An analysis of the impact of student–scientist interaction in a technology design activity,using the expectancy-value model of achievement related choice

Many education initiatives in science and technology education aim to create enthusiasm among young people to pursue a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Research suggests that personal interaction between secondary school students and scientists could be a success factor, but there is a need for more in-depth research on the actual effects of science education initiatives. This paper describes an in-depth, qualitative assessment of a technology design activity, using as a theoretical framework the expectancy-value model of academic choice Eccles and Wigfield (Annu Rev Psychol 53:109–132, 2002). A core element in the studied education initiative is the interaction between secondary school students and scientists. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participating students and analysed qualitatively to disentangle the factors in their motivation to participate in this initiative and their experiences and memories gathered during participation. Last, this paper reflects on the use of the expectancy-value model for in-depth assessments of science education initiatives. Results show that interest-enjoyment values and attainment values are most important in the students’ motivation to participate in the studied activity. These values are connected to educational principles of authentic practice, and of providing meaningful contexts for scientific concepts. Furthermore, results show that the interaction between students and scientists is not automatically a success factor. Disappointment in this interaction, can cast a shadow on students’ whole experience. This leads us to propose to include an additional factor in the expectancy-value model of achievement related choice: educational environment, including ‘personal interaction’ as an element. Adding this factor would—in our opinion—create an even better framework for in-depth assessment of science education initiatives.     

个人消费路径依赖的形成原因及应对措施

路径依赖原是经济学中有关生产技术、制度设计的一个名词。本文试图讨论个人消费领域中的路径依赖,通过分析在个人消费中的种种路径依赖现象,指出造成个人消费路径依赖的根源是高脱离成本、历史事件锁定和人的惯性思维,提出要突破个人消费路径依赖应采取慎重选择、摆正心态、大胆创新等手段。     

A quantitative assessment of innovation dynamics and R&D management in Japanese and West German telecommunications

Abstract
Among the industrial countries, different working divisions have evolved between manufacturing industry, governments and network operators, each being responsible for distinct parts of R&D in the telecommunications field. This paper provides a comparison of R&D in Japan and West Germany to several western industrial countries and highlights their diverse structures.
For this quantitative assessment various indicators for science and technology (S&T) have been compiled systematically. The new aspect of this paper is that indicators, only some of which are well established, can be interconnected provided that appropriate limitations are recognised. A comprehensive indicator system for research and development in telecommunications is currently not available as far as the author is aware. Consequently, subjective expert assessments are essential for the present indicator systems to overcome incomplete links between indicators, their poor adaptation to one another and data availability problems . The statistical sections here are therefore supplemented by a series of personal discussions in various countries.     

Out of control: personal networks in European collaboration

The formal ties that bind collaborating organisations are often assumed to be reinforced by the relationships of individual employees, and these by trust. So, too, are the personal networks by which employees acquire much of the information required for the organisation's innovation. It is easy to assume that personal networks should support collaborative arrangements. It is also tempting for managers to ensure that they do by bringing them under organisational control. This paper investigates collaboration in Esprit, the European Commission's programme for research in information technology. It finds personal networks, and considers the implications for innovation of attempts to render these networks compatible with collaboration.     

中小城市污水处理技术综合评价现状分析

随着我国中小城市污水处理厂建设的快速发展,进行污水处理技术的综合评价研究已显得十分必要。通过对国内外几种城市污水处理技术综合评价方法的分析比较,指出了每种评价方法的优点与不足,并针对中小城市污水处理技术综合评价中有待解决的问题,提出几点建议。     

在PC机上架设个人Internet服务器

介绍了在基于Windows2000Professional平台的PC机上,采用动态域名解析技术架设个人Internet服务器。通过安装Apache,Serv＿UFTPserver等软件并进行正确设置,可以提供www服务和FTP服务。因此使自己或他人可以远程访问个人PC机中的数据,实现信息交流与共享。同时克服了专业Internet服务器所提供的免费空间的各种限制,从而可以采用最新的网络编程技术,在PC机上来构建自己的Internet动态网站。     

Exploring the (un-) usefulness of mandatory assessment documents in primary technology

Every student in the Swedish compulsory school system is entitled to information regarding their progress in all school subjects given. In 2008, a mandatory assessment tool, called the individual development plan (IDP) with written assessment, was introduced by the Government. The statutory purpose was to provide teachers with a formative assessment tool to be used mandatory in the follow-up of student’s progress all thru mandatory compulsory school (year 1–9). This study explores the use of the IDP documents in technology education. Authentic documents from different municipalities, different schools and different school years have been studied. In this article findings regarding formal assessment documents and teacher’s formal assessment practice in primary (year 1–6) technology education are presented.     

A process-based assessment framework for technology education: a case study

Over the past few years, educators in South Africa have been subjected to many changes in the educational sphere. Not only was a new approach to education, namely outcomes-based education (OBE) implemented, but the curriculum was also changed and now consists of eight learning areas, some of which are groupings of traditional school subjects (e.g. languages). Technology, however, is a new and for most educators unfamiliar learning area. The implementation in 1998 of the technology learning area in South African schools had educators reeling as they were unprepared and untrained to facilitate this new learning area. There was also limited information available for the assessment of learners in technology. Learners’ competence in technology education should be assessed in a meaningful and responsible manner, which requires more than just the evaluation of the end product. The purpose of this research was to develop a process-based assessment framework to support the technology teacher with assessment activities, which incorporate the technological process and provide opportunities for the assessment of aspects of the thinking sub-processes as part of the technological process. Qualitative action research was undertaken. Three Grade 7 learners and a teacher at a parallel medium primary school (school where two official languages are used congruently as medium of instruction) were involved in the case study. Resource, case study and a capability task were done by the three learners. For the purpose of the research project, information obtained from the capability task was used. This research focused on the initial idea generation stage (stage five) of the technological process, as well as creative and critical thinking (as thinking sub-processes) processes. Observation and semi-structured interviews were used as data-collection methods. The validity and reliability of the research were ensured by means of triangulation. Three main categories (findings) were named as aspects which could be employed when compiling a process-based assessment framework, namely outcomes, content and assessment methodology. Further subcategories were identified within each of these main categories. The framework will serve as a roadmap to technology teachers, especially those with little or no pedagogical knowledge in technology to assist them to base their assessment on sound methodology.     

The adoption of information technology in the sales force

The purpose of this article is to explain why salespeople adopt information technology. The results from a cross-sectional study of 229 salespeople indicate that putting sales technology to use strongly depends on salespeople's perceptions about the technology enhancing their performance, their personal innovativeness and organizational efforts in terms of user training. Throughout the adoption process companies also need to target sales line managers-next to end users-because salespeople clearly comply with the expectations of their supervisors. Finally, the threat from competing sales professionals or peers who use similar sales technology seems to be of secondary importance for individual sales technology adoption.     

商业银行理财经理激励机制存在的问题及对策分析

理财经理的角色和地位在商业银行个人理财业务发展中越来越重要,如何对其进行有效地激励已经成为商业银行管理中面临的新问题。当前商业银行对理财经理的激励机制中存在激励方式单一,缺乏长期激励机制,绩效考核体系不合理以及职业发展体系不健全等问题,应该通过构建优秀的企业文化,完善非物质激励方式,强化长期激励机制,建立公正科学的考核评价体系,完善理财经理的激励机制,更好地促进商业银行个人理财业务长远健康发展。     

Così fan tutte: A better approach than the right to be forgotten

In this article, we argue in favor of a macro-societal approach to protect people from the potential harms of personal information online. In the tension between information and privacy, “the right to be forgotten” is not an appropriate solution. Such a micro, individual-based answer puts the burden of protection on each person instead of on external entities that can abuse such knowledge. The personal responsibility to delete personal data is challenging because of the leakage of data that happens through the connections we have with others, many of whom do not share the same privacy preferences. We show that effective deletion is almost impossible (the eternity effect), and is unfair due to the resource burden it entails when users try to achieve it, while at the same time ensuring the potential benefits we can derive in the future from having personal information online. In addition, deletion requests can negatively affect other people who are in the same location and time frame and may not want to have their information deleted. Collectively, we argue also that society is worse off because these circumstances lead people to construct sanitized personas while perpetuating a culture of distrust. Given that the harm is real, we describe technology, societal norms, and the implementation of an anti-discrimination directive for the right to a personal life, and we provide evidence on how anti-discrimination efforts in the past have succeeded when legislation leads to the development of infrastructures that help to enforce them. The dissemination of personal information through public sites and social media is, as Mozart suggested in Cosi fan tutte, gradually educating humanity about human weaknesses.     

Satei (Personal Assessment) and Interworker Competition in Japanese Firms

Satei (personal assessment) has an important influence on the rate of promotion and amount of monthly pay of Japanese workers, resulting in widespread interworker competition. The existence of satei is partially responsible for limited leisure time and high obedience to management among Japanese workers. Individual workers and enterprise unions, however, generally accept the satei system.     

Swedish technology teachers’ views on assessing student understandings of technological systems

Technology education is a new school subject in comparison with other subjects within the Swedish compulsory school system. Research in technology education shows that technology teachers lack experience of and support for assessment in comparison with the long-term experiences that other teachers use in their subjects. This becomes especially apparent when technology teachers assess students’ knowledge in and about technological systems. This study thematically analysed the assessment views of eleven technology teachers in a Swedish context. Through the use of in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews, their elaborated thoughts on assessing knowledge about technological systems within the technology subject (for ages 13–16) were analysed. The aim was to describe the teachers’ assessment views in terms of types of knowledge, and essential knowledge in relation to a progression from basic to advanced understanding of technological systems. The results showed three main themes that the interviewed teachers said they consider when performing their assessment of technological systems; understanding (a) a system’s structure, (b) its relations outside the system boundary and (c) its historical context and technological change. Each theme included several underlying items that the teachers said they use in a progressive manner when they assess their students’ basic, intermediate and advanced level of understanding technological systems. In conclusion, the results suggest that the analysed themes can provide a basis for further discussion about defining a progression for assessing students’ understanding about technological systems. However, the findings also need to be examined critically as the interviewed teachers’ views on required assessment levels showed an imbalance; few students were said to reach beyond the basic level, but at the same time most assessment items lay on the intermediate and advanced levels.     

Factors Affecting Learning in Technology in the Early Years at School

The nature of progression in technology is still a matter of debate in technology education. While there is a growing research-based literature exploring the elements of technological literacy that might be appropriate measures of progression, little has been written about the factors that may influence both group and individual development of technological literacy. This article reports the findings of a longitudinal ethnographic study of the progression in technological literacy of 20 children during their first 3 years at school. It focuses on the factors that affected their learning in technology, and identifies a number of personal and systemic factors that affected progression in technological literacy. The implications of these findings for teaching, and for further research are then explored.     

Impact of tissue culture banana technology on farm household income and food security in Kenya

While tissue culture (TC) technology for vegetative plant propagation is gradually gaining in importance in Africa, rigorous assessment of broader welfare effects for adopting smallholder farm households is lacking. Using survey data and accounting for selection bias in technology adoption, we analyze the impact of TC banana technology on household income and food security in Kenya. To assess food security outcomes, we employ the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) – a tool that has not been used for impact assessment before. Estimates of treatment-effects models show that TC banana adoption, combined with improved crop management, causes considerable increases in farm and household income. Technology adoption also reduces relative food insecurity in a significant way. These results indicate that TC technology can be welfare enhancing for adopting farm households. Adoption should be further promoted through upscaling appropriate technology delivery systems.     

Emerging Assessment Practices in an Emergent Curriculum: Implications for Technology

This paper reports on detailed case studies into emerging assessment practices in technology in two New Zealand primary schools (Years 1–6) with nine teachers. This research is part of the two year Research in Assessment of Primary Technology (RAPT) project and formed the basis for the one year New Zealand Ministry of Education funded Learning in Technology Education (Assessment) project.Emerging classroom assessment practices in technology, a new subject area in the national curriculum, are discussed. It was found that the existing subcultures in schools, teachers' subject expertise and the school wide policies impacted on the teachers' assessment practices. Assessment was often seen in terms of social and managerial aspects such as team work, turn taking and information skills, rather than procedural and conceptual aspects. Therefore teachers' formative interactions with students distorted the learning away from procedural and conceptual aspects of the subject, and the learning and the formative assessment interactions focused on generic skills rather than student technological understanding.The importance of developing teacher expertise in three dimensions of knowledge about the subject, knowledge in the subject and general pedagogical knowledge is highlighted. Thus the findings from this research have implications for thinking about teaching, learning and assessment in technology.     

Using scientific detective videos to support the design of technology learning activities

This article examines the effect of scientific detective video as a vehicle to support the design of technology activities by technology teachers. Ten graduate students, including current and future technology teachers, participated in a required technology graduate course that used scientific detective videos as a pedagogical tool to motivate their interest in science and technology and to reinforce creative competence in designing technology learning activities (TLAs). The participants watched three scientific detective videos and analyzed them for scientific principles and technologies. An analysis report and interview were conducted to collect participants’ understanding and application of scientific principles and technologies. The main findings were that (a) influencing teacher’s design of TLAs through scientific detective videos is feasible; (b) prior personal conditions and external factors influence teacher’s design of TLAs; and (c) the analysis of scientific detective videos helps teachers to design TLAs appropriately. This study demonstrated the broad utility of scientific detective videos for inspiring technology teachers to integrate science and technology in their activity design.     

Linking learning activities and assessment activities to learning outcomes and assessment standards when teaching technology: a case study

In this article the results of a critical reflection on the analysis of 564 technology education lesson plans are discussed. The critical reflection draws on the responses of approximately 120 South African technology education teachers in a teaching practice workbook where they had to choose a project and base five lessons on the project. The analysis of the above mentioned lesson plans is done in such a way that the linking of learning activities and assessment activities to learning outcomes and assessment standards is highlighted. In general it can be concluded that, although the learning outcomes and assessment standards are readily available and specified clearly in the policy documents of the national department of education, the particular teachers find it difficult to translate theory into practice when converting what is specified in the policy documents to learning activities and assessment activities in their lesson plans. This implies that the instructional strategy for the particular technology education programme should be adapted to include a comprehensive section on how to integrate aspects mentioned in the policy documents of the national department of education into actual lesson plans. Although the outcomes of the critical reflection on the results of the analysis mentioned above are directed at improving and adapting an instructional strategy in a particular in-service technology education programme in South Africa some knowledge transfer to similar situations should be possible.     

基于煤矿网络动态安全体系的安全账户管理效益分析

针对山西潞安集团潞宁煤业公司实际,在建立动态安全网络体系的基础上,构建安全账户管理体系,通过个人安全技能账户体系的构建,实行标准化考核,违章和事故大大降低,取得了预期的效益。     

蒸汽吞吐稠油油藏证实储量评估中递减率计算新法

注蒸汽开发的热采稠油油藏SEC储量评估方法中只有递减法,合理确定递减率是储量评估的关键,但对于相对稳产或多段递减的热采稠油油藏递减率选取难度大。针对这一难题,考虑把国内计算蒸汽吞吐技术可采储量的方法—注采关系曲线法引入到证实储量评估中,辅助确定递减率。以小洼油田洼59块为例,其证实储量的计算结果符合油田的开发实际。该方法有一定的适用性和可行性,并对其他油田有借鉴意义。