Value creation:What matters most in Communities of Learning Practice in higher education

This study examines the phenomenon of value creation enabled by peers’ voluntary participation in Communities of Learning Practice (CoLPs) in higher education, with the aim to extract which experiences of learning community participation are considered valuable by learning community members. The participants were 27 international master students at a German university. Data were collected from participants’ written narratives-so called value creation stories. A systematic qualitative research approach was employed. Initially, we conducted a theory-driven content analysis to classify members’ attributed values. Subsequently, we performed an emergent data-driven thematic analysis to extrapolate the specifics of attributed values by participants. This study underscores the role of learning community members’ agency in value creation, by having community members, instead of external members, define value creation for themselves, as an individual and collective process and “outcome” enabled by participation in CoLPs.<br/

Developing the role concept for computer-supported collaborative learning

The role concept has attracted a lot of attention as a construct for facilitating and analysing interactions in the context of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). So far much of this research has been carried out in isolation and the focus on roles lacks cohesion. In this article we present a conceptual framework to synthesise the contemporary conceptualisation of roles, by discerning three levels of the role concept: micro (role as task), meso (role as pattern) and macro (role as stance). As a first step to further conceptualise ‘role as a stance’, we present a framework of eight participative stances defined along three dimensions: group size, orientation and effort. The participative stances – Captain, Over-rider, Free-rider, Ghost, Pillar, Generator, Hanger-on and Lurker – were scrutinised on two data sets using qualitative analysis. The stances aim to facilitate meaningful description of student behaviour, stimulate both teacher and student awareness of roles at the macro-level in terms of participative stances, and evaluate or possibly change the participation to collaborative learning on all levels

Impact of the lockdown on acute stroke treatments during the first surge of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the impact of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting lockdown on reperfusion treatments and door-to-treatment times during the first surge in Dutch comprehensive stroke centers. Furthermore, we studied the association between COVID-19-status and treatment times. METHODS: We included all patients receiving reperfusion treatment in 17 Dutch stroke centers from May 11th, 2017, until May 11th, 2020. We collected baseline characteristics, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at admission, onset-to-door time (ODT), door-to-needle time (DNT), door-to-groin time (DGT) and COVID-19-status at admission. Parameters during the lockdown (March 15th, 2020 until May 11th, 2020) were compared with those in the same period in 2019, and between groups stratified by COVID-19-status. We used nationwide data and extrapolated our findings to the increasing trend of EVT numbers since May 2017. RESULTS: A decline of 14% was seen in reperfusion treatments during lockdown, with a decline in both IVT and EVT delivery. DGT increased by 12 min (50 to 62 min, p-value of < 0.001). Furthermore, median NIHSS-scores were higher in COVID-19 - suspected or positive patients (7 to 11, p-value of 0.004), door-to-treatment times did not differ significantly when stratified for COVID-19-status. CONCLUSIONS: During the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, a decline in acute reperfusion treatments and a delay in DGT was seen, which indicates a target for attention. It also appeared that COVID-19-positive or -suspected patients had more severe neurologic symptoms, whereas their EVT-workflow was not affected. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12883-021-02539-4

A Randomized Trial of Intravenous Alteplase before Endovascular Treatment for Stroke

The value of administering intravenous alteplase before endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke has not been studied extensively, particularly in non-Asian populations. METHODS We performed an open-label, multicenter, randomized trial in Europe involving patients with stroke who presented directly to a hospital that was capable of providing EVT and who were eligible for intravenous alteplase and EVT. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive EVT alone or intravenous alteplase followed by EVT (the standard of care). The primary end point was functional outcome on the modified Rankin scale (range, 0 [no disability] to 6 [death]) at 90 days. We assessed the superiority of EVT alone over alteplase plus EVT, as well as noninferiority by a margin of 0.8 for the lower boundary of the 95% confidence interval for the odds ratio of the two trial groups. Death from any cause and symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage were the main safety end points. RESULTS The analysis included 539 patients. The median score on the modified Rankin scale at 90 days was 3 (interquartile range, 2 to 5) with EVT alone and 2 (interquartile range, 2 to 5) with alteplase plus EVT. The adjusted common odds ratio was 0.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62 to 1.15; P=0.28), which showed neither superiority nor noninferiority of EVT alone. Mortality was 20.5% with EVT alone and 15.8% with alteplase plus EVT (adjusted odds ratio, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.84 to 2.30). Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 5.9% and 5.3% of the patients in the respective groups (adjusted odds ratio, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.60 to 2.81). CONCLUSIONS In a randomized trial involving European patients, EVT alone was neither superior nor noninferior to intravenous alteplase followed by EVT with regard to disability outcome at 90 days after stroke. The incidence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage was similar in the two groups

Collectief leren in organisaties met behulp van ICT

Onderzoek toont aan dat meer aandacht nodig is voor de wijze waarop medewerkers collectieve leervormen kunnen organiseren in elektronische leeromgevingen. Er is meer aandacht nodig voor de context waarin men leert en de sociale processen die het collectieve leren aansturen. Gedoeld wordt op ondersteuningsvormen die groepen helpen bij het reguleren van het leren. Een mogelijkheid hiertoe is het inbrengen van een overlegmethodiek die de groep handreikingen biedt bij het sturen van de inhoud van het overleg. Een tweede mogelijkheid is het verdelen van verantwoordelijkheden binnen de groep, zodat taken niet blijven liggen. Dit kan door het toewijzen van rollen die de wederzijdse afhankelijkheid tussen de leden van groepen vergroten. In een onderzoek in samenwerking met de Nederlandse recherche worden deze twee vormen van ondersteuning nader onderzocht

Network and content analysis in an online community discourse

The aim of this paper is to study interaction patterns among the members of a community of practice within the Dutch police organization and the way they share and construct knowledge together. The online discourse between 46 members, using First Class, formed the basis for this study. Social Network Analysis and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The results show that the interaction patterns between the members are rather centralized and that the network is relatively dense. Most of the members are involved within the discourse but person to person communication is still rather high. Content analysis revealed that discourse is focused on sharing and comparing information

How do online learning networks emerge? A review study of self-organizing network effects in the field of networked learning

In this article we want to understand in more detail how learning networks emerge in online networked learning environments. An adage in Networked Learning theory is that networked learning cannot be designed; it can only be designed for. This adage implicitly carries the idea that networked learning is seen as learning in which information and communication technology is used to promote (emergent) connections between learners and their peers, learners and tutors and learners and learning resources. Emergence entails a self-organizing component. However, there is no comprehensive understanding of how self-organizing network effects occur in networked learning environments, how they influence possible learning outcomes and how these network effects can be enhanced or frustrated by the design elements of different networked learning environments. By means of a review we investigate how the three most known self-organizing network effects occur in networked learning environments, namely preferential attachment, reciprocity and transitivity. Results show that in most studies self-organizing network effects are significantly present. Moreover we found important (design) elements related to the people, the physical environments and the tasks of the learning networks that could influence these self-organizing network effects. Studies that looked at learning outcomes are limited. Based on the review study future research directions for the field of Networked Learning are addressed