Strategies,decisions and operations for keeping exploitative and exploratory activities balanced

Sustainable competitive advantage of a firm may lie in the firm’s ability to exploit its current competencies while simultaneously exploring new capabilities. However, this is hard to be achieved at the same time. Therefore, a conceptual decision-making framework is proposed to fulfil this task. First, to balance exploitation and exploration under punctuated equilibrium, a fuzzy analytic network process with goal programming is developed to help decision makers select the best projects under specific environments. Second, an executive committee, where experts use computer groupware with the Delphi technique to balance exploratory and exploitative activities flexibly, is formed to allocate limited resources during the implementation of the projects. After a practical investigation, the research concludes that the strategy targeted for balancing exploitation and exploration should be periodically adjusted, and the limited resources should be allocated during the execution of projects. Specifically, the proposed model for sustainable competitive advantage is recommended to practitioners in developing and implementing projects.     

优秀乒乓球运动员接受刺激前的脑电α频段功率与反应时间的关系

乒乓球属于开放式运动项目,它要求运动员的反应既要快又要准.目前,有关EEG与反应时之间关系的研究存在分歧.而对哪些脑电活动有利于优秀乒乓运动员反应的研究更少.研究目的探索运动员接受刺激前的脑电α频段功率与反应时之间的关系.研究对象15名优秀男子乒乓运动员,年龄为16～35岁,均为右势手.研究方法被试者完成一项有提示的反应任务,同时,记录大脑F3、F4、C3、C4、T5、T6、P3、P4、OL、OR处的脑电α频段功率值.反应任务由一个提示性刺激和必须应答的刺激组成.被试者通过按鼠标做反应.提示性刺激和必须应答的刺激间间隔1500ms.分别计算出前750ms和后750ms的α1和α2频段的功率值.根据中位数把被试者分为反应快组和反应慢组.对测试结果进行双因素方差分析.研究结果左顶和右后枕区的α 1频段功率值表现出反应时与脑电的测试时间存在交互作用.进一步的分析结果表明,反应快者在提示刺激与必须应答的刺激间的前750s的脑电α 1频段的功率值高.这一结果说明左项和右后枕区的α 1频段的功率值可能是乒乓训练中有效反应的关键.     

Trends of e‐learning research from 2000 to 2008: Use of text mining and bibliometrics

This study investigated the longitudinal trends of e‐learning research using text mining techniques. Six hundred and eighty‐nine (689) refereed journal articles and proceedings were retrieved from the Science Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index database in the period from 2000 to 2008. All e‐learning publications were grouped into two domains with four groups/15 clusters based on abstract analysis. Three additional variables: subject areas, prolific countries and prolific journals were applied to data analysis and data interpretation. Conclusions include that e‐learning research is at the early majority stage and foci have shifted from issues of the effectiveness of e‐learning to teaching and learning practices. Educational studies and projects and e‐learning application in medical education and training are growing fields with the highest potential for future research. Approaches to e‐learning differ between leading countries and early adopter countries, and government policies play an important role in shaping the results.     

A framework of cloud-based virtual phones for secure intelligent information management

As mobile networks and devices being rapidly innovated, many new Internet services and applications have been deployed. However, the current implementation faces security, management, and performance issues, which are critical to the use in business environments. Migrating sensitive information, management facilities, and intensive computation to security hardened virtualized environment in the cloud provides effective solutions. This paper proposes an innovative Internet service and business model to provide a secure and consolidated environment for enterprise mobile information management based on the infrastructure of cloud-based virtual phones (CVP). Our proposed solution enables the users to execute Android and web applications in the cloud and connect to other users of CVP with enhanced performance and protected privacy. The organization of CVP can be mixed with centralized control and distributed protocols, which emulates the behavior of human societies. This minimizes the need to handle sensitive data in mobile devices, eases the management of data, and reduces the overhead of mobile application deployment.     

Lakatos’ Scientific Research Programmes as a Framework for Analysing Informal Argumentation about Socio‐scientific Issues

The purpose of this study is to explore how Lakatos’ scientific research programmes might serve as a theoretical framework for representing and evaluating informal argumentation about socio‐scientific issues. Seventy undergraduate science and non‐science majors were asked to make written arguments about four socio‐scientific issues. Our analysis showed that the science majors’ informal arguments were significantly better than the non‐science majors’ arguments. In terms of the resources for supporting reasons, we find that personal experience and scientific belief are the two categories that are generated most often in both groups of the participants. Besides, science majors made significantly greater use of analogies, while non‐science majors made significantly greater use of authority. In addition, both science majors and non‐science majors had a harder time changing their arguments after participating in a group discussion. In the study of argumentation in science, scholars have often used Toulmin’s framework of data, warrant, backing, qualifiers, claims, and rebuttal. Our work demonstrates that Lakatos’ work is also a viable perspective, especially when warrant and backing are difficult to discern, and when students’ arguments are resistant to change. Our use of Lakatos’ framework highlights how the ‘hard core’ of students’ arguments about socio‐scientific issues does, indeed, seem to be protected by a ‘protective belt’ and, thus, is difficult to alter. From these insights, we make specific implications for further research and teaching.     

A Proposed Framework for the Design of a CMC Learning Environment: Facilitating the Emergence of Authenticity

This paper is an attempt to situate CSCL and CMS tools in the context of recent developments in constructivist learning environments (CLEs). The computer-mediated tools for collaboration are an integral part of the design of CLEs. In view of the situated nature of learning, a further distinction in the design of dynamic learning environments (DLEs) is considered and a formulation of learner involvement in the problem authenticity is proposed. The paper attempts to formulate design principles based on CLE and DLE conceptualizations. A prototype has not been developed at this stage of the conceptualizations. CMC tools can be an integrated part of the design of such learning environments and throughout the social construction of knowledge process. Proposition d’un plan pour élaborer un environnement d’apprentissage CMC (computer mediated communication) favorisant l’émergence de l’authenticité. Cet article cherche À situer les outils CSCL et CMS dans le contexte des développements récents dans les environnements

d’apprentissage constructivistes (CLEs). Les outils fournis par l’ordinateur pour la collaboration sont une partie intégrale de

l’élaboration des CLEs. Au vu de la nature de l’apprentissage, il faut considérer en plus une distinction dans l’élaboration des

environnements d’enseignement dynamiques (DLEs) et on propose une formulation de l’implication de l’étudiant dans le

problème de l’authenticité. L’article essaie de formuler des principes d’élaboration basés sur les conceptualisations CLE et DLE. Un prototype n’a pas encore été développpé À ce stade des conceptualisations. Les outils CMC peuvent être une partie intégrante de l’élaboration de tels environments pendant la construction sociale du processus de la connaissance. Ein vorgeschlagenes Richtlinienprogramm zur Gestaltung eines CMC Lernumfeldes: Wie lässt sich die

Authentizität besser erkennen. Dieser Beitrag ist ein Versuch CSCL und CMS Werkzeuge im Rahmen der neuesten Entwicklung von Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs) einzuordnen. Die Computer gestützten Programme, die der Zusammenarbeit dienen sind ein wichtiger Bestandteil bei der Programmierung von CLEs. Angesichts der vorgegebenen Lernweise ist eine weitere Unterscheidung bei der Gestaltung der Dynamic Learning Environments (DLEs) notwendig und deshalb wird eine Mitwirkung des Lernenden bei dem Problem der Authentizität vorgeschlagen. Der Beitrag versucht Richtlinien zu erarbeiten, die auf den Konzepten von CLE und DLE beruhen. Ein Prototyp ist in diesem Entwicklungsstadium noch nicht hergestellt. CMC tools kann eine wichtige Rolle bei der Entwicklung solcher learning environments beim gemeinsamen Aufbau des Wissenstandes spielen.     

Team-based complex problem solving: a collective cognition perspective

Today, much problem solving is performed by teams, rather than individuals. The complexity of these problems has exceeded the cognitive capacity of any individual and requires a team of members to solve them. The success of solving these complex problems not only relies on individual team members who possess different but complementary expertise, but more importantly, their collective problem solving ability. To better conceptualize large scale complex problem solving, an understanding of collective cognitive components and processes during team-based complex problem solving is necessary. This paper offers a conceptual discussion about complex problem solving from a collective cognition perspective. The types of cognitive processing and cognitive components of team-based problem solving (TBPS) as well as the cognitive states of collective emergent cognitive states and the interactive mechanisms will be discussed. Also, implications from the model for assessing TBPS performance and suggestions for future research will be offered.