Knowledge management research & practice: visions and directions

This editorial paper outlines key directions for knowledge management research and practice. The editorial team presents the results from a small survey of academics and practitioners about the present and future of knowledge management, and the editors include their own informed views on how this journal can help promote scholarly inquiry in the field.     

Corneal relaxing incision combined with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation

Objective: To analyze the effectiveness and safety of corneal relaxing incisions (CRI) in correcting keratometric astigmatism during cataract surgery. Methods: A prospective study of two groups: control group and treatment group. A treatment group included 25 eyes of 25 patients who had combined clear corneal phacoemulsification, IOL implantation and CRI. A control group included 25 eyes of 25 patients who had clear corneal phacoemulsification and IOL implantation.Postoperative keratometric astigmatism was measured at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. Results: CRI significantly decreased keratometric astigmatism in patients with preexisting astigmatism compared with astigmatic changes in the control group. In eyes with CRI, the mean keratometric astigmatism was 0.29±0.17 D (range 0 to 0.5 D) at 1 week, 0.41±0.21 D (range 0 to 0.82 D) at 1 month, respectively reduced by 2.42 D and 2.30 D at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively (P=0.000, P=0.000), and postoperative astigmatism was stable until 6 months follow-up. The keratometric astigmatism of all patients decreased to less than 1.00 D postoperatively. Conclusions: CRI is a practical, simple, safe and effective method to reduce preexisting astigmatism during cataract surgery. A modified nomogram is proposed. The long-term effect of CRI should be investigated.     

Experienced teachers’ expectations about the potential effectiveness of spelling exercises

In order to investigate what issues might be important for experimental training research, a group of experienced remedial teachers was asked to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various spelling exercises. After addressing some general questions about spelling exercises for Dutch poor spellers, they made rankings of several sets of exercises on the basis of the expected effectiveness. The teachers had to give their responses based on their own experiences and with a specific child with poor spelling in mind. The results show that the teachers emphasize the importance of providing rules in spelling exercises, but also agree that poor spellers often have serious difficulties in applying these rules in spelling. Furthermore, the rankings show that exercises with a combination of rule-based strategies and showing the whole orthographic pattern of the word are considered to be most effective. Learning to memorize the word without showing the spelling of the word was considered to be the least effective. Surprisingly, individual characteristics of the children did not seem to have any influence on the ranking of the exercises. It is concluded that exploiting the experience and knowledge of teachers may be good, but is only the first step for further research on the effectiveness of exercises for poor spellers.     

No evidence for overshadowing or facilitation of spatial pattern learning by visual cues

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of redundant and relevant visual cues on spatial pattern learning. Rats searched for hidden food items on the tops of poles that formed a square (Experiment 1) or a checkerboard (Experiment 2) pattern. The experimental groups were trained with visual cues that specified the locations of the baited poles. All groups were tested without visual cues so that any overshadowing or facilitation of spatial pattern learning by visual cues could be detected. Spatial choices were controlled by the spatial pattern and by the visual cues in both experiments. However, there was no evidence of overshadowing or facilitation of spatial pattern learning by visual cues in either experiment. The results are consistent with the idea that the representation of the spatial pattern that guides choices is not controlled by the same learning processes as those that produce associations between visual cues and food locations.     

The initial development of spelling in Spanish: From global to analytical

During a school year, samples of words written by three groups of children of successive ages were collected. Two groups of children were in first and second year of Kindergarten (4 and 5 years of age), when alphabetic rules were not taught in a systematic way. The third group was in first year of Primary School (6 years of age), and was being taught to read and spell in a systematic way. After classifying the words written by the children, seven categories of spelling were obtained, which may represent different stages in their learning process. Their analysis showed that they are related to different types of knowledge and processes, mainly phonological ones. The results show that the development of spelling in Spanish does not qualitatively differ from that of children who learn to spell in opaque writing systems. The differences mainly involve the time it takes to learn, and the rate of acquisition.     

Students’ Perception of Change in the Singapore Education System

This paper presents the findings of a research that examines students perception of the change in the Singapore Education System and how that impacts on their satisfaction and outlook. Analysis of the data obtained through a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews shows that the more favourable the perception of change amongst students, the more favourable is their satisfaction and outlook. The implication for education leaders is that it is important to understand student perception of change because they are the ultimate beneficiary of change.     

A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Developing Knowledge and Reasoning in Science

The growth in science understanding and reasoning of 12 children is being traced through their primary school years. The paper reports findings concerning children’s growing understandings of evaporation, and their changing responses to exploration activities, that show the complexity and coherence of learning pathways. Children’s responses to identical explorations of flight, separated by two years, are used to explore the interactions between conceptual knowledge and scientific reasoning, and the manner in which they change over this time. The paper discusses the particular insights afforded by a longitudinal study design, and some attendant methodological issues.     

Latin American Universities: From an Original Revolution to an Uncertain Transition

The aim of this paper is to discuss the prospects of Latin American public universities. Its main assertion is that universities could become important actors of development in Latin America, but prevailing trends point in another direction. The paper focuses on the interactions between, on the one hand, specific traditions and social contexts, and, on the other hand, global trends concerning the role of knowledge and academic changes. The specific traits of the evolution of Higher Education in Latin America are discussed, in order to describe the emergence of an original ‘idea of University’. Changes and continuities during the last decades of the 20th century are summarized. Similarities and differences between developed countries and Latin America concerning current trends in Higher Education are analyzed. Particular attention is given to the interactions between what is happening in Latin American universities and the new insertion of the continent in the global economy. A prospective analysis is attempted, focusing on the social commitment of universities.     

Windows into the mind

As faculty, our goals for students are often tacit, hidden not only from students but from ourselves as well. We present a conceptual framework for considering teaching goals – what we want our students to achieve – that encourages us to think more broadly about what we mean by achieving in our knowledge domains. This framework includes declarative knowledge (“knowing that”), procedural knowledge (“knowing how”), schematic knowledge (“knowing why”) and strategic knowledge (“knowing when, where and how our knowledge applies”). We link the framework to a variety of assessment methods and focus on assessing the structure of declarative knowledge – knowledge structure. From prior research, we know that experts and knowledgeable students have extensive, well-structured, declarative knowledge; not so novices. We then present two different techniques for assessing knowledge structure – cognitive and concept maps, and a combination of the two – and provide evidence on their technical quality. We show that these maps provide a window into the structure of students declarative knowledge not otherwise tapped by typical pencil-and-paper tests. These maps provide us with new teaching goals and new evidence on student learning.Based on an invited address, Facoltá di Ingegneria dell’Universitá degli Studi di Ancona, June 27, 2000. This research was supported, in part, by the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (Grant R117G10027), and by the National Science Foundation (Nos. ESI 95-96080). The opinions expressed here represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agency.     

Perspectives on the metallic interconnects for solid oxide fuel cells

The various stages and progress in the development of interconnect materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) over the last two decades are reviewed. The criteria for the application of materials as interconnects are highlighted. Interconnects based on lanthanum chromite ceramics demonstrate many inherent drawbacks and therefore are only useful for SOFCs operating around 1000 ℃. The advance in the research of anode-supported flat SOFCs facilitates the replacement of ceramic interconnects with metallic ones due to their significantly lowered working temperature. Besides, interconnects made of metals or alloys offer many advantages as compared to their ceramic counterpart. The oxidation response and thermal expansion behaviors of various prospective metallic interconnects are examined and evaluated. The minimization of contact resistance to achieve desired and reliable stack performance during their projected lifetime still remains a highly challenging issue with metallic interconnects. Inexpensive coating materials and techniques may play a key role in pro moting the commercialization of SOFC stack whose interconnects are constructed of some current commercially available alloys. Alternatively, development of new metallic materials that are capable of forming stable oxide scales with sluggish growth rate and sufficient electrical conductivity is called for.