Expert systems: aspects of and limitations to the codifiability of knowledge

The creation of expert systems is one way in which knowledge is codified. In creating an expert system, in general there are three aspects to the codification process: creating a model of the knowledge to be codified; creating the language in which to express the model; and writing messages representing the knowledge in that language. These aspects have different relative importance in different contexts. Referring to four case studies, the paper argues further that codification through creating expert systems is not uniformly successful and part of the variation has to do with the nature of the knowledge, or intellectual process or activity being codified, and the difficulty in creating the model. Activities with fixed goals and linear processes lend themselves very well to this form of codification. Processes of categorization and analogy, such as fault detection and repair, are partially successful, tending more often to create systems for experts. Processes involving balancing conflicting goals have, to date, tended to be unsuccessfully codified. These process types involve knowledge or understanding at deeper and deeper levels of abstraction of the overall processes and overarching goals. The more abstract and less concrete the knowledge involved in the task, the more difficult it is to codify it.     

Discipline‐based academic development through a tripartite partnership

Abstract

This paper describes a discipline‐based academic development project based upon a tripartite relationship between departmental staff, work‐based practitioners and the central academic development unit which took place over one academic year within the Department of Physiotherapy, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh. The purpose of the project was to discuss and debate the concept of the ‘reflective practitioner’, to develop strategies for enabling undergraduate students to be reflective, and to devise a framework for assessment of reflective practice in clinical work‐based learning. The outcomes of the project, most important of which was a change in the learning experience for students, demonstrate that academic development can be valuable and productive when undertaken as a partnership and placed in a disciplinary context. The authors identify key elements important to the success of the academic development process which should be applicable in similar situations and which could serve as guidelines for the planning and delivery of staff development through similar kinds of partnerships.     

1265: An examination of some of the management implications of directed time

This enquiry seeks to establish how some secondary school headteachers have directed their DEs‐prescribed allocation of 1265 hours. Investigations focus particularly on those management processes used to determine the budget, the measures employed to ensure a flexibility in a budget once it has been defined, and some effects of budgeting on meetings. The allocation of hours to specific school tasks is scrutinized and the authors conclude with recommendations and suggestions for improving budgeting decisions in the future.