Knowledge Integration

This study characterized students' views of science as falling into three groups: static, mixed, and dynamic. Those who view science as static assert that science consists of a group of facts that are best memorized. Those who view science as dynamic believe that scientific ideas develop and change and that the best way to learn these ideas is to understand what they mean and how they are related. Students with mixed beliefs hold some static and some dynamic views. This study also examined the relationship between views of science and acquisition of integrated understanding of thermodynamics. We found that students with dynamic views acquired more integrated understanding than those with static views. Participants were 153 middle school students following the Computer as Lab Partner (CLP) curriculum. Students conducted both simulated and real-time experiments using an electronic notebook during the 12 weeks of instruction. Interventions encouraging students to integrate their experiences resulted in 89% of students successfully predicting the outcome of an everyday situation and 77% of students being able to succcessfully explain their prediction. We investigated how students preferred to integrate their experiences and found that some students preferred a concrete prototypic locus for integration while others preferred a more abstract principled locus of integration.

Rather than a document that is constantly being written as in the wiki approach, the Living Document (LD) is a document that also acts as a document router, operating by means of structured and organized social tagging and using existing ontologies. It offers an environment where users can manage papers and related information, share their knowledge with their peers and discover hidden associations among the shared knowledge. The LD builds upon both the Semantic Web, which values the integration of well-structured data, and the Social Web, which aims to facilitate interaction amongst people by means of user-generated content. In this vein, the LD is similar to a social networking system, with users as central nodes in the network, with the difference that interaction is focused on papers rather than people. Papers, with their ability to represent research interests, expertise, affiliations, and links to web based tools and databanks, are the central axis for interaction amongst user...

This chapter has two goals. The first goal is to compare Machine Learning (ML) and Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD, also often called Data Mining, DM) insisting on how much they actually differ. In order to make my ideas somewhat easier to understand, and as an illustration, I will include a description of several research topics that I find relevant to KDD and to KDD only. The second goal is to show that the definition I give of KDD can be almost directly applied to text analysis, and that will lead us to a very restrictive definition of Knowledge Discovery in Texts (KDT). I will provide a compelling example of a real-life set of rules obtained by what I call KDT techniques.

Although the public governance of climate change adaptation gained increasing attention among both policy-makers and researchers in recent years, it is still largely unclear how governments aim to develop and implement adaptation policies. This paper takes stock of respective institutional innovations at the national level in 10 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. It first introduces four challenges that

We propose a new approach towards particle swarm optimization named agent-based PSO. The swarm is elevated to the status of a multi-agent system by giving the particles more autonomy, an asynchronous execution, and superior learning capabilities. The problem space is modeled as an environment which forms clusters of points that are known to be non-optimal and this transforms the environment into a more dynamic and informative resource

Data Mining has become a buzzword in industry in recent years. It is something that everyone is talking about but few seem to understand. There are two reasons for this lack of understanding: First is the fact that Data Mining researchers have very diverse backgrounds such as machine learning, psychology and statistics. This means that the research is often based on different methodologies and communication links e.g. notation is often unique to a particular research area which hampers the exchange of ideas and the dissemination to the wider public. The second reason for the lack of understanding is that the main ideas behind Data Mining are often completely opposite to mainstream statistics and as many companies interested in Data Mining already employ statisticians, such a change of view can create opposition.

Salama, A. M. (2012). Knowledge and Design: People-Environment Research for Responsive Pedagogy and Practice, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences-Elsevier Imprint, 49, pp. 8-27. ISSN #1877-0428. (Based on Proceedings of the 1st National Conference on Environment-Behavior Studies, Shah Alam, Malaysia, November 2009).

This paper argues for introducing a theory for knowledge integration in architectural design education. With a focus on human behavior and people-environment research, a contextual analysis of the reasons for developing a theory is introduced and reasons categorized. The milieu of the theory is constituted in several contextual elements. The theory encompasses a number of underlying theories and concepts derived from other fields that differ dramatically from architecture, with three major components: disciplinary component; cognitive-philosophical component; and inquiry-epistemic component. Possible mechanisms for knowledge acquisition are an indispensable component of the theory, whose aim is to foster the development of responsive knowledge critical to the successful creation of built environments.

To understand how the technology of electronic prescription (e Rx) can transform the community pharmacist's role through its effects on professionalization. We define professionalization as a pharmaceutical practice centred on clinical activities and made possible by the establishment of professional pharmaceutical services. We asked 12 community pharmacists who had participated in an e Rx pilot project in the Canadian province of Quebec to fill out a qualitative survey on their experience. We then analyzed the pharmacists' perceptions of this new technology using a conceptual framework based on the Davenport typology that presents an exhaustive list of mechanisms, specific to Information Technologies, and thus e-Rx, that can potentially modify information management process and then the role of pharmacists. The pharmacists identified five main mechanisms by which e Rx could affect the professionalization of community pharmacists: analytical capabilities of the pharmacist an...

In this paper the thesis is submitted that the study of China (indeed of each and every country) is wrongheaded in its methodology and should be fundamentally redesigned. Readers are kindly requested to notice that the author distinguishes between two kinds of 'China experts': 1) Those (tacitly) claiming to be knowledgeable about everything related to China, a - thank God - dying but by no means extinct breed of scholars mainly active in Europe; and 2) Those not CLAIMING to be China experts (that is, those eventually admitting not to be scientific all-rounders with respect to the country) but - and herein lies the crux of the matter -  not shying away from entering, without announcement or permission, a domain outside their own field of expertise, SHOULD THEY HAVE ONE! Many American and other 'China experts' can be blamed for this. 'China expert' is a misnomer, grossly (and dangerously) misleading politicians, captains of industry and the general public, as the author argues at length in the paper, which sums up a great deal of his research over the last few years. Scientists (e.g. demographers, economists, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, jurists, linguists, literary theorists/critics and 'Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaftler') may have research interest in a particular, their discipline related aspect of China; they can never be justifiably called 'China experts'. Throughout the article, particularly in the text under the subheading Scientific Collaboration, the necessity (and possibility!) of academic teamwork is emphasised, that is to say, the need for interdisciplinary (as distinct from multidisciplinary) research of China. The political, legal, military, economic, financial, social, educational, ecological, religious and other kindred affairs of China are inextricably intertwined, forming together a complex system of complex systems. Consequently, the country should be studied (as it has never been done!) by specialists closely working together and being aware of the historical as well as the geographical dimension of their 'material objects' (explananda). Briefly, the paper pleads for gaining EMPIRICALLY AND THEORETICALLY BASED knowledge of CHINA AS SUCH.

The importance of knowledge and cultural integration has been widely recognized as a vital condition to an organization survival, especially if knowledge and culture are diverse. This diversity needs to be integrated into organizations in order to establish common knowledge and culture to support its businesses. However, limited studies have been carried out in this area in particular within Islamic banks context. This chapter discusses the strategy of knowledge and culture integration in Islamic banks in Indonesia. This study used a case study approach. Data were gathered from direct observation, in-depth interviews with informants from different level of hierarchies, and written material. The results show that the process of knowledge integration was carried out through various mechanisms such as training, seminars, workshops, formal education, regular morning praying, and religious lectures. Some facilities such as internet, intranet, telephone, books, and brochures were also used to facilitate knowledge and culture integration of the bank. Knowledge integration in Islamic banks has resulted in common knowledge creation. However, employees' beliefs, norms, and values toward Islamic banks principle are not fully changed except in practicing Islamic symbolism in works place. A model for knowledge integration within Islamic banks context is proposed.

The Web of Data is an open environment consisting of a great number of large inter-linked RDF datasets from various do-mains. In this environment, organizations and companies adopt the Linked Data practices utilizing Semantic Web (SW) tech-nologies, in order to publish their data and offer SPARQL endpoints (i.e., SPARQL-based search services). On the other hand, the dominant standard for information exchange in the Web today is XML. Additionally, many international standards (e.g., Dublin Core, MPEG-7, METS, TEI, IEEE LOM) in several domains (e.g., Digital Libraries, GIS, Multimedia, e-Learning) have been expressed in XML Schema. The aforementioned have led to an increasing emphasis on XML data, accessed using the XQuery query language. The SW and XML worlds and their developed infrastructures are based on different data models, semantics and query languages. Thus, it is crucial to develop interoperability mechanisms that allow the Web of Data users to access XML datasets, using SPARQL, from their own working environments. It is unrealistic to expect that all the existing legacy data (e.g., Relational, XML, etc.) will be transformed into SW data. Therefore, publishing legacy data as Linked Data and providing SPARQL endpoints over them has become a major research challenge. In this direction, we introduce the SPARQL2XQuery Framework which creates an interoperable environment, where SPARQL queries are automatically translated to XQuery queries, in order to access XML data across the Web. The SPARQL2XQuery Framework provides a mapping model for the expression of OWL–RDF/S to XML Schema mappings as well as a method for SPARQL to XQuery translation. To this end, our Framework supports both manual and automatic mapping specification between ontologies and XML Schemas. In the automatic mapping specification scenario, the SPARQL2XQuery exploits the XS2OWL component which transforms XML Sche-mas into OWL ontologies. Finally, extensive experiments have been conducted in order to evaluate the schema transfor-mation, mapping generation, query translation and query evaluation efficiency, using both real and synthetic datasets.

This paper introduces a fresh ,perspective to ,the current Knowledge ,Management debate by exploring ,Knowledge ,Integration and ,Dis-integration practices. These issues are relatively under-researched in ,studies of organisational knowledge ,even though,issues of integration ,seem ,to underpin ,most of the ,knowledge ,processes

Knowledge integration mechanisms have increasingly been considered a key predictor of product innovation, yet some central issues related to them remain ambiguous. This study draws upon the perspectives from familiarity trap to argue a curvilinear relationship between knowledge integration mechanisms and product innovativeness. A sample of 140 product development projects from manufacturing firms is analyzed by a hierarchical moderated regression method. Findings reveal that the curvilinear relationship between knowledge integration mechanisms and product innovativeness varies with the levels of market turbulence and competition. Specifically, under a high level of market turbulence and competitive intensity, the relationship between knowledge integration mechanisms and product innovativeness is a U-shaped relationship. Conversely, under a low level of market turbulence and competitive intensity, the relationship between knowledge integration mechanisms and product innovativeness is an inverted U-shaped relationship.

"Ecology and Society’s 2004 special feature on Traditional Knowledge in Social-Ecological Systems (http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/issues/view.php/feature/13) marked one of the first efforts to view traditional, local, and Indigenous knowledge and their roles in managing ecosystems through the lens of social-ecological systems (SES) resilience. This view acknowledges the importance of experimentation, learning, and pluralism to cope with uncertainty in complex adaptive systems (Folke 2004, Folke et al. 2005, Berkes and Turner 2006, Davidson-Hunt 2006, Berkes 2009). As a frame for understanding knowledge, SES resilience provided new inspiration for scientists seeking to understand Indigenous livelihoods and resource management, increasingly against the backdrop of rapid global change (Armitage and Johnson 2006, Mercer et al. 2012, Raygorodetsky 2013).

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This article argues for a new kind of country study, now more than ever needed for international understanding. Like an ecosystem, or the human brain, each and every nation-state is a complex system of complex systems, an intricate network of elaborate networks, a unique composite of multiple dynamic subsystems and layers of connectivity. So the complexity or configuration of a country should be studied accordingly, that is to say, by scientists having an interest in it, willing to cooperate and using the latest in system analysis, computer science and informatics. In order to comprehend the complexity of a country, one-sidedness – no matter its disguise – should be avoided. The paper, first and foremost meant to be read (and fairly criticised) by scholars involved in the study of Asia, Africa or Latin America, addresses the controversies of long standing in all the social sciences about fundamental theoretical approaches. ‘Connect!’ is our advice to all those who are ready and willing to take the study of countries to a higher level.

Salama, A. M. (2008). A Theory for Integrating Knowledge in Architectural Design Education, Archnet-IJAR- International Journal of Architectural Research, 2(1), pp. 100-128. ISSN # 1938 7806.


This paper argues for introducing a theory for knowledge integration in architectural design education. A contextual analysis of the reasons for developing a theory is introduced and reasons are categorized. The milieu of the theory is constituted in several contextual elements. The theory encompasses a number of underlying theories and concepts derived from other fields that differ dramatically from architecture. It consists of three major components: the disciplinary component; the cognitive-philosophical component; and the inquiry-epistemic component. Each of these components encompasses other smaller components integral to the building of the theory itself. Notably, the three components address ways in which knowledge can be integrated, how the desired integration would meet the capacity of the human mind, how such integration relates to the nature of knowledge and how knowledge about it is acquired, conveyed, and assimilated. Possible mechanisms for knowledge acquisition are an indispensable component of the theory, whose aim is to foster the development of responsive knowledge critical to the successful creation of built environments.