Search results for "STRENGTHS"
showing 10 items of 102 documents
Solar pavements: A critical review
2021
Abstract Resilient, smart and sustainable: these are the keywords for the next generation of road infrastructures. As a renewable and environment-friendly energy harvesting pavement, the concept of a solar pavement has become one of the most researched new highway transportation infrastructures with a goal to transform the road system from the energy consumer to the energy provider, and eliminate or alleviate pollution from the source of energy. At present, the commercial technology through photovoltaic is limited by space installation requirements, which restricts its popularization and application. On the other hand, applying photovoltaic power generation technology to the pavement can pr…
Eco‐tourism Certification – Does it Make a Difference? A Comparison of Systems from Australia, Costa Rica and Sweden
2010
Abstract In the current context of climate change, discussions about tourism sustainability are gaining increased momentum. Over the past decade, some operators worldwide have started to certify their products and services as ecotourism or sustainable tourism. A certification or approval is considered to be a sign of general high product quality as well as an indication of environmentally and socially sound products. In this research note, we examine three different ecotourism certification and approval systems – from Sweden, Costa Rica and Australia. The note is based on a literature review of three different approval systems, conducted parallel to the planning of the Norwegian approval sy…
Qualitative analysis of teachers' written self-reflections after implementation of a social-emotional learning program in Latvia
2016
The aim of the present study was to analyze teachers' written self-reflections after implementation of a social-emotional learning program, which was recently developed specifically for the sociocultural context of Latvia. The goal of the analysis was to examine how teachers reflect upon their own strengths and weaknesses in implementing the program. Participants were 630 classroom teachers (614 female and 16 male) aged 22 to 75 years (M = 45.04, SD = 9.95). Thematic analysis of the teachers' written self-reflections led to five thematic categories: (a) evaluation of pupils' performance, (b) teacher's professional competencies, (c) evaluation of the program, (d) relationship aspects, and (e…
Análisis metodológico del Proyecto PISA como evaluación internacional
2016
En este artículo el objetivo es realizar un análisis global del Proyecto PISA como programa de evaluación internacional. Asimismo, se analizan características metodológicas de los procesos métricos que sustentan los instrumentos que se utilizan en el proyecto: las pruebas de logro y los cuestionarios de contexto. Se identifican las fortalezas y debilidades del proyecto, en diversas áreas, desde el Diseño y validación del proyecto como programa de evaluación internacional, sus usos y modos de comunicación de resultados, hasta las características métricas de sus instrumentos. Se proponen alternativas para optimizar el uso del proyecto en general y en los países involucrados en particular. Se…
Randomized Controlled Trials and real life studies. Approaches and methodologies: a clinical point of view.
2014
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the "gold standard" for evaluating treatment outcomes providing information on treatments "efficacy". They are designed to test a therapeutic hypothesis under optimal setting in the absence of confounding factors. For this reason they have high internal validity. The strict and controlled conditions in which they are conducted, leads to low generalizability because they are performed in conditions very different from real life usual care. Conversely, real life studies inform on the "effectiveness" of a treatment, that is, the measure of the extent to which an intervention does what is intended to do in routine circumstances. At variance to RCTs, real …
Analyzing the Contextual Nature of Collaborative Activity
2010
This chapter discusses a methodology designed to explore the contextual nature of collaborative activity. The methods that can be generally considered to be based on ‘socio-cultural’ discourse analysis are discussed as a means to explore how different aspects of a situation mediate students’ shared meaning-making. First, an analysis is demonstrated, illustrating how different immediate and mediated contexts are embedded in students’ discourse as they are engaged in face-to-face collaborative activity in a computer-mediated context. Second, a multidimensional coding scheme is presented for analyzing the contextualized process of collaborative knowledge construction in an asynchronous web-ba…
Self-assessment: a study of progress in Europe's leading organizations in quality management practices
1996
Reports a European study on the use of quality management self‐assessment. Data have been obtained from 117 organizations who, in general, have some experiences of self‐assessment methods. Among the main findings were the identification of the steps which are considered to be a key influence on the success of the self‐assessment process and what have been the main learning points. Points out that organizations are using self‐assessment mainly to identify strengths and weaknesses and also to facilitate internal and external learning in terms of transfer of best practice and ideas.
Driver training interests of a Spanish sample of young drivers and its relationship with their self-assessment skills concerning risky driving behavi…
2013
Abstract Poor driving self-assessment skills (e.g., over-confidence) have been pointed out as an important explanatory factor behind young drivers’ accident involvement. This paper explores (1) what young drivers miss in their training as drivers in order to analyze whether an assessment of one's own driving skills plays an important role in their desire to improve as drivers, and (2) how these training interests are related to an estimate of their self-assessment skills concerning risky driving behavior. For this purpose, a study was conducted using a survey with a blocked sampling design of novice drivers. The survey solicited respondents’ self-report about (1) the contents of training co…
Review of Knowledge Management Models for Implementation within Advanced Product Quality Planning
2014
The purpose of this paper is to review different Knowledge Management Models (KMM) based on their strengths and weaknesses and to ascertain their possible implementation within the scope of the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) procedure. The KMM listed are selected based on an extensive literature review. They are presented in a visual manner and analyzed based on their structure and features, versus a predetermined set of criteria. This study offers an overview and a critical discussion of the merits and faults of a number KMM and suggests possible improvement avenues.
Economical aspects, toxicity, and environmental fate of cerium oxide
2020
Abstract The present chapter reports some economical aspects of the cerium oxide market. Porter’s and PESTEL analyses have been used to evidence the strengths and weaknesses of the ceria market, along with the potentiality and opportunities within the years to come. The wide use of CeO2 nanoparticles in many applications requires to consider also issues related to their toxicity and environmental fate. In this regard, some contradictory reports in the relevant literature have been surveyed, thus highlighting the need for further and detailed investigation on these topics in order to propose effective strategies of risk assessment and environmental remediation.