An authoring tool for decision support systems in context questions of ecological knowledge

Decision support systems (DSS) support business or organizational decision-making activities, which require the access to information that is internally stored in databases or data warehouses, and externally in the Web accessed by Information Retrieval (IR) or Question Answering (QA) systems. Graphical interfaces to query these sources of information ease to constrain dynamically query formulation based on user selections, but they present a lack of flexibility in query formulation, since the expressivity power is reduced to the user interface design. Natural language interfaces (NLI) are expected as the optimal solution. However, especially for non-expert users, a real natural communication is the most difficult to realize effectively. In this paper, we propose an NLI that improves the interaction between the user and the DSS by means of referencing previous questions or their answers (i.e. anaphora such as the pronoun reference in “What traits are affected by them?”), or by eliding parts of the question (i.e. ellipsis such as “And to glume colour?” after the question “Tell me the QTLs related to awn colour in wheat”). Moreover, in order to overcome one of the main problems of NLIs about the difficulty to adapt an NLI to a new domain, our proposal is based on ontologies that are obtained semi-automatically from a framework that allows the integration of internal and external, structured and unstructured information. Therefore, our proposal can interface with databases, data warehouses, QA and IR systems. Because of the high NL ambiguity of the resolution process, our proposal is presented as an authoring tool that helps the user to query efficiently in natural language. Finally, our proposal is tested on a DSS case scenario about Biotechnology and Agriculture, whose knowledge base is the CEREALAB database as internal structured data, and the Web (e.g. PubMed) as external unstructured information.

The genera of fishes ... : A contribution to the stability of scientific nomenclature / By David Starr Jordan.

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The genera of fishes ... : A contribution to the stability of scientific nomenclature / By David Starr Jordan.

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1869

Gaining Insight into Actual and Preferred Sources of Coaching Knowledge

Previous research has suggested that current formal coach education programs do not fully meet the learning needs of coaches. The purpose of the present study was to examine actual and preferred sources of coaching knowledge for developmental-level coaches. Structured quantitative interviews were conducted with coaches (N = 44) from a variety of sports. Learning by doing, interaction with coaching peers, and formal coach education were the top actual sources of coaching knowledge. Discrepancies were found between actual and preferred usage of learning by doing, formal coach education, and mentoring. Coaches indicated they would prefer more guided learning and less self-directed learning by doing. Further, differences in preferred sources were identified between coaches wishing to move to an elite level versus coaches wishing to stay at a developmental level. Findings highlight the importance of both experiential and formally guided sources of coaching knowledge and the context-specific nature of coach learning.

The Development of Coaching Knowledge

Coaches are known to fulfill many different roles including leader, psychologist, friend, teacher, personnel manager, administrator, fundraiser and role model. The papers presented in this special issue emphasize these different roles by highlighting how coaches learn and how they foster an optimal learning environment. In the first section of this discussion article, I will briefly summarize the main issues covered in the five target papers. I will then propose that the learning environment of coaches needs to be put into a larger conceptual framework that would allow one to account for the variability of experiences that coaches go through before becoming a coach. The third section of this paper will describe three different settings in which coaches learn their skills. Finally, I will offer some concluding remarks and briefly outline directions for future studies.

Stirner – on the brink of scientific thought

Stirner and Feyerabend, despite being historically a hundred and fifty years apart, seem to have been of the same mind in revolting against the methodological explaining of what cannot methodologically be explained. Stirner attempted an explanation in a more intuitive version, Feyerabend in a more sophisticated one. For both thinkers it is obviously important to sustain dissent with the assumption that method is the one and only vital promoter of scientific progress. They equally voice the opinion that, despite science itself producing inconsistencies as well as results, its proceedings nonetheless follow a certain rationale. But to codify a definite approach to phenomena or matter i.e. to establish a definite method for taking a look into things turns science into religion and scientists into believers. As a result no new insights are to be gained.