Technological paradigms and technological trajectories: A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change

The procedures and the nature of “technologies” are suggested to be broadly similar to those which characterize “science”. In particular, there appear to be “technological paradigms” (or research programmes) performing a similar role to “scientific paradigms” (or research programmes). The model tries to account for both continuous changes and discontinuities in technological innovation. Continuous changes are often related to progress along a technological trajectory defined by a technological paradigm, while discontinuities are associated with the emergence of a new paradigm. One-directional explanations of the innovative process, and in particular those assuming “the market” as the prime mover, are inadequate to explain the emergence of new technological paradigms. The origin of the latter stems from the interplay between scientific advances, economic factors, institutional variables, and unsolved difficulties on established technological paths. The model tries to establish a sufficiently general framework which accounts for all these factors and to define the process of selection of new technological paradigms among a greater set of notionally possible ones.The history of a technology is contextual to the history of the industrial structures associated with that technology. The emergence of a new paradigm is often related to new “schumpeterian” companies, while its establishment often shows also a process of oligopolistic stabilization.     

Are all citations worth the same? Valuing citations by the value of the citing items

Bibliometricians have long recurred to citation counts to measure the impact of publications on the advancement of science. However, since the earliest days of the field, some scholars have questioned whether all citations should be worth the same, and have gone on to weight them by a variety of factors. However sophisticated the operationalization of the measures, the methodologies used in weighting citations still present limits in their underlying assumptions. This work takes an alternative approach to resolving the underlying problem: the proposal is to value citations by the impact of the citing articles, regardless of the length of their reference list. As well as conceptualizing a new indicator of impact, the work illustrates its application to the 2004–2012 Italian scientific production indexed in the WoS. The proposed impact indicator is highly correlated to the traditional citation count, however the shifts observed between the two measures are frequent and the number of outliers not negligible. Moreover, the new indicator shows greater “sensitivity” when used to identify the highly-cited papers.     

Metacognitive and motivational predictors of surface approach to studying and academic examination performance

The objective of this study was to verify the structure of a model of how surface approach to studying is influenced by the trait variables of motivation and metacognition and the state variables of avoidance coping and evaluation anxiety. We extended the model to include: (1) the investigation of the relative contribution of the five metacognition sub-traits; and (2) the prediction of academic examination performance while controlling for past academic examination performance. A sample of 101 university students completed prior to undertaking academic examinations of the following self-report instruments: Work Preference Inventory, Metacognitions Questionnaire 30, Revised COPE Inventory, Evaluation Anxiety Scale and Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students. Results supported the original structure of the metacognitive-motivational model of surface approach to studying in addition to showing that it predicts academic examination performance controlling for past academic examination performance. The present study confirmed some previous findings, identified new predictive relationships and offered a comprehensive model of surface approach to studying and academic examination performance controlling for past academic examination performance.     

Do eco-innovations harm productivity growth through crowding out? Results of an extended CDM model for Italy

This paper discusses the results for Italy of a CDM model (Crepon et al., 1998) further extended with the objective of evaluating drivers and productivity effects of environmental innovations. The particular nature of environmental innovations, especially as regards the need of government intervention to create market opportunities, is likely to affect the way through which they are pursued (innovation equation within the CDM model) and their effect on productivity (productivity equation).     

PART V: PSYCHOLOGY

Vividness and controllability of relaxing and energizing imagery by efficient and less efficient imagers.     

Prevalence of a characteristic gene profile in high-level rhythmic gymnasts

Abstract

High-level physical performance in rhythmic gymnastics is influenced by numerous skills and anthropometric factors. In order to understand if genetic predisposition could play a role to define the elite rhythmic gymnast phenotype, we analysed the frequency of common polymorphisms linked to genes correlated with body mass (ADRB2 and FTO), explosive strength (ACTN3 and ACE), and joint mobility (COL5A1), in 42 gymnasts involved in National and International events, and in 42 control girls. Our results demonstrated that high-level rhythmic gymnasts constituted a genetically selected population showing higher frequency of: (a) ADRB2 and FTO alleles linked to low body mass index and low fat mass; (b) COL5A1 CT genotype linked to high joint mobility and to the occurrence of genu recurvatum, but also to a higher incidence of injuries. ACTN3 and ACE polymorphisms did not appear to be connected with the phenotype of high-level rhythmic gymnast. Based on these data, it can be assumed that these polymorphisms could positively affect the phenotype and performance of gymnasts.     

Immersive VR for Organic Chemistry: Impacts on Performance and Grades for First-Generation and Continuing-Generation University Students

Innovative Higher Education - Rapid advances in the quality and accessibility of immersive virtual reality (IVR) have brought about intense interest in applications of the technology within higher...     

Studies of team teaching in the open-space school

Three studies conducted by the Environment for Teaching Program of the Stanford Center for Research and Development in Teaching, concerning the effects on teachers and learners of factors in the organization of schools, are reported. Teacher influence, autonomy, interaction, and job satisfaction were perceived differently by teachers in open-space team-teaching schools, compared with teachers in self-contained-classroom schools. Observed patterns of decision-making interaction in teaching teams were related to teachers' perceptions of their own influence and autonomy. Observed activity levels of children in open-space team-teaching schools were greater than in schools with self-contained classrooms.

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Résumé Cet article présente un rapport sur trois études consacrées par Environment for Teaching Program du Centre de recherche et de développement de l'enseignement de Stanford, aux effets que produisent sur les professeurs et les élèves les facteurs de l'organisation scolaire. En comparaison des professeurs exerçant dans les salles de classe autonomes, les professeurs exerçant par équipe dans les écoles de grand air manifestent une conception différente sur l'influence, l'autonomie, l'interaction et le plaisir d'exercer le métier d'enseignant. Les auteurs ont rapproché les tendances observées dans l'interaction exercée par les professeurs groupés en équipe dans la formulation des décisions aux conceptions qu'entretiennent ces mêmes professeurs sur leur influence et leur autonomie propres. Ils ont également observé que les niveaux de l'activité exercée par les enfants fréquentant les écoles de grand air et éduqués par des professeurs travaillant en équipe étaient supérieurs aux niveaux de l'activité exercée par les enfants fréquentant les salles de classe autonomes.

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This research is supported by funds from the U.S. Office of Education, Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare (Contract No. OEC-6-10-078, Project No. 5-0252-0307). The opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the position, policy, or endorsement of the Office of Education. The authors, listed in alphabetical order, are equal coauthors.     

The dispersion of research performance within and between universities as a potential indicator of the competitive intensity in higher education systems

Higher education systems in competitive environments generally present top universities, that are able to attract top scientists, top students and public and private financing, with notable socio-economic benefits in their region. The same does not hold true for non-competitive systems. In this study we will measure the dispersion of research performance within and between universities in the Italian university system, typically non-competitive. We will also investigate the level of correlation that occurs between performance in research and its dispersion in universities. The findings may represent a first benchmark for similar studies in other nations. Furthermore, they lead to policy indications, questioning the effectiveness of selective funding of universities based on national research assessment exercises. The field of observation is composed of all Italian universities active in the hard sciences. Research performance will be evaluated using a bibliometric approach, through publications indexed in the Web of Science between 2004 and 2008.