Techno therapy or nurtured niches? Technology studies and the evaluation of radical innovations

This article contributes to recent discussions in technology studies about applying insights from technology studies to policy decisions about the development and management of technological innovations. It does so by examining two approaches that can be used by policy makers to manage radical technological innovations in mobility and transportation: strategic niche management (SNM) and the PROTEE approach. The SNM approach uses protective ‘niches’ to develop radical innovations, whereas the PROTEE method is grounded in the assumption that technological innovations have a better chance of success if made “vulnerable” by subjecting them to risks and oppositions from the outset. Both SNM and PROTEE have, so far, been applied to retrospective case studies. This paper examines their potential effectiveness in the monitoring of real time innovation projects by comparing their conceptualizations of ‘learning’ and ‘experimenting’. It argues that the two approaches can draw upon each other to achieve a more refined conceptualization of learning and experimenting and in dealing with the problem of change and obduracy in the development of innovation projects.     

International trends in health science librarianship Part 9: the UK – Scotland and Wales

This is the 9th in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship. The previous article in this series looked at Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In this issue the focus is Scotland and Wales. There will be three or four more articles this year tracking trends in the Far East, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. JM     

Innovation,employment growth,and foreign ownership of firms: A European perspective

This paper examines how foreign-owned and domestically owned firms transform innovation into employment growth. The empirical analysis, based on the model of Harrison et al. (2008) and CIS data for 16 countries, reveals important differences between the two groups: Due to general productivity increases and process innovation, foreign-owned firms experience higher job losses than domestically owned firms. At the same time, employment-creating effects of product innovation are larger for foreign-owned firms. Together with employment-stimulating effects stemming from existing products, they overcompensate the negative displacement effects resulting in net employment growth in foreign-owned firms. However, net employment growth turns out to be smaller in foreign-owned firms than in domestically owned firms.     

Perceptions and experiences of K-12 educational leaders in response to the 27 April 2011 tornadoes

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to capture first-hand accounts of K-12 educational leaders whose school districts were directly affected by the deadly 27 April 2011 tornadoes in rural Alabama, USA. This study was framed by the literature base of leadership; specifically crisis leadership and resilience theory. Findings are organised under the headings of crisis management, crisis leadership characteristics, post-crisis support and crisis preparation. In this study, educational leaders demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity and took decisive steps to rebuild not only their schools but also their communities as well. Additionally, leaders expressed the importance of sharing their stories with others so that the lessons they learned in response to the tornadoes would not soon be forgotten. The study concludes with reflections about crisis planning and implications for future research as well as a call to action to improve crisis management in K-12 educational settings.     

Learning essential terms and concepts in Statistics and Accounting

This paper describes a terminological approach to the teaching and learning of fundamental concepts in foundation tertiary units in Statistics and Accounting, using an online dictionary-style resource (TermFinder) with customised termbanks for each discipline. Designed for independent learning, the termbanks support inquiring students from non-English-speaking backgrounds – including international students – in their understanding of the key concepts of their discipline. Two quasi-experimental studies of the use of these termbanks are reported here, showing the difference that they made in the performances of first-year students studying Statistics and Accounting, when compared with those from the previous year before the termbanks were available. In both units, the exam results for the experimental cohorts were significantly better than those of the cohorts in the preceding year. Higher success rates and raised levels of engagement with terminological questions were registered for all students, Australian domestic and international. Individual study patterns emerged in the trial of the accounting termbank, with international students making early use of the termbank with its translation equivalents in Mandarin Chinese, and Australian students more inclined to use it close to the final exam. The testing of the customised termbanks, developed collaboratively by lexicographers and academic staff, vindicates their use in large, diverse classes and their value to students as resources for independent learning. That apart, the research affirms the value of focusing on terminology and the nexus with disciplinary concepts in introductory courses.     

Promoting early career teacher resilience: a framework for understanding and acting

In this paper, we undertake a brief review of the ‘conventional’ research into the problems of early career teachers to create a juxtaposed position from which to launch an alternative approach based on resilience theory. We outline four reasons why a new contextualised, social theory of resilience has the potential to open up the field of research into the professional lives of teachers and to produce new insights into the social, cultural and political dynamics at work within and beyond schools. We then move from these theoretical considerations to explain how we used them in a recent Australian research project that examined the experiences of 60 graduate teachers during their first year of teaching. This work led to the development of a Framework of Conditions Supporting Early Career Teacher Resilience which we outline, promote and advocate as the basis for action to better sustain our graduate teachers in their first few years of teaching. Finally, we reflect on the value of our work so far and outline our practical plans to ‘mobilise’ this knowledge in ways that will make it available to a variety of audiences concerned with the welfare of this group of teachers.     

Developing understanding of statistical variation: secondary statistics teachers’ perceptions and recollections of learning factors

This retrospective phenomenological study investigates activities and actions identified by secondary statistics teachers who exhibit robust understandings of variation as deepening their understandings of statistical variation. Using phenomenological methods and a frame of Mezirow’s transformation theory, analysis revealed learning factors that include their interests in statistics, motivation to encounter and resolve dilemmas, desires to have an overarching content framework, propensities for critical reflection, and actions on opportunities to engage in statistical learning activities and rationale discourse with more knowledgeable others. The extent to which these teachers embrace these opportunities distinguishes them from other teachers. Results from this study provide some basis for formulating hypotheses about secondary teachers’ statistics learning in general by contributing to understanding circumstances that may be conducive to developing deep understandings of statistical content. This study also advances the use of retrospective methods within a theoretical frame for adult learning to investigate teacher learning.