Competencies of Polish Scientists as a Contribution to the Success of Innovation Research and Development Projects

The states which top the list of the number of conducted research and development activities put substantial emphasis on a scientist’s competencies. Today, experts are able to determine the competencies that will decide on the success of projects in the next decade. They include, among others, leadership skills, team work, entrepreneurship as well as international and cross-sector mobility. What is the place of Polish scientists in relation to these competencies? What are their strongest and weakest points? How do the competencies of Polish scientists translate into the success of projects conducted in our country? These questions were to find their answers thanks to the research conducted in 2011 commissioned by the National Information Processing Institute. This article presents some of the results. It includes, amongst others, the differences between scientists from science departments and companies as well as between project managers and members of research teams.Preparation and printing funded by the National Agency for Research and Development under project “Kreator Innowacyjności – wparcie dla Przedsiębiorczości akademickiej

The role of WebQuests in science education for citizenship

Science education for all aims at developing scientifically literate citizens. WebQuests are problem-solving activities that can promote the development of competences thought to be relevant for a responsible and well-informed citizenship. By solving WebQuests students may develop conceptual, epistemological and procedural knowledge as well as interpersonal skills and ‘learn how to learn’. This article discusses the role of WebQuests in facilitating the lower secondary school students' understanding of science concepts, promoting their images of scientists and fostering their problem-solving abilities. Students' reactions to this kind of educational resource are also analysed

Big data for monitoring educational systems

This report considers “how advances in big data are likely to transform the context and methodology of monitoring educational systems within a long-term perspective (10-30 years) and impact the evidence based policy development in the sector”, big data are “large amounts of different types of data produced with high velocity from a high number of various types of sources.” Five independent experts were commissioned by Ecorys, responding to themes of: students' privacy, educational equity and efficiency, student tracking, assessment and skills. The experts were asked to consider the “macro perspective on governance on educational systems at all levels from primary, secondary education and tertiary – the latter covering all aspects of tertiary from further, to higher, and to VET”, prioritising primary and secondary levels of education

Remixing Cinema: The case of the Brighton Swarm of Angels

Disintermediation, web 2.0, distributed problem solving, collaborative creation/art, user-centred innovation, creative common

Getting Students Employed: 21st Century Learning Competences and Career Competences

This thesis explores the nexus between education and the economy in the 21st century knowledge-based economy to understand the relationship between the learning competences – as described in 21st century frameworks – and career competences – as recommended in the job descriptions of available employment opportunities. Theoretically, this study is grounded in human capital theory and it explores the indiscriminate nature of the data regarding a student’s required education level to achieve the prescribed learning competences. With the aid of a quantitative content analysis of selected employment opportunities, the research sought to explore: How are learning competences, as outlined by international organizations, aligned to career competences in the knowledge-based economy? The main conclusion suggests two major findings. First, there is a degree of alignment in the existence of learning competences as outlined in international frameworks and career competences as delineated in employment opportunities. Second, there is a divergence in the way the economic and education systems prioritize the career and learning competences respectively, which may account for the disagreement in the preparedness of students for employment in the knowledge-based economy. Finally, I conclude by asserting that investments should be made in compulsory education to align the priorities of these competences ensure all students are competent for employment in the knowledge-based economy

Computer simulations, mathematics and economics

Economists lise different kinds of computer simulation. However, there is little attention on the theory of simulation, which is considered either a technology or an extension of mathematical theory or, else, a way of modelling that is alternative to verbal description and mathematical models. The paper suggests a systematisation of the relationship between simulations, mathematics and economics. In particular, it traces the evolution of simulation techniques, comments some of the contributions that deal with their nature, and, finally, illustrates with some examples their influence on economie theory. Keywords: Computer simulation, economie methodology, multi-agent programming techniques.

Professionalism, Evidence and Power: Key Themes Influencing the Management of a Mental Health Programme in the National Health Service in England

This thesis critically examines a national programme in mental health which has been driven by the implementation of National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance. Assumptions which underpin research method, drawn from the natural sciences, are critiqued in terms of their adequacy in accounting for human relating and expert therapeutic practice. The work of Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) is problematized in how they account for proficiency and expertise as intuition and the leap that they make from calculative to deliberative rationality. An alternative source of understanding, based on non-linear causality and complex responsive processes, is developed, building on the work of Stacey (2001, 2005, 2007). The ineffability of expert practice (or clinical judgement) is contrasted with competence based, rule governed practice, which necessarily underpins the early stages of learning. It is argued that because research practices undertaken in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) must be describable, measurable and focussed on predictable outcomes, then these cannot account for expert practice, therefore the assertion that the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT) is wholly based on research based, evidence based therapies, cannot be substantiated. The work explores professionalism and specifically considers the role of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychological therapists in mental health and in increasing access to psychological therapies. The role of managers and managerialism are explored, specifically how the NHS has sought to manage 3 professional staff and multi-disciplinary teams in adopting corporate and new ways of working (NWW). This includes the importance of and difficulty in countering professional identity using competence based approaches. The performance management processes in the NHS are recognised as an equally relevant source of evidence (to that of NICE), despite there being a poor (traditional) evidence base for it (Stacey, 2010; Seddon, 2008). Power relating in human relationships is identified as immanent, using the context of a management group, and it is argued that Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power (1994) can account for what is considered to be knowledge and truth, drawing on specialist expertise based on science and research, with a forceful potential for rendering others silent as well as pervasively self-silencing, in processes of inclusion and exclusion (Elias, 1978). It is argued that these on-going processes of relating influence policy decisions at national and local levels and how these policies are implemented in practice. The inevitability of unpredictable outcomes is highlighted, despite strong centralised programme management along with the provision of an explicit blueprint for implementation