Simultaneous estimation of indirect and interaction effects using structural equation models

Interaction effects are usually modeled by means of moderated regression analysis. Structural equation models with non-linear constraints make it possible to estimate interaction effects while correcting for measurement error. From the various specifications, Jöreskog and Yang's (1996, 1998), likely the most parsimonious, has been chosen and further simplified. Up to now, only direct effects have been specified, thus wasting much of the capability of the structural equation approach. This paper presents and discusses an extension of Jöreskog and Yang's specification that can handle direct, indirect and interaction effects simultaneously. The model is illustrated by a study of the effects of an interactive style of use of budgets on both company innovation and performance

Multilevel multitrait-multimethod model: application to the measurement of egocentered social networks

Our goal in this paper is to assess reliability and validity of egocentered network data using multilevel analysis (Muthen, 1989, Hox, 1993) under the multitrait-multimethod approach. The confirmatory factor analysis model for multitrait-multimethod data (Werts & Linn, 1970; Andrews, 1984) is used for our analyses. In this study we reanalyse a part of data of another study (Kogovšek et al., 2002) done on a representative sample of the inhabitants of Ljubljana. The traits used in our article are the name interpreters. We consider egocentered network data as hierarchical; therefore a multilevel analysis is required. We use Muthen's partial maximum likelihood approach, called pseudobalanced solution (Muthen, 1989, 1990, 1994) which produces estimations close to maximum likelihood for large ego sample sizes (Hox & Mass, 2001). Several analyses will be done in order to compare this multilevel analysis to classic methods of analysis such as the ones made in Kogovšek et al. (2002), who analysed the data only at group (ego) level considering averages of all alters within the ego. We show that some of the results obtained by classic methods are biased and that multilevel analysis provides more detailed information that much enriches the interpretation of reliability and validity of hierarchical data. Within and between-ego reliabilities and validities and other related quality measures are defined, computed and interpreted

Networks of PhD Students and Academic Performance: A Comparison across Countries

In this article we compare regression models obtained to predict PhD students’ academic performance in the universities of Girona (Spain) and Slovenia. Explanatory variables are characteristics of PhD student’s research group understood as an egocentered social network, background and attitudinal characteristics of the PhD students and some characteristics of the supervisors. Academic performance was measured by the weighted number of publications. Two web questionnaires were designed, one for PhD students and one for their supervisors and other research group members. Most of the variables were easily comparable across universities due to the careful translation procedure and pre-tests. When direct comparison was not possible we created comparable indicators. We used a regression model in which the country was introduced as a dummy coded variable including all possible interaction effects. The optimal transformations of the main and interaction variables are discussed. Some differences between Slovenian and Girona universities emerge. Some variables like supervisor’s performance and motivation for autonomy prior to starting the PhD have the same positive effect on the PhD student’s performance in both countries. On the other hand, variables like too close supervision by the supervisor and having children have a negative influence in both countries. However, we find differences between countries when we observe the motivation for research prior to starting the PhD which increases performance in Slovenia but not in Girona. As regards network variables, frequency of supervisor advice increases performance in Slovenia and decreases it in Girona. The negative effect in Girona could be explained by the fact that additional contacts of the PhD student with his/her supervisor might indicate a higher workload in addition to or instead of a better advice about the dissertation. The number of external student’s advice relationships and social support mean contact intensity are not significant in Girona, but they have a negative effect in Slovenia. We might explain the negative effect of external advice relationships in Slovenia by saying that a lot of external advice may actually result from a lack of the more relevant internal advice

The value of using short-format podcasts to enhance learning and teaching

This paper presents the findings of a podcasting trial held in 2007-2008 within the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney, Australia. The trial investigates the value of using short-format podcasts to support assessment for postgraduate and undergraduate students. A multi-method approach is taken in investigating perceptions of the benefits of podcasting, incorporating surveys, focus groups and interviews. The results show that a majority of students believe they gained learning benefits from the podcasts and appreciated the flexibility of the medium to support their learning, and the lecturers felt the innovation helped diversify their pedagogical approach and support a diverse student population. Three primary conclusions are presented: (1) most students reject the mobile potential of podcasting in favour of their traditional study space at home; (2) what students and lecturers value about this podcasting design overlap; (3) the assessment-focussed, short-format podcast design may be considered a successful podcasting model. The paper finishes by identifying areas for future research on the effective use of podcasting in learning and teaching.

The Curriculum Innovation Programme at the University of Southampton: Curriculum design for a post-Browne world

This is a narrated slide presentation of a seminar delivered by Dr. Peter Smith, Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences/Associate Dean Education and Student Experience Faculty of Social and Human Sciences. The recording lasts around 25 minutes. The seminar was delivered on 30 November, 2010 to the University of Southampton Higher Education Research Group. The presentation reflects the position of the University's Curriculum Innovation Programme as of November 2010/January 2011.

Faculty Good Practice - Event

Slides and link to Panopto recording about 'good practice' within from across the Faculty Adam Procter - Winchester School of Art. Liz Williams - Southampton Law School. Jean Leah - School of Management.

Occupational therapy and its relevance in social projects. relationships, learning and opportunities: collection of experiences of University of Alberta Mscot students in Bogotá, Colombia

Occupational therapists are equipped to promote wellbeing through occupation and to enable participation and meaningful engagement of people in their social and physical environments (WFOT, 2012). As such, the role of the occupational therapists is profoundly linked to the social, cultural and environmental characteristics of the contexts in which occupations take place. The central role that context plays in occupational performance creates an interesting dichotomy for the occupational therapist: on one hand, a profound understanding of cultural and social factors is required from the Occupational Therapy (OT) in order to develop a meaningful and successful collaboration with the person; on the other hand, the ability of the occupational therapists to recognize and explore the contextual factor of an occupation-person dyad transcends cultural and spatial barriers. As a result, occupational therapists are equipped to engage in international collaboration and practice, and as such face unique and enriching challenges. International fieldwork experiences have become a tool through which occupational therapists in training can develop the critical skills for understanding the impact of cultural and social factors on occupation. An OT student in an international fieldwork experience faces numerous challenges in leading a process that is both relevant and respectful to the characteristics of the local context: language, cultural perceptions of occupation and personhood, religious backgrounds, health care access, etc. These challenges stand out as ethical considerations that must be considered when navigating an international fieldwork experience (AOTA, 2009). For more than five years now, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (FRM) of the University of Alberta (UoFA) and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario (UR), Bogota, Colombia, have sustained a productive and meaningful international collaboration. This collaboration includes a visit by Dr. Albert Cook, professor of the FRM and former dean, to the UR as the main guest speaker in the International Congress of Technologies for Disability Support (IBERDISCAP) in 2008. Furthermore, Dr. Cook was a speaker in the research seminar of the Assistive Technology Research Group of the Universidad del Rosario. Following Dr. Cook’s visit, Professors Liliana Álvarez and Adriana Ríos travelled to Edmonton and initiated collaboration with the FRM, resulting in the signing of an agreement between the FRM and the UR in 2009, agreement that has been maintained to this day. The main goal of this agreement is to increase academic and cultural cooperation between the UR and the UofA. Other activities have included the cooperation between Dr. Kim Adams (who has largely maintained interest and effort in supporting the capacity building of the UR rehabilitation programs in coordinating the provision of research placement opportunities for UR students at the UofA), an Assistive Technology course for clinicians and students led by Dr. Adams, and a research project that researched the use of basic cell phones to provide social interaction and health information access for people with disabilities in a low-income community in Colombia (led by Tim Barlott, OT, MSc, under the supervision of Dr. Adams). Since the beginning, the occupational therapy programs of the Universidad del Rosario and the University of Alberta have promoted this collaboration and have strived to engage in interactions that provide further development opportunities for students and staff. As part of this process, the international placement experience of UofA OT students was born under the leadership of: Claudia Rozo, OT program director at UR, placement and academic leadership of Elvis Castro and Angélica Monsalve, professors of the occupational therapy program at UR; and Dr. Lili Liu, OT department director at UofA, Cori Schmitz, Academic coordinator of clinical education at the UofA; and Tim Barlott and Liliana Álvarez leading the international and cross-cultural aspect of this collaboration.This publication summarizes and illustrates the process of international placement in community settings in Colombia, undertaken by occupational therapy students of the University of Alberta. It is our hope that this document can provide and document the ethical considerations of international fieldwork experience, the special characteristics of communities and the ways in which cultural and social competences are developed and help international students navigate the international setting. We also hope that this document will stimulate discussion among professional and academic communities about the importance and richness of international placement experiences and encourage staff and students to articulate their daily efforts with the global occupational therapy agenda.

The dialectic of silence and remembrance in Lily Brett’s ''Things could be worse''

The dynamics of silence and remembrance in Australian writer Lily Brett’s autobiographic fiction Things Could Be Worse reflects the crisis of memory and understanding experienced by both first and second-generation Holocaust survivors within the diasporic space of contemporary Australia. It leads to issues of handling traumatic and transgenerational memory, the latter also known as postmemory (M. Hirsch), in the long aftermath of atrocities, and problematises the role of forgetting in shielding displaced identities against total dissolution of the self. This paper explores the mechanisms of remembrance and forgetting in L. Brett’s narrative by mainly focusing on two female characters, mother and daughter, whose coming to terms with (the necessary) silence, on the one hand, and articulated memories, on the other, reflects different modes of comprehending and eventually coping with individual trauma. By differentiating between several types of silence encountered in Brett’s prose (that of the voiceless victims, of survivors and their offspring, respectively), I argue that silence can equally voice and hush traumatic experience, that it is never empty, but invested with individual and collective meaning. Essentially, I contend that beside the (self-)damaging effects of silence, there are also beneficial consequences of it, in that it plays a crucial role in emplacing the displaced, rebuilding their shattered self, and contributing to their reintegration, survival and even partial healing.

The Centre of Memories: work in progress. Case of the Michel Giacometti Labour Museum, Setúbal, Portugal

The work on Social Memory, focused on the biographic method and the paths of immaterial Heritage, are the fabric that we have chosen to substantiate the idea of museum. The social dimensions of memory, its construction and representation, are the thickness of the exhibition fabric. The specificity of museological work in contemporary times resembles a fine lace, a meticulous weaving of threads that flow from time, admirable lace, painstaking and complex, created with many needles, made up of hollow spots and stitches (of memories and things forgotten). Repetitions and symmetries are the pace that perpetuates it, the rhythmic grammar that gives it body. A fluid body, a single piece, circumstantial. It is always possible to create new patterns, new compositions, with the same threads. Accurately made, properly made, this lace of memories and things forgotten is always an extraordinary creation, a web of wonder that expands fantasy, generates value and feeds the endless reserve of the community’s knowledge, values and beliefs.

The Maré Museum: an integrated project of community development

The Maré Museum, founded on 8 May 2006, arose from the desire of the inhabitants of the community to have a place of memory, a place that is immersed in the past and looks to the future, a place that reflects on this community, on their conditions and identities and on their territorial and cultural diversity. The intention of the Maré Museum is to break with the tradition that the experiences to be recollected and the places of memory to be remembered are those elected by the official version, the "winner" version of the story that restricts the representations of history and memory of large portions of the population. The Maré Museum, as a pioneer initiative in the city scene, proposed to expand the museological concept, so that it is not restricted to intellectual social groups and cultural spaces that are not accessible to the general population. The museum has established recognition that the slum is a place of memory and so has initiated a museographic reading of the Mare community. ..

Contributions of Weather and Predation to Reduced Breeding Success in a Threatened Northern Loggerhead Shrike Population

Populations on the periphery of a species' range may experience more severe environmental conditions relative to populations closer to the core of the range. As a consequence, peripheral populations may have lower reproductive success or survival, which may affect their persistence. In this study, we examined the influence of environmental conditions on breeding biology and nest survival in a threatened population of Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus) at the northern limit of the range in southeastern Alberta, Canada, and compared our estimates with those from shrike populations elsewhere in the range. Over the 2-year study in 1992–1993, clutch sizes averaged 6.4 eggs, and most nests were initiated between mid-May and mid-June. Rate of renesting following initial nest failure was 19%, and there were no known cases of double-brooding. Compared with southern populations, rate of renesting was lower and clutch sizes tended to be larger, whereas the length of the nestling and hatchling periods appeared to be similar. Most nest failures were directly associated with nest predators, but weather had a greater direct effect in 1993. Nest survival models indicated higher daily nest survival during warmer temperatures and lower precipitation, which may include direct effects of weather on nestlings as well as indirect effects on predator behavior or food abundance. Daily nest survival varied over the nesting cycle in a curvilinear pattern, with a slight increase through laying, approximately constant survival through incubation, and a decline through the nestling period. Partial brood loss during the nestling stage was high, particularly in 1993, when conditions were cool and wet. Overall, the lower likelihood of renesting, lower nest survival, and higher partial brood loss appeared to depress reproductive output in this population relative to those elsewhere in the range, and may have increased susceptibility to population declines.

Mortality of Migratory Birds from Marine Commercial Fisheries and Offshore Oil and Gas Production in Canada

There is an imminent need for conservation and best-practice management efforts in marine ecosystems where global-scale declines in the biodiversity and biomass of large vertebrate predators are increasing and marine communities are being altered. We examine two marine-based industries that incidentally take migratory birds in Canada: (1) commercial fisheries, through bycatch, and (2) offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production. We summarize information from the scientific literature and technical reports and also present new information from recently analyzed data to assess the magnitude and scope of mortality. Fisheries bycatch was responsible for the highest levels of incidental take of migratory bird species; estimated combined take in the longline, gillnet, and bottom otter trawl fisheries within the Atlantic, including the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Pacific regions was 2679 to 45,586 birds per year. For the offshore oil and gas sector, mortality estimates ranged from 188 to 4494 deaths per year due to the discharge of produced waters resulting in oil sheens and collisions with platforms and vessels; however these estimates for the oil and gas sector are based on many untested assumptions. In spite of the uncertainties, we feel levels of mortality from these two industries are unlikely to affect the marine bird community in Canada, but some effects on local populations from bycatch are likely. Further research and monitoring will be required to: (1) better estimate fisheries-related mortality for vulnerable species and populations that may be impacted by local fisheries, (2) determine the effects of oil sheens from produced waters, and attraction to platforms and associated mortality from collisions, sheens, and flaring, so that better estimates of mortality from the offshore oil and gas sector can be obtained, and (3) determine impacts associated with accidental spills, which are not included in our current assessment. With a better understanding of the direct mortality of marine birds from industry, appropriate mitigation and management actions can be implemented. Cooperation from industry for data collection, research to fill knowledge gaps, and implementation of mitigation approaches will all be needed to conserve marine birds in Canada.

Memory-based Embodied Cognition: a computational architecture

At its most fundamental, cognition as displayed by biological agents (such as humans) may be said to consist of the manipulation and utilisation of memory. Recent discussions in the field of cognitive robotics have emphasised the role of embodiment and the necessity of a value or motivation for autonomous behaviour. This work proposes a computational architecture – the Memory-Based Cognitive (MBC) architecture – based upon these considerations for the autonomous development of control of a simple mobile robot. This novel architecture will permit the exploration of theoretical issues in cognitive robotics and animal cognition. Furthermore, the biological inspiration of the architecture is anticipated to result in a mobile robot controller which displays adaptive behaviour in unknown environments.

Did farming arise from a misapplication of social intelligence?

The origins of farming is the defining event of human history-the one turning point that has resulted in modern humans having a quite different type of lifestyle and cognition to all other animals and past types of humans. With the economic basis provided by farming, human individuals and societies have developed types of material culture that greatly augment powers of memory and computation, extending the human mental capacity far beyond that which the brain alone can provide. Archaeologists have long debated and discussed why people began living in settled communities and became dependent on cultivated plants and animals, which soon evolved into domesticated forms. One of the most intriguing explanations was proposed more than 20 years ago not by an archaeologist but by a psychologist: Nicholas Humphrey suggested that farming arose from the 'misapplication of social intelligence'. I explore this idea in relation to recent discoveries and archaeological interpretations in the Near East, arguing that social intelligence has indeed played a key role in the origin of farming and hence the emergence of the modern world.

What are the costs of procurement and who bears them?

The costs of procurement are transaction costs which are separate from the direct costs of a project. In this paper discussion is concentrated on costs of tendering. Types of cost, including money costs and opportunity costs, short-term and long-term costs, private and social costs are defined and examined in relation to various types of product and methods of procurement. The costs of the contractor and of the client are considered and tentative conclusions drawn as to who bears these costs in the short-run and in the long run. They may fall on the parties to the process for the particular project, on other contractors and clients or on society as a whole.