Cross - fertilization between three different teaching modes for geo - informatics education

Objective of this study was to determine if the use and student appreciation of course materials differs for native materials (materials that were developed for that course type in which they are used) and foreign materials (materials that were developed for another course type) and if the way the materials are used, (compulsory versus optional, interchangeable versus the only source of information) affects the student appreciation. A comparison was made between a face-to-face course, a blended learning course and a distance course. The comparison was based on a questionnaire, the course evaluation and the statistics from the digital learning environments. Results show no difference between native and foreign course materials, but do however show the influence of the way the materials were used. Appreciation for compulsory, non-interchangeable materials is higher than for optional interchangeable ones, but even for this last category the general appreciation is high. Distance students have the highest overall appreciation for study materials, followed by the face-to-face students

HR-MAS NMR Applications in Plant Metabolomics

Metabolomics is used to reduce the complexity of plants and to understand the underlying pathways of the plant phenotype. The metabolic profile of plants can be obtained by mass spectrometry or liquid-state NMR. The extraction of metabolites from the sample is necessary for both techniques to obtain the metabolic profile. This extraction step can be eliminated by making use of high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR. In this review, an HR-MAS NMR-based workflow is described in more detail, including used pulse sequences in metabolomics. The pre-processing steps of one-dimensional HR-MAS NMR spectra are presented, including spectral alignment, baseline correction, bucketing, normalisation and scaling procedures. We also highlight some of the models which can be used to perform multivariate analysis on the HR-MAS NMR spectra. Finally, applications of HR-MAS NMR in plant metabolomics are described and show that HR-MAS NMR is a powerful tool for plant metabolomics studies

Relationship value benefits of membership programs, heterogeneous stakeholders and museum impact beyond fees

In times of decreasing public funding, cultural institutions such as museums increasingly develop new stakeholder management practices to build a different or more diversified support base. Recently, membership programs have especially been gaining popularity. In this paper, we adopt a relationship value approach to study the poorly understood behaviors of members that can benefit museums beyond membership fees. In particular, we focus on the extent to which membership level and the perceived prestige of the museum drive value co-creation through prestige leveraging. We study this by using a sample of 430 members and non-members of the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam. We find that membership level is positively related with cross-buying behavior at the museum store and restaurant, and recommending the museum. In addition, these value creating behaviors are mediated by members leveraging the museum's prestige in their social environment. In contrast, we find a negative relationship between membership level and recruiting new members into the program, which could be explained by status dilution effects

Coping with Uncertainty in River Management:Challenges and Ways Forward

Coping with uncertainties is inherent to river management planning and policymaking. Yet, policymakers often perceive uncertainty as a complicating factor. We examine the challenges faced by policymakers when coping with uncertainties and provide an action perspective on how to best cope with these challenges to inform the policy debate. Integrating social and natural scientist’s perspectives on uncertainties and learning theories, we present a holistic, management perspective for coping with uncertainty. Based on a literature review about uncertainty concepts, strategies and learning, we identify three challenges in current river management: balancing social and technical uncertainties, being conservative and avoiding to end up a lock-in situation. We then provide a step-wise strategy and concrete actions for policymakers, which are illustrated with several examples. We conclude that coping with uncertainty may require paradigm shifts that can only be achieved through organisational learning. This, we claim, requires reflection, learning and flexibility of policymakers and their organisation

TEACHING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE CONCEPTS WITH QGIS AND THE LIVING TEXTBOOK – TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE DISTANCE EDUCATION

In 2020, many students could not travel due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic. In response, Faculty ITC of the University of Twente offered the online course Principles and Applications of Geographic Information Systems and Earth Observation as the first quartile of a full presential MSc. Programme. The course used the flipped classroom strategy to enhance student's ability to choose the learning strategy that best fitted their learning styles and was developed around four principles: (1) The course was Exercise led - students were introduced to concepts from the exercise descriptions; (2) Every concept taught was demonstrated and operationalized; (3) To emphasize the focus on concept learning, only two software tools were used - QGIS and the Living Textbook; (4) The software tools should be inclusive and encourage technological independence. The first three elements were evaluated by comparing the student feedback, the evaluation questionnaires and the academic attainment levels of the 2020 course with the in-house. The inclusiveness and technological independence were measured via the institutional impact. The results were positive for the new course setup, with students performing slightly better when compared with 2019 in-house edition of the course. The course had a significant institutional impact by contributing to a deeper commitment to open-source software tools. Open source is now the primary choice for teaching, with ITC becoming a QGIS-certified organization