Higher education funding reform and university–industry links in developing countries: The case of Thailand

Most investigations into the effects of funding changes on higher education systems have been carried out in developed economies. This article focuses on the Thai higher education system, applying theoretical arguments and empirical analyses to the case of a newly industrialising country. One goal of the Thai higher education funding reform is to cut public spending and to stimulate university–industry cooperation as a means to obtain additional university income. This article presents empirical data based on an investigation into the cooperation activities of five Thai universities. The results show that both individuals and organisations react to changes in university funding: university–industry relations are becoming more frequent and are promoted by university administrations. The financial benefits for the universities as well as the technological benefits for the cooperating companies are, however, both very limited.     

The myth of global science collaboration—Collaboration patterns in epistemic communities

Scientific collaboration is often perceived as a joint global process that involves researchers worldwide, regardless of their place of work and residence. Globalization of science, in this respect, implies that collaboration among scientists takes place along the lines of common topics and irrespective of the spatial distances between the collaborators. The networks of collaborators, termed ‘epistemic communities’, should thus have a space-independent structure. This paper shows that such a notion of globalized scientific collaboration is not supported by empirical data. It introduces a novel approach of analyzing distance-dependent probabilities of collaboration. The results of the analysis of six distinct scientific fields reveal that intra-country collaboration is about 10–50 times more likely to occur than international collaboration. Moreover, strong dependencies exist between collaboration activity (measured in co-authorships) and spatial distance when confined to national borders. However, the fact that distance becomes irrelevant once collaboration is taken to the international scale suggests a globalized science system that is strongly influenced by the gravity of local science clusters. The similarity of the probability functions of the six science fields analyzed suggests a universal mode of spatial governance that is independent from the mode of knowledge creation in science.     

Ein Fuzzy-Rechercheassistent für bibliographische Datenbanken

Zusammenfassung. Dadurch, dass Literaturnachweise und Publikationen zunehmend in elektronischer und auch vernetzter Form angeboten werden, haben Anzahl und Größe der von wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken angebotenen Datenbanken erheblich zugenommen. In den verbreiteten Metasuchen über mehrere Datenbanken sind Suchen mit natürlichsprachlichen Suchbegriffen heute der kleinste gemeinsame Nenner. Sie führen aber wegen der bekannten Mängel des booleschen Retrievals häufig zu Treffermengen, die entweder zu speziell oder zu lang und zu unspezifisch sind. Die Technische Fakultät der Universität Bielefeld und die Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld haben einen auf Fuzzy- Suchlogik basierenden Rechercheassistenten entwickelt, der die Suchanfragen der Benutzer in Teilsuchfragen an die externen Datenbanken zerlegt und die erhaltenen Teilsuchergebnisse in einer nach Relevanz sortierten Liste kumuliert. Es ist möglich, Suchbegriffe zu gewichten und durch Fuzzy- Aggregationsoperatoren zu verknüpfen, die auf der Benutzeroberfläche durch natürlichsprachliche Fuzzy-Quantoren wie möglichst viele, einige u.a. repräsentiert werden. Die Suchparameter werden in der intuitiv bedienbaren einfachen Suche automatisch nach heuristischen Regeln ermittelt, können in einer erweiterten Suche aber auch explizit eingestellt werden. Die Suchmöglichkeiten werden durch Suchen nach ähnlichen Dokumenten und Vorschlagslisten für weitere Suchbegriffe ergänzt. Wir beschreiben die Ausgangssituation, den theoretischen Ansatz, die Benutzeroberfläche und berichten über eine Evalution zur Benutzung und einen Vergleichstest betreffend die Effizienz der Retrievalmethodik.CR Subject Classification: H.3.3, H.3.5Eingegangen am 3. März 2004 / Angenommen am 19. August 2004, Online publiziert am 18. Oktober 2004     

Decontamination of Biocide Treated Museum Objects of the Swiss National Museum’s Collection by Liquid CO2 Technology

ABSTRACT

A decontamination treatment using liquid CO₂ (li-CO₂) and specifically developed for the requirements of museum objects (Lombardo, T., M. Wörle, V. Hubert, E. Hildbrand, I. Mayer, C. Hinterleitner, U. von Arx. 2020. “Influence of Process Parameters on Chlorinated Biocide Decontamination by li-CO₂ on Artificially Contaminated Model Materials.” Studies in Conservation, in press, doi:10.1080/00393630.2019.1641001) was first tested on model materials of wood (with and without coating), silk, and wool with different dyes, paper, and leather in order to evaluate possible material changes. Then, selected museum objects from the collection of the Swiss National Museum were treated to determine the efficiency of biocide decontamination and any resulting chemical and/or structural changes. Results show that dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and chlorpyrifos were successfully removed. Wool, silk, leather, and non-coated wood did not experience any detectable modifications, while moderate to major modifications were observed in wood coated with shellac and polychromy.     

Use of the concept of Bildung in the international science education literature,its potential,and implications for teaching and learning

Bildung is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of Bildung became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. Bildung concerns the whole range of education from setting educational objectives in general towards its particular operation in different school subjects, among them science education. In more recent years, the concept of Bildung has slowly begun to be used in the international science and environmental education literature. This paper presents a systematic analysis of the international literature concerning the use of the concept of Bildung, with a view on its meaning in and for science education. At least five versions based on or closely connected to the tradition of Bildung can be identified: (a) Von Humboldt’s classical Bildung, (b) Anglo-American liberal education, (c) Scandinavian folk-Bildung, (d) democratic education, and (e) critical-hermeneutic Bildung. These different understandings of Bildung are discussed in relation to their historical roots, educational theory, critique, and their relation to philosophies of science education, such as different visions of scientific literacy. Based on critical-hermeneutic Bildung, the paper theoretically develops views of critical-reflexive Bildung as an educational metatheory. It is connected to ideas of transformative learning, sustainability education and a Vision III of scientific literacy. Finally, some implications of critical-reflexive Bildung for teaching and learning are discussed.     

A Comparison of Student Teachers' Beliefs from Four Different Science Teaching Domains Using a Mixed Methods Design

The study presented in this paper integrates data from four combined research studies, which are both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The studies describe freshman science student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning. These freshmen intend to become teachers in Germany in one of four science teaching domains (secondary biology, chemistry, and physics, respectively, as well as primary school science). The qualitative data from the first study are based on student teachers' drawings of themselves in teaching situations. It was formulated using Grounded Theory to test three scales: Beliefs about Classroom Organisation, Beliefs about Teaching Objectives, and Epistemological Beliefs. Three further quantitative studies give insight into student teachers' curricular beliefs, their beliefs about the nature of science itself, and about the student- and/or teacher-centredness of science teaching. This paper describes a design to integrate all these data within a mixed methods framework. The aim of the current study is to describe a broad, triangulated picture of freshman science student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning within their respective science teaching domain. The study reveals clear tendencies between the sub-groups. The results suggest that freshman chemistry and—even more pronouncedly—freshman physics student teachers profess quite traditional beliefs about science teaching and learning. Biology and primary school student teachers express beliefs about their subjects which are more in line with modern educational theory. The mixed methods approach towards the student teachers' beliefs is reflected upon and implications for science education and science teacher education are discussed.