The Construction and Evaluation of Simulations to Assess Professional Interviewing Skills

Courses preparing students for interviews commonly held in organisations often form part of the curriculum of senior secondary, higher, university, and in‐service education. In these courses, students are prepared for their future work practice. Assessment of student performance after attending such a course requires a different assessment method from the traditional written examination. In this article we describe the construction and evaluation of simulations. The results of an investigation into their quality show that they are reliable in terms of measures of internal consistency and inter‐rater reliability. However, it turned out that a student's score is highly dependent on the content of the interview. We found support for the simulations’ construct and content validity. Although the simulation is not an efficient instrument, its benefits are high: students are stimulated to do their best in practising for the interviews, and weaknesses in students’ performances will be detected so that remedial teaching can be offered.     

Conceptual learning in relation to near and far transfer in the secondary school subject of economics

In this study we investigated the effects of two treatments supplementing students’ (16 to 18 years of age and in pre-university education) regular course in economics. One treatment, labelled concept treatment, aimed at the solidification of the students’ knowledge about economic concepts and their interrelations. The other treatment, labeled context treatment, aimed at the solidification of the connections between economic concepts and practical contexts. The aim of the study was to find out which treatment was most effective in meeting two demands that have been made by educators and advisory boards. The first demand is that students should gain competence in analysing practical problems from an economic perspective. The second demand is that students should be prepared for transfer of what they learned in the lessons to problems that are new to them.     

Systematic academic instruction for students with EBD: the construction and use of a tool for teachers

Educating students with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties requires a thorough systematic approach with the focus on academic instruction. This study addresses the development of a tool, consisting of two questionnaires, for measuring systematic academic instruction. The questionnaires cover the Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act cycle and academic versus behavioural instruction. The questionnaires are both practically oriented as well as theoretically well founded. The reliability turned out to be acceptable (0.76) to high (0.89). Observation scales were developed to determine the validity of both questionnaires. Moderate correlations between questionnaires and observation scales were found (0.31, 0.32). Bland–Altman plots offered us valuable information about the differences between questionnaires and observation scales, supplying us with important issues for further research. It is concluded that the questionnaires might be a valuable tool for assessing teachers' systematic academic instruction.     

Simulation research and design: a dual-level framework for multi-project research programs

Collaborations between researchers and practitioners have recently become increasingly popular in education, and educational design research (EDR) may benefit greatly from investigating such partnerships. One important domain in which EDR on collaborations between researchers and practitioners can be applied is research on simulation-based learning. However, frameworks describing both research and design processes in research programs on simulation-based learning are currently lacking. The framework proposed in this paper addresses this research gap. It is derived from theory and delineates levels, phases, activities, roles, and products of research programs to develop simulations as complex scientific artifacts for research purposes. This dual-level framework applies to research programs with a research committee and multiple subordinate research projects. The proposed framework is illustrated by examples from the actual research and design process of an interdisciplinary research program investigating the facilitation of diagnostic competences through instructional support in simulations. On a theoretical level, the framework contributes primarily to the literature of EDR by offering a unique dual-level perspective. Moreover, on a practical level, the framework may help by providing recommendations to guide the research and design process in research programs.

     

组织学习的跨文化效应:中国和荷兰的比较

基于克拉克洪和斯托德伯克的跨文化分析架构就中国和荷兰的社会文化对组织学习过程、组织学习氛围和组织学习能力的影响进行比较,提出一些有待进一步证实的命题,以期引起人们对跨文化组织学习实证研究的关注,为跨国公司在华子公司打造学习型组织实践提供理论基础。     

Academic versus industry patenting: An in-depth analysis of what determines patent value

This paper compares corporate and academic patents and tests whether they have similar value distributions and share common determinants of value. The empirical results based on an in-depth analysis of 400 biotech patents applied for by Belgian universities and firms lead to the following observations: (i) academic and corporate patent value distributions have similar levels of ‘skewness’; (ii) the identification of the institutional origin of knowledge allows for an improved understanding of the value determinants and (iii) there is a need to stimulate star scientists to codify their tacit knowledge into valuable patents.     

柴达木盆地北缘大柴旦地区古生代花岗岩锆石SHRIMP定年

大柴旦地区是柴北缘古生代超高压带的重要组成部分，与超高压岩石相伴的花岗岩十分发育。这些花岗岩具有两类不同的岩石地球化学特征，I类以Na20／K2O比值小于1、明显的负Eu异常和低sr、高Y为特征，具有S-型花岗岩的属性，Ⅱ类以Na2O／K2O比值大于1、弱负Eu异常到正Eu异常和高Sr、低Y为特征，具有I-型花岗岩的属性，反映了它们的源岩及成因上的差异。锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年结果表明，大柴旦地区花岗岩的年龄可分为三组，第一组年龄为446.3±3.9Ma，第二组年龄分别为408.6±4.4Ma、403.3±3.8Ma、401.8±3Ma，第三组年龄分别为374.5±1.6Ma、372±2.1Ma。结合区域地质特征，我们认为，第一组年龄可能反映了柴达木陆块与中南祁连板块碰撞的时代，第二组年龄可能反映了深俯冲地下的板块由于拆沉而折返的时代，第三组年龄可能反映了碰撞隆起后造山带上不同块体之间的伸展、滑塌的时代。     

Ethical issues in web data mining

Web mining refers to the whole of data miningand related techniques that are used toautomatically discover and extract informationfrom web documents and services. When used in abusiness context and applied to some type ofpersonal data, it helps companies to builddetailed customer profiles, and gain marketingintelligence. Web mining does, however, pose athreat to some important ethical values likeprivacy and individuality. Web mining makes itdifficult for an individual to autonomouslycontrol the unveiling and dissemination of dataabout his/her private life. To study thesethreats, we distinguish between `content andstructure mining' and `usage mining.' Webcontent and structure mining is a cause forconcern when data published on the web in acertain context is mined and combined withother data for use in a totally differentcontext. Web usage mining raises privacyconcerns when web users are traced, and theiractions are analysed without their knowledge.Furthermore, both types of web mining are oftenused to create customer files with a strongtendency of judging and treating people on thebasis of group characteristics instead of ontheir own individual characteristics and merits(referred to as de-individualisation). Althoughthere are a variety of solutions toprivacy-problems, none of these solutionsoffers sufficient protection. Only a combinedsolution package consisting of solutions at anindividual as well as a collective level cancontribute to release some of the tensionbetween the advantages and the disadvantages ofweb mining. The values of privacy andindividuality should be respected and protectedto make sure that people are judged and treatedfairly. People should be aware of theseriousness of the dangers and continuouslydiscuss these ethical issues. This should be ajoint responsibility shared by web miners (bothadopters and developers), web users, andgovernments.     

Enhancing student engagement in pre-vocational and vocational education: a learning history

Interest in student engagement has increased over the past decade, which has resulted in increased knowledge about this concept and about the aspects that facilitate engagement. However, as yet, only a few studies have focused on engagement from the perspective of the teacher. In this study, we capture the experiences of teachers who were explicitly working with their teams on fostering student engagement. We used the learning history method to capture those experiences and at the same time to stimulate learning within the participating teams. A learning history includes the voices of the different participants involved in order to stimulate reflection and learning. Three teams of teachers participated in the writing of this learning history. Several teachers (n = 10), students (n = 10), and managers (n = 5) from or related to the teams were interviewed. The learning history shows that, on the one hand, teachers emphasized positive relationships and structure in relation to student engagement, yet, on the other hand, students continued to provide examples of negative relationships and mentioned a lack of structure, although they also mentioned improvements. Furthermore, the learning history showed that teachers in all teams reflected on their experiences and learned from the activities employed to foster student engagement, which included taking a more positive approach, conversations about a skills form, and being more consequent. These results taken together indicate that it is possible for teachers to do a better job of engaging their students and that their repertoire can be expanded to include more engagement-related actions. Finally, the learning history produced offers insight into the difficulties experienced by the teams. An important limitation mentioned by all teams was that teachers found it difficult to address each other’s behavior when someone did not act as agreed upon.