Search results for "3304"
showing 10 items of 44 documents
Banking Crises and Short and Medium Term Output Losses in Emerging and Developing Countries: The Role of Structural and Policy Variables
2012
The aim of this paper is to assess the dynamic impact of banking crises on output for a panel of developing economies. Using an unbalanced panel of 159 countries from 1970 to 2006, the paper shows that banking crises produce significant output losses. Output losses are larger for relatively richer economies, characterized by a higher level of financial deepening and larger current account imbalances. Flexible exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policy, and liquidity support policies have been found to attenuate the effect of the crises. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Conceptual Understanding of Newtonian Mechanics Through Cluster Analysis of FCI Student Answers
2018
The Force Concept Inventory is a multiple-choice test and is one of the most popular and most analyzed concept inventories. It is used to investigate student understanding of Newtonian mechanics. A structured approach to data analysis can transform it in a “diagnostic” instrument that can validate inferences about student thinking. In this paper, we show how cluster analysis methods can be used to investigate patterns of student conceptual understanding and supply useful details about the relationships among student concepts and misconceptions. The answers given to the FCI questionnaire by a sample of freshman engineering have been analyzed. The analysis takes into account the decomposition…
The Impact of Fiscal Consolidation on Human Development
2018
We find that fiscal austerity is associated with a reduction of human development standards, with the negative effect being particularly severe in the case of spending-driven consolidation episodes. Fiscal adjustments are especially damaging for human development in developing countries (namely, African and Latin American countries). Additionally, the empirical evidence shows that (i) government stability is a crucial institutional determinant of human development, and (ii) while investment in physical capital can boost human development, government consumption and inflation are detrimental to it.
Mixed e-assessment: An application of the studentgenerated question technique
2010
This paper presents the experiment of a mixed summative-formative evaluation in an asynchronous distance higher education context. In the experiment, performed in the distance course of Total Quality Management, Industrial Engineering, University of Guadalajara (Mexico), students are guided to formultate questions on specific topics. Studentgenerated questions are evaluated through an ad-hoc quantitative tool, specifically designed for the purpose: the four-criterion Observation Matrix. The experiment shows: (1) that it is possible to improve the Higher Education evaluation process and formalise students' skill in a more thoroughly way than with traditional evaluation; (2) how the student-e…
Improving the energy efficiency of an islanded distribution network using classical and innovative computation methods
2016
The paper presents the analysis of some potentially suitable actions for reducing the energy losses of an islanded Medium Voltage distribution network, with the aim of improving electricity distribution efficiency. For this purpose, four actions are considered: 1) increasing the network's rated voltage; 2) reactive power compensation through static capacitor banks; 3) reactive power compensation through switchable capacitor banks; 4) installation of distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation. The first two measures are typically taken into account by the distribution system operators and can be examined by means of classical design methods, whereas the latter two more innovative actions are t…
Teaching Inorganic Photophysics and Photochemistry with Three Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complexes: A Computer-Based Exercise
2015
Among computational methods, DFT (density functional theory) and TD-DFT (time-dependent DFT) are widely used in research to describe, inter alia, the optical properties of transition metal complexes. Inorganic/physical chemistry courses for undergraduate students treat such methods, but quite often only from the theoretical point of view. In the calculation exercise herein described, students are guided step by step through the computational study of the photophysics and photochemistry of polypyridyl Ru(II) d6-metal complexes. In particular, by means of DFT and TD-DFT calculations, they are asked to examine and interpret a set of experimental data describing the absorption, emission, and ph…
Exploring the nature of the ‘subject’-preference: Evidence from the online comprehension of simple sentences in Mandarin Chinese
2009
In two visual ERP studies, we investigated whether Mandarin Chinese shows a subject-preference in spite of the controversial status of grammatical relations in this language. We compared ERP responses at the position of the verb and the second NP in object-verb-subject (OVS) and subject-verb-object (SVO) structures. While SVO is the basic word order in Chinese and OV with subject-drop is possible, OVS is strongly dispreferred. At the position of the verb, which disambiguated towards an object or a subject reading of NP1, Experiment 1 revealed an N400 for both subject-initial control conditions in comparison with the critical object-initial condition. Experiment 2 showed that this result was…
National context and teacher characteristics : Exploring the critical non-cognitive attributes of novice teachers in four countries
2018
The purpose of this article was to examine what education professionals in four countries (England, Finland, Malawi, and Oman) deemed as the critical (i.e., most important for effective teaching) non-cognitive attributes of novice teachers. Results from an iterative comparative case study showed that participants consistently judged certain attributes of novice teachers as critical, i.e., empathy, organization, and resilience. However, there was also differential importance placed on teachers’ relationships with the community, reflecting theorized cultural differences. The findings provide new insight into how national and cultural context are associated with the perceptions of the critical…
We need more replication research – A case for test-retest reliability
2017
Following debates in psychology on the importance of replication research, we have also started to see pleas for a more prominent role for replication research in medical education. To enable replication research, it is of paramount importance to carefully study the reliability of the instruments we use. Cronbach’s alpha has been the most widely used estimator of reliability in the field of medical education, notably as some kind of quality label of test or questionnaire scores based on multiple items or of the reliability of assessment across exam stations. However, as this narrative review outlines, Cronbach’s alpha or alternative reliability statistics may complement but not replace psyc…
Long‐Term Durum Wheat‐Based Cropping Systems Result in the Rapid Saturation of Soil Carbon in the Mediterranean Semi‐arid Environment
2016
Climate, soil physical–chemical characteristics, land management, and carbon (C) input from crop residues greatly affect soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. According to the concept of SOC saturation, the ability of SOC to increase with C input decreases as SOC increases and approaches a SOC saturation level. In a 12-year experiment, six semi-arid cropping systems characterized by different rates of C input to soil were compared for ability to sequester SOC, SOC saturation level, and the time necessary to reach the SOC saturation level. SOC stocks, soil aggregate sizes, and C inputs were measured in durum wheat monocropping with (Ws) and without (W) return of aboveground residue to the…