From Practice to Theory and back to Practice: Reflexivity in Measurement and Evaluation for Evidence-based Policy Making in the Information Society

This article presents a comprehensive review of literature and practice on the measurement and evaluation of ICT impact in general and of selected public eServices (eGovernment, eHealth, and eInclusion), within the context of the Information Society paradigm. It calls for a sustained meta-level analysis, in which it is important to have a self-reflexive layer where we evaluate and measure how we evaluate and measure, and what the implications and the trade-offs are. The analysis justifies the call for reflexivity as a necessary step towards advancing our understanding of the impact of ICT within the Information Society domains observed. The article concludes presenting some possible ways of re-coupling the conceptual and technical dimensions of the measurement process and linking the production of measurement data more closely with impact evaluation causal models and hypotheses. It suggests that this could be achieved by refocusing on the micro level and stimulating a gradual micro-macro link through an intermediate (meso) level, which effects need to be described using different measurements and evaluation paradigms. In order to do so it is required to refine and test our theories and models to find out where it would be most feasible to scale up to the global (macro) level and to shape and inform the production of more valid measurement indicators for better informing evidence-based policy making in the Information Society.     

How did Light Acquire a Velocity?

We discuss how light acquired a velocity through history, from the ancient Greeks to the early modern era. Combining abstract debates, models of light, practical needs, planned research and chance, this history illustrates several key points that should be brought out in science education.     

City and university in the knowledge age

The globalized economy remains deeply rooted in historically shaped territories, in opposition to the common-place image of a footloose economy of flows. Regions provide the market economy with immaterial resources essential to its development. This is strongly reinforced, in my opinion, by a range of complex effects primarly linked to the change in competition patterns in global markets. Firms are driven to adopt quality - and innovation-based strategies, and still are obliged to reduce costs. Traditional, rigidly fragmented, Taylorist production organization, highly efficient in a stable price-based competition environment, is becoming counterproductive in this new context. The competitivness of companies lies no longer in the mere intensification of work and traditional productivity effects. It results mainly from the density and the relevance of co-operation established between the different actors in a value chain. And this co-operation cannot be set up - this is the point I wish to emphasize - either by the decisionmaking of a more or less centralized technostructure or through sheer market forces. The ability to promote inter-firm co-operation and confidence, to share values and anticipations, the convergence of projects, the relevance of institutionnal frames and finally the quality of local public and private governance are the key factors of success, instead of traditional geographic location factors, more or less neutralized by the decrease of communication costs. In other words, the key resources for development are socially and politically built up,and not a given of nature, as in the past. Potentially, all regions and cities, whatever their size, stand to benefit from this.     

Neural Correlates of Self and Its Interaction With Memory in Healthy Adolescents

Adolescence is marked by the development of personal identity and is associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions associated with Self processing. Yet, little is known about the neural correlates of self‐reference processing and self‐reference effect in adolescents. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study consists of a self‐reference paradigm followed by a recognition test proposed to 30 healthy adolescents aged 13–18 years old. Results showed that the rostral anterior cingulate cortex is specifically involved in self‐reference processing and that this specialization develops gradually from 13 to 18 years old. The self‐reference effect is associated with increased brain activation changes during encoding, suggesting that the beneficial effect of Self on memory may occur at encoding of self‐referential information, rather than at retrieval.     

Typology of students at risk of dropping out of school: Description by personal, family and school factors

The purpose of this study was to identify the different subgroups of students at risk of dropping out of school. The typology was developed based on the three main contexts associated with school dropout risk, namely, the personal, family and school contexts. On the basis of these factors, the clustering results enabled us to categorize at-risk students into four subgroups: (1) the Anti-Social Covert behavior type, (2) the Uninterested in school type, (3) the School and Social Adjustment Difficulties type, and (4) the Depressive type. Moreover, considering all the contexts involved in school dropout, the clustering technique confirms the importance of behavior problems and learning difficulties, while emphasizing the significance of both depression and the family and classroom environments in the development of dropout risk. Students at risk of dropping out of school report many family organisational problems and that they obtain little emotional support from their parents. They also perceive little order or organisation in the classroom.     

Neuromyths Among Teachers and Student Teachers

Many so‐called brain‐based educational approaches have been strongly criticized for their lack of empirical support and occasionally for their use of pseudoscientific concepts. As a result, several use the term neuromyths to refer to false beliefs or misinterpretations regarding neuroscientific facts. We surveyed both teachers and student teachers concerning their agreement toward hemispheric dominance, modality dominance, and the Brain Gym© method. Results suggest that teachers as well as student teachers believe in the reality of hemispheric and modality dominance but only a few were aware of the Brain Gym© method. Correlation analyses show moderate relationships across different beliefs and/or their perceived benefits in education. Teachers believed more than student teachers in hemispheric dominance and its pedagogical relevance. Together with other studies, the results suggest that teachers and student teachers could benefit from appropriate training in this new field of research.