The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between location patterns, innovation processes and industrial clusters. In order to do this we extend a transactions costs-based classification into a knowledge-based taxonomy of clusters, along the lines suggested by a critical revision of the main assumptions underlying most of the existing literature on spatial clusters. Our arguments show that the transactions costs approach and the innovation and technological regimes framework are broadly consistent, and that real insights into the microfoundations, nature, and evolution of clusters can be provided by these classification systems.     

The evolution of an effective pedagogy for teachers using the interactive whiteboard in mathematics and modern languages: an empirical analysis from the secondary sector

There has been considerable investment in the use of interactive whiteboard technology in schools in the UK. There is evidence that whilst teachers understand such technology, many do not understand the nature and implications of interactive learning. Observation and analysis of 50 video‐recorded lessons taught by ‘successful’ teachers drawn from mathematics and modern foreign language departments in secondary schools led to the classification of three types of practice representing a spectrum of increasing interactivity. The nature of this good practice was analysed together with criteria for assessing the changes being wrought by technology in approaches to learning and teaching. The investigation concluded that the use of new technology alone cannot lead to enhanced learning. Teachers also need training to develop awareness of the relationship between approaches to interactive learning and conceptual and cognitive development in subject areas.     

A methodological morass? How we can improve quantitative research in distance education

This article is about the quantitative research practices and methodologies that are used in distance education (DE). It begins with an analysis and assessment of a segment of the DE research literature, DE/classroom comparison studies, based on a recently completed meta-analysis of that literature from 1985 to 2002. Overall, the 232 studies reviewed were judged to be of poor methodological quality and severely lacking in critical information about research practices. Studies of synchronous and asynchronous DE are discussed separately and recommendations are made for improving designs and measures within these patterns. Suggestions for future quantitative research areas are provided. In discussing these findings, we recognize that high-quality research is being conducted in the field and that qualitative forms of research contribute greatly to the mosaic of evidence that is the base of available knowledge about DE. Finally, three organizations, the What Works Clearinghouse (USA), EPPI-Centre (UK), and the Campbell Collaboration (international), all devoted to improving the quality of research and research synthesis in education, are described briefly; suggestions are made as to how their philosophies and approaches for judging the worthiness of research evidence can be used to improve DE research.     

Working with the new generation of interactive media technologies in schools: CD-I and CDTV

A preliminary evaluation of classroom use of CD-I and CDTV in five schools is described. Information is provided on the pedagogical, operational, and logistical characteristics of these interactive media technologies compared to interactive video. A number of benefits are described, but it is suggested that poorly designed or inappropriate software and technology fatigue amongst teachers contribute to the low take-up of these systems in the classroom.     

Effects of Mother-Infant Social Interactions on Infants'' Subsequent Contingency Task Performance

20 3-month-old infants participated in a nonsocial contingency task immediately following a social interaction with their mothers. A measure of the time the dyads spent in a state of vocal turn-taking predicted individual differences in the infants' subsequent performance on the contingency task. These results parallel the social transfer effects we reported earlier in which the turn-taking dimension of social structure was experimentally manipulated to assess its effect on a subsequent nonsocial contingency task.     

Introduction

The expansion of higher education in Latin America before 1980 resulted from the growing demand of the urban middle classes. The state responded with a benevolent attitude, except when political circumstances led to police repression. The deep crisis and the emergence of new economic policies in the 1980s drastically changed this picture. Funds for further growth are not available and there is no longer a favorable political climate for the universities. The new ideological and political scene favors policies aimed at abandoning incremental formulae for state funding, increasing private funding, rationalizing spending, promoting institutional and program differentiation, introducing evaluation as a major policy instrument and checking enrolment growth. Negotiation over these issues in democratic regimes has become cumbersome and difficult. A set of policies for the private sector is also emerging though these are ineffectual if state funding is not forthcoming. Though flexibility over accreditation became common in the 1970s and 1980s there is now closer scrutiny of such matters. Legal frameworks have favored differentiation in the private sector also, including recognizing profit-oriented institutions which are capable of absorbing excess demand but which are less closely regulated than the older and more prestigious institutions.