Integrating educational institutions to produce intellectual capital for sustainability in Caguas,Puerto Rico

This research is part of a broader investigation to analyse the processes followed by the Caguas Municipality at the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in an effort to develop the characteristics of a ‘Smart City’ as an example of sustainable development. We describe the integration of the educational institutions’ initiatives and the municipal government strategic plan to contribute to the knowledge and intellectual capital that brings sustainability to the city. An actor's model was designed to represent this integration. The conceptual framework was based on the concepts of knowledge production and sharing as applied to the collaboration between critical representative actors. Field research consisting of in-depth interviews was performed to ascertain the integration processes and their relationship with such processes of knowledge production and sharing. The results showed that the governance paradigm implemented is already empowering the citizens to contribute with intellectual capital that brings sustainability to Caguas.     

Providing ability to probability: Reducing cognitive load through worked‐out examples

Undergraduate students tend to struggle with probability in their introductory statistics course. Probability problem solving requires several steps. First, students must make sense of the probability scenario, then determine the appropriate probability rules, and finally, execute the procedures to solve the problem. With no previous exposure to probability, this presents too great a cognitive load for many students. Using worked‐out problems then transitioning to partially worked‐out problems in an introductory statistics course at a large university helped students succeed at solving probability problems. The worked‐out problems included writing prompts to encourage self‐explanation of students' thinking through studying the worked‐out examples. This paper explains the use of these instructional principles and their implementation in an introductory statistics course for non‐STEM majors, resulting in higher student achievement and understanding.     

Power Analysis for Complex Mediational Designs Using Monte Carlo Methods

Applied researchers often include mediation effects in applications of advanced methods such as latent variable models and linear growth curve models. Guidance on how to estimate statistical power to detect mediation for these models has not yet been addressed in the literature. We describe a general framework for power analyses for complex mediational models. The approach is based on the well-known technique of generating a large number of samples in a Monte Carlo study, and estimating power as the percentage of cases in which an estimate of interest is significantly different from zero. Examples of power calculation for commonly used mediational models are provided. Power analyses for the single mediator, multiple mediators, 3-path mediation, mediation with latent variables, moderated mediation, and mediation in longitudinal designs are described. Annotated sample syntax for Mplus is appended and tabled values of required sample sizes are shown for some models.     

Investigating changes in self-evaluation of technical competences in the serious game Serena Supergreen: Findings,challenges and lessons learned

Metacognition and Learning - Self-evaluation of one’s competences is considered a core factor in various domains of human functioning, including learning and instruction, as well as academic...     

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLES OF EUROPE: WHAT IT COULD BE

Inspired by the coining together of the various countries of Europe, by the rebirth, at all levels, of interest in the common European identity, and by the growing European consensus as to the importance of the university as a major pan‐European cultural institution, the author, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Committee for Public Education, presents a project for the founding of a University of the Peoples of Europe. What he envisions is primarily a research institution devoted to the study of pan‐European problems of all sorts and the generalization of the solutions. The author suggests outlines of both the possible activities of such a university and of its organization. He believes that the institution should function under the auspices and with the support of Unesco.     

Evaluation of an Integrated Bridging Course on Academic Writing for Overseas Postgraduate Students

This study, supported by the Flinders University Research Budget, evaluated the effects of an integrated four‐week bridging course for postgraduate overseas students. It was funded by the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau and focused on the students' academic writing skills in terms of English grammar, expression and spelling as well as on structure, argument and critical analysis. Quantitative data was gathered from the training group and two control groups, one made up of overseas peers, the other of local postgraduate students. Further qualitative data were gathered from the training group through Journal entries and regular discussions. Results showed a significant improvement in expression and structure in the training group's writing from pre‐ to post‐training, with a significantly higher mark awarded by independent raters to post‐training writing. While significant differences between the two overseas groups and the local control group had been recorded on most variables before training, some of these were reduced between the training group and the local group after training. Although results were positive overall, students continued to produce high rates of errors in grammar and to display weaknesses in developing an argument. Journal entries suggested that students began their studies in a state of gross over‐confidence and moved through doubt and concern before reaching a more accurate estimate of their abilities at the end of the bridging course.