and add a stronger longitudinal diachronic element to data analysis. Extending an ethnographic study of learning to teach by interviewing respondents nine years after the study and after the completion of their teacher education course is shown to develop insights around the initial research findings by focusing on the temporal aspects of data. Adopting this methodological approach can develop small-scale qualitative work and contribute to an accumulation of research findings to avoid simply revisiting familiar research ground.     

The Twelve Cranial Nerves of Christmas: Mnemonics,Rhyme, and Anatomy – Seeing the Lighter Side

Anatomy, has in history, been linked to helpful ways to remember structures, branches of nerves, structures passing through foramina, etc. Scalp is even a mnemonic in itself (S kin, C onnective tissue, A poneurosis, L oose areolar tissue, P ericranium). There has been concern by some educators that using mnemonics or rhymes promotes a surface approach to learning and is unhelpful in establishing long-term and meaningful deep learning. This article argues that mnemonics and rhyme can be used, in the appropriate way, at the right time, by students as an important learning strategy. That strategy can help lay a foundation of knowledge to be developed and later built upon, or simply recall information more easily. Mnemonics, like all information that is to be recalled, is consolidated by rehearsal. In examining the neuroanatomy of learning theories, it is therefore possible to suggest that when students begin to learn an area of anatomy, such as the cranial nerves, using a mnemonic or rhyme, it can help students remember the names and facilitate the engagement of the working memory processes assisting the student to build a construct for subsequent deeper layers of knowledge. Modern approaches to anatomy education involve a myriad of learning opportunities, but educators must assess the value of each one before recommending them to students. It appears that using mnemonics and rhyme is as valid today as it has been for centuries.