It doesn’t matter,but: examining the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace

This study reports an intervention to initiate environmental learning and facilitate pro-environmental behaviour. The purpose was to examine the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace, more specifically the evaluation of learning outcome and behaviour change. Using a quasi-experimental design, the empirical study was conducted among employees working at a university campus. For the experimental treatments, ambient learning display prototypes were varied on two design dimensions, namely representational fidelity and notification level. The results do not provide clear evidence that the design of the displays influences learning outcome or that the displays lead to pro-environmental behaviour change. Nevertheless, the sole deployment of the display prototypes eased the comprehension of the information provided and lowered the need for additional information. Thus, ambient learning displays provide a promising framework in the context of environmental learning and beyond.     

On-chip recalcification of citrated whole blood using a microfluidic herringbone mixer

In vitro assays of platelet function and coagulation are typically performed in the presence of an anticoagulant. The divalent cation chelator sodium citrate is among the most common because its effect on coagulation is reversible upon reintroduction of divalent cations. Adding divalent cations into citrated blood by batch mixing leads to platelet activation and initiation of coagulation after several minutes, thus limiting the time blood can be used before spontaneously clotting. In this work, we describe a herringbone microfluidic mixer to continuously introduce divalent cations into citrated blood. The mixing ratio, defined as the ratio of the volumetric flow rates of citrated blood and recalcification buffer, can be adjusted by changing the relative inlet pressures of these two solutions. This feature is useful in whole blood assays in order to account for differences in hematocrit, and thus viscosity. The recalcification process in the herringbone mixer does not activate platelets. The advantage of this continuous mixing approach is demonstrated in microfluidic vascular injury model in which platelets and fibrin accumulate on a collagen-tissue factor surface under flow. Continuous recalcification with the herringbone mixer allowed for flow assay times of up to 30 min, more than three times longer than the time achieved by batch recalcification. This continuous mixer allows for measurements of thrombus formation, remodeling, and fibrinolysis in vitro over time scales that are relevant to these physiological processes.     

Improving ethical attitudes to animals with digital technologies: the case of apes and zoos

Ethics and Information Technology - This paper examines how digital technologies might be used to improve ethical attitudes towards nonhuman animals, by exploring the case study of nonhuman apes...     

Wirksamkeit schulrelevanter Förderung in Kindertagesstätten

The present paper summarizes international and national research findings on the general and differential effectiveness of pedagogical work in early childhood education and care settings, evaluations of pilot projects on compensatory preschool education as well programs to support individual learning abilities. Based on these findings, the following conclusions are drawn: First, attending early childhood education and care settings at an early age (after the age of three) has a positive influence on the development of academic competences. Second, the effectiveness of these settings depends on the instructional quality, which could be considerably improved in Germany. Third, pilot projects on programs to support individual learning abilities could show that compensatory effects for disadvantaged groups of children exist, especially when they are interlinked with stimulating conditions in the family and at school. Fourth, effective training programs exist that can be implemented in early childhood education and care. However, a number of challenges need to be met before they can be successfully implemented.     

To explore or to exploit? An empirical investigation of acquisitions by large incumbents

Innovation in high technology industries poses considerable challenges, frequently forcing firms to consider using acquisitions as a means of sourcing technology. This paper investigates such behaviour in a major high technology sector, namely the semiconductor industry. The paper focuses on differential effects of technology-related versus nontechnological acquisitions on exploratory and exploitative research and innovation. Most importantly, it confirms the important role of technology-related acquisitions for exploratory innovation.     

Tuition and U.S. private college characteristics: The hedonic approach

Tuition at private colleges in the United States for the academic year 1982–1983 were statistically very closely related to quality characteristics associated with those colleges. Reduced form hedonic regressions reveal the equilibrium marginal tuition revenue estimates for over twenty important measures of quality, including faculty-student ratios, library size, and the percentage of the faculty holding Ph.D. degrees. These findings show that private college tuition responds in economically sensible ways to changes in public tuition, and changes in the quantity and quality of the faculties, facilities, and student bodies at private colleges.     

Advancing opportunities for children’s informal STEM learning transfer through parent–child narrative reflection

This study examined whether families’ conversational reflections after a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)-related experience in a museum promoted learning transfer. 63 children (M = 6.93 years; 30 girls; 57% White, 17.5% Latinx, 8% Asian, 5% African American, 9.5% mixed, 3% missing race/ethnicity) and their parents received an engineering demonstration, engaged in a building activity, and either recorded a photo-narrative reflection about their building experience or not at the museum. Thirty-six of these families completed a building activity with different materials weeks later at home, and the majority (77%) evidenced learning transfer of the building principle demonstrated at the museum. Those who participated in the photo-narrative reflection at the museum also showed learning transfer by talking more about STEM during the home building activity.