A learning experience in the fields of economics and business: creation of student-managed inter-university virtual networks

With this article we shall describe the learning experience carried out by our students in the fields of Economics and Business at the Universities of Huelva and University of Seville within an active- and cooperative-learning framework involving creation of virtual networks between our students and others who were attending diverse universities in Spain and abroad, thus allowing us to strengthen interactions and information exchanges among students, also allowing them to apprehend on their own the characteristics of economic and business and entrepreneuring realities in which they are immersed and, very specially, the use of virtual communities in the Internet

Forging partnerships in health care: Process and measuring benefits

Universally, there is concern that much academic learning has dealt mainly in theory, removing knowledge from context with a resultant lack of practical experience. Here, the catalyst for strengthening university-community engagement, emanated from a desire to foster greater propensity within students to make connections between their academic courses and responsibility toward the community and people in need, and thus develop enhanced skills in social interaction, teamwork and effectiveness. This paper explores a variety of models of university-community engagement that aim to achieve and model good practice in policy making and planning around healthcare education and service development. Ways of integrating teaching and learning with community engagement, so there is reciprocal learning with significant benefits to the community, students, the university and industry are described. The communities of engagement for a transdisciplinary approach in healthcare are defined and the types of collaborative partnerships are outlined, including public/private partnerships, service learning approaches and regional campus engagement. The processes for initiating innovation in this field, forging sustainable partnerships, providing cooperative leadership and building shared vision are detailed. Measuring shared and sustained benefits for all participants is examined in the context of effecting changes in working relationships as well as the impact on students in terms of increased personal and social responsibility, confidence and competence. For the health professions, it is considered vital to adopt this approach in order to deliver graduates who feel aware of community needs, believe they can make a difference, and have a greater sense of community responsibility, ethic of service and more sophisticated understandings of social contexts. In the longer term, it is proposed the strategy will deliver a future healthcare workforce that is more likely to have a strengthened sense of community, social and personal responsibility and thus effect positive social change

The organization of transactions research with the Trust and Tracing Game

This paper presents empirical results of research on the influence of social aspects on the organization of transactions in the domain of chains and networks. The research method used was a gaming simulation called the Trust and Tracing game in which participants trade commodity goods with a hidden quality attribute. Previous sessions of this gaming simulation identified a list of variables for further investigation (Meijer et al., 2006). The use of gaming simulation as data gathering tool for quantitative research in supply chains and networks is a proof-of-principle. This paper shows results from 27 newly conducted sessions and previously unused data from 3 older sessions. Tests confirmed the use of network and market modes of organization. Pre-existing social relations influenced the course of the action in the sessions. Being socially embedded was not beneficial for the score on the performance indicators money and points. The hypothesized reduction in measurable transaction costs when there was high trust between the participants could not be found. Further analysis revealed that participants are able to suspect cheats in a session based on other factors than tracing. Testing hypotheses with data gathered in a gaming simulation proved feasible. Experiences with the methodology used are discusse