Innovation has become an increasingly important concept for Australian businesses in enabling them to continue to compete in an international market, but where does vocational education and training (VET) sit in this? To date, VET has been largely overlooked by the National Innovation and Science Agenda as a potential contributor in this field.…

This report critically examines studies of how scientific research drives innovation which is then translated into socio-economic benefits. It focuses on research evaluation insights that are relevant not only to the academic community, but also to policymakers and evaluation practitioners--and particularly to biomedical and health research…

This report reviews the research and development (R&D) structures and practices for vocational education, training, and employment in the United States, Germany, France, Sweden, and England. The organization and management of each country's R&D system as well as R&D agendas and priorities are analyzed. General observations and…

The research literature is rich on innovations in R&D-specific organizations and provides useful information on support systems and other organizational features associated with such specialized organizations. An implied assumption of many studies is that R&D exists as an independent entity, without controls or influences from the other…

Overview of research techniques involved in gathering information on current products that can provide input into new product development highlights consumer purchase and use patterns. Comparison of mail questionnaires, telephone surveys, focus group sessions, and in-person interviews notes type of data, timing, relative costs, and advantages and…

This report contains analyses of key aspects of the scope, quality, and vitality of the Nation's science and engineering enterprise and global science and technology. The report presents information on science, mathematics, and engineering education at all levels; the scientific and engineering workforce; U.S. and international and development…

Explores similarities between research approaches characterizing different paradigms in information science and different information-processing styles of individual researchers. Proposes a model of the way in which new knowledge is generated, based on these similarities. The model focuses on "research pathologies," and ways in which the…

The objective of this paper is to present a method for extracting value from the research literature that should benefit educational practitioners. This method, called Convergent Analysis (CA), comprises the following steps. First, this focused question must be posed whose answer can benefit educational practitioners: under what conditions do…

This article presents the author's critique of "Measurement of Central Aspects of Scientific Research: Performance, Interdisciplinarity, Structure," by Anthony F. J. van Raan. The author states that van Raan's article provides an excellent, if tightly compressed, introduction to key findings and innovative methods of the accumulating and…

Describes technique developed by the Barking Reading Project to judge relevance of visual sequential memory to reading. A study which used this technique to assess the effects of labelling strategy on sequential memory tasks is compared with alternative assessments, and results are discussed in terms of task analysis and structuralist approaches.…

This report compares two approaches to measuring task interdependence, a theoretically fruitful concept for analyzing an organization's technical system. Task interdependence exists among operating personnel in the degree that task performance of one operative constrains, augments, or otherwise poses contingencies for the performance of another.…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on work ethic and values in human resource development (HRD). "Value Priorities of HRD Scholars and Practitioners" (Reid Bates, Hsin Chih Chen, Tim Hatcher) presents the results of a study that identified and analyzed six HRD values reflecting two value facets (locus of HRD influence…

This document contains 32 papers from a conference on balance and perspectives in comparative vocational education and training (VET) research in Europe. Selected papers are as follows: "On the Path to Vocational Training Research with a European Dimension" (Oliver Lubke, Klaus Schedler, Alphonse de Vadder); "The Val Duchesse Social…