TD School

The study investigated short-and long-term vocabulary retention through a digital video game. Participants were 241 male students (age 12-18) randomly assigned to three treatments, namely, Readers who learned vocabulary through intensive reading, Players who learned vocabulary through playing a digital video game, and Watchers who learned by watching two classmates play the digital video game. Twenty one words (simple and compound nouns) were pretested and then followed by the interventions which lasted for five weeks. The same pretest was posttested twice: As a one month and a three months delayed posttest after the study to measure short-and long-term vocabulary retention respectively. Results indicated that the Players and Watchers outperformed the Readers in terms of both short-and longterm vocabulary retention. The Readers were the only group to forget a significant number of words on the threemonths delayed posttest. Only the Players' treatment was equally effective for learning both simple and compound nouns. The Players showed the highest mean score on both posttests and the least drop from the short-to long-term posttest. It is concluded that digital video games can help students retain vocabulary over a longer time period.

The present study examined e-learning enjoyment to see if it could predict high school students' vocabulary learning through a digital video game. Furthermore, the difference between those who played and those who watched the game was assessed. Participants of the study were male, high school, EFL students (N = 136, age 12-18) randomly assigned to two treatments: Players, who were exposed to the vocabulary through playing a digital video game and Watchers, who watched two classmates play the same game. After the treatments (one session a week for five weeks), an e-learning enjoyment scale and a vocabulary posttest were administered. Also, researcher field notes were written down. Data analysis involved t tests, ANOVAs, and a standard multiple regression. The results indicated that e-learning enjoyment significantly predicted the variance in game-enhanced vocabulary learning. There was no significant difference between Players and Watchers. It is concluded that enjoyment could help students keep up through the sustained, long-term process of language learning by motivating them. Also, the findings help identify better suited commercial video games for educational purposes and design more useful educational video games.

The study examined e-learning enjoyment through a digital video game to see if it could predict high school students' vocabulary learning. It also assessed the difference between those who played and those who watched the game. Participants of the study were male, high school, EFL students (N = 136, age 12-18) randomly assigned to two treatments: Players, who were exposed to the vocabulary through playing a digital video game and Watchers, who watched two classmates play the same game. After the treatment (one session a week for five weeks), an e-learning enjoyment scale and a vocabulary posttest were administered. In addition, researcher field notes were written down. Data analysis involved t tests, ANOVAs, and a standard multiple regression. The results indicated that e-learning enjoyment significantly predicted the variance in game-enhanced vocabulary learning. There was no significant difference between Players and Watchers. It is concluded that digital video games help language learners keep up through the sustained, long-term process of language learning by making it enjoyable. Also, the findings help identify better suited commercial video games for educational purposes and design more useful educational video games.

The study examined the effect of a commercial digital video game on high school students' language learning motivation. Participants were 241 male students randomly assigned to one of the following three treatments: Readers, who intensively read the game's story; Players, who played the digital video game; and Watchers, who watched two classmates play the digital video game. A language learning motivation scale was given to the participants as a pre-and post-test. Also, field notes were taken. Results indicated a significant language learning motivation increase over time. Only the Watchers, however, showed significantly higher motivation than the Readers in the end. Thus, the use of commercial digital video games can help enhance high school students' language learning motivation.

The present study investigated vocabulary acquisition through a commercial digital video game compared to a traditional pencil-and-paper treatment. Chosen through cluster sampling, 241 male high school students (age 12-18) participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to one of the following groups. The first group, called Readers, involved those who learned vocabulary through intensive reading; the second group, Players, learned vocabulary through playing a digital video game; the third group, Watchers, were trained through watching two classmates play the digital video game. The vocabulary items were first pretested. Next, each group underwent training for five weeks (one session a week). Then, the vocabulary items were posttested. Also, field notes were made. To compare the three groups, a mixed between within subjects ANOVA was run. Results indicated that the Players and Watchers outperformed the Readers. It is concluded that digital video games can be beneficial complementary activities for vocabulary acquisition in high school classrooms.

The logic of network embeddedness has been widely used in the technology entrepreneurship literature in recent years, yet its operationalisation and use are neither well understood nor agreed upon. This paper reviews the logic of network embeddedness as it has been invoked and operationalised to predict the performance of New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs). We find network embeddedness to be a useful predictor for NTBF performance when operationalised at both the dyad and network levels and when interaction effects or contingency factors that account for environmental conditions and firm constraints are included.

The basis of this paper is to go beyond abstract definitions of what a cluster is, and look at a variety of measurable indicators, to see which can demonstrate the presence of a cluster. The example presented is based on the biotechnology industry in Vancouver, Canada. Biotechnology differs from conventional industries, in that there are few tangible goods or services traded, but rather the basis of value creation is primarily the sale or licensing of intangible intellectual property or the (usually pre-revenue) firms themselves. The two main questions we aim to test are (i) is there a biotechnology cluster in Vancouver, and (ii) what are its inputs, outcomes, and impact on the region? We use data provided from local and federal agencies such as LifeSciences British Columbia and Statistics Canada to compare biotechnology R&D activity across regions, and within the local economy. Our findings indicate that there is significant activity around biotechnology R&D and commercialisation in Vancouver, but no guarantee of the longevity of the innovation system.

Survival and growth of firms depends on their relationships to other organisations, including key suppliers, customers, supporters and competitors. This study compares geographic aspects of the networks of biotechnology firms (DBFs) and contract research organisations and service firms (CROs) in Vancouver, Canada. We find that for DBFs the key actors (organisations and individuals) that they network with are globally located (ie not local), despite the DBFs having originated from a local university. In contrast, CROs are more likely to network with local actors, and with actors on the same continent. Of the DBFs providing performance data, the distribution of their performance is consistent with recent developments in structural embeddedness theory (ie network coupling theory). This suggests that their performance may be inhibited if they are under- or over-embedded in their network, with the greatest opportunity for success in a medium range of coupling.

In this study we seek to better understand how the configuration of relationships immediately around a firm may impact its performance in context of its activities and industry. We use Q-analysis to reveal specific configurations of how actors are organized and involved in activities in relation to firm performance. This is an exploratory study, that employs Q-Analysis techniques, which “avoid the use of data transformations and summary measures,” and are considered “best suited for exploratory research and hypothesis generation” (Jacobson & Yan, 1998). This study uses interview transcripts in which questions regarding the involvement of actors towards the development or access of specific resources are analyzed as proposed in Hakansson’s network model (Hakansson, 1987, 1989) as source data.

The interviews analyzed were conducted as part of the 2001-2003 ISRN Innovation Survey in the new media and biotech industries in Vancouver. Subsets of firms are formed for comparison, by splitting the sample based on compound annual growth rate and industry. Conclusions are drawn in an attempt to link the performance of the new venture with the activities pursued through and the configuration of networks.

Studies of entrepreneurial networks have largely concentrated on one or the other of the two dominant network perspectives – structural or flow. We argue that an integrated approach can provide new insights into interactions of different types of flows across actors, and the interdependence of structures and flows. Because of this either-or divide, we know relatively little about how both these perspectives combine to create distinct network configurations. In response, we contrast and integrate structural and flow complexity to develop a typology of four network configurations: clusters, cliques, communities and crowds. The implications due to varying levels of structural complexity are interdependent on the implications due to varying levels of flow complexity.

These network configurations provide a basis for applying the strategy-structure-performance paradigm to the structure beyond the firm’s boundaries. These configurations enable corresponding network capabilities: coordination by standardization vs. by mutual adjustment, and brokering by mediation vs. by intermediation. If these network capabilities are enacted to become network strategies in the context of the corresponding network configurations, this further enables the entrepreneur to pursue combinations of appropriate goals: greater rents, efficiency, opportunities and synergies. Conceptual parallels with these four configurations are drawn to Miles and Snow’s (1978) defenders, prospectors, analyzers and reactors, respectively, regarding their capabilities and performance in systematic exploitation, systematic exploration, a continuous balance of exploitation and exploration, and episodic searches for exploitable opportunities.

This research has implications entrepreneurial network studies in terms of classifying their configuration, and in terms of the theoretical implications of which capabilities are most likely to produce intended results. We believe this typology may also apply to other inter-organizational networks.