Living Knowledge

Diversity, especially manifested in language and knowledge, is a function of local goals, needs, competences, beliefs, culture, opinions and personal experience. The Living Knowledge project considers diversity as an asset rather than a problem. With the project, foundational ideas emerged from the synergic contribution of different disciplines, methodologies (with which many partners were previously unfamiliar) and technologies flowed in concrete diversity-aware applications such as the Future Predictor and the Media Content Analyser providing users with better structured information while coping with Web scale complexities. The key notions of diversity, fact, opinion and bias have been defined in relation to three methodologies: Media Content Analysis (MCA) which operates from a social sciences perspective; Multimodal Genre Analysis (MGA) which operates from a semiotic perspective and Facet Analysis (FA) which operates from a knowledge representation and organization perspective. A conceptual architecture that pulls all of them together has become the core of the tools for automatic extraction and the way they interact. In particular, the conceptual architecture has been implemented with the Media Content Analyser application. The scientific and technological results obtained are described in the following

Entrepreneurial Networking in China and Russia: Comparative Analysis and Implications for Western Executives

In this article, I compare personal networks of Chinese and Russian entrepreneurs in terms of network structure, relationships and resources accessed in networks. The Chinese data is composed of longitudinal phone interviews with 94 Internet entrepreneurs in Beijing, and the Russian data is comprised of longitudinal face-to-face interviews with 75 entrepreneurs in Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Petrozavodsk. Implications for Western executives are discussed.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39905/3/wp520.pd

Informing Students about Their College Options: A Proposal for Broadening the Expanding College Opportunities Project

Most high-achieving, low-income students do not even apply to selective colleges despite being highly qualified for admission and success at these institutions. Because they do not apply, these students forgo the generous academic resources, increased financial aid, and better collegiate and career opportunities that selective schools offer. To increase opportunities and improve outcomes for these students, we propose building on the success of an innovative intervention, the Expanding College Opportunities (ECO) Project. At a relatively low cost of about $6 per student contacted, ECO sent the following to high-achieving, low-income students: targeted and personalized information on their college options, information on the process for applying, and details of the financial information relevant to their situations. The intervention had a profound effect on their college application behavior, leading to a substantial increase in their propensity to apply to more-selective colleges commensurate with their academic achievements. Not only did students apply to more-selective schools, but they were accepted and matriculated at such schools in greater numbers, and early evidence points to their academic success in these programs. The promising results of this low-cost program suggest that ECO should be expanded. This paper proposes steps to expand and improve ECO to reach more low-income, high-achieving students across the country by partnering with respected third-party organizations such as the College Board and ACT. ECO can also serve as a model for designing and applying this type of intervention to other populations of students. The success of the ECO Project highlights the importance of researchers being able to access relevant government data to design targeted and effective programs and polici

Maximizing Competency Education and Blended Learning: Insights from Experts

In May 2014, CompetencyWorks brought together twenty-three technical assistance providers to examine their catalytic role in implementing next generation learning models, share each other's knowledge and expertise about blended learning and competency education, and discuss next steps to move the field forward with a focus on equity and quality. Our strategy maintains that by building the knowledge and networks of technical assistance providers, these groups can play an even more catalytic role in advancing the field. The objective of the convening was to help educate and level set the understanding of competency education and its design elements, as well as to build knowledge about using blended learning modalities within competency-based environments. This paper attempts to draw together the wide-ranging conversations from the convening to provide background knowledge for educators to understand what it will take to transform from traditional to personalized, competency-based systems that take full advantage of blended learning

When Failure Is Not an Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning

Proposes an online learning-assisted model in which students advance by demonstrating mastery of subjects based on clear, measurable objectives and meaningful assessments. Examines innovation drivers, challenges, and philanthropic opportunities

Autonomous Organization of the (International) Scientific Community Would Simplify Data Protection in the Social Sciences and Encourage Reanalysis

In den Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften besteht ohne die Moeglichkeit einer Re-Analyse von statistischen Ergebnissen (gleichermaßen amtlichen wie nicht-amtlichen) die Gefahr von nicht entdeckten Irrtuemern. Mit anderen Worten: Re- Analysen sind in der Wissenschaft die "Berufungsinstanz", ohne die es keine funktionierende Scientific Community geben kann. Der Schutz vor fehlerhaften wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen mit Hilfe von Re-Analysen ist ein "oeffentliches Interesse", das in der Datenschutzdiskussion und insbesondere bei der Auslegung von Datenschutzregelungen bislang zu wenig beachtet wurde. Das Wissenschaftssystem und der Gesetzgeber sind gleichermaßen aufgefordert, Re-Analysen zu ermoeglichen ohne den Datenschutz zu verletzen. Als Instrumente werden Selbstbindungen im Wissenschaftssystem und die Schaffung eines gesetzlichen "Forschungsdaten-Geheimnisses" diskutiert. The re-analysis of statistical data is an effective means of protecting the public from undiscovered errors in social science research. Re-analysis is critical, as there is no difference between official data and non-official data. However, discussions concerning data protection legislation do not usually take this into consideration. Proper data protection rules must make it possible to conduct independent re-analysis of protected data. The paper discusses the possibilities of self-binding in the (international) scientific community and creating a new kind of law which would provide scientific data with a special legal status (Forschungsdaten- Geheimnis).

Female Iraqi Academics In Iraqi Kurdistan: Roles, Challenges & Capacities

This report is based on research carried out by a team of researchers based in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, supervised and coordinated by Professor Nadje Al- Ali, Centre for Gender Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. The research team consists of Muzhda Muhammed (Department of Social Work, Salahaddin University), Hataw Kareem (Sociology Department, Salahaddin University), Dlaram Salih (Sociology Department, Salahaddin University) and Kawther Akreyi (independent gender consultant). The project is part of and funded by the wider DelPHE Iraq programme that has encouraged cooperation between British and Iraqi universities for capacity building purposes.1 The research presented in this report aimed to study the specific problems and challenges faced by female academics in Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition, the research project was intended to introduce a group of Iraqi Kurdish academics to qualitative research methods as well as gender as a concept of analysis. More broadly, the partnership between SOAS and Salahaddin University is meant to develop and modernize the curriculum and research capacity at Salahaddin University. Additionally, through developing policy recommendations based on the research findings as well as capacity building the project hopes to contribute to improving the opportunities for and representation of female professionals in the Iraqi Kurdish Higher Education (HE) sector. Finally, the project aims to increase sensitivity and awareness about gender issues both within the HE sector as well as within society more widely. The report will provide the main research findings as well as recommendations

Entrepreneurial Networking in China and Russia: Comparative Analysis and Implications for Western Executives

In this article, I compare personal networks of Chinese and Russian entrepreneurs in terms of network structure, relationships and resources accessed in networks. The Chinese data is composed of longitudinal phone interviews with 94 Internet entrepreneurs in Beijing, and the Russian data is comprised of longitudinal face-to-face interviews with 75 entrepreneurs in Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Petrozavodsk. Implications for Western executives are discussed.entrepreneurs, networks, China, Russia