Fellows' Perceptions of a Mandatory Reflective Electronic Portfolio in a Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program

Electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) can be useful for evaluating and documenting mastery of competencies. We investigated geriatric medicine fellows' perceptions of an ePortfolio. We conducted surveys and focus groups followed by quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Our study revealed that fellows considered the ePortfolio acceptable and accessible. Fellows reflected on aspects relevant to postgraduate training and future practice and documented adherence to competencies. However, fellows expressed resentment about the self-reflection component, which interfered with the overall acceptance of the ePortfolio. Although ePortfolios can be powerful and reflective tools for competency assessment, care must be taken in their implementation.     

What Did It Take to Scale Up and Sustain Udaan,a School-Based Adolescent Education Program in Jharkhand,India?

Since 2006, Udaan—a school-based adolescent education program in Jharkhand, India—was the only at-scale state-run program in the country. To determine factors that contributed to Udaan's scale-up and longevity, this study drew information from programmatic reports and interviews with the Centre for Catalyzing Change staff. Key factors for Udaan's success included an enabling policy environment, a willing government that supported and operationalized the program, a knowledgeable and committed NGO partner, sustained funding, and a commitment to constant improvement through evaluation. Udaan provides an example of a well-designed, implemented, and evaluated school-based adolescent health program that has been operating at scale over a sustained period. Other programs in India and elsewhere can benefit from learning from Udaan's experience.     

Investigating the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Croatian business

Technological innovation plays a critical role in economic growth. The most advanced and new technologies are created by leading firms in developed countries. Global expansion, strategic outsourcing or off-shoring in leading companies has been growing to enrich their competitive advantage, while technology transfer of leading firms has been of more interest to emerging or developing countries for catching up and following the trajectory of economic growth proved in developed countries. Among various channels to acquire new technologies from leading firms, foreign direct investments (FDI) is one of the most effective channels through which technology can be transferred to subsidiaries in emerging markets. However, empirical study on the roles of technology transfer and the feedback loop from FDI remains still scarce. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of FDI on businesses in partial or complete foreign ownership, with a special emphasis on technology transfer, and to assess the impact of foreign companies on domestic firm performance through technology transfer from foreign companies. This paper aims at investigating the investment climate for foreign investments and intensifying technology transfers and innovations in the Croatian economy. 145 firms responded to the survey we conducted for foreign investment enterprises in Croatia. Structural equation model is employed to examine the hypotheses with respect to effects of FDI on innovation activities of domestic Croatian firms. This study identified critical factors affecting technology innovation to Croatian firms. The results provide empirical evidence that the innovation activities in subsidiaries have a positive influence toward technology transfer from multinational corporations.     

Fitting in and feeling good: the relationships among peer alignment,instructor connectedness,and self-efficacy in undergraduate satisfaction with engineering

This study examined the relationships among peer alignment (the feeling that one is similar in important ways to one's engineering peers), instructor connectedness (the sense that one knows and looks up to academic staff/faculty members in the department), self-efficacy for engineering class work (confidence in one's ability to successfully complete engineering class work), and engineering students' satisfaction with the major. A total of 135 sophomore (second-year university students) and junior (third-year students) engineering students were surveyed to measure these three variables. A multiple regression analysis showed that self-efficacy, peer alignment, and instructor connectedness predicted student satisfaction with the major, and that self-efficacy acted as a mediator between both peer alignment and instructor connectedness on the one hand, and satisfaction on the other. The authors offer suggestions for practice based on the results.     

Wild Soul

There’s a wild soul inside me waiting to show its self to the world There‘s a wild soul inside me with fire in it’s eyes, and danger in it’s claws. There’s a wild soul in side me with a voice that no one can’t hear and a presence no one can’t feel There’S a wild soul inside me waiting for me to let it run to let it turn into, wind,fire,and rain There’s a wild soul inside me that is coming ou to ignight a fire in us a11 it will spread like a brush fire. My wild soul, Your wild soul, a flame that can not die....     

Realizing Relevance: The Influence of Domain‐Specific Information on Generation of New Knowledge Through Integration in 4‐ to 8‐Year‐Old Children

In accumulating knowledge, direct modes of learning are complemented by productive processes, including self‐generation based on integration of separate episodes. Effects of the number of potentially relevant episodes on integration were examined in 4‐ to 8‐year‐olds (N = 121; racially/ethnically heterogeneous sample, English speakers, from large metropolitan area). Information was presented along with unrelated or related episodes; the latter challenged children to identify the relevant subset of episodes for integration. In Experiment 1, 4‐ and 6‐year‐olds integrated in the unrelated context. Six‐year‐olds also succeeded in the related context in forced‐choice testing. In Experiment 2, 8‐year‐olds succeeded in open‐ended and forced‐choice testing. Results illustrate a developmental progression in productive extension of knowledge due in part to age‐related increases in identification of relevant information.