Evaluating the effectiveness of content-oriented XML retrieval methods

Content-oriented XML retrieval approaches aim at a more focused retrieval strategy: Instead of retrieving whole documents, document components that are exhaustive to the information need while at the same time being as specific as possible should be retrieved. In this article, we show that the evaluation methods developed for standard retrieval must be modified in order to deal with the structure of XML documents. More precisely, the size and overlap of document components must be taken into account. For this purpose, we propose a new effectiveness metric based on the definition of a concept space defined upon the notions of exhaustiveness and specificity of a search result. We compare the results of this new metric by the results obtained with the official metric used in INEX, the evaluation initiative for content-oriented XML retrieval.

Students’ Conceptions About ‘Radiation’: Results from an Explorative Interview Study of 9th Grade Students

One basis of good teaching is to know about your students?? preconceptions. Studies about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom have been and continue to be a major field in science education research. This study aims to explore associations and ideas that students have regarding ??radiation??, a term widely used in various fields and necessary to understand fundamental ideas in science. In an explorative study, the perceptions of 50 high school students were examined using semi-structured interviews. The students were 14?C16?years old and were chosen from 7 different high schools in an urban area in Austria. Following an interview guideline, students were asked about their general associations with the term ??radiation?? as well as about their general understanding of different types of radiation. A qualitative analysis of these interviews following the method of Flick (2009) revealed that the students?? associations were, to a great extent, very different from the scientific use of the term. Several conceptions that could inhibit students?? learning processes could be identified. Consequences for the teaching of the topic ??radiation?? in science lessons, which are based on these preconceptions, are presented in the conclusion.     

"Yes, we can!": Perceptions of collective efficacy sources in volleyball

Collective efficacy can be defined as a group's shared confidence that they will successfully achieve their goal. We examined which behaviours and events are perceived as sources of collective efficacy beliefs in a volleyball context. In study 1, volleyball coaches from the highest volleyball leagues (n = 33) in Belgium indicated the most important sources of collective efficacy. This list was then adapted based on the literature and on feedback given by an expert focus group, resulting in a 40-item questionnaire. In Study 2, coaches and players from all levels of volleyball in Belgium (n = 2365) rated each of these sources on their predictive value for collective efficacy. A principal component analysis revealed that the 40 sources could be divided into eight internally consistent factors. Positive supportive communication (e.g., enthusiasm after making a point) was identified as the factor most predictive for positive collective efficacy beliefs. The factor referring to the negative emotional reactions of players (e.g., discouraging body language) was the most predictive for negative collective efficacy beliefs. These findings offer a starting point for the design of continuous measurements of collective efficacy through observation.     

Meinprof.de – Portal zur Ausübung des "vornehmensten Menschenrechts"?

Der nachfolgende Beitrag setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, welche rechtlichen Grenzen für die über Internetportale erfolgende Verbreitung von Kritik an Hochschuldozenten bestehen. Dabei wird das Portal meinprof.de in den Blick genommen, auf dem Studierende ihre Dozenten und deren Veranstaltungen bewerten und kommentieren k?nnen. überprüft wird die Zul?ssigkeit der Verbreitung der Kritik und Kommentare am Ma?stab des deutschen und europ?ischen Rechts. Der Beitrag konzentriert sich zwar auf den deutschen Rechtskreis, die behandelte Frage ist wegen des Bestehens des vergleichbaren Portals meinprof.at und der Aknnüpfungen an internationales Recht aber von generellem Interesse. Die rechtliche Beurteilung solcher Plattformen h?ngt davon ab, welche Bedeutung man den Pers?nlichkeitsrechten im Verh?ltnis zur Meinungsfreiheit beimisst. Die Verfasserin pl?diert dafür, den Schutz des allgemeinen Pers?nlichkeitsrechts zu st?rken.     

Diversity,Doctoral Education and Policy

This paper argues the importance of diversity for research and doctoral education and the key role of policy in encouraging it. It considers the impact of higher education policy on diversity in doctoral education through the three prevailing themes of cost, concentration and relevance, illustrating in each instance both positive and negative influences. It is a time of dynamic change where the role and purposes of doctoral study and the role and production of knowledge in society are changing. Policy plays an important part in leading and shaping this development.     

Current State of Numerical Simulations and Testing for the Blast and Impact Protection of the Build Civil Engineering Infrastructure

The identification of the critical infrastructure has shown that the build civil engineering infrastructure is almost involved everywhere, even with the IT-infrastructure. Therefore, the passive safety of structures is demanded. Security associations have analysed that most assaults came along with explosion and impact scenarios, which amount in 80% of assaults. Consequently, these are the extraordinary loads the structures have to be planned and designed for. To carry out such an engineering job, the engineer has to be educated in multiple disciplines as physics, material science , continuum mechanics, numerical mechanics, testing, structural engineering and related specific fields as wave propagation etc. In this paper we will concentrate on the subjects of numerical simulation and testing.     

School-based assessment in the 1986 NSW higher school certificate

The paper reports an evaluation of the introduction of a school-based assessment component into the 1986 NSW Higher School Certificate. A research team from Macquarie University and the University of Sydney monitored the processes of assessment policy development in eight Sydney schools during 1985 and 1986. These case studies of process and product were supplemented in 1986 by studies in ten NSW country high schools. A survey of teachers and students in a random sample of 58 high schools in NSW was completed towards the end of 1986. The results of the case studies and the survey are discussed within the following framework: Information Flow from the Board of Senior School Studies to the Schools; Policy Development in Schools; Features of Assessment Policies and their Implementation; and the Impact of Assessment on Classroom Practices and Relationships in the Classroom.     

The reward-support framework and faculty commitment to their university

The present study examined faculty commitment to their university across hard and soft sciences and across pure and applied fields. Within each field, faculty commitment was separately examined for each career stage and for each level of research productivity. Furthermore, this study assessed (separately for each field) the relative powers of rewards and support variables, derived from the exchange framework, in explaining faculty commitment. A stratified random sample of 40 U.S. research university departments, 10 each in physics, sociology, electrical engineering, and education, was surveyed by means of a questionnaire. The major findings of the study suggest that the reward-support framework plays a meaningful role, although distinctly different for hard and soft sciences, in determining faculty commitment to their university in each of the four fields. The relative power of rewards in explaining faculty commitment is stronger in hard sciences and weaker in soft sciences whereas a reversed pattern is found for support indicators. In addition, faculty commitment to their university varies across fields, career stages, and levels of research productivity (only for hard sciences).