The effect of multiple knowledge sources on learning and teaching

Current paradigms for machine-based learning and teaching tend to perform their task in isolation from a rich context of existing knowledge. In contrast, the research project presented here takes the view that bringing multiple sources of knowledge to bear is of central importance to learning in complex domains. As a consequence teaching must both take advantage of and beware of interactions between new and existing knowledge. The central process which connects learning to its context is reasoning by analogy, a primary concern of this research. In teaching, the connection is provided by the explicit use of a learning model to reason about the choice of teaching actions. In this learning paradigm, new concepts are incrementally refined and integrated into a body of expertise, rather than being evaluated against a static notion of correctness. The domain chosen for this experimentation is that of learning to solve "algebra story problems." A model of acquiring problem solving skills in this domain is described, including: representational structures for background knowledge, a problem solving architecture, learning mechanisms, and the role of analogies in applying existing problem solving abilities to novel problems. Examples of learning are given for representative instances of algebra story problems. After relating our views to the psychological literature, we outline the design of a teaching system. Finally, we insist on the interdependence of learning and teaching and on the synergistic effects of conducting both research efforts in parallel

Psychological contract and knowledge management mediated by cultural dynamics

Contact centres are the vital link in the value chain between the organisation and its customers because they offer essential front line sales and services of products. Evaluation of their success can be assessed in terms of customer retention, up selling and the promotion of the brand. This is brought into sharp focus if the centre is outsourced because of the impact of the strategic behaviour of the principal and its relation with its agents. The association of employees with the brand in outsourced operation is not as effective as in captive operations partly because communications from principal to agent are attenuated. Emotional connectivity, diagnostic skill set, requirement gathering, and knowledge are some of the most sensitive qualities required in agents working in the contact centres. These characteristics are found to differ according to whether this is in-house or outsourced operation and affect the psychological contract between the service provider and its employees. In addition, the employees are unlikely to achieve any rewards and are unable to offer any commitments to the customer in an outsourced operation; hence the “psychological contract” is breached. One of the consequences of this breach is on knowledge management. The knowledge of an employee regarding the products and services is lost with that employee’s attrition. Also employees’ then have little interest towards customer service and organizational welfare, which impacts on the customer centric goals of the principal. We argue that the psychological contract between employer and an employee and has positive influence on Knowledge Diffusion, mediated by cultural dynamics, which further contributes to the overall organizational effectiveness. This paper aims to investigate, as a pilot study, the elements of organisational culture and secondly its role in the diffusion of knowledge in contact centres, in-house and outsourced. We demonstrate how by deploying a blend of qualitative methods, it is possible to perceive the effect of each element of the cultural web on diffusion. Finally we propose a hypothesis of the role that Power Distance (Hofstede, 1980) can play, as a proxy for the Psychological Contract to leverage knowledge diffusion

Social, administrative and educational dimensions of the “human – subject of economic life” phenomenon under conditions of information society transition to a new level of development

Перехід інформаційного суспільства на новий рівень розвитку в тріаді генезисних процесів «становлення – формування – розвиток» спричинює численні зміни. Серед них: становлення суспільства знань; інтенсивний розвиток інформаційного простору задіянням ресурсів активного інформаційного простору, неактивного інформаційного простору майбутнього та неактивного інформаційного простору минулого; становлення рольового призначення людини як трудового потенціалу і людського капіталу. Ці зміни актуалізують процеси формування та розвитку людини-суб’єкта економічного життя. Розгляд цих процесів у суспільному, управлінському та освітньому вимірах дає можливість виокремити низку домінант сучасності. Це зростаючо-домінуюча роль комп’ютерної комунікації. Спрямування управління на поєднання інтересів окремих людей з інтересами організації та її стратегічними цілями. Задіяння соціального управління як менеджменту людських ресурсів. Розвиток людини як особистості. Формування та розвиток ІК-компетентності в системі неперервної освіти.Переход информационного общества на новый уровень развития в триаде генезисних процессов «становление – формирование – развитие» вызывает многочисленные изменения. Среди них: становление общества знаний; интенсивное развитие информационного пространства задействованием ресурсов активного информационного пространства, неактивного информационного пространства будущего и неактивного информационного пространства прошлого; становления ролевого назначения человека как трудового потенциала и человеческого капитала. Эти изменения актуализируют процессы формирования и развития человека-субъекта экономической жизни. Рассмотрение этих процессов в общественной, управленческом и образовательном измерениях дает возможность выделить ряд доминант современности. Это растущая и доминирующая роль компьютерной коммуникации. Направление управления на сосотнесение интересов отдельных людей с интересами организации и ее стратегическими целями. Задействования социального управления как менеджмента человеческих ресурсов. Развитие человека как личности. Формирование и развитие ИК-компетентности в системе непрерывного образования.The information society transition to a new level of development in the triad of genesis processes of "incipience – formation – development" causes a lot of changes: the formation of a knowledge society; intensive development of the information space by using the resources of the active information space, the inactive information space of the future and the inactive information space of the past; formation of person’s purpose as labor potential and human capital. These changes actualize the processes of formation and development of the human as subject of economic life. Consideration of these processes in the social, administrative and educational dimensions makes it possible to single out a number of dominant features of the present – it is the growing dominant role of computer communication; management focusing on combining the interests of individuals with the interests of the organization and its strategic goals is important; engaging social management as human resource management; personal development of human; formation and development of IСT competence in the system of continuous education

Collaboration and motivation in an online learning environment: students’ perceptions of collaborative activities and attitudes towards online learning

The report about distance learning in higher education in Portugal (2009) states that only a small percentage of HE enrolments are in DL courses, that the demand for the modality is growing, and that the Portuguese research in DL needs development, to support innovation in the modality. This study aimed to identify the collaborative activities that the 122 students enrolled in Masters’ courses between 2009-2012, in two Portuguese Universities, considered more motivating, their preferred type of assignment, the tools’ perceived ease of use, the social and cognitive aspects of teamwork, the tutor’s influence on teamwork and preferred team organization. The results indicate that the students feel comfortable participating, interacting and debating and that some collaborative activities such as designing projects, simulations, problem-based activities, discussions and written reports are more motivating than others. The results also show that the students have positive attitudes towards online learning, that online trust takes time to develop, that both face-to-face meetings and videoconference increase trust, though time flexibility is a practical advantage of online collaboration and that the way that collaborative assignments are designed can facilitate or hinder adequate collaboration

Recognition by directed attention to recursively partitioned images

A learning/recognition model (and instantiating program) is described which recursively combines the learning paradigms of conceptual clustering (Michalski, 1980) and learning-from-examples to resolve the ambiguities of real-world recognition. The model is based on neuropsychological and psychological evidence that the visual system is analytic, hierarchical, and composed of a parallel/serial dichotomy (many, see conclusions by Crick, 1984). Emulating the experimental evidence, parallel processes in the model decompose the image into components and cluster the constituents in much the same way as the image processing technique known as moment analysis (Alt, 1962). Serial, attentive mechanisms then reassemble the decompositions by investigating spatial relationships between components. The use of attentive mechanisms extends the moment analysis technique to handle alterations in structure and solves the contention problem created by combining the two learning paradigms. The contention results from a disagreement between the teacher and the model on what constitutes the salient features at the highest level of the symbol. There are four cases ZBT must handle, two of which result from the disagreement with the teacher. The parallel/serial dichotomy represents a vertical/horizontal tradeoff between the invariant and variant features of a domain. The resultant learned hierarchy allows ZBT to recognize structural differences while avoiding problems of exponential growth

The Moderating Effects of Power Distance and Individualism/Collectivism on Empowering Leadership, Psychological Empowerment, and Self-Leadership in International Development Organizations

The importance of finding appropriate leadership styles to use in cross-cultural situations is paramount. Development organizations and multinational organizations both struggle to find forms of leadership that are effective in mobilizing the workforce in highly diverse cultural contexts. In this article, the effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and self-leadership are measured in two cultural contexts—Rwanda and the United States, representing both high and low power distance and individualism/ collectivism—to explore how empowering leadership behaviors affects the empowerment of subordinates. First, hierarchical regression analysis shows that empowering leadership has a significant positive effect on both psychological empowerment and self-leadership in both cultural contexts. Second, hierarchical regression analysis with tests for moderation shows that power distance moderates these relationships, especially in high power distance cultures, while individualism/collectivism moderates these relationships only occasionally. This article provides evidence that empowering leadership is an effective form of leadership that produces employee empowerment in diverse cultural contexts. It also provides new insights into appropriate forms of leadership for international development organizations when working in different countries

Reviews

Technology‐based Learning Environments: Psychological and Educational Foundations edited by S. Vosniadou, E. De Corte and H. Mandl, volume 137 in NATO ASI Series F (Computer and Systems Sciences), Berlin, Springer‐Verlag, ISBN: 0–387–58253–3, 1994

The Moderating Effects of Power Distance and Individualism/Collectivism on Empowering Leadership, Psychological Empowerment, and Self-Leadership in International Development Organizations

The importance of finding appropriate leadership styles to use in cross-cultural situations is paramount. Development organizations and multinational organizations both struggle to find forms of leadership that are effective in mobilizing the workforce in highly diverse cultural contexts. In this article, the effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and self-leadership are measured in two cultural contexts—Rwanda and the United States, representing both high and low power distance and individualism/ collectivism—to explore how empowering leadership behaviors affects the empowerment of subordinates. First, hierarchical regression analysis shows that empowering leadership has a significant positive effect on both psychological empowerment and self-leadership in both cultural contexts. Second, hierarchical regression analysis with tests for moderation shows that power distance moderates these relationships, especially in high power distance cultures, while individualism/collectivism moderates these relationships only occasionally. This article provides evidence that empowering leadership is an effective form of leadership that produces employee empowerment in diverse cultural contexts. It also provides new insights into appropriate forms of leadership for international development organizations when working in different countries