Benefits,Challenges, and Opportunities of Conducting a Collaborative Research Course in an International University Partnership: A Study Case Between Kansas State University and Tallinn University of Technology

A globalized world requires research to transcend geographical boundaries; this includes training students in international collaborative research. The purpose of this project was to identify the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of students from two universities (Kansas State Univ. and Tallin Univ. of Technology) working on an international research project together. For this purpose, six graduate students from the Center for Sensory Analysis and Consumer Behavior, Kansas State Univ., partnered with 20 Food Science major students from a Product Development class at Tallinn Univ. of Technology. Students worked together by distance in a partnership developing a rye bread sensory lexicon for systematically understanding the sensory properties of this product category, conducting Landscape analysis by using sensory mapping techniques on rye bread products from Northeast Europe for capturing the market complexity and to identify opportunity for new product development and new products concepts. Students from Kansas then went to Estonia for further meetings. After the trip, students and professors were asked for their feedback. Results showed that students identify learning food trends from another country as the main benefit of their international collaboration, followed by intercultural skills and knowledge transfer. Language and difference in time zones, as well as educational backgrounds, were identified by students as the main challenges of the collaboration. When US students were asked to rate the learning outcomes stated in the syllabus, understanding the cultural characteristics of Estonia was the one scored highest. Professors mentioned this opportunity is unique because it gives a cultural component programs usually not only an offer and a chance to develop time management skills by working across divergent time zones, but also to practice options for managing language barriers. This project shows that it is possible to setup a partnership between students across different countries and have a positive outcome that includes unique learning experiences for students; especially in terms of time and project management.     

Conception, development and implementation of an e-Government maturity model in public agencies

Governments worldwide are encouraging public agencies to join e-Government initiatives in order to provide better services to their citizens and businesses; hence, methods of evaluating the readiness of individual public agencies to execute specific e-Government programs and directives are a key ingredient in the successful expansion of e-Government. To satisfy this need, a model called the eGovernment Maturity Model (eGov-MM) was developed, integrating the assessment of technological, organizational, operational, and human capital capabilities, under a multi-dimensional, holistic, and evolutionary approach. The model is strongly supported by international best practices, and provides tuning mechanisms to enable its alignment with nation-wide directives on e-Government. This article describes how the model was conceived, designed, developed, field tested by expert public officials from several government agencies, and finally applied to a selection of 30 public agencies in Chile, generating the first formal measurements, assessments, and rankings of their readiness for e-Government. The implementation of the model also provided several recommendations to policymakers at the national and agency levels.     

医学院校课程整合的经验教训:学生、课程负责人与改革领导者的观点

美国医学院校的课程整合改革方兴未艾.加州大学旧金山分校医学院从2001级新生开始对课程体系进行大幅调整,本研究调查了该校参与改革的不同群体,包括教育改革的领导者、受到直接影响的学生、新建课程的负责人等对课程改革的态度,了解其对课程整合实施一年内的成绩和挑战的看法.结果表明,他们对跨学科教学、跨学科系室协作、课程关联的建立、课程内容的排序及框架构建等四个主题有相同的看法,也有不小的分歧.     

Parental Co‐Construction of 5‐ to 13‐Year‐Olds' Global Self‐Esteem Through Reminiscing About Past Events

The current study explored parental processes associated with children's global self‐esteem development. Eighty 5‐ to 13‐year‐olds and one of their parents provided qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires, open‐ended questions, and a laboratory‐based reminiscing task. Parents who included more explanations of emotions when writing about the lowest points in their lives were more likely to discuss explanations of emotions experienced in negative past events with their child, which was associated with child attachment security. Attachment was associated with concurrent self‐esteem, which predicted relative increases in self‐esteem 16 months later, on average. Finally, parent support also predicted residual increases in self‐esteem. Findings extend prior research by including younger ages and uncovering a process by which two theoretically relevant parenting behaviors impact self‐esteem development.     

Bordering on Empathy: The Effect of Selective Exposure and Border Residency on Immigration Attitudes

Two surveys, including an original survey and a survey containing substantial secondary data, found substantial links between party identity, selective media exposure and attitudes on immigration. Republicans were significantly more likely to segregate themselves to like-minded media and to avoid traditional objective sources like national and local newspapers, local and national broadcast television news. Border-state residency failed to moderate attitudes about immigration; differences were found between local and national media. Finally, Republican support for immigration fell between 2016 and 2018, after the election of President Trump.