Transferring Collective Knowledge: Collective and Fragmented Teaching and Learning in the Chinese Auto Industry

Collective knowledge, consisting of tacit group-embedded knowledge, is a key element of organizational capabilities. This study undertakes a multiple-case study of the transfer of collective knowledge, guided by a set of tentative constructs and propositions derived from organizational learning theory. By focusing on the group-embeddedness dimension of collective knowledge, we direct our attention to the source and recipient communities. We identify two sets of strategic choices concerning the transfer of collective knowledge: collective vs. fragmented teaching, and collective vs. fragmented learning. The empirical context of this study is international R&D capability transfer in the Chinese auto industry. From the case evidence, we find the expected benefits of collective teaching and collective learning, and also discover additional benefits of these two strategies, including the creation of a bridge network communication infrastructure. The study disclosed other conditions underlying the choice of strategies of transferring collective knowledge, including transfer effort and the level of group-embeddedness of the knowledge to be taught or re-embedded. The paper provides a group-level perspective in understanding organizational capabilities, as well as a set of refined constructs and propositions concerning strategic choices of transferring collective knowledge. The study also provides a rich description of the best practices and lessons learned in transferring organizational capabilities.knowledge transfer, collective knowledge, organizational capabilities, R&D capabilities, organizational learning, network, China

Training Student Workers at UH ITS Help Desk: An Instructional Design Study

This 50-page paper was written to complete the Learning Design and Technology Master's program. The findings from this study were presented at the 2018 Technology, Colleges and Community Worldwide Online Conference in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.The purpose of this instructional design project was to improve the orientation training and assessment of new student workers at the University of Hawaii (UH) Information Technology Services (ITS) Help Desk (HD). This was done by adding additional, guided instruction with practice, feedback, and formative assessment to pre-existing internal documentation (wiki). This project aimed to ensure new student hires understand policies and procedures of the help desk and understand how to read and use the wiki to reduce the number of errors in troubleshooting and workplace performance. The project also provided staff with data on student hires' understanding of policies and procedures. Student workers completed five online instructional modules in their own time during their scheduled work hours. The training was developed using Laulima and Google Forms. The purpose of using Laulima was to introduce new hires to a platform UH ITS services and Google Forms was used to survey and test students anonymously. Since the training had been substantially revised, the training was mandatory for all help desk students. Nineteen students successfully provided data for all the project components out of 33 total students. All data collected through Google Forms were summarized, analyzed, and concluded. The results showed that students displayed an increased understanding of the material and students responded positively to the instruction

Correlating Architecture Maturity and Enterprise Systems Usage Maturity to Improve Business/IT Alignment

This paper compares concepts of maturity models in the areas of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Systems Usage. We investigate whether these concepts correlate, overlap and explain each other. The two maturity models are applied in a case study. We conclude that although it is possible to fully relate constructs from both kinds of models, having a mature architecture function in a company does not imply a high Enterprise Systems Usage maturity

What Does it Take to Deliver an Active Hands-on Course?

Distance Education has been implemented widely in different curricula at many institutions; different means have been used to ensure the delivery. This article introduces unique combination of different mechanisms in implementing the active/synchronous distance delivery of hands-on course(s) that is compatible and similar to the face-to-face on-campus course(s).There are three major developmental stages of these online courses - curriculum design, methodologies, and assessment to ensure the effectiveness of distance delivery of technical courses in engineering technology. The processes of curriculum design for the Embedded System Designs are discussed: (a) The development of course and labs modules for hands-on technical courses. (b) The methodologies used in the delivery processes that include unique combinations of different teaching strategies when implementing these online courses. The web portal is used as a means to deliver general rules and course information and content, and the implementations of Learning Management Systems (LMS) for course module organizations. In addition, the limitations and problems encountered during the delivery processes, and the solution of the problems will be addressed. (c) The assessment of the distance course(s) on data gathered in a preliminary study and the comparison of methodologies used in this distance course will be presented to set as a proof of concept of these effective distance delivery practices. Engineering technology focuses on both hands-on and mind-on design work. This article discussed the integration of existing technology products into real world applications. Through the implementation of the distance delivery or cyber-enabled learning environment, the effectiveness of the delivery is compatible to traditional face-to-face on-campus courses. This does not only benefit the interested faculty/teachers in better teaching technical courses online, but it also supports the students who are interested in learning more advanced technical concepts that are needed in the work environment requiring higher technical literacy for today and in the future. Highlights of the presentation will address the following: (1) Research and development of the virtual classrooms and open source service server. (2) Curriculum design and development of the supported material. (3) Implementation of teaching strategies and methodologies for the real-time distance hands-on approach. (4) Preliminary assessment of the teaching and learning. (5) Recommendations of potential adoption of the development. (6) Continuous improvement of teaching and learning in academic community

Open Networking Lab: online practical learning of computer networking

Learning to configure computer networks is a topic requiring a substantial practical component and suggesting a pedagogic approach that foregrounds experiential learning. However, providing appropriate computer networking hardware is expensive for classroom labs, and is not viable for individual distance learners. Simulation offers an alternative basis for practical learning and supports a range of modes, from individual distance learning to in-class blended learning. Sophisticated network simulation packages, such as Cisco’s Packet Tracer, have high fidelity to networking devices and can simulate complex network scenarios. Unfortunately their complex interfaces make it difficult for a novice student to engage productively. The Open Networking Lab (ONL) will provide online resources for students of introductory computer networking. It will take an activity-centred approach, supported with video and screencasts, in preference to lengthy text. Practical activity is based on PT Anywhere, a network simulator that provides students with an easy-to-use, browser-based interface over Cisco’s Packet Tracer. PT Anywhere thus provides fully authentic simulation but, by only revealing a subset of features, supports a carefully scaffolded approach to teaching and learning. We report at an early stage in the development of the ONL. Material is being piloted with students at UK Further Education colleges. Evaluation will include observation, surveys and interviews with students and staff; PT Anywhere also provides learning analytics. A further stage of development will culminate in a badged open course on the Open University’s OpenLearn platform. The ONL will provide vocational learning at scale in educational institutions, employment contexts and for individual learners

Computer Programming Effects in Elementary: Perceptions and Career Aspirations in STEM

The development of elementary-aged students’ STEM and computer science (CS) literacy is critical in this evolving technological landscape, thus, promoting success for college, career, and STEM/CS professional paths. Research has suggested that elementary- aged students need developmentally appropriate STEM integrated opportunities in the classroom; however, little is known about the potential impact of CS programming and how these opportunities engender positive perceptions, foster confidence, and promote perseverance to nurture students’ early career aspirations related to STEM/CS. The main purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine elementary-aged students’ (N = 132) perceptions of STEM, career choices, and effects from pre- to post-test intervention of CS lessons (N = 183) over a three-month period. Findings included positive and significant changes from students’ pre- to post-tests as well as augmented themes from 52 student interviews to represent increased enjoyment of CS lessons, early exposure, and its benefits for learning to future careers

Block-Based Development of Mobile Learning Experiences for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things enables experts of given domains to create smart user experiences for interacting with the environment. However, development of such experiences requires strong programming skills, which are challenging to develop for non-technical users. This paper presents several extensions to the block-based programming language used in App Inventor to make the creation of mobile apps for smart learning experiences less challenging. Such apps are used to process and graphically represent data streams from sensors by applying map-reduce operations. A workshop with students without previous experience with Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile app programming was conducted to evaluate the propositions. As a result, students were able to create small IoT apps that ingest, process and visually represent data in a simpler form as using App Inventor's standard features. Besides, an experimental study was carried out in a mobile app development course with academics of diverse disciplines. Results showed it was faster and easier for novice programmers to develop the proposed app using new stream processing blocks.Spanish National Research Agency (AEI) - ERDF fund