This paper analyses how managed coworking spaces affect the innovation process of their members. Managed coworking spaces are working environments for independent professionals, with an active role of the manager of the space to foster collaboration and interaction. These locations emerged in the late 2000s and were designed to host people who endeavor to break isolation and to find a convivial environment that favors meetings and collaboration (Moriset, 2013). It is often taken for granted that coworking contributes to innovation (Botsman & Rogers, 2011). Earlier research discussed outcomes of coworking, such as cooperative working (e.g. Leforestier, 2009, Spinuzzi, 2012), getting access to new knowledge (van Winden et al., 2012), or having new business opportunities (Groot, 2013). Yet, it is not fully understood how coworking spaces can be effective in fostering these outcomes, and what role management could play. The managers of coworking spaces deploy a variety of strategies to foster interaction and collaboration, but there has been very little systematic analysis of the effects on interaction and innovation. This paper proposes a typology of strategic management tools applied by coworking spaces, and aims to shed light on the effectiveness for interaction and innovation. In the empirical part, we describe and analyze two coworking spaces in Amsterdam. The implications for proprietors of coworking spaces and policy makers are analyzed in view of the potential contributions of these spaces to local collaborations, knowledge transfer and new business opportunities.
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Little is known about the effects of different instructional approaches on learner affect in oral interaction in the foreign language classroom. In a randomized experiment with Dutch pre-vocational learners (N = 147), we evaluated the effects of 3 newly developed instructional programs for English as a foreign language (EFL). These programs differed in instructional focus (form-focused vs. interaction strategies- oriented) and type of task (pre-scripted language tasks vs. information gap tasks). Multilevel analyses revealed that learners’ enjoyment of EFL oral interaction was not affected by instruction, that willingness to communicate (WTC) decreased over time, and that self-confidence was positively affected by combining information gap tasks with interactional strategies instruction. In addition, regression analyses revealed that development in learners’ WTC and enjoyment did not have predictive value for achievement in EFL oral interaction, but that development in self-confidence did explain achievement in EFL oral interaction in trained interactional contexts.
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In this study, we compared the impact of audio-, video-, and text-chat interaction on target language use during online learner-learner interaction and on learner affect amongst adolescent learners of German as a foreign language. Repeated measures and ANOVA analyses revealed a high percentage of target language output in all conditions for all four tasks, especially in text- chat. Audio-chatters produced the most output and used the most meaning negotiation, compensation strategies, self-repair and other-repair strategies. Learners in all conditions gained in enjoyment, willingness to communicate and self-efficacy. Anxiety reduced for text-chatters. Task effects partly determined the quantity of L2 output, while condition effects determined meaning-oriented and form-focused processing.
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This thesis explores the opportunities for developing and assessing learners’ EFL oral skills in pre-vocational classrooms in the Netherlands. The thesis contains four studies. First, we evaluate the oral interaction practice offered in EFL coursebooks. In the second study, we explore ways to assess individual ability in oral interaction in a reliable and valid manner. Studies three and four report on two experimental studies. Study three investigates the effects of instructional programs on learners’ interactional ability, and study four investigates the effects of these programmes on the affective measures willingness to communicate, enjoyment and self-confidence. Additionally, this study explores the relationship between these affective variables and task achievement in oral interaction tasks. The thesis furthermore contains a summary and discussion of the main outcomes, suggestions for future research and for educational practice.
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Blended learning offers a learner-centred approach that employs both in-class learning and digital technology to facilitate online learning. Such an approach is especially advantageous to adult-learners in higher education as it meets their educational needs. However, adult-learners’ participation in blended learning programmes remains challenging due to a general lack of online interaction, and no clear teaching strategies that address this concern. Literature relating to adult-learners’ educational needs and online interaction was consulted in order to design teaching strategies that foster adult-learners’ online interaction. The aim of this study is to further validate these teaching strategies, hence a multiple case study was carried out using a mixed method approach. As such, eight teachers and sixteen students from four courses across three universities in Belgium and the Netherlands were interviewed. Additionally, a questionnaire testing a pre-defined set of variables was distributed to 84 students. The results lead to a set of validated teaching strategies that help teachers to further develop their professional skills and expertise. The teaching strategies can be grouped into three categories, namely 1) the teacher's online presence, 2) collaborative learning activities and preparatory learning activities, and 3) the distribution of learning content and learning activities across online and in-class learning. An elaborate set of validated teaching strategies is included. This study aids towards teacher professional development and adds evidence-based knowledge to teaching strategies and instructional frameworks for adult-learners in higher education.
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Stimulating patients to approach their pain from a biopsychosocial perspective is central to chronic pain rehabilitation. However, conversations between patients and their healthcare professionals about the social and psychological factors that may contribute to the continuation of pain and disability can be challenging. The current scientific literature does not sufficiently pinpoint the difficulties in patient–practitioner interaction on chronic pain, and it falls short of answering the question of how a joint exploration of the social and psychological factors that might be involved in the patient’s pain and evolving disability can be enhanced. In this theoretical article, we introduce discursive psychology as a potentially valuable research perspective to gain a better understanding of the difficulties in patient–practitioner interaction in the context of chronic pain rehabilitation. Discursive psychology focuses on features of people’s talk (e.g. that of patients and practitioners) and is concerned with the social practices that people perform as part of a specific interactional context. In this paper, we provide an introduction to the main theoretical notions of discursive psychology. We illustrate how discursive psychological analyses can inform our understanding of the specific sensitivities in conversations between patients with chronic pain and their practitioners. Finally, we address how a better understanding of these sensitivities offers a gateway towards improving these conversations. Een belangrijk principe in revalidatie bij chronische pijn is de benadering van de pijn vanuit een biopsychosociaal perspectief. Het blijkt echter een uitdaging voor patiënten en behandelaars om de sociale en psychologische factoren die een rol spelen bij chronische pijn te bespreken. In de huidige wetenschappelijke literatuur is hier nog niet voldoende aandacht voor; en wordt geen perspectief geboden voor verbetering van de gezamenlijke verkenning van sociale en psychologische factoren. In dit theoretische artikel introduceren we discursieve psychologie als een mogelijk waardevol onderzoeksperspectief om een beter begrip tot stand te brengen van de complexiteit van interactie in de context van chronische pijn revalidatie. Discursieve psychologie richt zich op kenmerken van interactie, in het bijzonder de sociale praktijken die tot stand worden gebracht binnen een specifieke interactionele context. We beschrijven de belangrijkste theoretische principes van discursieve psychologie en illustreren hoe een DP analyse licht kan werpen op de specifieke gevoeligheden in conversaties tussen patiënten met chronische pijn en hun behandelaars. Tot slot bespreken we hoe een beter begrip van deze gevoeligheden een ingang biedt tot het verbeteren van deze conversaties.
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In this study, the construction of rumour on Twitter during a specific crisis is analysed from a discursive psychological perspective. This perspective treats psychological concepts such as identities as discursive constructions. The selected case is the robbery of a jewellery store in Deurne, a village in the Netherlands. The jeweller’s wife was said to have shot two of the robbers. Although this fact was not officially confirmed, people used particular discursive strategies to present the act of the jeweller’s wife as factual, which influenced the way the media reported on this case, as well as the reaction of the prosecutor, which was described as premature. Four dominant discursive patterns were detected, that is: normalizing the act, evaluating the act, upgrading the act and anticipating on the consequences of the act. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how critical tweets, displaying a concern for nuancing the overall tendency of the tweets, were designed in a way that downplayed their overt critical character. Implications of the analysis for crisis communication professionals are discussed. In deze studie wordt geruchtvorming in kaart gebracht met behulp van discursieve psychologie, waarin psychologische concepten zoals identiteit worden behandeld als discursieve constructies. De casus betreft een juwelenrook in Deurne, Nederland, waarbij de vrouw van de juwelier ervan beschuldigd werd twee overvallers te hebben doodgeschoten. Deze beschuldiging werd als feit behandeld op sociale media, ook al was dit nog niet officieel bevestigd. Dit beïnvloedde zowel de nieuwsberichtgeving, als de reactie van de officier van justitie in de media. Vier dominante discursieve patronen werden ontdekt in de discussie over de vermeende daad: normaliseren, evalueren, upgraden en anticiperen op de gevolgen. Ook wordt gedemonstreerd hoe tweets die nuance aanbrengen in de discussie, voorzichtig worden geformuleerd, waardoor het kritische karakter ervan wordt geminimaliseerd. Implicaties voor professionals in risiscommunicatie worden besproken.
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Little is known about the effect of diverging pedagogies on the development of interactional oral skills in a foreign language. In a controlled study, we evaluated three newly developed instructional programmes that were situated in the same training context, but that differed in instructional focus and type of task. These were compared to the effects of business-as-usual instruction. Multilevel analysis revealed that all experimental groups outperformed the ‘business-as-usual’ control group on oral interaction skills (N = 199), with similar results for the programmes. Positive effects were found on interaction skills for trained contexts of use only. No transfer was found to tasks in other contexts of use. We conclude that receiving contextualised oral interaction instruction is beneficial to the development of pre-vocational learners’ interaction skills.
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Even learners with good language ability do not automatically engage in interactional encounters in the foreign language. Affective factors, such as speakers’ willingness to communicate (WTC), self-confidence and enjoyment of oral interaction play an important role in this (e.g. Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre, 2002). Little is known, however, about the effects of different instructional approaches on learner affect in oral interaction in the foreign language classroom. In a randomized experiment with Dutch pre-vocational learners (N = 147), we evaluated the effects of three newly developed instructional programmes for English as a foreign language (EFL). These programmes differed in instructional focus (form-focused vs interaction strategies-oriented) and type of task (pre-scripted language tasks vs information gap tasks). Multilevel repeated measures analyses revealed that learners’ enjoyment of EFL oral interaction was not affected by instruction, that WTC decreased over time, and that self-confidence was positively affected by combining information gap tasks with interactional strategies instruction. In addition, regression analyses revealed that development in learners’ WTC and enjoyment did not have predictive value for task achievement in EFL oral interaction, but that development in self-confidence did explain task achievement in trained interactional contexts. These results suggest that it is worthwhile for practitioners to address the development of self-confidence in their language lessons, and that they could do so my combining the use of information gap tasks with interactional strategy instruction that includes compensation-and meaning negotiation strategies.
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Blended learning environments (BLEs) have become an indispensable part of higher education and an essential part of course delivery. Although teachers need to be active agents in facilitating students’ self-regulation and interaction, little is known to what extent such support is provided. This study investigated the use of self-regulation strategies (SRS) and interactional methods of teachers and students in BLEs. In a cross-sectional design, 171 teachers and 331 students completed a questionnaire on the use of SRS and the application of human and non-human interactional methods. Results showed that, on average, teachers and students pay little attention to SRS and do not or hardly use interactional methods. Results also showed that experienced and inexperienced teachers did not differ in their attention to SRS, although a significant difference was found between teachers with and without online teaching experience. Teachers with more online teaching experience pay more specific attention to metacognitive and management strategies. A positive relationship was also found between the extent to which teachers use both human and non-human interactional methods and the extent to which they pay attention to SRS in the online component of BLEs. Finally, there was a positive relationship between the extent to which students utilize both human and non-human interactional methods and the extent to which they apply SRS. Outcomes of this research provide insight into the design of BLEs and emphasize the importance of teachers' attention to students’ SRS and the use of interactional methods.
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