Inventing Organizations of the 21st Century: Producing Knowledge Through Collaboration

This manuscript examines a Process Handbook (PH) special project using a learning history form. A learning history is an assessment-for-learning, designed such that its value is derived when read and discussed by teams interested in similar issues. Its contents come from the people who initiated, implemented, and participated in the documented efforts as well as non-participants who were affected by it. A learning history presents the experiences and understandings of people who have gone through a learning effort in their own words, in a way that helps others move forward without having to "re-invent" what the original group of learners discovered. The content of the learning history creates a context for conversation that teams within organizations wouldn't be able to have otherwise. This learning history, and the PH project it describes, raises issues around knowledge creation and team structures by looking at how a project team of individuals from university, business, and consulting organizations was effective in creating new knowledge. The team members held different predispositions toward theory development, producing business outcomes, and developing capacity for action. Their complementary, and at times conflicting, interests provided a robust structure for knowledge creation. Knowledge created through this team structure is also multidimensional, having theoretical, methodological, and practical components.

The Stein-Dirichlet-Malliavin method

The Stein's method is a popular method used to derive upper-bounds of distances between probability distributions. It can be viewed, in certain of its formulations, as an avatar of the semi-group or of the smart-path method used commonly in Gaussian analysis. We show how this procedure can be enriched by Malliavin calculus leading to a functional approach valid in infinite dimensional spaces.Comment: in ESAIM: Proceedings, EDP Sciences, 2015, pp.1

Misleading signposts along the de Broglie-Bohm road to quantum mechanics

Eighty years after de Broglie's, and a little more than half a century after Bohm's seminal papers, the de Broglie--Bohm theory (a.k.a. Bohmian mechanics), which is presumably the simplest theory which explains the orthodox quantum mechanics formalism, has reached an exemplary state of conceptual clarity and mathematical integrity. No other theory of quantum mechanics comes even close. Yet anyone curious enough to walk this road to quantum mechanics is soon being confused by many misleading signposts that have been put up, and not just by its detractors, but unfortunately enough also by some of its proponents. This paper outlines a road map to help navigate ones way.Comment: Dedicated to Jeffrey Bub on occasion of his 65th birthday. Accepted for publication in Foundations of Physics. A "slip of pen" in the bibliography has been corrected -- thanks go to Oliver Passon for catching it

Using Evaluation to Improve Grantmaking: What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Grantor

Over the past decade, evaluation has become an increasingly prominent (albeit vexing) function within philanthropy. More and more foundations are beginning to devote at least minimal levels of resources to evaluate the programs they fund. The topic of evaluation appears more and more at professional conferences. Membership in Grantmakers Evaluation Network -- an "affinity group" of foundation representatives interested in promoting evaluation -- has mushroomed to over 400. As the "demand" for evaluation has increased among foundations, the market has begun to fill up with a mixed bag of consultants (from both academia and the private sector) willing to supply their services. Particularly this last indicator suggests that evaluation will take root in the philanthropic sector. Yet, although evaluation is becoming a more popular activity among foundations, its potential is far from being realized

Predicting active school travel : the role of planned behavior and habit strength

Despite strong support for predictive validity of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) substantial variance in both intention and behavior is unaccounted for by the model's predictors. The present study tested the extent to which habit strength augments the predictive validity of the TPB in relation to a currently under-researched behavior that has important health implications, namely children's active school travel. Participants (N = 126 children aged 8-9 years; 59 % males) were sampled from five elementary schools in the west of Scotland and completed questionnaire measures of all TPB constructs in relation to walking to school and both walking and car/bus use habit. Over the subsequent week, commuting steps on school journeys were measured objectively using an accelerometer. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to test the predictive utility of the TPB and habit strength in relation to both intention and subsequent behavior. The TPB accounted for 41 % and 10 % of the variance in intention and objectively measured behavior, respectively. Together, walking habit and car/bus habit significantly increased the proportion of explained variance in both intention and behavior by 6 %. Perceived behavioral control and both walking and car/bus habit independently predicted intention. Intention and car/bus habit independently predicted behavior. The TPB significantly predicts children's active school travel. However, habit strength augments the predictive validity of the model. The results indicate that school travel is controlled by both intentional and habitual processes. In practice, interventions could usefully decrease the habitual use of motorized transport for travel to school and increase children's intention to walk (via increases in perceived behavioral control and walking habit, and decreases in car/bus habit). Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for changing these antecedents of children's active school travel

An Interpretation of the Continuous Adaptation of the Self/Environment Process

Insights into the nondual relationship of organism and environment and their processual nature have resulted in numerous efforts at understanding human behavior and motivation from a holistic and contextual perspective. Meadian social theory, cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), ecological psychology, and some interpretations of complexity theory persist in relating human activity to the wider and more scientifically valid view that a process metaphysics suggests. I would like to articulate a concept from ecological psychology – that of the affordance, and relate it to aspects of phenomenology and neuroscience such that interpretations of the self, cognition, and the brain are understood as similar to interpretations of molar behaviors exhibited in social processes. Experience with meditation as a method of joining normal reflective consciousness with ‘awareness’ is described and suggested as a useful tool in coming to better understand the nondual nature of the body

Turning Dust to Gold: Building a Future on the Moon

No abstract availabl

Der Algorithmus, bei dem man mit muss?:Ein Perspektivwechsel

Algorithmische Personalisierung ist ein stark umstrittenes Thema in der öffentlichen Debatte, dem größtenteils ein mechanistisches Verständnis zugrunde liegt. Algorithmen werden als konkrete Handlungsanleitung für den Computer verstanden. Diese Beschreibung von Algorithmen ist informationstheoretisch zweckmäßig, verliert jedoch in der Medien- und Kommunikationsperspektive den Nutzer aus dem Blick. Dieser Essay argumentiert für ein konzeptionelles Verständnis von algorithmischer Personalisierung, welches sowohl die algorithmische Funktionsweise als auch das Nutzerverhalten einschließt. Algorithmische Personalisierung kann demzufolge als ein dynamischer Kommunikationsprozess zwischen Algorithmus und Nutzer verstanden werden. Dieses konzeptionelle Verständnis soll ein erster Schritt hin zur Entwicklung einer theoretischen Perspektive sein, die das Augenmerk auf eine wechselseitige Algorithmus-Nutzer-Beziehung legt. Vorteil einer solchen theoretischen Perspektive ist die Gleichstellung von Algorithmus und Nutzer, dessen Wirkpotenzial in diesem Sinne als gleichwertig moduliert wird. EnglishMartina Mahnke: The Algorithm You Have to Stick With? A Shift in Perspective. Algorithmic personalization has been discussed controversially in public debate, lar- gely based on a mechanistic understanding of algorithms. Concretely, algorithms are understood within the framework of information theory as step-by-step-instructions. This understanding is useful from the angle of computer science, however, it puts little emphasis on the actual user behavior, which plays a far greater role than current research acknowledges. Therefore, this essay argues for a conceptual understanding of algorithmic personalization, which includes both the algorithmic operation mode as well as user behavior. Thus, algorithmic personalization can be understood as a dynamic communication process between the algorithms and its users. This conceptual understanding serves as a first step towards a theoretical perspective, that focusses on the algorithm-user relationship. Such a theoretical perspective may contribute to- wards the parity of algorithm and the user, whose agency is assumed to be equally influential.

Shadow Projection: Elicitation of Emotional Response

The study aimed to determine the elicitation of individual emotional response through shadow projection, and to recognize if there is a significant difference between male and female emotional response upon presentation of such stimuli.  The descriptive research design was used to establish the affective component of the target respondent. The researchers believed that projection of shadows or series of animated shadows can be a tool to elicit emotional arousal or response from individual when expose to shadow stimuli.  Respondents were selected using the stratified random sampling method among high school students (N-131), and were assembled for 3-5 minutes visual presentation of a themed animated shadow using a projector device. Series of shadows are projected and after each session, students were requested to accomplish questionnaire which is the main data gathering tool to confirm whether the projected shadows have an emotional effect. In the course of the shadow presentation, students-respondents were earnestly watching each session coupled with occasional burst of noise in reaction to projected shadow scenes, suggesting that the shadow stimuli have emotional effects.  Results revealed that shadow projections have an effect on students-respondents, signifying an elicitation of emotional response.  Statistically, significant difference between male and female responses is apparent. Keywords: Shadow Projection, Shadow Stimuli, Shado