Implicit Theories of Creativity: the conceptions of politicians,scientists, artists and school teachers

While a high number of studies have focused on the nature of creativity and on approaches to identify and to promote creativity there is a lack of studies analysing people's implicit theories of creativity. The present study investigates implicit theories of individuals who are assumed to influence other's views on creativity. We collected data from politicians, scientists, artists and school teachers. Subjects were asked to write down what they spontaneously associate to the term “creativity”. Answers were analysed using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Out of the 560 subjects asked, only 145 participated in the study. Answers were compared with regard to profession, gender, and country (Austria versus Germany). In general, results show extremely high answer variability. Differences in the number of associations produced and the most frequent words associated with creativity are higher across profession groups than between females and males and between respondents from Austria and from Germany. Artists seem to form an outstanding group. They show the highest participation rate of all subgroups, produced the highest number of associations, comprised the highest rate of subjects expressing ego‐involvement in their answers, and used the widest‐ranging approaches to creativity.     

Cooperation between rivals: Informal know-how trading

“Informal” know-how trading is the extensive exchange of proprietary know-how by informal networks of process engineers in rival (and non-rival) firms. I have observed such know-how trading networks to be very active in the US steel minimill industry and elsewhere, and they appear to represent a novel form of cooperative R&D.When one examines informal know-how trading in the framework of a “Prisoner's Dilemma”, real-world conditions can be specified where this behavior both does and does not make economic sense from the point of view of participating firms. Data available to date on the presence and absence of such trading seem to be roughly in accordance with the predictions of this simple model.Although presently documented only as a firm-level phenomenon involving the trading of proprietary technical knowhow, informal know-how trading seems relevant to (and may currently exist in) many other types of situation. Indeed, it may be applicable to any situation in which individuals or organizations are involved in a competition where possession of proprietary know-how represents a form of competitive advantage.     

Library involvement in health informatics education for health professions students and practitioners: a scoping review

Objective:The purpose of this scoping review is to evaluate the extent of library or librarian involvement in informatics education in the health domain.Methods:We searched eight databases from their inception to 2019 for reports of informatics educational activities for health professionals or health professions students that involved library staff or resources. Two reviewers independently screened all titles/abstracts (n=2,196) and resolved inclusion decisions by consensus. From the full text of the 36 papers that met the inclusion criteria, we extracted data on 41 educational activities.Results:The most frequent coded purposes of activities were “teaching clinical tools” (n=19, 46.3%) and “technology” (n=17; 41.5%). Medical students were the most frequent primary audience (34.1%), though 41.5% of activities had multiple audiences. Evaluation was reported for 24 activities (58.5%), only a few of which assessed short or post-activity impact on attitudes, knowledge, or skills. The most common long-term outcome was applying skills in other courses or clinical experiences. Thematic analysis yielded three areas of outcomes and issues for the library and organizational partners: expanded opportunities, technology and resource issues, and value demonstration.Conclusions:Limited published examples of health informatics educational activities provide models for library roles in informatics education. More librarians should report on their informatics educational activities and provide sufficient details on the interventions and their evaluation. This would strengthen the evidence base about the potential impact of libraries within informatics education.     

Knowing more about things you care less about: Cross-sectional analysis of the opposing trend and interplay between conceptual understanding and interest in secondary school chemistry

The development of students' interest in school science activities, their understanding of central chemical concepts, and the interplay between both constructs across Grades 5–11 were analyzed in a cross-sectional paper-and-pencil study (N = 2,510, mean age 11–17 years). Previous empirical findings indicate that students' knowledge increases over the time of secondary school while students' interest, especially in natural science subjects, tends to decrease. Concomitantly, there is evidence for an increase in the positive coupling between interest and knowledge across time. However, previous studies mainly rely on rather global measures, for example, school grades or general subject-related interest, and focus on science as an integrated subject instead of specific disciplines, for example, chemistry. For this article, more proximal and differentiated measures for students' understanding of three chemical concepts (Chemical Reaction, Energy, Matter) and interest in seven dimensions of school science activities according to the RIASEC + N model (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional, and Networking; cf. Dierks, Höffler, & Parchmann, 2014) were applied. The results are in line with previous research indicating a general increase in conceptual understanding and a decline in students' interest for all school science activities. However, the interplay between conceptual understanding and interest differs across the seven dimensions. Interest in activities which are likely to promote cognitive activation (investigative, networking) or involving the communication of knowledge (social, enterprising, and networking) are increasingly connected to conceptual understanding, especially in upper secondary grades. Interest in guided hands-on activities (realistic) which are typical in secondary science teaching, however, shows only small positive correlations to students' conceptual understanding across all grades. Hence, in upper-secondary school, investigative, social, enterprising, and networking activities seem to provide opportunities to benefit most from the interrelation between students' interests and their understanding.     

Maximum Likelihood Dynamic Factor Modeling for Arbitrary N and T Using SEM

This article has 3 objectives that build on each other. First, we demonstrate how to obtain maximum likelihood estimates for dynamic factor models (the direct autoregressive factor score model) with arbitrary T and N by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) and compare the approach to existing methods. Second, we go beyond standard time series analysis (T large and N = 1) and conventional SEM (N large and T = 1 or small) by integrating both approaches. The resulting combined model offers a variety of new modeling options including a direct test of the ergodicity hypothesis, according to which the factorial structure of an individual observed at many time points is identical to the factorial structure of a group of individuals observed at a single point in time. Third, we illustrate the flexibility of SEM time series modeling by extending the approach to account for complex error structures. We end with a discussion of current limitations and future applications of SEM-based time series modeling for arbitrary T and N.