Design and evaluation of a widget-based dashboard for awareness support in Research Networks

In this article, we describe the rationale, design and evaluation of a widget-based dashboard to support scholars’ awareness of their Research Networks. We introduce the concept of a Research Network and discuss Personal Research Environments that are built of as a development parallel to Personal Learning Environments. Based on the results of an international interview study, we report on the design of a paper prototype of an awareness dashboard (AWESOME). Research in the Internet age has changed; the dashboard is tailor-made for use in modern research. We compared existing scholarly toolsets with our paper prototype. The evaluation of the user tests shows that, on all tested items, AWESOME performs better than the existing toolsets: it is easier to use, less time-consuming, more user-friendly, more supportive with regards to technology and awareness and, finally, helps researchers to carry out their tasks more effectively.     

Book reviews

Publishing Research Quarterly -     

Optimal dispersion of R&D activities in multinational corporations with a genetic algorithm

This paper presents a new communication-economic network model to predict the allocation of R&D activities in MNCs. While traditional models examine the influencing factors of R&D internationalization separately for each country and come to a one-dimensional result, this multi-dimensional approach integrates the influencing factors in a way that allows to identify an efficient configuration of the entire R&D subsystem in many countries at a time. It captures the information flows and employs a genetic algorithm to find a dispersion of R&D activities in which the problems of international communication have the least negative impact. The model is tested with data from seven MNCs covering a range of 48 countries as potential R&D locations.     

Educator–student communication in sex & relationship education: a comparison of teacher and peer-led interventions

This paper presents findings from a comparative study of peer- and teacher-led Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). One lesson delivered by a peer educator, and one lesson delivered by a teacher was observed with the aim of exploring the communicative process between educators and students within SRE. It is claimed that open communication between students and peer educators promotes the adoption of positive attitudes to sexual health, making it a potential alternative to teacher-led provision. Yet to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the communicative process within peer-led adolescent health interventions to examine factors underpinning its potential efficacy. The development of a coding scheme to measure the extent to which educators and students are communicating openly within SRE is used to describe the communicative process between sex educators and students, characterise differences in communication within peer- and teacher-led conditions and discuss how these differences affect student participation in SRE. Results suggest interaction of students in the peer-led condition was different to that of students receiving teacher-led SRE; and provide valuable insight into educator–student communication in the context of classroom-based SRE.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD MATHEMATICS,LEVEL OF MATHEMATICAL COMPETENCY,AND RELATIVE GAINS IN COMPETENCY IN TWO‐ AND FOUR‐YEAR COLLEGES: A COMPARISON

An attitude toward mathematics questionnaire indicated no real difference in attitudes between two‐ and four‐year colleges. No differences in mathematical competencies, as measured by the Beckmann‐Beal Mathematical Competencies Test for Enlightened Citizens, existed between two‐ and four‐year colleges. The gain in mathematical competency due to taking one precalculus mathematics course was only 1.48 questions, or an increase of only 4.1%.     

Assessment drives learning: The effect of central exit exams on curricular knowledge and mathematical literacy

In this paper, we use data from the German PISA 2003 sample to study the effects of central exit examinations on student performance and student attitudes. Unlike earlier studies we use (i) a value-added measure to pin down the effect of central exit exams on learning in the last year before the exam and (ii) separate test scores for mathematical literacy and curriculum-based knowledge. The findings indicate that central exit exams improve curriculum-based knowledge but do not affect mathematical literacy. Students, although showing a better performance, are less intrinsically motivated in school.     

Does schooling affect health behavior? Evidence from the educational expansion in Western Germany

During the postwar period German states pursued policies to increase the share of young Germans obtaining a university entrance diploma (Abitur) by building more academic track schools, but the timing of educational expansion differed between states. This creates exogenous variation in the availability of upper secondary schooling, which allows estimating the causal effect of education on health behaviors. Using the number of academic track schools in a state as an instrumental variable for years of schooling, we investigate the causal effect of schooling on health behavior such as smoking and related outcomes such as obesity. We find large and robust negative effects of education on smoking for women. These effects can mostly be attributed to reductions in starting rates rather than increases in quitting rates. We also find large negative effects of education on smoking for men. However, the precision of these is not robust to sample specification changes and results for men should thus be interpreted with caution. We find no causal effect of education on reduced overweight and obesity.     

The benefit of being naïve and knowing it: the unfavourable impact of perceived context familiarity on learning in complex problem solving tasks

Previous research has found that embedding a problem into a familiar context does not necessarily confer an advantage over a novel context in the acquisition of new knowledge about a complex, dynamic system. In fact, it has been shown that a semantically familiar context can be detrimental to knowledge acquisition. This has been described as the “semantic effect” (Beckmann, Learning and complex problem solving, Bonn, Holos, 1994). The aim of this study was to test two competing explanations that might account for the semantic effect: goal adoption versus assumptions. Participants were asked to learn about the causal structure of a linear system presented on a computer containing three outputs by changing three inputs through goal free exploration. Across four conditions the level of familiarity was experimentally varied through the use of different variable labels. There was no evidence that goal adoption can account for poor knowledge acquisition under familiar conditions. Rather, it appears that a semantically familiar problem context invites a high number of a priori assumptions regarding the interdependency of system variables. These assumptions tend not to be systematically tested during the knowledge acquisition phase. The lack of systematicity in testing a priori assumptions is the main barrier to the acquisition of new knowledge. The semantic effect is in fact an effect of untested presumptions. Implications for research in problem solving, knowledge acquisition and the design of computer-based learning environments are discussed.     

Liver transplantation reverses hypergammaglobulinemia in patients with chronic hepatic failure

Introduction

Sparse data are available about the effect of therapy methods on antibody levels in patients with liver failure. The aim of this study was to determine serum immunoglobulin concentrations in patients with chronic hepatic failure (CHF), acute- (ALF), or acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) and to evaluate the impact of MARS treatment or liver transplantation (LT) on antibody levels.

Materials and methods

We followed ten patients with ALF, twelve with ACLF and 18 with CHF. Eight patients with ALF and seven with ACLF underwent MARS therapy, whereas the rest received LT. 13 healthy volunteers served as controls. Serum antibody concentrations were measured using ELISA-technique.

Results

Median serum levels of IgA, IgG and IgM were significantly increased in patients with CHF compared to ALF or controls (P < 0.02, P < 0.01, and P < 0.01). IgM and IgG concentrations were also significantly elevated in patients with CHF compared to ACLF (IgM, 3.7 vs. 1 g/L, P < 0.001; IgG, 8.7 vs. 3.1 g/L, P = 0.004). Immediately after LT a significant decrease of IgA (6.9 vs. 3.1 g/L, P = 0.004), IgG (8.7 vs. 5.1 g/L, P = 0.02) and IgM (3.7 vs. 1.8 g/L, P = 0.001) was detected in patients with CHF and antibody levels further decreased the days after LT reaching levels comparable to healthy individuals. MARS treatment had no apparent effect on the immunoglobulin profile in patients with ALF or ACLF.

Conclusion

We provide evidence that LT reverses hypergammaglobulinemia in patients suffering from CHF within one day, which could be explained to a reconstituted hepatic antibody clearance, whereas MARS treatment has no immediate effect on immunoglobulin levels.Key words: antibodies, immunoglobulins, liver failure, liver transplantation, artificial liver support system, molecular adsorbent recirculating system     

Lessons learnt from applying action research to support strategy formation processes in long-term care networks

This study demonstrates how action research (AR) that is aimed at scaling-up experiments can be applied to support a strategy formation process (SFP) in a subsidized long-term care network. Previous research has developed numerous AR frameworks to support experiments in various domains, but has failed to explain how to apply AR and action learning (AL) on the strategic level of organizational networks. Given this situation, we used a generic AR framework to explore its usefulness in supporting SFPs. The framework consists of four steps: (1) identifying the problem situation, (2) planning a solution, (3) taking action, and (4) reflecting on the action. The results show that utilizing AL in AR helps actors to reflect on and understand the challenges in forming a joint strategy in a network. We demonstrate that it can help to visualize the process and to create a common ground for discussion, to create a shared vision as well as commitment to scaling-up experiments. These insights should be used in future SFPs in networks. However, the results also show that the key barrier, the lack of executive commitment, was only identified at a late stage. This paper constitutes a first step toward a more sophisticated AR framework for strategy research. The mistakes highlighted here should help others avoid them in the future.