Proximal advantage in knowledge diffusion: The time dimension

This paper intends to explore the impact of geographic proximity on the diffusion of knowledge in the form of publication citations, and argues that codified knowledge is transmitted faster in proximity and is subject to similar geographic constraints as tacit knowledge. The geographic proximity advantage would be particularly relevant in the early stage of dissemination. We collected three sets of research articles published in 1990, 2000 and 2010 and compared the longitudinal citations they received domestically and from abroad. The study found that domestic citations accumulate faster and reach their peak much earlier than foreign citations, and the difference is most evident in the first few years after publication. The result shows that geographic proximity does play a role in the speed of knowledge diffusion and points to the network effect for citations. Those located closer to the knowledge origin would be exposed and react to publications faster due to the additional opportunities of research exchange and network.     

Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans’ future

We have studied the efficiency of research in the EU by a percentile-based citation approach that analyzes the distribution of country papers among the world papers. Going up in the citation scale, the frequency of papers from efficient countries increases while the frequency from inefficient countries decreases. In the percentile-based approach, this trend, which is uniform at any citation level, is measured by the e_p index that equals the P_{top 1%}/P_{top 10%} ratio. By using the e_p index we demonstrate that EU research on fast-evolving technological topics is less efficient than the world average and that the EU is far from being able to compete with the most advanced countries. The e_p index also shows that the USA is well ahead of the EU in both fast- and slow-evolving technologies, which suggests that the advantage of the USA over the EU in innovation is due to low research efficiency in the EU. In accord with some previous studies, our results show that the European Commission’s ongoing claims about the excellence of EU research are based on a wrong diagnosis. The EU must focus its research policy on the improvement of its inefficient research. Otherwise, the future of Europeans is at risk.     

Exploring policies for the reduction of child physical abuse and neglect

Policies can be powerful tools for prevention given their potential to affect conditions that can improve population-level health. Given the dearth of empirical research on policies’ impacts on child maltreatment, this article (a) identifies 37 state policies that might have impacts on the social determinants of child maltreatment; (b) identifies available data sources documenting the implementation of 31 policies; and (c) utilizes the available data to explore effects of 11 policies (selected because they had little missing data) on child maltreatment rates. These include two policies aimed at reducing poverty, two temporary assistance to needy families policies, two policies aimed at increasing access to child care, three policies aimed at increasing access to high quality pre-K, and three policies aimed at increasing access to health care. Multi-level regression analyses between within-state trends of child maltreatment investigation rates and these 11 policies, controlling for states’ childhood poverty, adults without a high school diploma, unemployment, child burden, and race/ethnicity, identified two that were significantly associated with decreased child maltreatment rates: lack of waitlists to access subsidized child care and policies that facilitate continuity of child health care. These findings are correlational and are limited by the quality and availability of the data. Future research might focus on a reduced number of states that have good quality administrative data or population-based survey data on child maltreatment or reasonable proxies for child maltreatment and where data on the actual implementation of specific policies of interest can be documented.     

基于Mystery Shopping的公共图书馆服务质量评估

解析Mystery Shopping评估检测法,研究威尔士公共图书馆服务质量评估Mystery Shopping项目,揭示该项目对国内公共图书馆服务质量评估的启示。     

职业训练的效益评估——以企业内训为例

近年来,职业训练训后评估逐渐被重视,例如美国训练与发展协会(ASTD)及台湾人才发展质量管理系统(TTQS)等,皆关注参训者于训练时所习得的新知识或技术是否能应用于职场中,以利直接提升企业的实质效益。本研究于2014年5⁶月份期间,协助台湾地区65家事业单位进行训后追踪评估,总共搜集了65位企业主管及429位参训学员评估训练成效。研究发现,学员认为参训后在新知识及技术的获得、受训内容应用于实务中、及提升工作表现等方面,具有最明显的改变;此结果与企业主管评估参训学员训后能力提升的结果相符,主管认为员工参训后在训练内容的应用、获得新知识与技术、提升工作表现、及问题解决能力等皆有不错表现。另外,企业主管也认为训练除了能提升员工表现以外,在组织目标达成、组织营运绩效、及组织营运成本等,皆有正向的影响及改善。整体上,参训学员及企业主管对于训练计划成果持正向支持的态度,并乐于继续参与训练课程以加强组织竞争力。     

基于粗糙集的决策规则可靠性评估方法

粗糙集理论是处理不精确、不准确数据的有效方法，但是通过粗糙集方法获得的决策规则对于不完整的信息承统和随机数据也是不确定的。本文描述了一个用于决策规则的可靠性评价方法。该方法独立于任何专用引申规则方法，并且参数能够被调整以适应不同的信息系统。     

高职“工学结合”教育模式下考评方式改革试点分析

传统的考评方式存在着与高等职业教育的培养目标相违背的弊病，由此引发了的一些不良现象。武汉职业技术学院根据高等职业教育的特点，以及“工学结合”教育模式的要求，确定了考评方式改革思路，并且进行了改革试点，课题组对考评改革试点的实施情况进行了分析与总结，为考评方式的改革提供了可操作性的意见。     

Arts education partnerships: sources of harmony and dissonance with cultural institutions’ collaborative efforts

ABSTRACT

Due to budget constraints, schools in the United States have increasingly turned to community arts organizations for support. School-community arts partnership stakeholders collaborate because of shared missions to provide students with valuable arts learning experiences. Investigations of these initiatives indicate that these partnerships improve arts learning opportunities and increase public support and resources for arts education. However, not much is known about the experiences and perspectives of the arts organizations that participate in these partnerships. Coordinating collective efforts with a multitude of institutions and interests poses challenges. In this study, we examine survey data collected from arts organization administrators who participated in a large-scale school-community arts partnership initiative. We find that these organizations are generally positive about their impacts on students’ educational outcomes, but there is substantial variation in these views. We also find that organizations differ in their levels of support for these collective efforts. Sources of this variation appear to be attributable to organizations’ preexisting resources and extent to which they are established. While this difference in levels of support is potentially inevitable, we find evidence that the operations handled by the “backbone” organization, i.e. the initiative’s facilitators and overseers, can significantly influence organizations’ levels of support for these efforts. Organizations are more likely to support these collaborative efforts when they believe the backbone organization ensures transparency with initiative operations, provides regular, effective communication, and effectively resolves competing priorities.