Are Fast Responses More Random? Testing the Effect of Response Time on Scale in an Online Choice Experiment

Scepticism over stated preference surveys conducted online revolves around the concerns over “professional respondents” who might rush through the questionnaire without sufficiently considering the information provided. To gain insight on the validity of this phenomenon and test the effect of response time on choice randomness, this study makes use of a recently conducted choice experiment survey on ecological and amenity effects of an offshore windfarm in the UK. The positive relationship between self-rated and inferred attribute attendance and response time is taken as evidence for a link between response time and cognitive effort. Subsequently, the generalised multinomial logit model is employed to test the effect of response time on scale, which indicates the weight of the deterministic relative to the error component in the random utility model. Results show that longer response time increases scale, i.e. decreases choice randomness. This positive scale effect of response time is further found to be non-linear and wear off at some point beyond which extreme response time decreases scale. While response time does not systematically affect welfare estimates, higher response time increases the precision of such estimates. These effects persist when self-reported choice certainty is controlled for. Implications of the results for online stated preference surveys and further research are discussed.

MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) como método-plataforma educativa en el ámbito universitario

Se describen y analizan los MOOCs (Massive Online Open Course) como método de difusión de información y documentación en los ámbitos educativos universitarios. Para ello se describe que son los MOOCs, mostrando su pujanza y su reciente aparición y desarrollo, y describiendo las muchas potencialidades y posibilidades que plantean, al igual que se describen los principales problemas. El desarrollo y utilidad de los MOOCs se ha planteado especialmente en el ámbito universitario, siendo utilizado como mecanismo para facilitar cursos en línea con el fin de difundir conocimiento científico y como método de marketing y financiación en las instituciones de educación superior.

Math-Towers: Promoting and supporting online collaborative mathematical exploration

Math-Towers (www.math-towers.ca) is a collaborative mathematics environment for pupils in grades 7 to 9. Using a fantasy adventure game context students are presented with a mathematical challenge, given online tools for working on the problem,and provided with a messaging system by which they may exchange ideas and partial solutions. This paper presents the philosophy behind the design of Math-Towers and work with students that indicates the extent to which we have been successful in meeting our aims. The technical and social problems encountered and revisions made to address these are also described.

Math-Towers: Online Interactive Collaborative Mathematics Explorations & Problem-Solving for Students Ages 11 to 15 years (Grades 6 to 10)

Math-Towers (www.math-towers.ca) is an online resource for students in grades 6 to 10 that supports collaborative problem-solving and investigations. This paper presents the philosophical position motivating the development of Math-Towers and describes how the site presents and motivates the mathematical challenges and supports participants' exploration and collaboration.

Second-Order Training of Adaptive Critics for Online Process Control

A new algorithm for training of nonlinear optimal neuro-controllers (in the form of the model-free, action-dependent, adaptive critic paradigm). Overcomes problems with existing stochastic backpropagation training: need for data storage, parameter shadowing and poor convergence, offering significant benefits for online applications.

Making the law accessible to non-lawyers: effects of different kinds of expertise on perceived usability of online legal information services

To help design an environment in which professionals without legal training can make effective use of public sector legal information on planning and the environment - for Add-Wijzer, a European e-government project - we evaluated their perceptions of usefulness and usability. In concurrent think-aloud usability tests, lawyers and non-lawyers carried out information retrieval tasks on a range of online legal databases. We found that non-lawyers reported twice as many difficulties as those with legal training (p = 0.001), that the number of difficulties and the choice of database affected successful completion, and that the non-lawyers had surprisingly few problems understanding legal terminology. Instead, they had more problems understanding the syntactical structure of legal documents and collections. The results support the constraint attunement hypothesis (CAH) of the effects of expertise on information retrieval, with implications for the design of systems to support the effective understanding and use of information.