E-learning as a tool for knowledge transfer through traditional and independent study at two UK higher educational institutes: a case study

Much has been made of the advances in computer aided learning activities. Websites, virtual campus, the increased use of Web CT and chat rooms and further advances in the use of WebCT are becoming more commonplace in UK universities. This paper looks for ways of changing higher education students’ perception of the usefulness of recommended internet web sites for learning purposes, with the intention of increasing the usage rate of recommended module web-sites. The change could represent an adaptation of the existing, well-known technology to change students’ perception regarding its potentially formative role. Subsequently, the outcomes from this preliminary research could be used in order to enhance the quality of the Internet use for teaching and learning purposes

Managing the Knowledge Creation Process of Large-Scale Evaluation Campaigns

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοThis paper discusses the evolution of large-scale evaluation campaigns and the corresponding evaluation infrastructures needed to carry them out. We present the next challenges for these initiatives and show how digital library systems can play a relevant role in supporting the research conducted in these fora by acting as virtual research environments

Research and theory for nursing and midwifery: Rethinking the nature of evidence

Background and Rationale: The rise in the principles of evidence-based medicine in the 1990s heralded a re-emerging orthodoxy in research methodologies. The view of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) as a “gold standard” for evaluation of medical interventions has extended recently to evaluation of organisational forms and reforms and of change in complex systems—within health care and in other human services. Relatively little attention has been given to the epistemological assumptions underlying such a hierarchy of research evidence. Aims and Methods: Case studies from research in maternity care are used in this article to describe problems and limitations encountered in using RCTs to evaluate some recent policy-driven and consumer-oriented developments. These are discussed in relation to theory of knowledge and the epistemological assumptions, or paradigms, underpinning health services research. The aim in this discussion is not to advocate, or to reject, particular approaches to research but to advocate a more open and critical engagement with questions about the nature of evidence. Findings and Discussion: Experimental approaches are of considerable value in investigating deterministic and probabilistic cause and effect relationships, and in testing often well-established but unevaluated technologies. However, little attention has been paid to contextual and cultural factors in the effects of interventions, in the culturally constructed nature of research questions themselves, or of the data on which much research is based. More complex, and less linear, approaches to methodology are needed to address these issues. A simple hierarchical approach does not represent the complexity of evidence well and should move toward a more cyclical view of knowledge development

Roadmapping and i -Systems

The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper and should contain at least 70 and at most 150 words. It should be set in 9-point font size and should be inset 1.0 cm from the right and left margins. There should be two blank (10-point) lines before and after the abstract. This document is in the required format. Roadmapping, as a strategic planning tool, is attracting increasing applications in industries. By applying the principles of Interactive Planning (IP), this paper puts forward a new solution for making personal academic research roadmaps. Then this paper introduces an ongoing project that is to develop a roadmapping support system based on the solution, and gives some considerations about applying the i-System Methodology for enhancing the knowledge creation in a roadmapping process