Sustainable intensification amongst Ghana's pineapple farmers: the complexity of an innovation determines the effectiveness of its training

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wuepper ◽  
Johannes Sauer ◽  
Linda Kleemann
Keyword(s):  
Critical Mass ◽  
Peer Learning ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Extension Service ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Effectiveness Of Training

AbstractTo foster the adoption of sustainable intensification practices amongst Ghana's farmers, they are widely promoted through training sessions provided by development organizations, companies, and the public extension service. We investigate whether these training sessions are effective and find that they are effective only for the diffusion of organic fertilizers but not for mulching. We suggest that this comes from the complexity of the innovations. Mulching is one of the simplest sustainable intensification technologies. It diffuses easily through peer learning and, after an initial training delivered to a critical mass of farmers, does not require training anymore. The use of organic fertilizers, in contrast, requires more specific knowledge and adaptation, which limits the effectiveness of peer learning and increases the effectiveness of training. This suggests that to achieve a widespread diffusion of sustainable intensification amongst Ghana's farmers, training sessions should focus on those practices that are complex and thus difficult to learn from peers.

scholarly journals Contemporaneous Monitoring of the Whole Dynamic Earth System from Space, Part I: System Simulation Study Using GEO and Molniya Orbits

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 878
Author(s):  
Christopher Cullingworth ◽  
Jan-Peter Muller
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Educational Value ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global View ◽  
Disaster Monitoring

Despite the wealth of data produced by previous and current Earth Observation platforms feeding climate models, weather forecasts, disaster monitoring services and countless other applications, the public still lacks the ability to access a live, true colour, global view of our planet, and nudge them towards a realisation of its fragility. The ideas behind commercialization of Earth photography from space has long been dominated by the analytical value of the imagery. What specific knowledge and actionable intelligence can be garnered from these evermore frequent revisits of the planet’s surface? How can I find a market for this analysis? However, what is rarely considered is what is the educational value of the imagery? As students and children become more aware of our several decades of advance in viewing our current planetary state, we should find mechanisms which serve their curiosity, helping to satisfy our children’s simple quest to explore and learn more about what they are seeing. The following study describes the reasons why current GEO and LEO observation platforms are inadequate to provide truly global RGB coverage on an update time-scale of 5-min and proposes an alternative, low-cost, GEO + Molniya 3U CubeSat constellation to perform such an application.

Affirmative Action and Aboriginal Government: The Case for Legal Education in Nunavut

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Gallagher-Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Education Gap ◽  
The University ◽  
And Training

AbstractThe Nunavut Land Claim Agreement commits federal and territorial governments to the recruitment and training of Inuit for positions throughout government. In the justice sector, there is currently a major shortage of Inuit lawyers or future judges. However, there also appears to be a fundamental mismatch between what existing law schools offer and what Inuit students are prepared to accept. A northern-based law school might remedy some of these problems. However, support for a law school requires un-thinking certain key tenets of legal education as we know it in Canada. In particular, it may require a step outside the university-based law school system. Universities appear to be accepted as the exclusive guardian of the concept of academic standards. Admission standards, in particular, serve as both a positivist technology of exclusion, and a political rationale for the persistence of majoritarian institutions as the major means of training members of disadvantaged communities. Distinctive institutions – eventually working with university-based law schools – have the potential to help bridge the education gap between Inuit and other Canadians. In so doing, they have the potential to train a critical mass of Inuit to meaningfully adapt the justice system to become a pillar of the public government in the Inuit homeland of Nunavut.

scholarly journals Public Archaeology in Nepal: Now and in the next 10 years

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Neel Kamal Chapagain
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Public Archaeology ◽  
Primary Reason ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Lack ◽  
Crisis Situations

In Nepal – and perhaps true in other South Asian countries as well, the term ‘public archaeology’ is not very frequently used among heritage professionals. Though it exists in limited use, largely the heritage practice including archaeology in Nepal is experts or authority driven. Perhaps the primary reason for this is the lack of a critical mass of archaeologists and broader heritage practitioners as well as a general lack of awareness among the public. There are disciplinary crisis situations prevalent across heritage related studies and practice areas in Nepal. However, with the increasing landscape of academic programmes and professional awareness among younger generations, we can be hopeful. Hence, I would expect that we will be able to create sufficient interests among students and younger professionals towards archaeology and heritage.

“Since I Was a Citizen, I Had the Right to Attend the Library”

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Knowlton
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
The Right

This essay concerns the fight to desegregate Memphis libraries, which encompassed not only legal challenges but also a 1960 sit-in campaign that inspired direct action protests throughout the city. Allegra Turner sought access to the white-only Cossitt Library in 1949, and eight years later her husband Jesse Turner led a public campaign to desegregate the public libraries. In a way, this struggle serves as a microcosm of the larger civil rights struggle in the Bluff City. While the white leaders of Memphis did not encourage the violence against civil right protesters seen in other southern cities, they were slow and reluctant to open the library to readers of all races—and the library was the first public institution to be desegregated. The 1960 sit-in campaign provided a critical mass mobilization that helped drive desegregation, even as the public libraries continued to reflect patterns of racial inequality.

Palliative care knowledge test for nurses and physicians: validation and cross-cultural adaptation

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2019-002182
Author(s):  
Monica Lopez-Garcia ◽  
Leticia Rubio ◽  
Rafael Gomez-Garcia ◽  
Fuensanta Sanchez-Sanchez ◽  
Mitsunori Miyashita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Test ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Back Translation ◽  
Training Activities ◽  
Effectiveness Of Training ◽  
Nurse Knowledge

BackgroundPalliative care knowledge is essential in primary healthcare due to the increasing number of patients who require attention in the final stage of their life. Health professionals (physicians and nurses) need to acquire specific knowledge and abilities to provide high-quality palliative care. The development of education programmes in palliative care is necessary. The Palliative Care Knowledge Test (PCKT) is a questionnaire that evaluates the basic knowledge about palliative care, but it has not been adapted into Spanish, and its effectiveness and utility for Spanish culture have not been analysed.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to report the translation into Spanish and a psychometric analysis of the PCKT.MethodsThe questionnaire survey was validated with a group of 561 physicians and nurses. The PCKT Spanish Version (PCKT-SV) was obtained from a process, including translation, back translation and revision by experts and a pilot study. The content validity and reliability of the questionnaire were analysed.ResultsThe results showed internal consistency and reliability indexes similar to those obtained by the original version of PCKT.ConclusionThe PCKT-SV is a useful instrument for measuring Spanish-speaking physician and nurse knowledge of palliative care, and it is suitable to evaluate the effectiveness of training activities in palliative care.

scholarly journals Complexity and coordination in London’s Silvertown Quays: How real estate developers (re)centred themselves in the planning process

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-382
Author(s):  
Frances Brill
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Real Estate Developers

This paper contributes to existing research on the relational work of real estate developers to demonstrate how internal corporate complexities create opaqueness in governance settings and limit potential community engagement. This work is particularly pertinent at a time when there is renewed interest in the private sector, yet very little analysis that begins from the perspective of the developer. Drawing on the example of London’s Silvertown, this paper shows how the strategies of development organizations evident in existing research, including their work with the public sector, communities and experts, require multiple levels of internal coordination. I argue that because of these sub-centres of power, developers are able to maintain a more deeply entrenched centrality in urban governance.

scholarly journals Laboratory Environmental Conditions Influence Patent Inventors’ Creative Self-efficacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Shih-Hao Wang ◽  
Chung-Lin Tsai ◽  
Han-Chao Chang
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Computing Environments ◽  
Creative Self ◽  
Wireless Cloud ◽  
The Relationship

A comfortable experimental environment usually enables stress relief among inventors, allowing them to focus on inventing. However, to facilitate smooth and continuous experimental procedures, the public spaces and computing environments of conventional laboratories are usually replete with heavy instruments and interconnected wires; consequently, inventors have limited space to conduct complex experiments. These public spaces and computing environments negatively affect the creative self-efficacy (CSE) of inventors. Based on CSE theory and modified information layout complexity theory, in this study, 100 inventors who had obtained patents were recruited. The results indicated that a wireless cloud public space and computing environment positively moderated and enhanced the relationship between low layout complexity and inventor CSE; conventional public spaces and computing environments featuring cables negatively moderated and weakened the relationship between high layout complexity and inventor CSE. More than 40% of participants highly supported using one electronic tablet to manipulate multiple instruments. The results also revealed that approximately 64% of participants did not think they were essential in promoting critical mass in the laboratory. This finding was significantly different from the degree centrality of creativity perspective. Critical indicators of inventor CSE were found to be inventors’ decision-making capabilities regarding innovative research directions and their communication skills with supervisors.

scholarly journals Critical mass theory and women directors’ contribution to board strategic tasks

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariateresa Torchia ◽  
Andrea Calabrò ◽  
Morten Huse ◽  
Marina Brogi
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Test ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Women On Corporate Boards ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Legislative Measures

In this article we offer an empirical test of the critical mass arguments in the discussion of women on corporate boards. The literature in the women on corporate board debate concludes that there must be at least three women on a board before the women really make a difference. These arguments are frequently used in the public debate about the understanding the impact of women on corporate boards, but they have never really been empirically tested on a large sample. In this paper we use a sample of 317 Norwegian firms. Our dependent variable is board strategic involvement. The findings support the critical mass arguments. This study offers useful insights to policy-makers interested in defining legislative measures mandating the presence of women directors in corporate boards by showing that “at least three women” may be particularly beneficial in terms of contribution to board strategic tasks.

scholarly journals Teacher competence in implementing higher-order thinking skills oriented learning in elementary schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Wandika Wita Susilowati ◽  
Suyatno Suyatno
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Development ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Higher Order Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Teacher Competence ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Working Groups

<p>Information and technology development in the last decade have caused fundamental changes in all of the life aspects, including in the educational aspect.  Learning in the school was demanded to be an agent of instilling the ability of higher-order thinking (HoTS) so that the students could deal with life challenging in future life. The teachers also must have competence in implementing HoTS oriented learning. This study aimed to explore teachers’ competencies and implement HoTS oriented learning in the public elementary school 2 of Ketaon, Boyolali Regency. Data was collected through interviews, observation, and documentation. The data collected further were analyzed by using the data analysis technique of the interactive inductive model of Miles and Huberman. The the research results showed that 1) there are five competencies used by the teachers in implementing HoTS oriented learning as follows; Educational Competence, Competence for Technological Commercialization, Competence in Globalization, Competence In Future Strategies, and Counsellor Competence. 2) Efforts made by teachers are to improve competence in implementing HoTS oriented learning by following the training and education program, participating in the empowerment of professional teacher development organizations such as teachers’ cluster working groups (KKG)<em>,</em> teacher working group (MGMP), webinar, technical guidance, and workshop. In addition, the role of colleagues contributed to increasing teachers’ competencies</p>

scholarly journals Model for implementation of teleworking in software development organizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (43) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfred Villalba Montagut ◽  
Laura Patricia Villamizar Carrillo ◽  
Maritza del Pilar Sánchez Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Physical Presence

This paper provides a consultation tool for implementation of teleworking in software development organizations. This concept was born for using highly experienced human talent with specific knowledge and skills, in activities that contribute to the development of technological projects within organizations dedicated to development of software, without its physical presence being necessary, as is the case of the Center for Applied Research in Development and Information Technologies [CIADTI] of the Universidad de Pamplona (Colombia). A model that results from the investigation is exposed, which was applied and validated, with an acceptance higher than 79%, so its implementation can be considered in other organizations.

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