Integrated MSS effects: An empirical health care investigation

Since accurate decisions are required for effective management, much research has focused on information systems that support decision making. Recently, this research has engendered frameworks, such as the management support system (MSS), that are designed to provide comprehensive and integrated support for the decision making process. Few, if any, studies have empirically measured the effects of these frameworks on decision making. This article offers empirical evidence on MSS effectiveness. It overviews the decision making process, presents an MSS for supporting the process, and assesses the influences of the MSS on the process and outcomes of health care decision making. The paper also examines the implications of the analyses for information systems research and health care practice.     

A Second-Order Longitudinal Model for Binary Outcomes: Item Response Theory Versus Structural Equation Modeling

Measuring academic growth, or change in aptitude, relies on longitudinal data collected across multiple measurements. The National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) is among the earliest, large-scale, educational surveys tracking students’ performance on cognitive batteries over 3 years. Notable features of the NELS:88 data set, and of almost all repeated measures educational assessments, are (a) the outcome variables are binary or at least categorical in nature; and (b) a set of different items is given at each measurement occasion with a few anchor items to fix the measurement scale. This study focuses on the challenges related to specifying and fitting a second-order longitudinal model for binary outcomes, within both the item response theory and structural equation modeling frameworks. The distinctions between and commonalities shared between these two frameworks are discussed. A real data analysis using the NELS:88 data set is presented for illustration purposes.     

A Second-Order Conditionally Linear Mixed Effects Model With Observed and Latent Variable Covariates

A conditionally linear mixed effects model is an appropriate framework for investigating nonlinear change in a continuous latent variable that is repeatedly measured over time. The efficacy of the model is that it allows parameters that enter the specified nonlinear time-response function to be stochastic, whereas those parameters that enter in a nonlinear manner are common to all subjects. In this article we describe how a variant of the Michaelis-Menten (M-M) function can be fit within this modeling framework using Mplus 6.0. We demonstrate how observed and latent covariates can be incorporated to help explain individual differences in growth characteristics. Features of the model including an explication of key analytic decision points are illustrated using longitudinal reading data. To aid in making this class of models accessible, annotated Mplus code is provided.     

Variables Impacting Intercultural Competence: A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT

The importance of intercultural competence in today’s global economy is evident. Achieving intercultural competence, however, has no single formula. This study explored the variables impacting intercultural competence development. Through a systematic literature review, it identified 48 scholarly sources, 11 unique variables and two sub-variables impacting intercultural competence development. The impact of programme characteristics was found to be significant across the board, while the impact of demographic factors was harder to predict. The findings of this research inform scholars, educators and practitioners of the most effective ways to design intercultural experiences and help participants maximize their learning at home and abroad.     

Fighting to Educate Our Own: Teachers of Color,Relational Accountability,and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Abstract

Research demonstrates that many teachers of Color enter schools committed to challenging injustice, yet often face barriers to accomplishing this goal. This article presents emergent themes from a qualitative study with 218 self-identified, racial justice-oriented teachers of Color. Using Wilson's (2008 Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Halifax, Canada: Fernwood. [Google Scholar]) indigenous cultural framework of relationality and relational accountability to analyze our data, we introduce the concept of community-oriented teachers of Color to describe the accountability these teachers have towards students of Color and their communities. We found that despite their connections, insights, and successes with students, hierarchies of ontology (ways of being) and epistemology (ways of knowing) within schools that promote individualism served to isolate and marginalize community-oriented teachers of Color and, thus, limited their ability to advance racial justice.     

Fire synthesis Preparation of alumina products

The novel ‘solution combustion method’ or ‘fire synthesis’ has been used to make high temperature synthesised ceramic materials. The process, which can be initiated at low temperature, is self-propagating and gas-producing. Fine-particle alumina and its related oxides can be easily prepared in bulk by the redox mixture method.