Evaluating use of the SimVenture computer-based business simulation

Objectives The paper evaluates the impact of one of the market-leading computer-based start-up business simulations – SimVenture – using a version of the Rugby Team Impact Framework (RTIF; e.g. Bromley et al., 2012) adapted by the authors for use within an enterprise education context. Four case studies of the use of SimVenture in non-Business School subjects in Higher Education in the UK are described and analysed using the RTIF. Prior Work A survey of entrepreneurship education programmes conducted in 2006 by McKeown et al. concluded that delivery methods proved to be more traditional than anticipated, with few instances of action learning or the use of technology to support learning. Serious games, including business computer-based business simulations, have the potential to support learning by doing (Williams 2011, QAA 2012, Lopes et al. 2013), and have been shown to develop a range of skills including those described as necessary for the 21st Century (Romero et al., 2015). There are, however, few examples in the literature evaluating student-focused impact of business simulations in non-Business School subjects. With increasing calls to spread enterprise and entrepreneurship education to all (Anderson et al, 2014; Young, 2014), can serious games and business simulations such as SimVenture provide an effective solution? Approach Four undergraduate programmes in a range of non-Business subject areas (including computing and information systems; fashion and textiles; and veterinary practice) were selected for in-depth interviews following a literature review and web-based desk exercise to identify examples of practice. Case studies were produced exploring why SimVenture was chosen for use with students; how it was used (make-up of student cohort; size of working groups; number of sessions and over what time period, etc.); how learning was assessed; evaluation of learning and process; and lessons learned by the educator. The impact of SimVenture on student behaviour, learning, and longer term outcomes was analysed using the RTIF. Results The RTIF proved a useful tool for assessing the impact of SimVenture. All case studies reported positive outcomes for students with evidence of increased business and finance knowledge, skills development, and a wider appreciation of career options. Improved attendance and retention rates as a direct result of using SimVenture were also reported at one institution. Suggestions for practice are presented using the case study examples. Implications The results of the research suggest that serious games, in this case business simulations (using SimVenture as a specific example) can have positive outcomes on the student experience and business skills development through learning by doing. Value The paper contributes to the literature on use of computer-based business simulations, providing specific examples of practice that can be used by academics looking to embed enterprise and entrepreneurship education in non-Business subject-specific curricular. It also introduces an adapted framework which can be used to evaluate the impact of enterprise and entrepreneurship education programmes

Relating satellite imagery with grain protein content

Satellite images, captured during the growing seasons of barley, sorghum and wheat were analysed to establish a relationship between the spectral response and the harvested grain protein content. This study was conducted near Jimbour (approx. 151°10’E and 27°05’S) in southern Queensland. Grain protein contents of the geo-referenced samples, collected manually during the harvest, were determined using a laboratory-based near-infrared spectrophotometer. Grain protein contents in grain varied between 7.4–15.2% in barley, 6.2– 10.6% in sorghum and 13.1–15.6% in wheat. The Landsat images of 18 September 1999 (a week after barley flowering), 5 March 2000 (three weeks before sorghum harvest), and 15 August 2001 (two weeks before wheat flowering) were analysed. Additionally, an ASTER image of 24 September 2001 (three weeks after wheat flowering) was also examined. Digital numbers, extracted from raw image bands and derived indices, were correlated with grain protein contents. The grain protein content in barley was correlated strongly (r>0.80) with bands 2, 4 and 5 of the Landsat scene, first principal component, and the tasselled cap brightness and greenness indices. Similarly, wheat protein content was well correlated (r>0.75) with the near infrared band (band 4) of the Landsat scene, first principal component, and the tasselled cap brightness, greenness and wetness indices. The band 3 (near infrared band) of the ASTER image, captured well after flowering, was moderately correlated (r<0.5) with the protein content of the wheat. However, the grain protein content in sorghum was found poorly correlated (r<0.20) with Landsat image bands and indices. Results indicate that it may be possible to use certain bands and indices of the satellite images, captured around the time of flowering, to predict grain protein content of barley and wheat crops

The State Response to Climate Change: 50 State Survey

This survey accompanies Global Climate Change and U.S. Law, Second Edition (Michael B. Gerrard and Jody Freeman, eds, 2014). It compiles state legislation, rules and executive orders that specifically address climate change as of the end of April 2014. It also includes a wide variety of state activities that may have an impact on greenhouse gases including legislation related to energy efficiency and renewable energy. The focus of this material is to provide readers with an understanding of the range of state activity that may contribute to greenhouse gas reduction and climate change. Some types of energy efficiency, alternative fuels and renewable energy legislation (such as tax credits for hybrid vehicles) are very similar from state to state; some laws have a short duration and therefore may not be codified (such as temporary tax credits); energy legislation is being enacted at an increasing pace. As a result, not all energy efficiency, alternative fuels and renewable energy legislation and other activity in every state are included in this compilation

Mechanising on-the-run grain sampling

Capturing grain samples at harvest for later grain protein analysis creates logistical complications when spatial position and yield are to be monitored coincidently. The objective of the present study was to develop a sampling device that automatically captures grain during machine harvesting. The device consisted of an on-board GPS, a palm-top computer, a John Deere GreenStarTM moisture meter, and an interface box linking the components. The device has been tested on John Deere and Case harvesters. Grain samples of wheat, barley and sorghum crops were taken as frequently as every 25 m of travel. After protein analysis, the resultant protein map has been able to improve the interpretation of coincident yield maps for grain growers in eastern Australia. Additional qualitative information that influence grain price or which highlight yield-limiting factors, such as kernel weight, moisture, density or colour, may be also obtained from samples captured by the device

More-than-national and less-than-global: The biochemical infrastructure of vaccine manufacturing

The recent efforts to mount an R&D response to public health emergencies of international concern have led to the formation of what we term a biochemical infrastructure of vaccine development and production. In principle, this infrastructure is expected not only to curtail existing pandemics but also anticipate and contain yet-to-emerge future threats. Critically, by nature of its geographical distribution and technical modularity, that infrastructure promises both to accelerate and expand access to essential medical tools, and in so doing, redress global health inequities. In practice, however, the biochemical infrastructure of vaccines remains highly uneven, fragmented and unjust. Moving beyond calls for ‘global health solidarity’, this paper examines the key actors, normative techniques and socio-technical assemblages, from viral platform technologies to intellectual property waivers and from accelerated regulatory pathways to advance market commitments, that serve to link ‘just-in-case’ and ‘just-in-time’ modalities of global health R&D. We argue that the biomedical infrastructure of vaccine development and production emerging in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding across an innovation ecosystem that is more-than-national and yet less-than global: a reconfiguration that may offer possibilities for a new, radically-overhauled, model of vaccine equity