Promote Knowledge Development Research Articles

Understanding Ethiopia’s maize innovation system: Application of integrated innovation system and sustainability transition perspectives

Agricultural innovation is a top priority on the global sustainable development agenda to solve food insecurity, land degradation, climate-change issues, poverty, and unemployment. This paper aims to identify systemic problems and socio-technical transition factors that hinder the development, dissemination, and utilization of improved maize varieties in Ethiopia. Primary data were gathered through structured and semi-structured interview schedules, and then analyzed thematically. Results show that systemic failures such as the absence of key actors, institutional problems, lack of interaction between actors, and inadequate infrastructure are the major hindrances to the systems functioning. Three functions, including entrepreneurship, knowledge development, and creating legitimacy, were found to be weaker than others in the case of improved maize varieties released by Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Ethiopia Plc. However, these functions were stronger in the case of improved maize seed varieties released by public research centres. Knowledge dissemination and resource mobilization were the stronger functions of Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Ethiopia Plc., which were found to be weak in the public research centres. The result also shows that policies and governance affected the sustainable development of improved maize varieties released by Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Ethiopia Plc. Promoting knowledge development and resource mobilization within networks of policymakers, the public sector, and local and foreign private sectors, and a regulation on breeders’ rights to encourage the involvement of private companies in the sector are recommended to enable the innovation system to function sustainably.

Innovative Scientific Discoveries: The Role of Intelligent Computing in the Fifth Paradigm Shift

This article explores the key role of intelligent computing in driving the paradigm shift of scientific discovery. The article first outlines the five paradigms of scientific discovery, from empirical observation to theoretical models, then to computational simulation and data intensive science, and finally introduces intelligent computing as the core of the fifth paradigm. Intelligent computing enhances the ability to understand, predict, and automate scientific discoveries of complex systems through technologies such as deep learning and machine learning. The article further analyzes the applications of intelligent computing in fields such as bioinformatics, astronomy, climate science, materials science, and medical image analysis, demonstrating its practical utility in solving scientific problems and promoting knowledge development. Finally, the article predicts that intelligent computing will play a more critical role in future scientific research, promoting interdisciplinary integration, open science, and collaboration, providing new solutions for solving complex problems.

The impacts of knowledge-oriented leadership on employees' knowledge management behaviors in Chinese based organizations: a qualitative study

PurposeThis study aims to minimize the research gap by finding out what are the current state of knowledge management (KM) in the Chinese private science and technology organizations, the essential factors for promoting KM behaviors and the role of knowledge-oriented leadership in determining employees’ KM behaviors. Specifically, this research attempts to create a theoretical framework, which can be used to facilitate KM implementation in general, in the Chinese context in particular.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews with executives, senior managers and specialists were used to capture interviewees’ responses to the research question. The responses were analyzed with Nvivo to detect the obstacles of KM behaviors within Chinese private science and technology organizations.FindingsThis study highlights that poor KM behaviors are caused by knowledge-oriented leaders’ weak awareness of the KM values, and also these leaders are not equipped with the necessary knowledge-oriented leadership skills. As a result, there is a lack of knowledge sharing and knowledge inheritance. To respond to the identified KM related issues, while maximizing the KM values, some effective countermeasures focusing on the strategic, managerial as well as operational levels are proposed.Practical implicationsThere is a need for knowledge-oriented leaders to recognize the growing significance of KM practices, and to increase the level of awareness of KM values. To achieve such ambition, they need to build a corporate knowledge culture, which promotes knowledge development, application, preservation, sharing and inheritance.Originality/valueThis study contributes to deepening the understandings of the linkage between knowledge-oriented leadership and KM behaviors, which is of great significance to promote the soft power of KM on employees’ attitudes and behaviors.

Local innovation ecosystem: structure and impact on adaptive capacity of firms

ABSTRACT Focusing on the Local Innovation Ecosystem in Hauts-de-France region (France), the aim of this paper is to analyse how the ecosystems affect firm’s adaptive capacity. First, we show these local innovation ecosystems are based on Innovation Parks. They promote knowledge development and innovation processes by bringing together heterogeneous agents such as research laboratories, technological structures, finance organisations, brokers, start-ups, and companies within a complex interacting and strategic context. Second, we use econometric models to test the impact of these local innovation ecosystems on the innovativeness and technological diversity of firms viewed as components of adaptive capacity. Our results show that firms belonging to local innovation ecosystems centred on innovation parks are both more innovative and more technologically diversified than others. Our study suggests further empirical research in order to specify links between the most relevant characteristics of the innovation ecosystem and the firm’s adaptive capacity.

Universities as Promoters of Intergenerational Learning: A Case Study on Public Consultation

Universities are challenged by the growing proportion of older people in the global population. This is forcing academic institutions to reconsider how they should respond to an ageing population with regard to their teaching methodology, research, and community engagement. Intergenerational learning is one of the strategies applied by universities to promote knowledge development by involving younger and older generations in the process so that they can purposefully learn together and learn from each other. Public consultation is an engagement promoting solutions that can offer an opportunity for experiential learning taking place among representatives of the various generational. The article analyzes a case study of public consultation as organized by the University of Łódź as part of the European CONCISE project. The presented case study is an example of how the application of the public consultation method might promote intergenerational learning.

Awakening the Ubuntu episteme to embrace knowledge management in Africa

Purpose The knowledge management (KM) models in the African organisations are influenced by the interplay between human agents from diverse societies whose experiences, values, contextual information and insights that are perceived controversial in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the indigenous assumptions related to knowledge and its management in Africa and the perceived contradictions in the existing models by adopting the Ubuntu philosophy. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a perspective lens to examine the existing management practices and propose an integrated framework that is appropriate for the utilisation of the Ubuntu epistemic knowledge management practices and at the same time provide highlights on the perceived paradoxes and how they can be managed to improve knowledge management and people management in African societies. Findings The inductive posteriori knowledge approach is perceived to be dynamic, applicable and more desirable in the African societies as it allows organisational managers and their work teams to embrace knowledge construction, dependent on experiences in form of stories and metaphors that demonstrate successful work samples. The Ubuntu dramaturgical knowledge management approach adds value to the posteriori knowledge by refining the rhetoric stories and metaphors into empirical performance scripts that are tailored to the audiences’ expectations. Research limitations/implications The paper adapted a perspective view to explain knowledge management; therefore, it was not possible to provide empirical data on the metaphysical and dramaturgical elements that are assumed to influence knowledge management in Africa. However, based on theoretical analysis, the authors have proposed a coherent knowledge management framework based on the interaction between posteriori KM assumptions and Ubuntu dramaturgy. Practical implications Ubuntu ideology has been appreciated since it treasures interdependency and interconnectedness among people. Therefore, collaborating partners working in Africa would be expected to act as interdependent agents, whereby this interdependency is perceived as an integral part of the knowledge management process. The proposed Ubuntu knowledge management model is grounded on the posteriori knowledge approach which assumes that experience is the source of knowledge. Through social interactions and experiences sharing, organisational members can create new processes, innovative technologies and dynamic context based performance scripts that can drive productivity. Social implications The authors concluded that a coherent framework that is tailored to social interactions and contextual needs of the people and their communities can promote productive knowledge and knowledge management systems in the African contexts. Moreover knowledge management requires one to acknowledge the complexity of Ubuntu ideology in a sense that it recognises the past experiences and contributions of the diverse individuals in the same community/organisation. Originality/value This paper focused on examining how the Ubuntu philosophy can promote knowledge development and management strategies that are tailored to social and contextual needs of the organisations in Africa to curtail the perceived paradoxes in the existing knowledge management models.

Social networks impact in promoting knowledge development of universities’students and their attitudes towards the Islamic world issues

Social networks impact in promoting knowledge development of universities’students and their attitudes towards the Islamic world issues

Systematic Quality Development: A Demand at Odds with the Everyday Complexity of Teachers’ Work?

This article aims to analyse the conditions experienced by teachers and other school staff members in their work with systematic quality development within the everyday complexity of work at school. The method consists of research circles, a form of researcher-led discussion, together with teachers, principals and other school staff, held at the schools. The research circles are part of a research- and development programme concerning newly arrived pupils, in collaboration with an institute and a municipality in Sweden. The focus of the research circles is to identify areas in need of development, make tacit knowledge visible and promote knowledge development. During the course of the programme, a number of obstacles to development work arose, which led us to an analysis of the recurring problems and demands of systematic quality development. The analysis points to the different rhythms of fast-paced everyday work on the one hand, and slow-paced development work on the other. In conclusion, we emphasise the need for time for reflection, organisational structures that support development, and finally the need to develop competence in reflective practices regarding development, an addition to the competence in reflective practice on teaching, in which the staff are already skilled. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.11.12

Play-based Learning and Intentional Teaching: Forever Different?

PLAY-BASED LEARNING IS a cornerstone of early childhood education provision. Play provides opportunities for young children to explore ideas, experiment with materials and express new understandings. Play can be solitary, quiet and reflective. Play can also be social, active and engaging. While play is commonly understood as the basis for learning in early childhood education, this is not always the situation in all settings. Cultural variations in learning and play suggest that social interactions and observational learning also create powerful pedagogical learning environments for young children. International and national research highlights the value of sustained and reflective interactions between children and educators in promoting children's learning. Increasingly, the notion of quality in play-based pedagogy invites educators to integrate traditional beliefs about play with new insights into the role of social interactions, modelling and relationships in young children's learning.Overseas, the movement towards quality play-based pedagogy reflects debate and policy initiatives captured by the notion of intentional teaching. In Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework makes explicit reference to intentional teaching. Intentional teaching arguably engages educators and children in shared thinking and problem solving to build the learning outcomes of young children. However, the pedagogical relationship between play-based learning and intentional teaching remains difficult to conceptualise. This is because the value placed on the exploratory potential of play-based learning can appear to be at odds with the role of intentional teaching in promoting knowledge development. This paper reaches beyond binary constructs of play and intentional teaching, and invites consideration of a new Pedagogical Play-framework for inspiring pedagogical and curriculum innovation in the early years.This paper was a keynote address at the 2016 Early Childhood Australia National Conference addressing the theme Inspire-be inspired to reach beyond quality.

The effect of image quality, repeated study, and assessment method on anatomy learning.

The use of two-dimensional (2D) images is consistently used to prepare anatomy students for handling real specimen. This study examined whether the quality of 2D images is a critical component in anatomy learning. The visual clarity and consistency of 2D anatomical images was systematically manipulated to produce low-quality and high-quality images of the human hand and human eye. On day 0, participants learned about each anatomical specimen from paper booklets using either low-quality or high-quality images, and then completed a comprehension test using either 2D images or three-dimensional (3D) cadaveric specimens. On day 1, participants relearned each booklet, and on day 2 participants completed a final comprehension test using either 2D images or 3D cadaveric specimens. The effect of image quality on learning varied according to anatomical content, with high-quality images having a greater effect on improving learning of hand anatomy than eye anatomy (high-quality vs. low-quality for hand anatomy P = 0.018; high-quality vs. low-quality for eye anatomy P = 0.247). Also, the benefit of high-quality images on hand anatomy learning was restricted to performance on short-answer (SA) questions immediately after learning (high-quality vs. low-quality on SA questions P = 0.018), but did not apply to performance on multiple-choice (MC) questions (high-quality vs. low-quality on MC questions P = 0.109) or after participants had an additional learning opportunity (24 hours later) with anatomy content (high vs. low on SA questions P = 0.643). This study underscores the limited impact of image quality on anatomy learning, and questions whether investment in enhancing image quality of learning aids significantly promotes knowledge development. Anat Sci Educ 10: 249-261. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Participatory action research: A strategy for improving self-care management in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Participatory action research (PAR) facilitates the change process in clinical practice and promotes knowledge development. This paper highlights the potential of PAR to implement changes in healthcare oriented for the development of self-care management skills in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In COPD patients, the preservation of self-care autonomy and quality of life depends on the patients’ ability to adopt pharmacological treatments and behavioural changes. In a Portuguese central hospital nurses ( n = 52) have identified a gap between the nursing care and the perceived needs of the patients, and developed a healthcare solution based on a PAR methodology supported by an overlapping cycle of action and research. The PAR took place during 14 months. The PAR allowed the change in the care model in use, in the organization and the nursing care documentation. This change was focused on the development of self-care management skills, responding to the needs and expectations of those involved. The PAR proved to be an appropriate methodology to identify and implement changes that contribute to the safety, quality and access to healthcare.

Self-Explanation, An Instructional Strategy to Foster Clinical Reasoning in Medical Students

Clinical reasoning is a critical and complex skill that medical students have to develop in the course of their training. Although research on medical expertise has successfully examined the different components of that skill, designing educational interventions that support the development of clinical reasoning in students remains a challenge for medical educators. The theory of medical expertise describes how students׳ medical knowledge develops and is progressively restructured during their training and in particular through clinical exposure to patient problems. Instructional strategies to foster students’ learning from practice with clinical cases are scarce. This article describes the use of self-explanation as such a strategy. Self-explanation is an active learning technique of proven effectiveness in other domains which consists of having students explaining to themselves information on to-be-learned materials. The mechanisms through which self-explanation fosters learning are described. Self-explanation promotes knowledge development and revision of mental representations through elaboration on new information, organisation and integration of new knowledge into existing cognitive structures and monitoring of the learning process. Subsequently, the article shows how self-explanation has recently been investigated in medicine as an instructional strategy to support students׳ clinical reasoning. Available studies have demonstrated that students׳ diagnostic performance improves when they use self-explanation while solving clinical problems of a less familiar clinical topic. Unfamiliarity seems to trigger more self-explanations and to stimulate students to reactivate relevant biomedical knowledge, which could lead to the development of more coherent representations of diseases. The benefit of students׳ self-explanation is increased when it is combined with listening to residents׳ self-explanation examples and with prompts. The positive effect of self-explanation gets stronger when students׳ diagnostic performance is tested on far-transfer clinical cases, suggesting that deeper understanding and meaningful learning do occur. Self-explanation is a practical and inexpensive technique which could be incorporated into learning activities using clinical problems to promote diagnostic reasoning of medical students. Even though self-explanation is a promising learning technique, further studies are needed to explore other conditions that could maximise its benefit on learning clinical reasoning.

Strategy in flux: NATO’s adoption of risk management and the elaboration of a new framework of command and control

In response to the uncertain geopolitical environment which confronted it after the end of the Cold War, NATO adopted a strategy of risk management. Two institutions – the Science and Technology Office and Allied Command Transformation – were responsible for translating this policy into practice. By promoting knowledge development, each institution sought to make NATO a more reflexive and responsive organization. Knowledge development became the foundation for a new model of command and control created by two Science and Technology Office working groups. While this model has vast potential, its implementation has been blocked by internal rifts within NATO.

Networking, Small Farms and EU Rural Development Policy

SummaryThe European Network for Rural Development and National Rural Networks form part of the EU policy framework. They engage different stakeholder groups to promote knowledge development, cooperation and exchange. To date, small farm issues have been considered mainly within the context of thematic analyses, such as environmental services and short supply chains. The 2014–20 Common Agricultural Policy will offer Member States with many small farms the possibility of developing sustainable ‘pathways of development’ for farming communities. Under Pillar I there will be a simplified, optional, direct payments regime for small farms. In the rural development programmes, possible ways to support small farms include restructuring and modernisation, tackling generational renewal, measures for food chain integration and other revenue generation opportunities. Environmental priorities can also be tailored towards small farmers, such as methods for collective nature conservation services. Involving farmers in decision‐making processes promotes local commitment to development actions and support is tailored to local need. The challenge for EU rural networking activities therefore, will be to improve links between small farmers and the administrations to ensure that benefits are realised. Effective knowledge transfer between stakeholders will be further developed through increased use of social media whilst traditional networking tools will continue to be needed.

Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy: The Gap between Practice and Knowledge

Abstract Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is widely used, and the uses to which it can be put are still being developed. However, existing knowledge about this field is insufficient, and most of the research suffers from methodological problems that compromise its rigor. This review will explore research into the linked fields of Animal-Assisted Therapy and Equine-Assisted Activities/Therapies (EAA/T) related to physical health. Existing knowledge of mental, emotional, and social applications of EAA/T is presented. Evaluation studies in the subfield suggest that people benefit from interventions with horses. However, these studies suffer from fundamental problems, such as small sample size and lack of control groups. Naturalistic inquiry about theoretical aspects highlights the fundamental role that human-horse relations play in EAA/T, but these studies exhibit deficiencies in theory development. A multimethod approach could promote knowledge development for EFP. Suggestions for future research concern methodological solutions to improve evaluation studies, use of grounded theory method to develop theory, as well as applying attachment theory to the human-horse context, which may offer insight about the underlying processes for change.

Privatization and Performance-Based Contracting in Child Welfare: Recent Trends and Implications for Social Service Administrators

Although social service privatization and performance contracting have increased over recent decades, there is a dearth of information concerning how public and private social service administrators manage performance contracts and develop collaborative relationships that promote desired client outcomes. The Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services (QICPCW) was funded by the federal Children's Bureau to promote knowledge development regarding public/private contracting in child welfare. This article reports on results from interviews with a national sample of public agency administrators by the QICPCW regarding the scope and mechanisms of contracting in the child welfare sector. Results identify key administrative and agency practices that public and private agency administrators used to develop public/private collaborations and sustain effective cross-sector partnerships. Implications for social service administrative practice and research are identified.

Innovation in Organizations

This article reviews the role of organizational learning and knowledge management in innovation. An extensive review of past literature hints that knowledge, although a very strategic resource, is not easy to manage. Explicit knowledge can be stored in databases or documents but implicit knowledge resides in peoples’, brains. It is the management of this knowledge which poses a bigger challenge for most organizations. Past research mentions that implicit knowledge can be managed indirectly by managing various factors which contribute to an organization's culture, structure, technology, and leadership. A preliminary model has been proposed highlighting the role of organizational learning and knowledge management in innovation. The model high-lights the importance of a flexible and adaptive organization structure, a culture of trust and knowledge sharing, a strong technological network and a committed leadership to promote knowledge development and learning in the organization which is a prerequisite for innovation and creation of new knowledge. The article in addition to providing a detailed narrative of literature highlighting the importance of the various factors identified in the model, also gives practical implications and directions for future research in the area.

Concept analysis of forgiveness with a multi‐cultural emphasis

This paper is a report of a concept analysis of forgiveness. Worldwide interest in and funding for forgiveness research has brought about a body of knowledge from many disciplines that could be clinically useful to nursing. At this time, nurse scholars are beginning to challenge one another to focus on this important area of inquiry. To date, however, most scholarship on forgiveness has been conducted in related disciplines, rather than in nursing. Conceptual and theoretical work is needed in nursing to promote knowledge development in this area. The CINAHL, Medline and PsycInfo databases were searched for papers published between 1990 and 2007 using the keywords, forgiveness, forgive, or reconciliation in the title or abstract. The non-linear evolutionary process of concept analysis was used to identify the concept of interest, its origins, realm, attributes and context, characteristics, and implications. Forgiveness was also explored from an international multi-cultural perspective. An exemplar is included to illuminate the concept. A total of 34 scholarly works from a variety of disciplines were included in the analysis. A definition of forgiveness emerged from the analysis, as well as a multi-cultural understanding of the concept. Three important attributes of forgiveness are that it is the relinquishing of a negative response, replacing the negative response with a benevolent response, and a process that occurs over time. Multi-cultural attributes centre on group harmony, re-establishing harmonious connections between people, and the morality of considering others as worthy of love and understanding. A multi-cultural understanding of forgiveness may provide the impetus for further theory development and research in nursing, and could be used to educate nurses on beginning interventions in this area.

The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services: A Program Description

Quality improvement centers were created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau beginning in 2001 to promote knowledge development through an innovative approach to applied collaborative research in child welfare. The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services was funded to assess the current status of privatization, conduct a knowledge gaps analysis, fund and conduct cross-site evaluation of research and demonstration projects, promote the expansion of the evidence base, and facilitate ongoing dialogue among child welfare administrators, policy makers, researchers, and practitioners regarding public/private partnership in-service provision. The article discusses the impetus and empirical foundation for the creation of the center, provides an overview of the purpose and approach being taken, and describes its knowledge development initiatives. Additionally, a brief contextual history of child welfare privatization is provided, along with key content findings from the recently completed needs assessment.

Improving Writing Opportunities in Elementary Classrooms

Although the benefits of using writing to help students reformulate and extend knowledge of a topic are often claimed, examination of writing practices in schools shows that teachers infrequently and unproductively use writing to promote knowledge development. This article describes features of writing assignments that provide knowledge development opportunities: higher-level thought processes are identified and used; text development is a tool for knowledge development; the written form facilitates knowledge development; students are encouraged to use control strategies; the design is appropriate to students' learning needs; and writing relates to other classroom activities designed to promote knowledge development. The instructional support required throughout the writing process is also described: teacher guidance and assistance for idea and text production are provided; the support is related to current learning needs; knowledge development is encouraged and rewarded; students are supported in making ...