A phenomenology of learning large: the tutorial sphere of xMOOC video lectures

The current discourse surrounding Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is powerful. Despite their rapid and widespread deployment, research has yet to confirm or refute some of the bold claims rationalizing the popularity and efficacy of these large-scale virtual learning environments. Also, MOOCs’ reputed disruptive, game-changing potential for education remains unsubstantiated. A sober counterbalance is needed, in particular, via attending to students’ everyday accounts of the complex realities of learning in these massive online courses. This article reports on an exploratory, phenomenological study of the xMOOC learning experience. Our interest was not the xMOOC experience of students in general, but in its singular, lived particularities. What we discovered was a unique and intimate tutorial sphere that seemed to develop for some xMOOC students in the context of the video lectures, an experience sometimes marked by a sense of fandom surround.     

The role of positive peer interactions and English exposure in Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills

We examined the extent to which positive interactions with peers and the amount of English exposure received from them during social interactions in the fall of preschool contributed to low-income Spanish-speaking children's (N = 107; M_age = 53 months; SD = 4.30 months; 56% boys) English vocabulary and letter-word skills in the spring (controlling for parents’ language use, family income, number of English books at home, and children's nonverbal cognitive abilities). We also examined the mediating roles of children's learning behaviors (e.g., attentiveness, independence, initiative, persistence, and participation) and English oral proficiency in the classroom. The association between positive peer interactions and English vocabulary skills was mediated by children's English oral proficiency, whereas the association between positive peer interactions and English letter-word skills was mediated by children's learning behaviors and English oral proficiency. The associations among peer English exposure and children's English vocabulary and letter-word skills were mediated by children's English oral proficiency. There was also evidence of a transactional association between positive peer interactions and children's learning behaviors and between peers’ and children's English oral proficiency. The findings highlight the importance of peer experiences in fostering Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills.     

On Our Own: Starting an Interlibrary Loan Service From Scratch

In August 2009, the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Medical Library opened its doors to students, faculty, and staff. One of the many challenges before opening the library was developing a unique and autonomous interlibrary loan service for its patrons. This article examines the decisions in choosing the best document delivery system, the management of funds, and the selection of holdings for a new medical library. Along with these decisions, there is discussion on the significance of costs, turnaround times, and challenges going forward.     

The elusive concept of innovation for Schumpeter,Marschak and the early econometricians

The modern concept of innovation is a crucial part of the analysis of capitalism as an adaptive system, and it is due to Schumpeter. Consequently, Schumpeter's role as a “prophet of innovation” has been rightly emphasized. This paper contributes to that history presenting some of the difficulties Schumpeter suffered as a formal representation of innovation was proposed by his fellow econometricians, as proved by the case of one of such dialogs, that with Jacob Marschak, at the time the director of the Cowles Commission and vice-president and then president of the Econometric Society. It is shown how Schumpeter elaborated his concepts of endogenous innovation and of industrial mutation as contrasted to the mechanical view of his fellow econometricians. Finally, the paper emphasizes the changes of the concept of randomness through the debate.     

What a Difference the Community Makes: Zero Tolerance Policy Interpretation and Implementation

The implementation of zero tolerance policies raises important questions. In this article we explore how zero tolerance policies are interpreted, implemented, and enforced differently in urban, rural, and suburban districts, and how this results in unequal numbers of expulsions and suspensions. Using a policy analysis framework, we explored how administrators from economically and culturally distinct communities developed an understanding of zero tolerance policy. In some cases, administrators modified the policy to meet the needs and culture of their districts, while in other situations, administrators adhered to the policy as written. The varying interpretations allowed some children to remain in school for particular offenses while other children were expelled immediately for similar infractions. Our data show that this policy adversely impacts a disproportionately higher number of students color in urban school districts.     

Establishment of higher education institutions and new firm entry

The presence of universities has generally been associated with technological entrepreneurship. But what is the real impact of new universities on the levels of firm creation in a region? The present paper uses policy evaluation methodologies and longitudinal data on the establishment of higher education institutions in Portuguese municipalities for the period 1992-2002 to examine its effect on entry rates of new firms in different sectors. We find that the establishment of a new university has a positive and significant effect on subsequent levels of knowledge based firm entry in municipalities, and a negative effect on the levels of entry in other sectors, such as low-tech manufacturing.     

Linking induced technological change, and environmental regulation: Evidence from patenting in the U.S. auto industry

This article uses a carefully screened patent database in automobile emission control technologies and a detailed regulatory action analysis to examine firms’ innovation in response to U.S. technology-forcing auto emissions standards enacted between 1970 and 1998. The study finds that under the performance-based technology-forcing (PBTF) auto emissions regulations, both automakers and component suppliers innovated and introduced more advanced emission control technologies for automobile applications. The study also shows that stringent PBTF regulation temporarily induced domestic U.S. firms to become more innovative than foreign firms that operated in the local U.S. market during the early phase of the regulatory regime. Findings of this research strongly imply that government intervention in the form of technology-forcing regulation can drive firms to invest in technological innovation.