Benchmarking the digital divide using a multi-level outranking framework: Evidence from EBRD countries of operation

The paper proposes an innovative procedure for benchmarking the digital divide. The study demonstrates the potential of an outranking approach as an alternative to the commonly used ranking models based on Composite Indices (CIs). To fulfill the objectives of the benchmarking process, an ELECTRE-based (ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité; Elimination and Choice Corresponding to Reality) multi-level outranking (ELECTRE MLO) method is developed. The proposed approach improves on previous methods of benchmarking the digital divide in two ways: by classifying countries into hierarchical levels of performance and by identifying corresponding benchmarks for less successful ones. The method is applied to 29 EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) countries of operation. The results are visualized in the form of a relation tree, thus providing clear insights for policy-makers regarding how countries stand relative to each other.     

The overall knowledge of genetics in Serbian speech and language pathologists

ABSTRACT

An increase in the number of children with speech–language pathology also having a genetic disorder imposes the need for speech and language pathologists (SLPs) to have sufficient knowledge about genetic basis of speech–language disorders. Research aim was to estimate in Serbian SLPs different aspects of theoretical and practical knowledge about intercorrelation of genetics and speech and language pathology and to compare obtained results with the results of SLPs in the United States. The questionnaire from Tramontana’s study was used in our study. Comparison of the results that obtained in our study with those in Tramontana’s study has shown that our study respondents have higher General Knowledge Index (78.6%: 66.2%), higher mean confidence summary score (22.2: 16.7) and higher mean score of ‘overall’ attitudes about genetics and its relation with communication disorders (20.8: 13.6). Differences which emerge from educational programmes, educational levels and practical experience in the observed groups are indicated as possible causes of differences in the obtained results. On the basis of the obtained results, it may be concluded that it is necessary to elevate SLPs’ level of general knowledge about genetics and to acquire their knowledge through clinical practice.     

Reconciling rigour and impact by collaborative research design: study of teacher agency

This paper illustrates a new way of working collaboratively on the development of a methodology for studying teacher agency for social justice. Increasing emphasis of impact on change as a purpose of social research raises questions about appropriate research designs. Large-scale quantitative research framed within externally set parameters has often been criticised for its limited potential for capturing the contexts and impacting change, while smaller, locally embedded, mostly qualitative inquiries have been questioned on the grounds of their limited generalizability and sometimes compromising research rigour. New ways of working collaboratively are increasingly explored as a way of reconciling research rigour and impact. The paper presents the procedures for designing a study that is both methodologically rigorous and potentially impactful. Twelve researchers, practitioners and policy-makers in Scotland were extensively involved in designing a mixed-method study of teacher agency for social justice. The Critical Communicative Methodology was employed to establish egalitarian dialogue between researchers and practitioners. The procedures and the resulting research tools can be used in future studies, including large-scale quantitative analysis. The paper discusses the challenges of ownership, choice of methods, and knowledge transfer, that need to be addressed in these ways of working.     

Activity identification and classification in wheelchair rugby using fractal dimensions

The purpose of the study was to develop an evidence-based method for identification and classification of wheelchair sports (rugby) activities and performance during a match using fractal dimensions. The approach involves five wheelchair rugby athletes of different classifications who were monitored during six different matches using mobile devices with in-built accelerometers. The linear acceleration signals were processed using two different approaches based on calculating fractal dimensions. One was based on Rényi’s entropy, which produced the probability dimension (S ₀), and the other was based on Hausdorff’s definition, resulting in the Hausdorff dimension (D _H). When both dimensions were individually plotted as cumulative distribution plots, they offered two approaches to analyze the performance of a wheelchair rugby athlete. Combining the two dimensions produced a two-dimensional (2D) mapping that identified five different activities of each athlete during a wheelchair rugby match—(1) no activities, (2) low activities, (3) high-speed coasting, (4) high-speed pushing, and (5) extreme collisions. In the 2D mapping, four boundary lines separate the five different activities, which produced a template for each athlete. It was found in this research that the classification and skill level of the athlete had an effect on the boundary line values that form the template. The outcome of the activity identification was also verified by comparing with video footage of the athletes. The method developed in this research has possible applications for coaching, match analysis, and talent identification.     

“A miniature League of Nations”: inquiry into the social origins of the International School, 1924–1930

Today, the International School of Geneva is known as the world’s oldest and largest private international school, having opened in 1924 under the name “International School”. Many schools have attempted to foster an international environment in a general sense; this school is the first to claim an inter-national identity with reference to a specific political ideology. In this article, I argue that neither student statistics, nor official discourse, nor the individual experience of consecrated School founders can account for this claim. After careful analysis of different forms of capital invested in the School, its founding no longer appears to be a simple response to a "need" or a "demand" but a complex process of social distinction.     

Online databases as research support and the role of librarians in their promotion: The case of Croatia

The main aim of this study was to determine the extent to which Croatian university teachers use online databases as a research support tool, and what role librarians have in their promotion. Although the results show that within Croatian higher education online databases are widely acknowledged as important, they are used less frequently than in many other countries, especially more developed ones. The differences in online database perception between certain user groups were also tested. The study has revealed the problems in database usage and indicated the ways in which librarians can respond to users' needs more efficiently and effectively.     

Internships at the Slavic and East European Collection of the Yale University Library

In this article, the author discusses the internship program of the Slavic and East European Collection at Yale University Library, which provides semester-long fellowships to library professionals from Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. The program began in 1993 and is ongoing. The author details its history, including how it has been funded, and discusses what the program includes and the logistics of running it. Participants are listed, along with excerpts from some of their final reports and selected post-fellowship activities.     

The Pedagogy and Politics of Art in Postmodernity: Cognitive Mapping and The Bothersome Man

This essay inquires into the pedagogical and political dimensions of art in the contemporary moment. Specifically, it seeks to reanimate Fredric Jameson's notion of “cognitive mapping,” which he introduced as a response to the postmodern problem of representing the social totality. To that end, the essay begins by explicating the twin impulses of cognitive mapping. It, then, undertakes a sustained rhetorical analysis of Jens Lien's award-winning 2006 Norwegian film, The Bothersome Man, demonstrating how the film employs entropic satire to, at once, map and critique the cultural logic of late capitalism. The essay concludes by reflecting on the important contributions rhetorical scholars can make to a renewed interest in cognitive mapping.