It doesn’t matter,but: examining the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace

This study reports an intervention to initiate environmental learning and facilitate pro-environmental behaviour. The purpose was to examine the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace, more specifically the evaluation of learning outcome and behaviour change. Using a quasi-experimental design, the empirical study was conducted among employees working at a university campus. For the experimental treatments, ambient learning display prototypes were varied on two design dimensions, namely representational fidelity and notification level. The results do not provide clear evidence that the design of the displays influences learning outcome or that the displays lead to pro-environmental behaviour change. Nevertheless, the sole deployment of the display prototypes eased the comprehension of the information provided and lowered the need for additional information. Thus, ambient learning displays provide a promising framework in the context of environmental learning and beyond.     

Knowledge diversity and team creativity: How hobbyists beat professional designers in creating novel board games

This study adds to the literature on household sector (HHS) innovation by investigating how user and professional designer teams differ in their ability to translate knowledge diversity into collective creative output. We test our hypotheses on a unique data set of more than 5,000 board game design projects conducted by either teams of professional game designers or by hobbyist (user) designers. Our study lends support for the notion that knowledge diversity is a double-edged sword that has opposing effects on the two dimensions of team creativity, novelty and usefulness. We argue and find that teams composed of self-rewarded users in the household sector are better able than teams of professionals to translate the informational benefits of knowledge diversity into novel concepts and game designs. Finally, we find that user teams are in general more likely to create truly creative (i.e. novel and useful) game designs. This particular result emphasizes the relevance of research on HHS innovation and shows that user designers from the HHS are able to conduct collective development work more effectively than teams of professional designers.     

Sources of spillovers for imitation and innovation

We estimate the effect of R&D spillovers on sales realized by products new to the firm (imitation) and new to the market (innovation). It turns out that spillovers from rivals lead to more imitation, while input from customers and research institutions enhance original innovation.     

Konsistenzerhaltung von Fensterinhalten in Software-Entwicklungsumgebungen

Zusammenfassung.   Moderne Software-Entwicklungsumgebungen arbeiten mit einer Vielzahl von Editoren und Anzeigewerkzeugen, wobei der Informationsgehalt mehrerer Fenster überlappen kann. Wenn nun irgendein Werkzeug Dokumente ?ndert, müssen alle betroffenen Anzeigen korrigiert werden. Hierzu werden heute in mehrbenutzerf?higen, verteilten Software-Entwicklungsumgebungen überwiegend Kommunikationssysteme wie z.B. ToolTalk™ eingesetzt. Diese verursachen einen relativ hohen Programmier- und Laufzeitaufwand und sind insofern unsicher, als Anzeigewerkzeuge nicht von allen Ver?nderungen an den Daten informiert werden, u.a. von ?nderungen durch nicht integrierte Werkzeuge. Dieses Papier stellt einen Benachrichtigungsmechanismus für Software-Entwicklungsumgebungen vor, der effizient, leicht benutzbar und sicher ist, sowie seine Implementierung im Objektmanagementsystem H-PCTE. Eingegangen am 24. Dezember 1996 / Angenommen am 19. September 1997     

Taking the Future Seriously: On the Inadequacies of the Framework of Liberalism for Environmental Education

International reports on environmental policy promote 'education for sustainable development' as an instrument for realising environmental awareness, values and attitudes consistent with the liberal concept of 'sustainable development'. In this paper the ethical and political-philosophical assumptions of (education for) sustainable development will be criticised. First, it will be argued that (Rawlsian) liberal ethics cannot include obligations towards future generations. Second, the commentary focuses on the economic perspective underlying this liberal framework, its anthropocentric bias and the hierarchical distinction between public and private spheres. Third, to offer a more adequate framework for environmental education, some fruitful ideas within neo-republicanism will be examined.     

Improper use of linear reasoning: An in-depth study of the nature and the irresistibility of secondary school students' errors

Several recent ascertaining studies revealed a deep-rooted and almost irresistible tendency among 12–16-year old students to improperly apply the linear or proportional model in word problems involving lengths, areas and volumes of similar plane figures and solids. While these previous studies showed to what extent students' improper use of linear reasoning is affected by different characteristics of the task, it remained largely unclear what aspects of their knowledge base are responsible for the occurrence and strength of this phenomenon and how these aspects relate to other more general misconceptions and buggy rules identified in the literature. This paper reports an in-depth investigation by means of individual semi-standardised interviews aimed at analysing the thinking process underlying students' improper linear reasoning and how this process is affected by their mathematical conceptions, beliefs and habits. During these interviews,students' solution processes were revealed through a number of well-specified questions by the interviewer with respect to one single non-linear application problem, as well as through their reactions to subsequent kinds of cognitive conflict. The interviews provided a lot of information about the actual process of problem solving from students falling into the ‘linearity trap’ and the mechanism behind it. Although some students seem to really ‘believe’ that quantities are always linked proportionally, their improper use of linearity often results from superficial and intuitive reasoning, influenced by specific mathematical conceptions, habits and beliefs leading to a deficient modelling process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessing Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Competencies

Research in Science Education - Scientific reasoning competencies are highlighted in science education policy papers and standard documents in various countries around the world and pre-service...     

A structural equation model analyzing the relationship of student achievement motivations and personality factors in a range of academic subject-matter areas

The question of subject-specificity of achievement motivations is important, both for educational psychology, as well as for educational policy. This study contributes to the investigation of the heterogeneity in achievement motivations in the context of the expectancy-value model. Whereas existing research deals with middle and high school students and their motivations for a range of broad domains, this article focuses on university students (n = 264) and subject domains that are more congruent. We adopt an affect-extended version of the expectancy-value model. Using structural equation methods, we are able to decompose achievement motivations in generic and subject-specific components.