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.     

号码锁的秘密

几十年来,许多人都像《科学美国人》的读者Billy Ellis那样,曾经对日常生活中的一些小事感到纳闷.     

College quality and early adult outcomes

This paper estimates the effects of various college qualities on several early adult outcomes, using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study. I compare the results using ordinary least squares with three alternative methods of estimation, including instrumental variables, and the methods used by Dale and Krueger [(2002). Estimating the payoff to attending a more selective college: An application of selection on observables and unobservables. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1491–1528.] and Black and Smith [(2004). How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching. Journal of Econometrics, 121, 99–124.]. I find that college quality does have positive significant effects on most outcomes studied using OLS. While there is some evidence of positive selection bias in the OLS results, the alternative methods rarely produce findings that are significantly different from the OLS estimates. Furthermore, alternative methods have their own limitations, which are discussed. Across methods of estimation, there is solid evidence of positive effects of college quality on college graduation and household income, and weaker evidence of effects on hourly wages.     

Welfare Reform: Can Higher Education Reduce the Feminization of Poverty?

In this paper we address what is meant by feminization of poverty. We also provide a very brief historical review of poor women, their children, and their need for financial assistance. Furthermore we identify some of the obstacles women face while trying to become self-sufficient and how women attempt to overcome these obstacles while relying on government aid. A strategy used by some of these women on welfare is to attend college and earn a degree. We show how this group of women now faces a major obstacle with a recent reform in the welfare system. Finally, we offer some suggestions as to how policies and practices of institutions of higher education can help female students on welfare, thereby reducing the feminization of poverty in the United States.     

Age and Sex Differences in Performance in an 11‐plus Selective Examination

The aim of the study was to investigate age and sex differences in performance in an 11‐plus selective examination. The sample was made up of 3460 pupils who were born in 1981 and who had sat the examination for the first time. Results based on a data set consisting of raw scores in Maltese, English, mathematics, social studies and religious knowledge showed a strong and consistent age effect in all five attainment measures: performance decreased with age from the ‘oldest’ pupils to the youngest’. In regard to sex differences, girls outperformed boys in Maltese, English and religion, with differences being most marked in the two languages. The performance of the two sexes in mathematics and social studies was very similar, with the boys’ performance being slightly, but not significantly, better. These age and sex effects were also evident in the proportions of pupils who passed or failed the examination. Older pupils tended to be more successful than younger pupils, and girls were more likely to pass the examination than boys.     

The stability of visual habituation during the first year of life

The short-term reliability and long-term stability of visual habituation and dishabituation in infancy were assessed in a sample of 186 infants from 4 age groups (3-, 4-, 7-, and 9-month-olds) seen for 2 within-age sessions and in a sample of 69 infants seen longitudinally at 3, 4, 7, and 9 months of age. Moderate week-to-week reliability (r's = .30-.50) was observed for duration-based and magnitude of habituation variables at all ages, although better reliability was evident at 4 and 9 months than at 3 and 7 months. In most cases, the reliability of habituation magnitude measures was attributable to the reliability of the peak fixation alone. Data from the longitudinal sample suggested that only the duration of peak fixation was consistently stable across the ages tested, although stability for several measures emerged across the 7-9-month testing. No consistent reliability or stability emerged for the presence or magnitude of dishabituation in either sample.     

Capitalizing on advances in mathematics and k-12 mathematics education in undergraduate mathematics: An inquiry-oriented approach to differential equations

This paper provides an overview of the Inquiry-Oriented Differential Equations (IO-DE) project and reports on the main results of a study that compared students’ beliefs, skills, and understandings in IO-DE classes to more conventional approaches. The IO-DE project capitalizes on advances within mathematics and mathematics education, including the instructional design theory of Realistic Mathematics Education and the social negotiation of meaning. The main results of the comparison study found no significant difference between project students and comparison students on an assessment of routine skills and a significant difference in favor of project students on an assessment of conceptual understanding. Given these encouraging results, the theoretical underpinnings of the innovative approach may be useful more broadly for undergraduate mathematics education reform.     

An Islamic concept of education

The paper begins by exploring the problematic nature of philosophy in Islam. The second section examines the resources that are available for a systematic exploration of the principles of Islamic education. The third section discusses three dimensions of education in Islam, one focusing on individual development, one on social and moral education and one on the acquisition of knowledge. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of differences between Islamic and liberal ways of understanding education and of the possibility of future dialogue with western philosophies.