Legitimizing research, technology and innovation policies for transformative change: Combining insights from innovation systems and multi-level perspective in a comprehensive ‘failures’ framework

The recent policy debates about orientating research, technology and innovation policy towards societal challenges, rather than economic growth objectives only, call for new lines of argumentation to systematically legitimize policy interventions. While the multi-level perspective on long-term transitions has attracted quite some interest over the past years as a framework for dealing with long-term processes of transformative change, but the innovation systems approach is still the dominant perspective for devising innovation policy. Innovation systems approaches stress the importance of improving innovation capabilities of firms and the institutional settings to support them, but they are less suited for dealing with the strategic challenges of transforming systems of innovation, production and consumption, and thus with long-term challenges such as climate change or resource depletion. It is therefore suggested to consider insights from transition studies more prominently in a policy framework that is based on the innovation systems approach and the associated notion of ‘failures’. We propose a comprehensive framework that allows legitimizing and devising policies for transformative change that draws on a combination of market failures, structural system failures and transformational system failures.     

The Challenges in the Development of Graduate Programs

In order to protect the integrity of graduate degrees, the basic objectives of graduate study must be examined and interpreted in the widest sense, taking into consideration changing social conditions. This paper traces the development of graduate engineering education from World War I, with its original attachment to the established pattern of graduate study in university science departments. It considers the place of research in graduate study and the problems arising from the need for research sponsorship today. Also, attention is focused upon the classification problems arising from the large number of parttime graduate students enrolled in engineering schools today.     

The effect of recovery duration on running speed and stroke quality during intermittent training drills in elite tennis players

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the recovery duration in intermittent training drills on metabolism and coordination in sport games. Ten nationally ranked male tennis players (age 25.3+/-3.7 years, height 1.83+/-0.8 m, body mass 77.8+/-7.7 kg; mean +/- sx) participated in a passing-shot drill (baseline sprint with subsequent passing shot) that aimed to improve both starting speed and stroke quality (speed and precision). Time pressure for stroke preparation was individually adjusted by a ball-machine and corresponded to 80% of maximum running speed. In two trials (T10, T15) separated by 2 weeks, the players completed 30 strokes and sprints subdivided into 6 x 5 repetitions with a 1 min rest between series. The rest between each stroke-and-sprint lasted either 10 s (T10) or 15 s (T15). The sequence of both conditions was randomized between participants. Post-exercise blood lactate concentration was significantly elevated in T10 (9.04+/-3.06 vs 5.01+/-1.35 mmol x l(-1), P < 0.01). Running time for stroke preparation (1.405+/-0.044 vs 1.376+/-0.045 s, P < 0.05) and stroke speed (106+/-12 vs 114+/-8 km x h(-1), P < 0.05) were significantly decreased in T10, while stroke precision - that is, more target hits (P < 0.1) and fewer errors (P < 0.05) - tended to be higher. We conclude that running speed and stroke quality during intermittent tennis drills are highly dependent on the duration of recovery time. Optimization of training efficacy in sport games (e.g. combined improvement of conditional and technical skills) requires skilful fine-tuning of monitoring guidelines.     

Unbalanced 3-Group Split-Ballot Multitrait–Multimethod Design?

A common way of estimating measurement quality is the split-ballot multitrait–multimethod (SB-MTMM) approach. However, this approach leads often to non-convergence or improper solutions when using a 2-group design, whereas the 3-group design performs better. Nevertheless, the 3-group design is rarely implemented because it makes it complicated for applied researchers to use the data. Therefore, we propose to draw groups of unequal sample sizes: two larger groups and one third group as small as possible. Using Monte Carlo simulations and real data analyses, we investigate how well such a design works and which size is needed for the third group. Our results suggest that a 3-group SB-MTMM design with smaller size for the third group (reducing till 5–10%) leads to similar levels of accuracy and no large changes in the model or quality estimates.     

Rules, Right and Wrong, and Children

The article is an informal distillation of conversations from severalworkshops held with teachers over a period of several years. Discussionswere focused around examples of ordinary classroom occurrences. Teachersin the workshops analyzed incidents, some simple, some multifaceted, asexamples of the domains of social knowledge, including moral, socialconvention, and personal/psychological, which though unique, sometimesoverlap. Conversations included possible resolutions. A final section,observations and affirmations, includes a discussion of the implicationsfor a domain appropriate approach to classroom interactions betweenteachers and children.     

Examining the link between organizational democracy and employees’ moral development

While much is understood about the role of the family context and educational experiences for moral development, less attention has been devoted to the occupational context. In this research, we used Kohlberg’s approach of moral education as a framework and investigated the relationship between structurally anchored organizational democracy and employees’ moral development. Employees (N = 285) of five conventional (i.e., traditionally owned and hierarchically managed) and five democratic (i.e., collectively owned and democratically managed) enterprises participated in our study. Consistently with our theoretically derived hypotheses, the results provide initial support for the theoretical model in that employees from democratic firms scored higher on moral development than employees from conventional firms. In turn, contrary to our expectations, the socio-moral climate within organizations failed to explain variance in moral development. Theoretical implications of our findings as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Usable Past: teachers (re)playing school

This paper focuses on memory, not as a school subject with which it is still associated for many learners, but as one in which school is the subject and where the question ‘what are some of your earliest memories of playing school?’ can serve as an autobiographical prompt. In what ways do we continue to ‘play out’ early experiences of school long after we begin our teaching careers? What significance should we attach to not remembering? How can early memories of school, of teachers and of particular episodes of playing school become part of what bell hooks describes as ‘the usable past'? (hooks, 1984, Feminist Theory: from margin to centre, South End Press).     

3. Frank-Rüdiger Jach: Schulverfassung und Bürgergesellschaft in Europa

Ohne Zusammenfassung