Dealing with abstraction: Case study generalisation as a method for eliciting design patterns

Developing a pattern language is a non-trivial problem. A critical requirement is a method to support pattern writers with abstraction, so as they can produce generalised patterns. In this paper, we address this issue by developing a structured process of generalisation. It is important that this process is initiated through engaging participants in identifying initial patterns, i.e. directly dealing with the 'cold-start' problem. We have found that short case study descriptions provide a productive 'way into' the process for participants. We reflect on a 1-year interdisciplinary pan-European research project involving the development of almost 30 cases and over 150 patterns. We provide example cases, detailing the process by which their associated patterns emerged. This was based on a foundation for generalisation from cases with common attributes. We discuss the merits of this approach and its implications for pattern development

The translation of food-related culture-specific items in the COVALT corpus: A study of techniques and factors

This article aims to analyse the translation of food-related culturespecific items (CSI) in the English–Catalan subcorpus of the Valencian Corpus of Translated Literature (COVALT). This general aim can be broken down into two specific aims: to find out what techniques prevail in the translation of these cultural items, and to determine what factors influence the choice of specific techniques. Corpus analysis is carried out by means of the Corpus Query Processor. The theoretical framework deals with the definition and scope of the concept of CSI, the classifications of techniques put forward in the literature for the translation of CSI, and the position of food- and drink-related elements within the broader category of CSI. Analysis of the results yielded by the corpus shows that neutralising techniques prevail over foreignising and domesticating ones, with the latter coming last in descending order. The most prominent factors identified are nonexistence of the source text (ST) item in the target culture, different degrees of institutionalisation, the ST item having been imported into the target culture, and different degrees of granularity. Correlations between techniques and factors are never very strong, but some are strong enough to deserve further attention

Natural rates of profit, natural prices, and the actual economic systems - a theoretical framework

The aim of the present paper is that of exploiting the notions of vertically (hyper-)integrated sectors, as discussed in Pasinetti (1973) and Pasinetti (1988), and of natural system, as defined in Pasinetti (1981), in order to build up an analytical framework in which data from national accounts can be consistently inserted and hence used to analyse actual economic systems. Pasinetti (1981) built up an analytical framework in which the economy is divided into as many vertically (hyper-)integrated sectors as there are consumption goods. Each vertically integrated sector is summarised, as explained in Pasinetti (1973), by a composite commodity — a unit of vertically integrated productive capacity — made up by all the goods that enter, both directly and indirectly, the production of the corresponding consumption good, and a unit of vertically integrated labour, i.e. the quantity of labour that directly and indirectly enters the production of the consumption goods. Being the model developed in Pasinetti (1981) a vertical integrated model, there is a link between it and the analytical formulations provided by Pasinetti (1973) and Pasinetti (1988). However, such an analytic link has not been singled out explicitly, thus making it difficult to use the model itself for empirical purposes. The aim of the present paper is therefore precisely that of making this further step, in order to set up a theoretical framework which can be fruitfully used for empirical analyses of actual economic systems.Natural system, vertical integrated sectors, functional income distribution, natural rates of profit, natural prices.

The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills

It was hypothesised that practical training is effective in improving children's pedestrian skills because adult scaffolding and peer discussion during training specifically promote E3 level representation (linguistically-encoded, experientially-grounded, generalisable knowledge), as defined by Karmiloff-Smith's (1992) representational redescription (RR) model. Two studies were conducted to examine in detail the impact of this social input, in the context of simulation-based training in roadside search skills. Five- to eight-year-olds were pre-tested on ability to detect relevant road crossing features. They then participated in four training sessions designed to promote attunement to these, under peer discussion condition vs adult guidance conditions (Study 1), and adult-child vs adult-group conditions (Study 2). Performance at post-test was compared to that of controls who underwent no training. Study 1 found that children in the adult guidance condition improved significantly more than those in the peer discussion or control conditions, and this improvement was directly attributable to appropriation of E3 level representations from adult dialogue. Study 2 found that progress was greater still when adult scaffolding was supplemented by peer discussion, with E3 level representation attributable to children's exploration of conflicting ideas. The implications of these findings for the RR model and for practical road safety education are discussed

Universal Codes from Switching Strategies

We discuss algorithms for combining sequential prediction strategies, a task which can be viewed as a natural generalisation of the concept of universal coding. We describe a graphical language based on Hidden Markov Models for defining prediction strategies, and we provide both existing and new models as examples. The models include efficient, parameterless models for switching between the input strategies over time, including a model for the case where switches tend to occur in clusters, and finally a new model for the scenario where the prediction strategies have a known relationship, and where jumps are typically between strongly related ones. This last model is relevant for coding time series data where parameter drift is expected. As theoretical ontributions we introduce an interpolation construction that is useful in the development and analysis of new algorithms, and we establish a new sophisticated lemma for analysing the individual sequence regret of parameterised models

Design of teacher assistance tools in an exploratory learning environment for algebraic generalisation

The MiGen project is designing and developing an intelligent exploratory environment to support 11-14 year-old students in their learning of algebraic generalisation. Deployed within the classroom, the system also provides tools to assist teachers in monitoring students' activities and progress. This paper describes the architectural design of these Teacher Assistance tools and gives a detailed description of one such tool, focussing in particular on the research challenges faced, and the technologies and approaches chosen to implement the necessary functionalities given the context of the project

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Institutions

This paper discusses the nature of entrepreneurship and its relation to innovation along a cycle in which exploration and exploration follow upon each other. We place the roles of entrepreneurship in innovation policy within this cycle of innovation. Different types of innovation along the cycle of innovation are realized with different forms of entrepreneurship, which are constrained or enabled by different legal institutions. One of the key roles of governments is to design, change or destruct institutions in order to improve societal welfare. The question is what governments should do in the context of innovation policy. Here, social scientists can make a contribution by providing insight into what entrepreneurship and innovation is (theories about these phenomena), and how institutions affect them in reality (empirical evidence about their effects). This requires social scientists to be engaged scholars and to provide new policy options as an honest broker between the academic world and the policy world. The key question of this paper is: How can policy best enable innovation based entrepreneurship? The answer is derived from looking at both theoretical tenets and empirical evidence using an institutional design perspective, which aims at providing arguments for the design, change and/or destruction of institutions, given the goals of the governments. We provide an overview of some (empirically tests of) institutions that enable or restrain particular types of entrepreneurship. Examples of these institutions are intellectual property rights and the Small Business Innovation Research program, employment protection, and non-compete covenants.entrepreneurship, innovation, institutions, innovation policy

Organisational Learning And Multinational Strategy

Increasingly, it has been recognised that in their process of internationalisation multinationals may learn. They may take a strategy not only of exploitation, to leverage existing assets, competencies and products, built up in their home countries, but also, and perhaps even primarily, of exploration, to profit from diversity of host countries to develop new products and competencies. The question is how they can manage and integrate resulting diversity. This article analyses that issue, using a theory of organisational learning. It employs a ‘cycle of discovery’ that seeks to resolve the problem of combining exploitation and exploration. That problem arises more widely, apart from internationalisation, and solutions to it may yield solutions for problems of internationalisation.globalization;innovation;organizational learning;international business;multinational corporations