The effectiveness of university knowledge spillovers: Performance differences between university spinoffs and corporate spinoffs

While much prior research has focused upon how the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and other contextual characteristics shape the level of university spinoffs (USO), there is little research on entrepreneurial potential among individual academics, and to the best of our knowledge, no comparative studies with other types of spinoffs exist to date. In this paper we focus on an important but neglected aspect of knowledge transfer from academic research involving the indirect flow to entrepreneurship by individuals with a university education background who become involved in new venture creation by means of corporate spinoffs (CSO) after gaining industrial experience, rather than leaving university employment to found a new venture as an academic spinoff. We argue that the commercial knowledge gained by industry experience is potentially more valuable for entrepreneurial performance compared to the academic knowledge gained by additional research experience at a university. This leads us to posit that the average performance of CSOs will be higher than comparable USOs, but the gains from founder‘s prior experiences will be relatively higher among USOs whose founders lack the corporate context. We investigate these propositions in a comparative study tracking the complete population of USOs and CSOs among the Swedish knowledge-intensive sectors between 1994 and 2002.     

History-dependent modified sliding mode interception strategies with maximal capture zone

In order to construct the guidance strategy in a realistic nonlinear noise-corrupted interception endgame against a maneuverable target, a linearized zero-sum differential game is considered. Assuming perfect information in this game, sufficient conditions are established, which guarantee that a continuous interception strategy with memory (history-dependent) has the maximal capture zone. Two examples of such a strategy are analyzed: a modified super-twisting second-order sliding mode control and a modified integral sliding mode control. Simulation results of the original nonlinear interception endgame demonstrate that these strategies considerably reduce the chattering created by the classical game optimal bang-bang strategy without deteriorating the homing performance.     

Kinematic changes during learning the longswing on high bar

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence of technique changes during learning a sports-specific skill, the looped bar longswing (LLS). Thirteen male participants with no previous high bar experience took part in a training study. Kinematic data were collected using a CODA motion analysis system (200 Hz) during eight weekly testing sessions. Analyses focused on the amplitude of swing and the functional phase (FP) actions, defined by the rapid flexion to extension of the shoulders and extension to flexion of the hips as the performer passed through the lower vertical. Three groups were identified based on the number of sessions it took each participant to perform the LLS (G1: most successful, G2: intermediate, and G3: least successful). All participants were able to significantly increase swing amplitude over the training period (p < 0.05). For each participant the hip FP started significantly: later for G1, earlier for G2, and did not change for G3. Extension actions at the shoulders were dissimilar to those reported for elite gymnasts performing the longswing. The FP of the hips provides a mechanism to distinguish between the learners of different skill levels. The study has provided support for a single-subject design when investigating technique changes during learning.     

Quantitative and qualitative approaches in educational research — problems and examples of controlled understanding through interpretive methods

In the methodological discussion of recent years it has become apparent that many research problems, including problems relating to the theory of educational science, cannot be solved by using quantitative methods. The multifaceted aspects of human behaviour and all its environment-bound subtle nuances, especially the process of education or the development of identity, cannot fully be taken into account within a rigid neopositivist approach. In employing the paradigm of symbolic interactionism as a suitable model for the analysis of processes of education and formation, the research has generally to start out from complex reciprocal social interactions instead of unambigious connections of causes. In analysing several particular methodological problems, the article demonstrates some weaknesses of quantitative approaches and then shows the advantages in and the necessity for using qualitative research tools.

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Zusammenfassung In der methodologischen Diskussion der letzten Jahre hat sich gezeigt, auch im Hinblick auf Theorieprobleme der Erziehungswissenschaft, daß eine ganze Reihe von Forschungsproblemen nicht mit quantitativen Methoden in den Griff zu bekommen sind. Die facettenreichen Aspekte menschlichen Verhaltens, einschließlich seiner situationsbedingten Nuancen, insbesondere der Erziehungsprozeß oder die Entwicklung der Identität, sind mit einem rigiden neopositivistischen konzeptionellen Rahmen nicht angemessen zu begreifen. Wenn dagegen das Paradigma der symbolischen Interaktion als adäquates Modell für die Analyse der Erziehungs- und Bildungsprozesse genommen wird, muß die Methodologie generell von komplexen sozialen Wechselbeziehungen anstatt von eindeutigen Kausalbeziehungen ausgehen. Indem einige methodologische Probleme exemplarisch diskutiert werden, sollen in dem Artikel einige Schwachpunkte quantitativer Methoden demonstriert werden. Darüberhinaus sollen Vorteile und Notwendigkeit des Gebrauchs von qualitativen Forschungsverfahren dargelegt werden.

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Résumé Il est apparu évident dans le débat méthodologique de ces dernières années que de nombreux problèmes liés à la recherche, y compris ceux relatifs à la théorie des sciences de l'éducation, ne pouvaient être résolus au moyen de méthodes quantitatives. Les aspects aux facettes multiples du comportement humain et toutes ses nuances subtiles liées à l'environnement, notamment le processus d'éducation ou le développement de l'identité, ne peuvent être retenus pour une approche néopositiviste rigide. En considérant le paradigme de l'interaction symbolique en tant que modèle convenable pour l'analyse des processus d'éducation et de formation, la recherche est généralement partie d'interactions sociales réciproques complexes plutôt que de relations de causes non équivoques. En analysant quelques problèmes méthodologiques particuliers, cet article révèle quelques faiblesses des approches quantitatives et montre les avantages et la nécessité de l'utilisation d'instruments de recherche qualitatifs.

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This paper is a revised version of a lecture given on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Institute for Pedagogical Research at the University of Oslo in August, 1986. The paper is dedicated to the Institute and to Günther Patzig who celebrated his 60th birthday on 28 September, 1986.     

Enhancing Scientific Communication Skills: a Real-World Simulation in a Tertiary-Level Life Science Class Using E-Learning Technology in Biomedical Literature Perception,Reflective Review Writing on a Clinical Issue,and Self and Peer Assessments

Research in Science Education - This educational study aimed to explore the feasibility and acceptance of a literacy exercise adopted from the realworld of scientific publishing in a cell and...