Investigating the interaction and mutual dependence between science and technology

Literature on the economics of science and technology (S&T) suggests not only that technological innovation demands the expansion of the institutional borders between universities, research institutes, industrial companies and the financial system, but also that science leads as well as follows technology. Medical innovation in particular is very dependent on scientific research, which represents a source of information that impels the productive sector. The latter introduces a series of questions that motivate the researchers in their attempt to understand how the human body reacts to certain products and therapies. This paper analyses the pattern of S&T interaction for both the national system of innovation (NSI) and the health innovation system. The panel data and simultaneous equations models analyze the interaction between S&T. The theory about the existence of a mutual dependence between them has been confirmed, which means that science moves technology and technology also influences scientific development. The estimated models, which use data from scientific papers and patents as proxies of science and technology, represent just the tip of the iceberg called NSI, known as a multifaceted and complex institutional arrangement.     

The Emergence of Digital Course Materials in Higher Education and Their Effectiveness in Teaching and Engaging Students

About 20 million students are currently enrolled in colleges and universities across the country taking courses that, the majority of the time, require some sort of publisher-provided print and/or digital course materials.’ Historically, these have been provided by traditional publishing companies such as Pearson, Cengage, and McGraw-Hill, but with the increase in technology usage in higher education, more companies have emerged in this space such as OpenStax, a company that provides digital texts in high enrollment college courses for free. Usage of materials in college courses, particularly digital ones, are extremely useful and allow students to engage with their materials in different ways. By understanding how these materials are used in their courses, historically and currently, by both professors and students, one can start to understand the importance of them and what is needed now and for the future to ensure students are given the greatest chance to succeed in their courses.     

Detecting verbose queries and improving information retrieval

Although most of the queries submitted to search engines are composed of a few keywords and have a length that ranges from three to six words, more than 15% of the total volume of the queries are verbose, introduce ambiguity and cause topic drifts. We consider verbosity a different property of queries from length since a verbose query is not necessarily long, it might be succinct and a short query might be verbose. This paper proposes a methodology to automatically detect verbose queries and conditionally modify queries. The methodology proposed in this paper exploits state-of-the-art classification algorithms, combines concepts from a large linguistic database and uses a topic gisting algorithm we designed for verbose query modification purposes. Our experimental results have been obtained using the TREC Robust track collection, thirty topics classified by difficulty degree, four queries per topic classified by verbosity and length, and human assessment of query verbosity. Our results suggest that the methodology for query modification conditioned to query verbosity detection and topic gisting is significantly effective and that query modification should be refined when topic difficulty and query verbosity are considered since these two properties interact and query verbosity is not straightforwardly related to query length.     

Prelinguistic sign mixity and flexibility in interaction

Based upon a reflection on the social origins of human psychological functions the authors propose an analysis of the transmission-appropriation of object uses by the 7 to 13 month old child through interaction with the adult termed baby-object-adult triadic interaction. The analysis is based on Peirce’s semiotics. Semiotic processes involved in the interaction are analysed with categories of icons, indexes and symbols. The authors show the great variety and flexibility of the signs used by the adult but also by the prelinguistic child. They also evidence different types of sign mixity. Peirce described a sign mixity which implies that the uses of signs is never pure but that a given sign may comprise elements of other signs and thus may belong to different sign classes. Here a second type of mixity is demonstrated which can be specified by the simultaneous occurence of sign configurations or estellas belonging to different semiotic repertoires. These may be implemented by the child or the adult or by both within the interaction.     

¿Por qué el niño tiende el objeto hacia el adulto? La construcción social de la significación de los objetos

Resumen

Este artículo examina las diferentes funciones del gesto del niño, en la fase preverbal, consistente en tender un objeto hacia el adulto y cuya intención no es la de dárselo. Entre estas funciones cabe destacar el papel que el adulto adopta en tanto que regulador de la acción del niño a partir de la demanda explícita de éste en este sentido, y la convergencia entre el adulto y el niño en cuanto a las significaciones que se le atribuyen al objeto. La unidad de análisis adecuada en esta situación debe de tener en cuenta al adulto, al niño y al objeto, integrados en una totalidad. Cualquier análisis que no tenga en cuenta esta totalidad corre el riesgo de ser parcial.     

Updating Working Memory and arithmetical attainment in school

Here we wished to determine how the sub-components of Working Memory (Phonological-Loop and Central Executive) influence children's arithmetical development. Specifically, we aimed at distinguishing between Working Memory inhibition and updating processes within the Central Executive, and the domain-specificity (words and numbers) of both subcomponents in a population of children with low attainment in arithmetic and their age matched typically-attaining controls. We show that both groups were similar for phonological loop abilities, while Working Memory updating demonstrated a domain-specific modulation related to the level of children's arithmetical performance. Moreover, inhibition processes interacted with domain-specificity and arithmetical attainment. These results are particularly relevant to the diagnostic assessment of arithmetical ability and should be considered in existing tests of arithmetical development.     

Evaluating the impact of the Erasmus programme: skills and European identity

The primary purpose of this study lies in the evaluation of what students acquire from studies abroad in the context of credit mobility, in terms of competence development and personal growth, compared with that gained by students completing their study or internship in their home country. A pre-post test design, with both an experimental group and a control group, was employed for students participating in the Erasmus programme and those continuing their regular course of study at their home university. The findings obtained suggest that study abroad programmes have a positive impact on the perception of university students. The highest values among Erasmus students in terms of outcomes were attributed to cultural enhancement, personal development and foreign language proficiency. Study abroad has, furthermore, a Europeanising impact inasmuch as it affects the self-identity of students.     

Virtual and Augmented Reality Enhancements to Medical and Science Student Physiology and Anatomy Test Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Virtual and augmented reality have seen increasing employment for teaching within medical and health sciences programs. For disciplines such as physiology and anatomy, these technologies may disrupt the traditional modes of teaching and content delivery. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the impact of virtual reality or augmented reality on knowledge acquisition for students studying preclinical physiology and anatomy. The protocol was submitted to Prospero and literature search undertaken in PubMed, Embase, ERIC, and other databases. Citations were reviewed and articles published in full assessing learning or knowledge acquisition in preclinical physiology and anatomy from virtual or augmented reality were included. Of the 919 records found, 58 eligible articles were reviewed in full-text, with 8 studies meeting full eligibility requirements. There was no significant difference in knowledge scores from combining the eight studies (626 participants), with the pooled difference being a non-significant increase of 2.9 percentage points (95% CI [−2.9; 8.6]). For the four studies comparing virtual reality to traditional teaching, the pooled treatment effect difference was 5.8 percentage points (95% CI [−4.1; 15.7]). For the five studies comparing augmented reality to traditional teaching, the pooled treatment effect difference was 0.07 (95% CI [−7.0; 7.2]). Upon review of the literature, it is apparent that educators could benefit from adopting assessment processes that evaluate three-dimensional spatial understanding as a priority in physiology and anatomy. The overall evidence suggests that although test performance is not significantly enhanced with either mode, both virtual and augmented reality are viable alternatives to traditional methods of education in health sciences and medical courses.     

The effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality in health sciences and medical anatomy

Although cadavers constitute the gold standard for teaching anatomy to medical and health science students, there are substantial financial, ethical, and supervisory constraints on their use. In addition, although anatomy remains one of the fundamental areas of medical education, universities have decreased the hours allocated to teaching gross anatomy in favor of applied clinical work. The release of virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices allows learning to occur through hands‐on immersive experiences. The aim of this research was to assess whether learning structural anatomy utilizing VR or AR is as effective as tablet‐based (TB) applications, and whether these modes allowed enhanced student learning, engagement and performance. Participants (n = 59) were randomly allocated to one of the three learning modes: VR, AR, or TB and completed a lesson on skull anatomy, after which they completed an anatomical knowledge assessment. Student perceptions of each learning mode and any adverse effects experienced were recorded. No significant differences were found between mean assessment scores in VR, AR, or TB. During the lessons however, VR participants were more likely to exhibit adverse effects such as headaches (25% in VR P < 0.05), dizziness (40% in VR, P < 0.001), or blurred vision (35% in VR, P < 0.01). Both VR and AR are as valuable for teaching anatomy as tablet devices, but also promote intrinsic benefits such as increased learner immersion and engagement. These outcomes show great promise for the effective use of virtual and augmented reality as means to supplement lesson content in anatomical education. Anat Sci Educ 10: 549–559. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.