Perceptions of Company Officer Competency by Firefighters and Company Officers of Norfolk Fire-Rescue

The problem of this study was to compare the perceptions of Norfolk Fire-Rescue firefighters, Lieutenants, and Captains of the level of competency of Norfolk Fire-Rescue company officers as prescribed by NFPA Standard 1021

Asian and OECD international R&D spillovers

Previous studies have demonstrated an empirical relationship between accumulated R&D expenditures and total factor productivity (TFP), and have shown that the benefits of R&D can spill across countries through trade. This paper extends these analyses to a sample of 15 OECD countries and six Asian countries, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore and Thailand. An empirical model is estimated which relates TFP to domestic and foreign R&D activity, TFP catch-up and business cycle variables. Model estimates show that TFP and domestic R&D capital are positively related, and that domestic R&D has a relatively large impact on TFP growth in the NICs and LICs. Country-specific international R&D spillover elasticities are of mixed sign, and no apparent pattern by country group is evident. While this result does not change the earlier qualitative conclusions, it suggests that estimates of sample average R&D spillover elasticities should be cautiously interpreted.R&D activity; Asian and OECD spillovers

AN INITIAL EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTREO ACTIVATION REFORMS. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 81 MARCH 2019

This report presents results from an initial evaluation that the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has undertaken of the effectiveness of the most recent set of activation reforms that have been made to Ireland’s public employment services (PES). The modifications, which are known as the Intreo activation process reforms, were first introduced in 2012 for all newly unemployed Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) and Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) recipients only. The reforms have focused on making changes to how benefit and employment services are delivered to jobseekers as opposed to what types of employment services are delivered (i.e., job search assistance, training, education courses, etc.)

Challenges with Learning to Program and Problem Solve: An Analysis of Student Online Discussions

Students who study problem solving and programming (in a language such as Python) at University level encounter a range of challenges, from low-level issues with code that won't compile to misconceptions about the threshold concepts and skills. The current study complements existing findings on errors, misconceptions, difficulties and challenges obtained from students after-the-fact through instruments such as questionnaires and interviews. In our study, we analysed the posts from students of a large cohort (approx. 1500) of first-year University distance learning students to an online 'Python help forum' - recording issues and discussions as the students encountered specific challenges. Posts were coded in terms of topics, and subsequently thematically grouped into Python-related, problem solving/generic programming related, and module specific. We discuss the set of topics and rank these in terms of the number of forum discussions in which they occur (as a proxy for their prevalence). The top challenges we identified concern student understanding and use of a mix of programming environments (in particular, Python IDLE for offline programming and CodeRunner for programming quizzes) and code fragment problems. Apart from these, Python-specific topics include, among others, collections, functions, error messages, iteration, outputting results, indentation, variables and imports. We believe that the results provide a good insight into the challenges that students encounter as they learn to program. In future work we intend to study the discussions in further detail in terms of theories of conceptual change

Full report on challenges with learning to program and problem solve: an analysis of first year undergraduate Open University distance learning students' online discussions

Students who study problem solving and programming (in a language such as Python) at University level encounter a range of challenges, from low-level issues with code that won't compile to misconceptions about the threshold concepts and skills. The current study complements existing findings on errors, misconceptions, difficulties and challenges obtained from students after-the-fact through instruments such as questionnaires and interviews. In our study, we analysed the posts from students of a large cohort (1500) of first-year University distance learning students to an online 'Python help forum' - recording issues and discussions as the students encountered specific challenges. Posts were coded in terms of topics, and subsequently thematically grouped into python-related, problem solving/generic programming related, and module specific. This report documents the full set of topics and the statistics for each of them. We also provide examples from the forum discussions which illustrate the topics that were identified

Advanced communications policy and adoption in rural Western Australia

Recent moves toward contestable universal service markets for rural areas raises issues of measuring the net cost of service provision. Measurement of net cost requires estimates of latent demand for advanced communications. This paper seeks for the first time to provide quantitative estimates of the magnitude of latent income pools available to carriers in rural WA. Estimates of latent expenditure on broadband services in rural WA are obtained using a combination of stated-preference and survey data. These expenditures increase with computer ownership, community isolation and information need. Further, the statistical model supports the commonly held belief that more distant populations have stronger information demands and are willing to pay for services. This finding suggests that carrier aversion to providing services to rural regions may not be justified on commercial grounds.Advanced communications; broadband service; internet rural access; universal service obligations

The T-shaped “axe” from Northeast Honduras: Observations on chronology and function of a pre Columbian stone tool

This paper provides a description and analysis of a distinctive type of pre-Columbian stone tool, usually termed a T-shaped axe, found almost exclusively in Northeast Honduras, Central America. There have been very few detailed or technical studies of lithics from Honduras. Early archaeological research and the current understanding of the regional prehistory are included, with Northeast Honduras viewed as a frontier zone located between the Mesoamerican and Isthmo-Columbian culture areas. Our study examines, in particular, a collection of these tools curated today at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (CUMAA). The 39 (whole and fragmentary) specimens were collected between 1937 and 1939, from the Bay Islands, Northeast Honduras, but have never been published. This paper classifies the collection specimens into five varieties, based on morphology, with sample statistics, form dimensions, and illustrations provided for each. Manufacturing technology is primarily percussion flaking. The tool type is compared with similar specimens excavated and described from the Bay Islands and adjacent Honduran mainland, and with similar appearing implements from elsewhere in Central America. Insights about the possible age and function of these unusual, and distinctive, lithics are included. Based on preliminary macroscopic and microscopic analyses, it is concluded that the tools may have been employed as agricultural implements (hoes or spades), primarily for digging activities, rather than as axes or weapons used for cutting and slicing. It is most likely that these implements first appeared about 800 CE, and continued in use until at least 1400 CE. The tool type is most probably a local (not imported) product. More functional analysis is encouraged