The role of action research in the development of learning networks for entrepreneurs

Developing sustainable learning networks for entrepreneurs is the core objective of the Sustainable Learning Networks in Ireland and Wales (SLNIW) project. One research team drawn from the Centre for Enterprise Development and Regional Economy at Waterford Institute of Technology and the School of Management and Business from Aberystwyth University has contributed to the understanding of how to create sustainable business learning networks for entrepreneurs. The research findings are attributed to action research by the conduction of two separate cycles in the forum of research projects. The first cycle, called Female Entrepreneurs in Ireland and Wales, produced findings that were reflected on and investigated further by the research team through the establishment of the second cycle named SLNIW. This paper discusses the two action research cycles through the action sets of planning, action, observing and reflecting and the contribution of the development of understanding and practice of networking for entrepreneurs through the production of guidelines for establishing sustainable learning networks.     

film history

Kevin Brownlow The War, the West and the Wilderness (New York; Alfred A. Knopf, 1979 – $27.50, hardcover).

Marshall Deutelbaum, "Image" on the Art and Evolution of the Film (New York: Dover Publications, 1979 – $8.95 in paper).

American Theatres of Today, Volumes I and II, by R.W. Sexton and B.F. Betts (New Yorks Architectural Book Publishing Inc., 1927 and 1930 – reprinted at $35.00 in one volume, 360 pages, hardcover).

Picture Palace Architecture in Australia by Ross Thorne (South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1976 – $9.95 in paper from Vestal).

Temples of Illusion by Roger Brett($14.95, paper).

Carol Herselle Krinsky Rockefeller Center (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978 – $17.50 hardcover/ $9.95 paper)

Richard Taylor Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany (London: Croom Helm/ New York: Barnes & Nonle, 1979—$25.00)

William Kittredge and Steren M. Krauzer, eds. Stories into Film (New York: Harper & RowP2olophon Books, 1979—price not given, paper)

Richard Dyer Stars (London: British Film Institute, 1979—E2.25, or about $5.00, paper)     

Scan Rate: A New Metric for the Analysis of Reading Behaviors in Asynchronous Computer Conferencing Environments

This article introduces a new computer conferencing metric called Scan Rate, which is a measure of students' and instructors' online reading speed. The term “scan” refers to the practice of either skimming through a message at an unusually rapid pace or reading a message partially and then stopping before the end is reached. It is proposed that the Scan Rate metric offers a useful way of monitoring how thoroughly students attend to the messages they read. Four analyses illustrate the utility of the metric. These reveal that (1) scan rates increase with message size, (2) students are more likely to scan the messages of their peers than messages written by their instructor, (3) students engage in scanning practices more frequently than instructors, and (4) scan rates are partially a function of class size and class configuration.     

Using psychological constructs from the MUSIC Model of Motivation to predict students’ science identification and career goals: results from the U.S. and Iceland

ABSTRACT

We investigated students’ perceptions related to psychological constructs in their science classes and the influence of these perceptions on their science identification and science career goals. Participants included 575 middle school students from two countries (334 students in the U.S. and 241 students in Iceland). Students completed a self-report questionnaire that included items from several measures. We conducted correlational analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. Students’ class perceptions (i.e. empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) were significantly correlated with their science identification, which was correlated positively with their science career goals. Combining students’ science class perceptions, science identification, and career goals into one model, we documented that the U.S. and Icelandic samples fit the data reasonably well. However, not all of the hypothesised paths were statistically significant. For example, only students’ perceptions of usefulness (for the U.S. and Icelandic students) and success (for the U.S. students only) significantly predicted students’ career goals in the full model. Theoretically, our findings are consistent with results from samples of university engineering students, yet different in some ways. Our results provide evidence for the theoretical relationships between students’ perceptions of science classes and their career goals.     

“Why Aren’t You a Sassy Little Thing”: The Effects of Robot-Enacted Guilt Trips on Credibility and Consensus in a Negotiation

Robots are becoming increasingly popular in social applications and have demonstrated effectiveness in a variety of contexts such as education, health, task management, and other complex cooperative roles. The purpose of this study was to examine human–robot interaction in a nonassistive environment: a negotiation scenario. Specifically, the authors examined what effect message appeals (guilt trip, no guilt trip) and robot agency (principal, agent) had on the negotiation outcomes and perceptions of credibility. Results indicated a significant main effect of agency and an interaction effect between agency and guilt messaging on perceptions of robot credibility such that participants rated a robot agent employing no guilt trips as more credible than one negotiating as principal or one utilizing guilt trips. Neither guilt nor agency had a significant effect on the overall concession of the negotiation task.     

Leaving Development Behind and Beginning Pilgrimage

This article reframes our understanding of growth among religious educators. I begin by reviewing and critiquing the perspective of growth as couched in the language and practice of human developmental psychological theories. As an alternative, I propose the language and practice of pilgrimage as way of understanding growth in the context of religious communities of faith.