The production process in basketball: Empirical evidence from Spanish league

The main objective of this paper is to provide an empirical assessment of the production process in a basketball team. We estimate a logit model in which the output produced by a team is the game outcome (win or loss) and the inputs are those play characteristics that impact on that outcome. From the results obtained it is clear that, on average, there is a substantial difference between the impact of each play characteristic on a basketball team’s winning probability and that probability varies as the quality/quantity of the inputs used changes, albeit not proportionally.sports economics, team sport, professional basketball, productive process, logit model

Assessment strategy for virtual teams undertaking the EWB Challenge

[Abstract]: The Engineers without Borders (EWB) Challenge has been incorporated into a core first year course in the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying at University of Southern Queensland. This paper examines an assessment strategy which supports developing a team and problem solving process as well as the final outcome for the team. The assessment strategy aims to encourage teams and individual students to develop practices and strategies which can be used in other projects and problem solving situations as well as producing this one team report in one course. The team and problem solving process is critical as the majority of our teams work as virtual teams having no face to face contact with either other team members or facilitator. Significant emphasis is placed on developing strategies for virtual team work and encouraging individual student learning in line with individual learning goals set with consideration of prior knowledge and experience

Using Industry to Drive Continuous Improvement in Capstone Design

Iowa State University’s Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (IMSE) Department has been teaching and practicing continuous improvement for many years. Since 2003, a formal process for curriculum assessment related to ABET outcome items [a-k] and departmental outcome items [l-p] has been in place. This process has provided structure for obtaining, documenting, and using feedback from stakeholders, including students, alumni, faculty, and industry. Quantitative feedback is received through stakeholder surveys and outcome item assessment. Qualitative feedback is received from capstone design industry partners, alumni working in industry, and the IMSE Industrial Advisory Board. The IMSE capstone design course (IE441) has served as a principle linkage within the department for this process, and this paper describes how Industry and outcome item assessment are used to improve the capstone curriculum. Quantitative data are provided that indicate positive improvements resulting from interactions with Industry. Examples of qualitative feedback are also included. Outcome items [g] (An ability to communicate effectively) and [h] (The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context) are specifically addressed for the period of 2003-2011, with positive results seen in both areas

Social issues and implications of remote sensing applications: Paradigms of technology transfer

The transfer of technology from one federal agency to another was observed in the case of the move of LANDSAT to NOAA. An array of unanticipated consequences was found that have important impacts on both the process and outcome of the transfer. When the process was studied from viewpoint of the ultimate recipient, a set of expectations and perceptions were found that figure more in a final assessment than do the attributes of the technology being transfered. The question of how to link a technology with a community of potential users was studed in detail

A systematic review of naturalistic interventions in refugee populations

Naturalistic interventions with refugee populations examine outcomes following mental health interventions in existing refugee service organisations. The current review aimed to examine outcomes of naturalistic interventions and quality of the naturalistic intervention literature in refugee populations with the view to highlight the strengths and limitations of naturalistic intervention studies. Database search was conducted using the search terms ‘refugee’, ‘asylum seeker’, ‘treatment’, ‘therapy’ and ‘intervention. No date limitations were applied, but searches were limited to articles written in English. Seven studies were identified that assessed the outcome of naturalistic interventions on adult refugees or asylum seekers in a country of resettlement using quantitative outcome measures. Results showed significant variation in the outcomes of naturalistic intervention studies, with a trend towards showing decreased symptomatology at post-intervention. However, conclusions are limited by methodological problems of the studies reviewed, particularly poor documentation of intervention methods and lack of control in the design of naturalistic intervention studies. Further examination of outcomes following naturalistic interventions is needed with studies which focus on increasing the rigour of the outcome assessment process

Attitudes of patients toward adoption of 3D technology in pain assessment: Qualitative perspective

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. © Fotios Spyridonis, Gheorghita Ghinea, Andrew O Frank. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 10.04.2013. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Past research has revealed that insufficient pain assessment could, and often, has negative implications on the provision of quality health care. While current available clinical approaches have proven to be valid interventions, they are expensive and can often fail in providing efficient pain measurements. The increase in the prevalence of pain calls for more intuitive pain assessment solutions. Computerized alternatives have already been proposed both in the literature and in commerce, but may lack essential qualities such as accuracy of the collected clinical information and effective patient-clinician interaction. In response to this concern, 3-dimensional (3D) technology could become the innovative intervention needed to support and improve the pain assessment process. Objective: The purpose of this analysis was to describe qualitative findings from a study which was designed to explore patients’ perceptions of adopting 3D technology in the assessment of their pain experience related to important themes that might positively or negatively influence the quality of the pain assessment process. Methods: The perceptions of 60 individuals with some form of pain in the area of Greater London were collected through semi-structured interviews. Of the 60 respondents, 24 (43%) produced usable responses and were analyzed for content using principles of the grounded theory approach and thematic analysis, in order to gain insight into the participants’ beliefs and attitudes towards adopting 3D technology in pain assessment. Results: The analysis identified 4 high-level core themes that were representative of the participants’ responses. These themes indicated that most respondents valued “the potential of 3D technology to facilitate better assessment of pain” as the most useful outcome of adopting a 3D approach. Respondents also expressed their opinions on the usability of the 3D approach, with no important concerns reported about its perceived ease of use. Our findings finally, showed that respondents appreciated the perceived clinical utility of the proposed approach, which could further have an influence on their intention to use it. Conclusions: These findings highlighted factors that are seen as essential for improving the assessment of pain, and demonstrated the need for a strong focus on patient-clinician communication. The participants of this analysis believed that the introduction of 3D technology in the process might be a useful mechanism for such a positive health care outcome. The study’s findings could also be used to make recommendations concerning the potential for inclusion of 3D technology in current clinical pain tools for the purpose of improving the quality of health care

Study design for concurrent development, assessment, and implementation of new diagnostic imaging technology

With current constraints on health care resources and emphasis on value for money, new diagnostic imaging technologies must be assessed and their value demonstrated. The state of the art in the field of diagnostic imaging technology assessment advocates a hierarchical step-by-step approach. Although rigorous, such a hierarchical assessment is time-consuming, and, given the current rapid advances in technology, results are often too late to influence management and policy decisions. The purpose of this article is to discuss a study design in which development, assessment, and implementation of new diagnostic imaging technology take place concurrently in one integrated process. An empirically based pragmatic study design is proposed for imaging technology assessment. To minimize bias and enable comparison with current technology, a randomized controlled design is used whenever feasible and ethical. Outcome measures should reflect the clinical decision-making process based on imaging information and acceptance of the new test. Outcome measures can include additional imaging studies requested, costs of diagnostic work-up and treatment, physicians' confidence in therapeutic decision making, recruitment rate, and patient outcome measures related to the clinical problem. The key feature of the proposed study design is analysis of trends in outcome measures over time

Occupational therapists' perceptions of predischarge home assessments with older adults in acute care

Predischarge occupational therapy home assessments are routinely performed with older adults in Europe, Australia and North America. Their primary aim is to facilitate a timely and safe discharge from hospital. However, there is a lack of published research on this topic, especially studies exploring occupational therapists' perceptions of home assessments. The paper aims to redress this by describing occupational therapists' perceptions of predischarge occupational therapy home assessments with older adults in acute care. All occupational therapists who undertook home assessments in an acute care hospital with older adults during the duration of the study period were invited to complete a reflective diary. In total, 15 reflective diaries were completed by six therapists. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that home assessments were carried out because of mobility or environmental concerns. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the outcome of the home assessment were related to the incidents that occurred during the assessment. Some of the occupational therapists' anxieties were related to the older adults' level of functioning or ill health, and the older adults' own concerns did have an impact upon the therapists' expectations of the home assessment process

An ideal model of an assistive technology assessment and delivery process

The purpose of the present work is to present some aspects of the Assistive Technology Assessment (ATA) process model compatible with the Position Paper 2012 by AAATE/EASTIN. Three aspects of the ATA process will be discussed in light of three topics of the Position Paper 2012: (i) The dimensions and the measures of the User eXperience (UX) evaluation modelled in the ATA process as a way to verify the efficient and the evidence-based practices of an AT service delivery centre; (ii) The relevance of the presence of the psychologist in the multidisciplinary team of an AT service delivery centre as necessary for a complete person-centred assistive solution empowering users to make their own choices; (iii) The new profession of the psychotechnologist, who explores users needs by seeking a proper assistive solution, leading the multidisciplinary team to observe critical issues and problems. Through the foundation of the Position Paper 2012, the 1995 HEART study, the Matching Person and Technology model, the ICF framework, and the pillars of the ATA process, this paper sets forth a concept and approach that emphasise the personal factors of the individual consumer and UX as key to positively impacting a successful outcome and AT solution

Misalignment of Learning Contexts - an explanation of the Chinese Learner Paradox.

There is considerable research evidence (e.g. Biggs 1991, Watkins et al 1990, Kember et al 1991) to suggest that East Asian learners exhibit superior learning styles and academic performance to their western counterparts at secondary and tertiary levels. This is a surprising outcome given the less favourable educational environment of most East Asian societies (such as large class size, expository teaching methodology, highly competitive exam system and exam-oriented curriculum) which, according to educational literature, is more conducive to surface learning and atomistic learning outcome. This seemingly contradictory situation, known as the Chinese Learner Paradox (Marton et al, 1993), has been the subject of quantitative and qualitative educational researches since the late 1980s. However, existing research has tended not to examine the impacts of different assessment regimes (i.e. exam essay, short answer question, MCQ test, term essay, reflective journal, practicum etc) on the learning process. More specifically, they did not investigate the interaction of learning approaches with assessment types in influencing learning outcomes in cross-cultural studies. In this study intensive semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 tertiary students, consisting of 5 East Asian and 5 local Australian students in Brisbane, the overriding aim being to investigate their ideas of learning, and their approaches to learning for written assignments and for exams, to establish whether cultural difference is a determining influence on the learning process. Preliminary results suggest a different way of interpreting and explaining the paradox.