Robert de Hoog

KM QUEST: a collaborative internet-based simulation game

In this article, the development of a collaborative Internet-based simulation game for learning to solve knowledge management problems is described. The simulation game builds on two starting points: first, on psychological and pedagogical developments in learning and instruction, which are based on a shift from instructivistic toward constructivistic approaches; and second, on a perceived need for better training of people working in the emerging field of knowledge management. After having described these starting points in the introduction, the choice for using a simulation game is clarified and a set of assumptions that have been used to develop a simulation game are described. The resulting simulation game is described in the second part of this article together with the elements that have been implemented to support communication and collaboration at a distance, as well as those to support the learning process. The article ends with a summary of the results of the formative evaluation of the first prototype. The issue of collaboration via the Internet is a particular focus of discussion.

Understanding and valuing knowledge assets: Overview and method

Abstract This paper investigates issues concerning the definition and valuation of knowledge assets. It starts by reviewing several approaches to defining knowledge assets more precisely. These include human resource accounting, organizational learning and intellectual property. Next an inventory is made of how the valuation problem is handled in practice, focusing on corporate practices, venture capital practice and commercial banking practices. From there a new framework for knowledge assets is developed based on relevant differences between human resource assets and intellectual property. Subsequently a method is described for valuing knowledge assets at a level of detail that is relevant for knowledge management. This method uses the added value and the cost of a knowledge asset as the main contributors to value. For establishing the cost of a knowledge asset, use is made of activity based costing. Additionally some limitations of the method are discussed.

Measuring the economic value of information systems

The determination of value of information or information systems is a basic issue for information management. In order to solve it several questions must be answered like: what is the object of valuation; how is value defined and measured; and what constitutes a coherent and usable method for valuation. In this paper an approach is outlined that combines the information commodity approach, activity-based costing, and graph modelling. The first is used to define the object of analysis (an information commodity) and the nature of value (the demand value at the marketplace). The third allows the modelling of business processes in terms of activities and cost relations between activities. The second enables the assignment of costs to activities modelled in the graph. Together they constitute a coherent and usable method for determining the value of IS. This is illustrated by means of a case study.The determination of value of information or information systems is a basic issue for information management. In order to solve it several questions must be answered like: what is the object of valuation; how is value defined and measured; and what constitutes a coherent and usable method for valuation. In this paper an approach is outlined that combines the information commodity approach, activity-based costing, and graph modelling. The first is used to define the object of analysis (an information commodity) and the nature of value (the demand value at the marketplace). The third allows the modelling of business processes in terms of activities and cost relations between activities. The second enables the assignment of costs to activities modelled in the graph. Together they constitute a coherent and usable method for determining the value of IS. This is illustrated by means of a case study.

SMISLE: System for Multimedia Integrated Simulation Learning Environments

The SMISLE project (System for Multimedia Integrated Simulation Learning Environments) has two main objectives. First, it aims to define exploratory learning environments based on simulations that incorporate instructional support for learners in such a way that effective and efficient learning will result. Second, it aims to provide authors of these simulation learning environments with an authoring toolkit that not only presents technical, but also conceptual support. Providing support to the learner can be done in many different ways. The project started with an inventory of potential instructional support measures and selected four types of measures that now have been implemented: progressive model implementation, assignments, explanations, and hypothesis scratchpads. The simulation environments that incorporate these support measures are designed around five different models each carrying a specific function. The runnable model is an efficient representation of the domain that will make the simulation run; the cognitive model is the representation of the domain that is tailored to learning and instruction; the instructional model incorporates the instructional support; the learner model keeps track of knowledge and characteristics of the learner; and the interface model decides upon the appearance of the simulation environment to the student. Together these models form the resulting application for the learner, which is called a MISLE (Multimedia Integrated Simulation Learning Environment). The main task of an author is to create the different models in the MISLE, with the exception of the runnable model which is automatically generated from the cognitive model. Creating the different models essentially means that an author has to select, specialise and instantiate generic building blocks (that can be regarded as generic templates) that are offered in libraries of building blocks. For each of the models there is a separate library of building blocks and a set of dedicated editors for specialising and instantiating the building blocks. Additionally, authors are guided through the authoring process by a methodology and they have access to instructional advice which provides them with ideas on which instructional support measures to apply.

How do people learn at the workplace? investigating four workplace learning assumptions

Any software development project is based on assumptions about the state of the world that probably will hold when it is fielded. Investigating whether they are true can be seen as an important task. This paper describes how an empirical investigation was designed and conducted for the EU funded APOSDLE project. This project aims at supporting informal learning during work. Four basic assumptions are derived from the project plan and subsequently investigated in a two-phase study using several methods, including workplace observations and a survey. The results show that most of the assumptions are valid in the current work context of knowledge workers. In addition more specific suggestions for the design of the prospective APOSDLE application could be derived. Though requiring a substantial effort, carrying out studies like this can be seen as important for longer term software development projects.

Non-Expert Use of a Computerized Decision Aid1

Abstract This paper describes the results of an experiment in which a wide variety of subjects (according to age, education, sex, political preference) made a choice from a set of cars and political parties by means of an automated decision aiding technique for personal decision making. It is shown that computer-based aids can, in principle, be handled reasonably well by people without a specialist training in decision analyis. Nonetheless, some groups of people handled the program better than others and some stages in the program were found to need considerable improvements. Subjects had well-defined opinions on applicability of the program, preferring this kind of aids for problems at the intermediate level (not too trivial, not too emotional), such as choosing a job, an education or consumer durables. In measuring the helpfulness of the aid, we were able to show that for political party choice there is a logical hierarchical structure in the concept: structuring, raising awareness, decision justification. The paper concludes with thoughts about future developments of this kind of program (e. g., concludes with external information systems and construction of new, more ‘user-friendly’ versions).

The added value of task and ontology-based markup for information retrieval

In this report, we investigate how retrieving information can be improved through task-related indexing of documents based on ontologies. Different index types, varying from content-based keywords to structured task-based indexing ontologies, are compared in an experiment that simulates the task of creating instructional material from a database of source material. To be able to judge the added value of task- and ontology-related indexes, traditional information retrieval performance measures are extended with new measures reflecting the quality of the material produced with the retrieved information. The results of the experiment show that a structured task-based indexing ontology improves the quality of the product created from retrieved material only to some extent, but that it certainly improves the efficiency and effectiveness of search and retrieval and precision of use.

Social media and consumer choice

Social media are becoming increasingly important for consumer decisions. This holds true in particular for vacation decision-making, as an example of a high-involvement decision. The research focuses upon the relation between the information people search regarding aspects or properties of choice options and the types of social media used for finding it. The social media classification framework used is based on two dimensions: first, domain-specific social media versus domain-independent social media; second, large opportunities for self-disclosure versus limited or no opportunities for self-disclosure. Based on this framework, predictions are made about the relation between social media used and information sought. It was found that domain-specific social media with limited opportunities for self-disclosure, like Tripadvisor, are more frequently used for search-determined sub-decisions than for experience-determined sub-decisions. For domain-independent social media with large opportunities for self-disclosure, like Twitter and Facebook, it was found that they are used with equal frequency for both types of sub-decision. These findings are relevant for multichannel management in marketing. As regards the valence of the information obtained from different social media, we found a preponderant use of positive/mixed messages and comments, and almost no use of negative information. A practical implication of this finding is that ‘webcare’ should be focused less on complaints and more on leveraging positive aspects that are reported in social media for choices that have comparable characteristics, such as vacations. If a relatively large number of aspects play a role in a product choice process, tracking and use of positive information should be emphasised, while negative experiences should be more important for products characterised by a very limited number of relevant product choice aspects.

Crisis Resistance of Tourist Demand The Importance of Quality of Life

This article addresses tourist demand during the persisting economic downturn between 2008 and 2013, within the context of expenditures on other consumer goods, taking into account different types of vacations and focusing on the “why” of the development of this demand over time. The research approach is a micro-analysis of data that are partly longitudinal and partly cross-sectional. The findings show that holidays, in particular the main summer holiday, can be positioned closer to being a necessary good than to being a luxury good, at least during an economic downturn. Many vacationers are prepared to sacrifice expenditures on a variety of products just so as to keep on going on holiday. The major explanation is the high essentiality of vacations for a better quality of life. The influence of income and personal economic situation on tourist demand at the micro-level during an economic downturn is relatively minor or nonexistent.

Coping with complex environments: the effects of providing overviews and a transparent interface on learning with a computer simulation

Computers are used in increasingly complex environments for increasingly complex tasks. An example hereof is the use of computer simulations in instruction. Simulation offers an environment in which learners have to extract information from the system and must construct their knowledge themselves. This requires a high level of control for the learner over the (complex) environment. The present study investigates the influence of two representation aspects of simulation environments on the way of interacting with a simulation and on resulting test performance. The first aspect is giving learners additional navigation support by providing them with separate overviews of input and output. The second aspect concerns the type of interface: a conversational interface vs. a direct manipulation interface. Subjects had to learn about a theory of decision support with the use of one of four versions of basically the same simulation. In a control condition subjects were directly confronted with the simulation model in the form of a formula. Results showed that navigation support did not raise the subjects scores. To the contrary, subjects receiving navigation support tended to have lower test performance. Subjects who received navigation support made fewer iterations during the simulation than the other subjects and the number of iterations was related to test performance. An explanation for their low scores might be that the navigation support distracted the subjects from their main task: learning about the model by manipulating the simulation. The direct manipulation interface was successful in increasing the number of changes to model variables. This, however, neither increased nor lowered the subjects test performance. As expected, the direct manipulation interface resulted in far more efficient learning compared with the conversational interface.