1. On the Consideration of Novel Use of MIT and Cambridge University Exchange Students.
- Author
-
Smith, Robert B.
- Subjects
UNIVERSITIES & colleges ,STUDENT exchange programs - Abstract
Abstract: On the Consideration of Use of MIT and University of Cambridge Exchange Students By Robert B. Smith, Cambridge-MIT Institute To solve pressing practical problems and to gain a fundamental understanding of the phenomena, investigators conduct use-inspired research, which advances basic and applied knowledge. Such research may be of great benefit to humankind but its sources and pedagogy require better understandings than presently available. Toward providing this knowledge, this paper develops a measure of consideration of use; this disposition may lead to use-inspired research studies. Using data from the evaluation of the University of Cambridge-MIT Exchange program, it develops a causal process model that suggests that the students' home university causes their level of research experience, which causes their confidence in their basic research skills, which causes their self-rated innovative ability, which causes their consideration of use. The latter variable correlates strongly with pre-entrepreneurial behavior and with venturing and technical self-efficacies. The young women from MIT report more research experience than the men, but, along with Cambridge women, report lower confidence in their basic research skills. The AMOS system for structural equation modeling provided the estimates of effect and goodness-of-fit measures. Alternative models did not fit these data as closely as the hypothesized causal model, suggesting that the relationships among the variables are causal and not merely correlational. Future research will ascertain the extent to which this causal model and its underlying sociological, institutional perspective again holds better than the alternative psychological, individualistic perspective. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007