Completion of knowledge codification: an illustration through the ISO 9000 standards implementation process

This paper looks at the role played by the ISO 9000 registration process in contributing to the knowledge codification within the firms. The ISO 9000 standards concern the way a company should elaborate a quality system by providing guidelines and models. They are considered as a code, i.e. a common language, which leads to communication and industrial relationship. This paper focuses on how this code might be used within the firms to enhance knowledge codification. It explains the standards implementation process by studying the three steps needed to complete codification within the firm: (1) the starting point of the implementation; (2) the subject of the codification, that means the material and behavioural characteristics of the production process; (3) the impact of the ISO 9000 implementation on knowledge accumulation within the firm. This paper addresses the fact that the ISO implementation is related to knowledge codification through a learning process, which includes both individual and collective knowledge conversions.     

An international online survey of the practices and perceptions of higher education professors with respect to the assessment of learning in the classroom

In a context where public action must demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency, and where the links between teaching and the quality of learning are regularly highlighted, it seems relevant to identify the trends and logic that govern university professors’ decisions with respect to the modes of learning assessment favoured within the framework of their delivery of teaching services. Moreover, given that university teaching practices are changing rapidly due to the introduction of different views of the learning process, one might conclude that the same holds for assessment practices. Through our research work, we led to the development of a trilingual (English, French and Spanish) online survey devoted to an international investigation into the classroom assessment practices of higher education teachers. This survey proposes an online platform that will allow institutions of higher learning to document some of their current practices and to compare observed trends with what is happening elsewhere, in accordance with differing missions and traditions. These research notes are thus intended to describe the survey itself and to show how the questionnaire and individual items were structured, in addition to providing an overview of treatments within and between institutions that followed the testing.     

Climatically Induced Degradation Processes in Conserved Archaeological Wood Studied by Time-lapse Photography

ABSTRACT

Samples of conserved archaeological wood of different ages, origins, and conservation histories were aged in a climate chamber for seven months, while the humidity alternated between 30% RH for 12 hours and 80% RH for 12 hours at a constant temperature of 30°C. Photographs were taken once every hour, which enabled the creation of a time-lapse movie. Some samples degraded visibly, whereas others were unaffected. Most of the samples were robust and would be able to survive well even in a very poor museum climate. Among the sensitive samples, three types of degradation were identified, namely disintegration, pyrite oxidation, and efflorescence of white crystals. Disintegration was ascribed to dimensional changes caused by the RH alternations in very fragile wood. The white efflorescence was interpreted as the recrystallization of an alum-associated substance, possibly mercallite (KHSO₄). The pyrite oxidation was observed as the efflorescence of a thick yellow, grey, and green powder. Characterization of selected samples was performed using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, X-ray diffraction spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ionic conductivity – liquid chromatography, and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with in situ silylation using hexamethyldisilazane.     

Receiving as well as giving: mentors' perceptions of their professional development in one teacher induction program

Although many studies examine benefits to the mentees, this study examined the growth and development of the mentors in the context of a particular teacher induction program, the University of Missouri Teaching Fellowship Program. This program is unique in that mentors are released from classroom duties to mentor two fellows, conduct professional development in their schools and work with the university. First, second and third‐year mentors were interviewed in focus groups. Results indicated that mentors believed their professional development included: relearning, seeing a bigger picture, expanding their roles, gaining insights about the process of mentoring and understanding the impact of the program on themselves. Data suggest that having various duties encourages these mentors to better understand the complexity of schooling, which increases their leadership potential and gives them more confidence. Also, mentoring is somewhat developmental; it must be learned by engaging in it and needs to be consistently supported. Implications for existing mentoring programs are discussed.     

Comparative study of the cognitive sequelae of school-aged victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is now recognized as being the main cause of severe traumatic brain injury in infancy. However, our understanding of the impact of this type of abuse on child development remains sketchy. The main objective of the current study was therefore to shed light on the cognitive dysfunctions that are particular to SBS victims once they are school-aged. METHOD: A clinical group was formed of 11 children diagnosed with SBS who had been admitted between 1988 and 1999 to a tertiary pediatric hospital in Quebec, Canada. The children were matched for age, gender, socio-economic status, and family composition to 11 healthy Quebec children, who made up the control group. A battery of composite tests was developed to assess the children's main cognitive functions and was administered individually to the 22 children. A univariate t-test was used to compare the performances of the two groups. RESULTS: The mean age of the children in the clinical and control groups at the time of the assessment was 87.64 months and 90.18 months, respectively. Pairing and birth data were equivalent for both groups. Significant weaknesses were noted in the clinical group for intelligence quotient (IQ), working memory, mental organization, alternation, and inhibition. These deficits seemed to have a greater impact on the verbal sphere of the children's mental functioning. CONCLUSION: Primary results point to the anterior cerebral regions of the brain as the principal site of dysfunctions that persist years post-trauma. It is important to consider these results longitudinally, even in children apparently less extensively affected, since the frontal regions only reach maturity at the end of adolescence.     

Vertigo in downhill mountain biking and road cycling

Vertigo has been described after the practice of mountain bike. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of vertigo following competitions or training sessions of downhill mountain biking (DMB) or road cycling (RC). One hundred and two DMB riders, 79 road cyclists and 73 control participants filled in a survey intended to evaluate the prevalence of vertigo in daily living activities and following competitions or training sessions. Vertigo causal factors (crashes, head trauma, fatigue, characteristics of the path/road ridden) were recorded. DMB riders and road cyclists did not report more vertigo during daily living activities than controls. But DMB riders older than 30 had more risk to report vertigo than age-matched road cyclists (OR: 5.06, 95% CI: 1.23–20.62). Road cyclists aged between 20 and 29 were 2.59-fold (95% CI: 1.06–6.27) more likely to report vertigo than controls. After competitions and training sessions, DMB riders were 2.33-fold (95% CI: 1.22–4.41) more likely to report vertigo than road cyclists. Vertigo causal factors were crash with head trauma in DMB riders and fatigue in road cyclists. Vertigo during daily living activities may be of concern for cyclists, particularly older DMB riders. The accumulation of impacts (crashes, vibrations) during the career of a DMB rider may generate micro-traumatisms of the central nervous system and/or peripheral vestibular structures, particularly the otolith organs. In RC, the pathophysiological mechanisms generating vertigo might be effort-related disturbance of homeostasis. To avoid injuries, DMB riders should be aware that vertigo may occur at the end of training sessions or competitions.     

Material-appropriate processing: A contextualist approach to reading and studying strategies

Processing strategies or text adjuncts that are mnemonically effective with some types of text produce no benefits with other text types. A framework for understanding these seemingly inconsistent mnemonic effects across different types of text is presented. The framework suggests that two types of conceptual elaboration are important for free recall: individual-item processing and relational processing. The mnemonic effectiveness of text adjuncts or other manipulations to increase elaboration of a text will depend on: (1) the type of conceptual elaboration induced by the particular text adjunct or study strategy; (2) the type of elaboration invited by the text itself; and (3) the overlap between the processing induced by the text adjunct or study strategy and the processing invited by the text itself. Significant enhancement in recall is anticipated only to the extent that the text adjunct or study strategy encourages processing that is complementary to the processing invited by the material itself. The viability of this framework is demonstrated in a review of the pertinent literature on the mnemonic effects of encoding difficulty. Then, research stimulated by the framework that uses educationally relevant study and text adjuncts (embedded questions, outlining, adjunct pictures) is reviewed. Predictions generated by the framework are consistently upheld.