Analysing the possible impact of landslides and avalanches on cultural heritage in Upper Svaneti,Georgia

In this paper, the threat posed to cultural heritage by landslides and avalanches is analysed for two communities (Ushguli and Mulakhi) in the Upper Svaneti region in Georgia. The vulnerability of 60 cultural heritage objects has been evaluated through a conservation calculation based on an existing methodology using a State of Conservation Index (SCIx), which served as an input in a Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation (SMCE). Factors that are considered important for the occurrence of landslides (slope, landcover, lithology and drainage density) and snow avalanches (slope, insolation, slope curvature and landcover) have been used to generate a susceptibility map. A qualitative risk assessment was carried out by combining susceptible areas and cultural heritage objects. As there were very limited historical data available on the occurrence of landslides and snow avalanches, a combination of local and expert knowledge has been used to extract information on both cultural heritage and natural hazards. Existing management plans were also analysed to evaluate how natural hazards could be incorporated. Finally, some recommendations are given related to the analysis of the impact of natural hazards on cultural heritage in Georgia.     

Conceptualizing impact in academic development: finding a way through

This paper explores the notion of impact in the context of academic development programs and considers how it can be described and understood. We argue that impact has a range of meanings and academic development programs such as graduate certificates have a broad group of stakeholders and hence the impact is different for each group depending on how the program aims and objectives are defined and understood. In finding a way through the difficulties of evaluating impact in academic development we point to the importance of clearly conceptualizing the notion of impact, a careful identification of the assumptions underpinning any program and an understanding of who academic development will benefit and how. We suggest that impact in academic development cannot be understood without taking account of the range of possible impacts and the difficulty of attributing simple cause and effect to a complex environment.     

The effects of gender on the transition of transfer students into a new school

The present study describes a peer-tutoring program designed to utilize computerassisted instruction to help first through fourth graders who were entering a new school. Tutored girls increased their positive self-perceptions as a result of the tutoring program, whereas boys declined in positive self-perceptions, while exhibiting gains in reading scores. These findings suggest that prevention efforts need to consider the specific adaptation needs of transfer students by gender so as to insure a maximum fit between individual need and program scope.     

How achievement emotions impact students' decisions for online learning,and what precedes those emotions

This empirical study investigates students' learning choices for mathematics and statistics in a blended learning environment, composed of both online and face-to-face learning components. The students (N = 730) were university freshmen with a strong diversity in prior schooling and a wide range of proficiency in quantitative subjects. In this context, we investigated the impact that individual differences in achievement emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, hopelessness) had on students' learning choices, in terms of the intensity of using the online learning mode versus the face-to-face mode. Unlike the general level of learning activities, which is only minimally influenced by achievement emotions, these emotions appear to have a moderately strong effect on a student's preference for online learning. Following this, we explored the antecedents of achievement emotions. Through the use of path-modeling, we conclude that while goal setting behavior only marginally impacts achievement emotions, effort views—a crucial component of the social-cognitive model of implicit theories of intelligence—have a substantial impact on achievement emotions.     

The Educational Forces Inventory

The Educational Forces Inventory (EFI) is a technique for assessing the constellation of forces in the teacher’s social-psychological field. Thereby, important stress points for teachers are identified and their work in the classroom is facilitated. The EFI charts the relative influence of each of 13 forces that are important factors in the educational settting. Teachers are asked to characterize each force along two dimensions: the amount of influence it exerts upon the classroom process, and the degree to which this influence is positive or negative. Several hundred teachers and teaching assistants in Follow Through classrooms throughout the country participated in a field test of the instrument, with concurrent administration of the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire (PTO), an established measure of teacher morale. The high rate of return and correct completion on the EFI indicated that it is a practical technique. In addition, the data indicated validity for the instrument in three important respects: (1) the pattern-of-importance ratings correspond to independently assessed patterns of physical and social distance; (2) the positive/negative ratings for particular forces correlated substantially with corresponding subscores of the PTO; and (3) the pattern of responses reflected aspects of internal consistency. Some ways of utilizing EFI data are discussed: how to plot and interpret two-dimensional force fields, and how to use them in program implementation, especially to facilitate the work of the teacher in the classroom.     

Identifying configurations of perceived teacher autonomy support and structure: Associations with self-regulated learning,motivation and problem behavior

Grounded in self-determination theory, the aim of this study was (a) to examine naturally occurring configurations of perceived teacher autonomy support and clear expectations (i.e., a central aspect of teacher structure), and (b) to investigate associations with academic motivation, self-regulated learning, and problem behavior. Based on person-centered analyses in a sample of high school students (N = 1036), four different perceived teaching configurations emerged: high autonomy support – clear expectations, low autonomy support – vague expectations, high autonomy support, and clear expectations. The teaching configuration characterized by perceived autonomy support and clear expectations was related to the most positive pattern of outcomes, whereas the opposing teaching configuration related to the most negative pattern of outcomes. The two remaining groups fell in between. The discussion focuses on the compatibility of teacher autonomy support and teacher structure.     

Technology-gaps, innovation-diffusion and transformation: an evolutionary interpretation

This paper discusses and outlines a perspective on economic growth based on evolutionary theorizing. Consistent with this perspective, capitalist development is shown to be a process of alternating periods of convergence and divergence, with some signs of a shift towards divergence recently. We also show that the importance of innovation for economic growth has increased lately, while at the same time imitation, (or diffusion) has become more demanding. The manufacturing sector which used to be very important for growth has lost much of its dynamism. We relate these findings to the big technological shifts that have occurred during the last decades.     

Uncertainty, Information, and (Re)Organization

Our tendency is to generate ever-increasing amounts of information to deal with the uncertainties we face in today's turbulent environment. However, if we look at the problem more fundamentally, we see that uncertainty, the variable responsible for information demand, itself can be reduced. Thus, we should not get fixated on information generation (the supply-side approach) but should also consider ways of reducing needs for information flows (the demand-side approach). This article provides an overview of a Dutch sociotechnical approach that focuses on reduction of complexity so as to reduce uncertainty and thereby organizational information flows.