111 results on '"Hermans, Frans"'
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2. Transition towards a bioeconomy: Comparison of conditions and institutional work in selected industries
- Author
-
Wilde, Kerstin and Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Catalog
3. The use of mobile phones and the heterogeneity of banana farmers in Rwanda
- Author
-
Kabirigi, Michel, Sekabira, Haruna, Sun, Zhanli, and Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. The role of sustainability in the emergence and evolution of bioeconomy clusters: An application of a multiscalar framework
- Author
-
Ayrapetyan, David, Befort, Nicolas, and Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Policy instruments for green-growth of clusters: Implications from an agent-based model
- Author
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Kamath, Ram, Sun, Zhanli, and Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Using farm typology to understand banana Xanthomonas wilt management in Rwanda.
- Author
-
Kabirigi, Michel, Hermans, Frans, Sun, Zhanli, Gaidashova, Svetlana V., McCampbell, Mariette, Adewopo, Julius B., and Schut, Marc
- Abstract
This study aims to contribute to the understanding of diversity within the context of banana farming and its implications for the management of banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) disease in Rwanda. We used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 690 banana farmers in eight districts, representing various agroecological zones, across Rwanda. We implemented principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of the data leading to the delineation of three distinct groups of banana farmers, namely: 1) Beer banana farmers (39.1%), 2) Livestock-based farmers (31.7%), and 3) Cooking banana farmers (29.1%). These farm types exhibit apparent differences in their main farming objectives and adoption of BXW management practices. Cooking banana farmers prioritize BXW prevention over control, whereas beer banana farmers exhibit the opposite trend. Livestock-based farmers show no significant difference in practices in comparison to cooking banana farmers. Beer banana farmers predominantly adopt the officially recommended complete mat uprooting (CMU) approach for disease control, while cooking banana farmers adopt the single diseased stem removal (SDSR) method. These findings provide insights for designing customized and targeted interventions to address BXW management effectively, based on farmer typology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Bioclusters and Sustainable Regional Development
- Author
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Hermans, Frans L. P., Sedita, Silvia Rita, editor, and Blasi, Silvia, editor
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Innovation in the bioeconomy: Perspectives of entrepreneurs on relevant framework conditions
- Author
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Wilde, Kerstin and Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. The contribution of statistical network models to the study of clusters and their evolution
- Author
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Hermans, Frans
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Opinion leaders' influence on knowledge transmission about crop diseases management: Exploring the attributes that matter to followers.
- Author
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Kabirigi, Michel, Adewopo, Julius B, Sun, Zhanli, and Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
TREND setters ,FUSARIUM wilt of banana ,PLANT diseases ,DISEASE management ,CROP management - Abstract
Opinion leaders play a significant role in promoting innovation and technology adoption through effective information dissemination to potential adopters. However, personal traits that define effective opinion leaders, as identified in existing literature, may not fully align with followers' desired attributes of an opinion leader. Additionally, little is known about how varying degrees of influence may impact the spread of knowledge. To bridge the gap, first, we conducted focus group discussions in 10 villages within the banana farming community in Rwanda to assess the critical attributes that farmers seek in opinion leaders. Results indicate that honesty, commitment, social, knowledge, and leading by example are the top five attributes that farmers value the most from an opinion leader for the control of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt – a major banana disease. Second, we collected data from 100 nominated opinion leaders, including 10 farmer promoters, using a structured questionnaire to determine how they transmit knowledge about disease management to farmers. The opinion leaders were categorised into low, medium, and high levels of influence based on pairwise comparison. We found that honesty, leading by example, and justice are significant attributes that distinguish opinion leaders with a higher level of influence and who are more effective in transmitting knowledge. Farmer promoters are not distinct from other opinion leaders in terms of access to farmers but are more active in knowledge transmission than any other opinion leader. Our results suggest that having access to farmers does not indicate influence. Therefore, we recommend engaging those farmer promoters and opinion leaders with a higher level of influence to disseminate information to farmers at the village level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Public-private partnerships as systemic agricultural innovation policy instruments – Assessing their contribution to innovation system function dynamics
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Geerling-Eiff, Floor, Potters, Jorieke, and Klerkx, Laurens
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Scale dynamics of grassroots innovations through parallel pathways of transformative change
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Roep, Dirk, and Klerkx, Laurens
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Structural Conditions for Collaboration and Learning in Innovation Networks: Using an Innovation System Performance Lens to Analyse Agricultural Knowledge Systems
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans, Klerkx, Laurens, and Roep, Dirk
- Abstract
Purpose: We investigate how the structural conditions of eight different European agricultural innovation systems can facilitate or hinder collaboration and social learning in multidisciplinary innovation networks. Methodology: We have adapted the Innovation System Failure Matrix to investigate the main barriers and enablers eight countries (England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands and Switzerland). Findings: Results show some of the recent trends the AKS actors in these countries have experienced and how these have affected their potential to act as collaborators in multidisciplinary innovation networks. Lack of funds, combined with horizontal and vertical fragmentation and the lack of proper evaluation criteria for collaborative innovation networks are among the most important threats we found. Practical Implications: This study shows that each national AIS has some unique features. This means that the implementation of policies promoting collaboration and social learning (e.g. the European Innovation Partnerships and Operational Groups) should depend on a critical reflection of the existing structural elements of the AIS in each country and whether there is a need for inclusion of new actors, or whether certain innovations for collective goods should be promoted. Originality: The paper contributes to the ongoing discussion in the scientific literature on the advantages and disadvantages of privatization of extension and advisory services and the shift from thinking in terms of the traditional Agricultural Knowledge System towards a broader Agricultural Innovation System. more...
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. Institutional Entrepreneurship in the Bioeconomy
- Author
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Wilde, Kerstin, primary and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Teacher professional development in the contexts of teaching English pronunciation
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Sloep, Peter, and Kreijns, Karel
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. The green-restructuring of clusters: investigating a biocluster's transition using a complex adaptive system model
- Author
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Kamath, Ram, primary, Elola, Aitziber, additional, and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems: The case of banana disease management in Rwanda
- Author
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Kabirigi, Michel, primary, Abbasiharofteh, Milad, additional, Sun, Zhanli, additional, and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. Social learning inside and outside transition projects: Playing free jazz for a heavy metal audience
- Author
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Beers, Pieter. J., Hermans, Frans, Veldkamp, Tom, and Hinssen, Jules
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. The green-restructuring of clusters: investigating a biocluster's transition using a complex adaptive system model.
- Author
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Kamath, Ram, Elola, Aitziber, and Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
REGIONAL development ,STRUCTURAL dynamics ,BUSINESSPEOPLE ,SUSTAINABLE development ,GREEN technology - Abstract
Bioclusters' promise of helping achieving sustainable bioeconomies has invoked great interest among policymakers and academia. However, bioclusters are not intrinsically sustainable. If they are to fulfil their promise, bioclusters must undergo green-restructuring. While cluster-research has elaborated on green regional development, we need more clarity on how clusters transition to normatively desired states; we need more evidence of how green-restructuring unfolds. In this study, we conduct a longitudinal analysis to demonstrate how a biocluster green-restructures through the interactions of agency, regional and industrial structures, and phenomena at (supra-)national levels. To execute this analysis, we created a novel cluster-evolution framework that treats clusters, and the regional innovation system and sectoral systems of innovation that contain the cluster, as complex adaptive systems. We applied this framework to study the greening of the Basque pulp-and paper-biocluster, over four phases between 1986 and 2019. Our analysis helped us discover patterns of agency, structural dynamics, and of agency-structure interactions and how supra-regional phenomena shaped structures and agency over the four phases. Based on our findings, we recommend policymakers encourage not only green-tech entrepreneurs, but also institutional-entrepreneurs and place-leaders who can help shape both (supra-)regional and industrial structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Toward a digital transformation of the theory of the firm: Emergence as framework for organizational sustainability.
- Author
-
Valentinov, Vladislav, Van Assche, Kristof, and Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
DIGITAL transformation ,DIGITAL technology ,THEORY of the firm ,TRANSACTION cost theory of the firm ,BUSINESS ethics - Abstract
Copyright of Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Niches and networks: Explaining network evolution through niche formation processes
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, van Apeldoorn, Dirk, Stuiver, Marian, and Kok, Kasper
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Exploring Dimensions, Scales, and Cross-scale Dynamics from the Perspectives of Change Agents in Social–ecological Systems
- Author
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Vervoort, Joost M., Rutting, Lucas, Kok, Kasper, Hermans, Frans L.P., Veldkamp, Tom, Bregt, Arnold K., and van Lammeren, Ron
- Published
- 2012
23. The use of mobile phones and the heterogeneity of banana farmers in Rwanda
- Author
-
Kabirigi, Michel, primary, Sekabira, Haruna, additional, Sun, Zhanli, additional, and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Toward a digital transformation of the theory of the firm: Emergence as framework for organizational sustainability
- Author
-
Valentinov, Vladislav, primary, Van Assche, Kristof, additional, and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. A PRINCIPLE-BASED APPROACH FOR THE EVALUATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- Author
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HERMANS, FRANS and KNIPPENBERG, LUUK
- Published
- 2006
26. Potential of Using ICT Tools for Crop Diseases Management among Heterogenous Farmers in Rwanda
- Author
-
Kabirigi, Michel, Sun, Zhanli, and Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
Agricultural and Food Policy ,Banana production systems ,Mobile phone-based extension ,Farm diversity ,Community / Rural / Urban Development - Abstract
Social interactions among farmers, extension agents, and government officials play a critical role in knowledge development and exchange, uptake of new practices, collective decision-making in agricultural practices. Smartphones and new communication tools are likely to transform the way information exchange and social interactions take place. However, how these ICT developments will influence the communication and social interactions among farmers, and the decision-making of farmers are intriguing questions, yet to be studied. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the use and experience of ICT of banana growers in Rwanda within the context of establishing an effective method for prevention and control of Banana Xanthomas Wilt (BXW), an infectious plant disease. Specifically, we want to assess whether farm clusters associate with the different behaviors and perceptions of the use of ICT. A structured questionnaire was used to collect household information from banana growers (n=690) in 8 representative districts. A combination of principal component analysis and cluster analysis was used to develop a farmer typology of banana growers. Three types of banana growers were identified, namely, i) Beer banana farmers, ii) Livestock-based farmers, and iii) Cooking banana farmers. We then conducted a statistical analysis to regress the use of ICT on the farmer typology and other socioeconomic control variables. Results showed that cooking banana-based farmers are more likely to own a smartphone and perceive ICT as very useful in effective control of BXW whereas beer banana farmers are less likely to own a smartphone, and they tend to perceive ICT as irrelevant in controlling BXW. Beer banana farmers are mainly limited by not knowing how to use these services which are associated with their low level of literacy while Livestock farmers prefer to get information from other sources. The studied farmers provide the potential for using ICT (Mobile based) extension services however beer banana farmers, less likely to own smartphones, are limited to few options. more...
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Evaluation of stakeholder participation in monitoring regional sustainable development
- Author
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Hermans, Frans L. P., Haarmann, Wim M. F., and Dagevos, John F. L. M. M.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. Deconstructing the attractiveness of biocluster imaginaries
- Author
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Wilde, Kerstin, primary and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. The contribution of statistical network models to the study of clusters and their evolution
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans, primary
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. Introducing a Multiscalar Framework for Biocluster Research: A Meta-Analysis
- Author
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Ayrapetyan, David, primary and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. From defining the educational challenge to sustainable changes in teacher behaviour::Professionalising teachers of English in the Netherlands in the field of teaching English pronunciation
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans
- Abstract
Research showed that teachers are the most important external influence on student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Marzano, 2003, Hattie & Timperley, 2007;Hattie, 2009; Van Veen et al., 2010). It seems worthwhile to invest in teacher quality and nowadays a variety of teacher professional development (TPD) programmes is offered,from one-day workshops to programmes that involve teachers in a cycle of inquiry based learning, which might run for several years. Some programmes offer specific subject-content knowledge, some pedagogical-content knowledge and others combine both. Sometimes the focus is on developing individual teachers’ skills and sometimes collaboration is the main focus.Although plenty of research papers on TPD programmes have indicated positive effects on teacher skills, fewer have taken into account the effect on student achievement. The sustainable effects of a TPD programme is seldom the topic of a research paper. Teachers might consider a TPD programme to be successful and an enhanced teacher self-efficacy should not to be underestimated, but ultimately, we want TPD programmes to have a positive influence on student achievements, and that for a longer period that the running time of a TPD programme.Next to that it is very important to find out what it is that makes teachers change their teaching behaviour and what motivates them to copy and embed aspects of a TPD programme in their day-to-day teaching practice. Based on knowledge about how teachers learn and what makes them change their teaching ideas, TPD programmes might become more efficient and successful, as developers are aware of which contexts are most effectively influencing the teacher learning process.In this research we focused on the full spectrum of teacher professional development,from the initial stages of defining the educational challenge and developing and testing a teaching tool, to finding proof of sustainable changes in teacher behaviour and classroom practices.We were particularly interested in the experiences of teachers who participated in a two year running TPD programme and we studied the influence of the TPD programme on teacher behaviour. Why and how were they motivated (intrinsically versus extrinsically)to take part in the TPD programme? How did participation change their teaching perspective? We were interested in their motivation (and intention) to embed the new TPD programme’s aspects in their day-to-day teaching practice. We also wanted to find out whether they felt more skilled to teach English pronunciation (enhanced self-efficacy). We were particularly interested in the aspects of the programme teachers consider to be most important and the aspects that influenced their teaching behaviour and beliefs. All of these aspects are important to determine what causes a teacher his teaching behaviour. Even proof of better student achievements after a post intervention test does not always cause teachers to change their teaching practice. If self-efficacy is not enhanced and teachers feel insecure about teaching according to new ideas, or if new ideas ask for more preparation time and the programme does not meet the teachers’ expectations, they might revert to old teaching habits. The success of a TPD programme (better student achievements) will only last a short period of time if teachers’needs are not addressed. So chapter 4 focuses on our research question:Can we provide evidence of teacher professional development by involving teachers in practice in which they implement and test a new teaching design?All the teachers who took part in the first test phase were invited to take part in a semi- structured interview. The interview questions allowed the teachers to narrate their thoughts on the teaching topic (teaching English pronunciation), their former teaching activities concerning teaching English pronunciation, using the new teaching design and their own professional development. We focused specifically on the topic of teacher professional development.In order to measure teachers’ motivation to use the CAPTT we used a measure that was derived from the Perceived Locus of Causality measure (PLOC) of Ryan and Connell(1989). We refer to this as the adapted PLOC measure or for short: a-PLOC. This measure assesses different types of motivation that regulate behaviour as defined by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) of Ryan and Deci (2000).The data from the interviews showed that 70 % of the teachers embedded aspects of the professional development programme in their teaching practice. The results from the a-PLOC indicated that teachers were intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to use the CAPTT or its pedagogy in their classroom practice.In chapter 5 we revisited the schools that were involved in the TPD programme a year after the programme had ended, in order to find out what elements of the TPD programme were still used in the teachers’ classroom practice. Our research question was: What evidence can we provide of sustainable change in teacher behaviour and classroom practice that results from a TPD programme?We looked for signs of changes in the teachers’ behaviour, beliefs, intentions, and classroom practice. Once again we conducted semi-structured interview with the focus on teacher classroom practice. Again, we used a measure that was derived from the Perceived Locus of Causality measure (PLOC) of Ryan and Connell (1989) to find out whether there were any changes in the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of teachers to use the pedagogy tested in the TPD programme. Aspects of the TPD programme were summed up in a questionnaire (4 point scale) to find out how many aspects of the TPD programme were still present in the teaching of teachers who were involved in the programme and how often these aspects occurred in their classroom practice a year after rounding off the TPD-programme. Not only the teachers involved in the programme were asked to fill in the questionnaire, but also a group of teachers who were not involved,in order to find out if there was a significant difference in the way English pronunciation was taught between the two groups of teachers. A similar questionnaire was presented to the students of both groups of teachers in order to find out if the students’ perception of pronunciation teaching aspects correlated with the teachers’ facilitating perception concerning their own classroom practice. The group of the teachers involved in the TPD programme and the group of students of those teachers both identified significantly more TPD aspects present in the classroom practice a year after the TPD programme had ended. This indicates the sustainability of some of the TPD programme’s aspects.In chapter 5 we further studied the contexts that caused teachers to change their teaching behaviour (Tymperley et al., 2007), but we also looked for demotivating aspects which caused teachers to ignore new ideas or revert to old teaching habits. Our research question for this aspect was:What conditions provide teachers with the best opportunities to learn and sustainably change their classroom practice?The results led to the following suggested ranking order of important contexts for effective teacher professional development:1: challenging prevailing discourses 2: consistency with wider trends in policy and research 3: active school leadership 4: teacher’s engagement 5: external expertise 6: extended time for learning opportunities 7: participation in professional communities of practice.Defining the educational challenge that determined the context for our TPD programme was initialised by the first stakeholder: the teacher training college of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Sittard, the Netherlands. Year after year remedial pronunciation teaching was required to bring the student-teachers of English to an acceptable near native level of English pronunciation. Many of the first-year student-teachers failed their pronunciation tests and struggled with typical difficulties Dutch learners of English face when speaking English. In chapter 2 we visited secondary schools to find out what pronunciation error types were most common and frequent among third year students who followed the highest level within the Dutch secondary educational system (VWO) and third year pupils following a bilingual course with more EFL lessons and other subjects than English, taught in English too. Our research question was:Which pronunciation mistakes are still prominently present in students’ English pronunciation after two years of secondary education and after finishing secondary education in the Netherlands?Pupils were recorded while speaking English and the sound data was analysed. The same procedure was applied to third year bachelor students from all over the Netherlands,who studied anything but English. The sound data was analysed and compared. After analysis six error type categories were ranked with error type category one being the most difficult pronunciation aspect for Dutch speakers of English. This was the starting point for defining the educational challenge: improving pupils’ and students’ English pronunciation skills in these six error type categories.In chapter 3 the process of developing a computer assisted pronunciation teaching tool (CAPTT) is described. Taking into account the hesitations teachers, students and even school staff members might have with using ICT in the classroom, a website focusing on the six error type categories was designed, with a teacher and a student access. Teachers were provided with background materials on phonetics and phonology, and students were trained by means of recording tasks and sample videos. Our research question was:Is there a change in the number of pronunciation mistakes Dutch learners of English make in the error type categories selected, before and after working with the CAPTT?Teachers were asked to use the teaching tool in their classroom practice, following a strict procedure. Before using the CAPPT students and pupils (from now on referred to as “students”) took a pre-intervention test. Students were recorded reading out a pre-structured text and those recordings were analysed to find out how many mistakes in the six error type categories were made. The same procedure was followed in a post-intervention test (after working with the CAPTT in class). The post-intervention test showed significant student improvement in five of the six error type categories.Chapter 6, presents a general discussion of the findings of this research. We focus on the most important contexts for teacher professional development and the demotivating aspects causing teachers to ignore new ideas. We also discuss the limitations of this research and the need for further research into matters of scaling up a TPD programme’s positive effects and the necessity of monitoring the sustainability of such a programme over time. more...
- Published
- 2018
32. From defining the educational challenge to sustainable changes in teacher behaviour:: Professionalising teachers of English in the Netherlands in the field of teaching English pronunciation
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans, Sloep, Peter, Kreijns, Karel, Department T2, and RS-Research Line Teaching and Teacher Professionalisation (T2) (part of WO program)
- Abstract
Research showed that teachers are the most important external influence on student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Marzano, 2003, Hattie & Timperley, 2007;Hattie, 2009; Van Veen et al., 2010). It seems worthwhile to invest in teacher quality and nowadays a variety of teacher professional development (TPD) programmes is offered,from one-day workshops to programmes that involve teachers in a cycle of inquiry based learning, which might run for several years. Some programmes offer specific subject-content knowledge, some pedagogical-content knowledge and others combine both. Sometimes the focus is on developing individual teachers’ skills and sometimes collaboration is the main focus.Although plenty of research papers on TPD programmes have indicated positive effects on teacher skills, fewer have taken into account the effect on student achievement. The sustainable effects of a TPD programme is seldom the topic of a research paper. Teachers might consider a TPD programme to be successful and an enhanced teacher self-efficacy should not to be underestimated, but ultimately, we want TPD programmes to have a positive influence on student achievements, and that for a longer period that the running time of a TPD programme.Next to that it is very important to find out what it is that makes teachers change their teaching behaviour and what motivates them to copy and embed aspects of a TPD programme in their day-to-day teaching practice. Based on knowledge about how teachers learn and what makes them change their teaching ideas, TPD programmes might become more efficient and successful, as developers are aware of which contexts are most effectively influencing the teacher learning process.In this research we focused on the full spectrum of teacher professional development,from the initial stages of defining the educational challenge and developing and testing a teaching tool, to finding proof of sustainable changes in teacher behaviour and classroom practices.We were particularly interested in the experiences of teachers who participated in a two year running TPD programme and we studied the influence of the TPD programme on teacher behaviour. Why and how were they motivated (intrinsically versus extrinsically)to take part in the TPD programme? How did participation change their teaching perspective? We were interested in their motivation (and intention) to embed the new TPD programme’s aspects in their day-to-day teaching practice. We also wanted to find out whether they felt more skilled to teach English pronunciation (enhanced self-efficacy). We were particularly interested in the aspects of the programme teachers consider to be most important and the aspects that influenced their teaching behaviour and beliefs. All of these aspects are important to determine what causes a teacher his teaching behaviour. Even proof of better student achievements after a post intervention test does not always cause teachers to change their teaching practice. If self-efficacy is not enhanced and teachers feel insecure about teaching according to new ideas, or if new ideas ask for more preparation time and the programme does not meet the teachers’ expectations, they might revert to old teaching habits. The success of a TPD programme (better student achievements) will only last a short period of time if teachers’needs are not addressed. So chapter 4 focuses on our research question:Can we provide evidence of teacher professional development by involving teachers in practice in which they implement and test a new teaching design?All the teachers who took part in the first test phase were invited to take part in a semi- structured interview. The interview questions allowed the teachers to narrate their thoughts on the teaching topic (teaching English pronunciation), their former teaching activities concerning teaching English pronunciation, using the new teaching design and their own professional development. We focused specifically on the topic of teacher professional development.In order to measure teachers’ motivation to use the CAPTT we used a measure that was derived from the Perceived Locus of Causality measure (PLOC) of Ryan and Connell(1989). We refer to this as the adapted PLOC measure or for short: a-PLOC. This measure assesses different types of motivation that regulate behaviour as defined by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) of Ryan and Deci (2000).The data from the interviews showed that 70 % of the teachers embedded aspects of the professional development programme in their teaching practice. The results from the a-PLOC indicated that teachers were intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to use the CAPTT or its pedagogy in their classroom practice.In chapter 5 we revisited the schools that were involved in the TPD programme a year after the programme had ended, in order to find out what elements of the TPD programme were still used in the teachers’ classroom practice. Our research question was: What evidence can we provide of sustainable change in teacher behaviour and classroom practice that results from a TPD programme?We looked for signs of changes in the teachers’ behaviour, beliefs, intentions, and classroom practice. Once again we conducted semi-structured interview with the focus on teacher classroom practice. Again, we used a measure that was derived from the Perceived Locus of Causality measure (PLOC) of Ryan and Connell (1989) to find out whether there were any changes in the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of teachers to use the pedagogy tested in the TPD programme. Aspects of the TPD programme were summed up in a questionnaire (4 point scale) to find out how many aspects of the TPD programme were still present in the teaching of teachers who were involved in the programme and how often these aspects occurred in their classroom practice a year after rounding off the TPD-programme. Not only the teachers involved in the programme were asked to fill in the questionnaire, but also a group of teachers who were not involved,in order to find out if there was a significant difference in the way English pronunciation was taught between the two groups of teachers. A similar questionnaire was presented to the students of both groups of teachers in order to find out if the students’ perception of pronunciation teaching aspects correlated with the teachers’ facilitating perception concerning their own classroom practice. The group of the teachers involved in the TPD programme and the group of students of those teachers both identified significantly more TPD aspects present in the classroom practice a year after the TPD programme had ended. This indicates the sustainability of some of the TPD programme’s aspects.In chapter 5 we further studied the contexts that caused teachers to change their teaching behaviour (Tymperley et al., 2007), but we also looked for demotivating aspects which caused teachers to ignore new ideas or revert to old teaching habits. Our research question for this aspect was:What conditions provide teachers with the best opportunities to learn and sustainably change their classroom practice?The results led to the following suggested ranking order of important contexts for effective teacher professional development:1: challenging prevailing discourses 2: consistency with wider trends in policy and research 3: active school leadership 4: teacher’s engagement 5: external expertise 6: extended time for learning opportunities 7: participation in professional communities of practice.Defining the educational challenge that determined the context for our TPD programme was initialised by the first stakeholder: the teacher training college of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Sittard, the Netherlands. Year after year remedial pronunciation teaching was required to bring the student-teachers of English to an acceptable near native level of English pronunciation. Many of the first-year student-teachers failed their pronunciation tests and struggled with typical difficulties Dutch learners of English face when speaking English. In chapter 2 we visited secondary schools to find out what pronunciation error types were most common and frequent among third year students who followed the highest level within the Dutch secondary educational system (VWO) and third year pupils following a bilingual course with more EFL lessons and other subjects than English, taught in English too. Our research question was:Which pronunciation mistakes are still prominently present in students’ English pronunciation after two years of secondary education and after finishing secondary education in the Netherlands?Pupils were recorded while speaking English and the sound data was analysed. The same procedure was applied to third year bachelor students from all over the Netherlands,who studied anything but English. The sound data was analysed and compared. After analysis six error type categories were ranked with error type category one being the most difficult pronunciation aspect for Dutch speakers of English. This was the starting point for defining the educational challenge: improving pupils’ and students’ English pronunciation skills in these six error type categories.In chapter 3 the process of developing a computer assisted pronunciation teaching tool (CAPTT) is described. Taking into account the hesitations teachers, students and even school staff members might have with using ICT in the classroom, a website focusing on the six error type categories was designed, with a teacher and a student access. Teachers were provided with background materials on phonetics and phonology, and students were trained by means of recording tasks and sample videos. Our research question was:Is there a change in the number of pronunciation mistakes Dutch learners of English make in the error type categories selected, before and after working with the CAPTT?Teachers were asked to use the teaching tool in their classroom practice, following a strict procedure. Before using the CAPPT students and pupils (from now on referred to as “students”) took a pre-intervention test. Students were recorded reading out a pre-structured text and those recordings were analysed to find out how many mistakes in the six error type categories were made. The same procedure was followed in a post-intervention test (after working with the CAPTT in class). The post-intervention test showed significant student improvement in five of the six error type categories.Chapter 6, presents a general discussion of the findings of this research. We focus on the most important contexts for teacher professional development and the demotivating aspects causing teachers to ignore new ideas. We also discuss the limitations of this research and the need for further research into matters of scaling up a TPD programme’s positive effects and the necessity of monitoring the sustainability of such a programme over time. more...
- Published
- 2018
33. The potential contribution of transition theory to the analysis of bioclusters and their role in the transition to a bioeconomy
- Author
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Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
innovation systems ,multi‐level perspective (MLP) ,ddc:330 ,sustainability transitions ,bioclusters ,innovation - Abstract
Biocluster initiatives have become an important tool for governments to establish, promote, and strengthen economic collaboration, learning, innovation, and employment within particular regions. However, in addition to issues like competitiveness and employment, bioclusters operate with the additional goal of fostering the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. The profound changes that are required for a successful shift from a fossil‐based economy to a bioeconomy are called transitions and the relatively new scientific field of transition theory has emerged to study them. The aim of this paper is to show the contribution that transition theory can make to the study of bioclusters. In this paper I will review frameworks from the study of sustainability transitions (multi‐level perspective and technical innovation systems) and frameworks from theories of evolutionary economic geography and cluster studies (regional and sectoral innovation systems). The review shows how the choice of a particular framework will shape the analysis of the biocluster through the particular focus and delineation associated with each framework. The review shows the advantages and disadvantages these frameworks have for incorporating the various issues related to the shift towards a bioeconomy that are currently neglected in the literature on bioclusters. more...
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. Teaching English pronunciation beyond intelligibility
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Sloep, Peter, RS-Research Line Teaching and Teacher Professionalisation (T2) (part of WO program), and Department T2
- Subjects
English Pronunciation Teaching ,Pronunciation ,CAPTT ,Pedagogy ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION ,IT Teaching Tools - Abstract
Teaching English pronunciation is being neglected in English lessons in the Netherlands. Most teachers do not have a specific pedagogy for teaching English pronunciation or do not consider it to be important. Students with a desire for more native-like English pronunciation, be it to enhance their intelligibility, confidence or credibility, are faced with a lack of skilled professionals who are able to provide them with the necessary feedback for improvement. Research shows that a student- oriented computer-assisted pronunciation teaching tool can significantly improve students’ pronunciation skills, even without initial teacher input. more...
- Published
- 2018
35. Effects of multi-stakeholder platforms on multi-stakeholder innovation networks : Implications for research for development interventions targeting innovations at scale
- Author
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Sartas, Murat, Schut, Marc, Hermans, Frans, van Asten, Piet, Leeuwis, Cees, Sartas, Murat, Schut, Marc, Hermans, Frans, van Asten, Piet, and Leeuwis, Cees
- Abstract
Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) have been playing an increasing role in interventions aiming to generate and scale innovations in agricultural systems. However, the contribution of MSPs in achieving innovations and scaling has been varied, and many factors have been reported to be important for their performance. This paper aims to provide evidence on the contribution of MSPs to innovation and scaling by focusing on three developing country cases in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. Through social network analysis and logistic models, the paper studies the changes in the characteristics of multi-stakeholder innovation networks targeted by MSPs and identifies factors that play significant roles in triggering these changes. The results demonstrate that MSPs do not necessarily expand and decentralize innovation networks but can lead to contraction and centralization in the initial years of implementation. They show that some of the intended next users of interventions with MSPs–local-level actors–left the innovation networks, whereas the lead organization controlling resource allocation in the MSPs substantially increased its centrality. They also indicate that not all the factors of change in innovation networks are country specific. Initial conditions of innovation networks and funding provided by the MSPs are common factors explaining changes in innovation networks across countries and across different network functions. The study argues that investigating multi-stakeholder innovation network characteristics targeted by the MSP using a network approach in early implementation can contribute to better performance in generating and scaling innovations, and that funding can be an effective implementation tool in developing country contexts. more...
- Published
- 2018
36. What Drives Human Migration in Sahelian Countries? A Meta-analysis
- Author
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Neumann, K. and Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
meta-analysis ,Laboratory of Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing ,Sahel ,Sociology of Development and Change ,Knowledge Technology and Innovation ,Laboratorium voor Geo-informatiekunde en Remote Sensing ,drivers ,Sociologie van Ontwikkeling en Verandering ,PE&RC ,migration ,Kennis, Technologie and Innovatie - Abstract
The Sahel region has one of the most mobile populations in the world, with migration serving as a common household strategy to increase livelihood and social resilience. However, the Sahel region's population is extremely heterogeneous, and the processes and factors that contribute to migration are complex. Consequently, recent empirical studies yielded conflicting conclusions regarding the processes that drive migration. This study was designed to increase our understanding of the factors that drive migration in the Sahel region. We performed a systematic meta-analysis of English-language literature to synthesise the empirical evidence collected from 53 case studies covering eight Sahelian countries. We analysed the frequencies of a broad range of drivers that affected migration processes during the past three decades. Our results show that the primary impetus for driving migration is a combination of economic and social motivations, which together account for 80% of all drivers that were identified in the case studies. In contrast, only 11% of the identified drivers are related directly to demographic and/or environmental conditions. Moreover, we conclude that the majority of case studies do not explore causation among migration drivers, which clearly hampers our understanding of migration mechanisms taking place in the Sahel region. more...
- Published
- 2017
37. The emergence and proliferation of agroholdings and mega farms in a global context
- Author
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Hermans, Frans L. P., Chaddad, Fabio R., Gagalyuk, Taras, Senesi, Sebastian, and Balmann, Alfons
- Subjects
mega farms ,Farm Management ,integration ,Agribusiness ,farm size ,agroholdings - Abstract
During the last two decades an increasing amount of large-scale farming operations have emerged all over the world: from (Eastern) Europe, to South America, China and the countries of the Former Soviet Union. These agribusinesses go under the name of mega-farms or agroholdings: horizontally or vertically integrated operations with farm sizes of up to 500,000 hectares and sometimes even more. These types of farms are not only found in crop farming, but also in animal husbandry. Although some information on agroholdings and other forms of mega-farming operations is available, a systematic analysis of their prevalence, economic performance as well as their social and environmental implications in an international perspective is missing. In this special issue of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review we present a number of papers that highlight the different aspects of such farms. In this editorial we introduce the topic of agroholdings and place the papers in within the context of the available literature. We end with the presentation of a research agenda for the future. more...
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Effects of multi-stakeholder platforms on multi-stakeholder innovation networks: Implications for research for development interventions targeting innovations at scale
- Author
-
Sartas, Murat, primary, Schut, Marc, additional, Hermans, Frans, additional, Asten, Piet van, additional, and Leeuwis, Cees, additional
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. The potential contribution of transition theory to the analysis of bioclusters and their role in the transition to a bioeconomy
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans, primary
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Book Review
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, primary
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Social network analysis of multi-stakeholder platforms in agricultural research for development : Opportunities and constraints for innovation and scaling
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Sartas, Murat, van Schagen, Boudy, van Asten, Piet, Schut, Marc, Hermans, Frans, Sartas, Murat, van Schagen, Boudy, van Asten, Piet, and Schut, Marc
- Abstract
Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) are seen as a promising vehicle to achieve agricultural development impacts. By increasing collaboration, exchange of knowledge and influence mediation among farmers, researchers and other stakeholders, MSPs supposedly enhance their 'capacity to innovate' and contribute to the 'scaling of innovations'. The objective of this paper is to explore the capacity to innovate and scaling potential of three MSPs in Burundi, Rwanda and the South Kivu province located in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In order to do this, we apply Social Network Analysis and Exponential Random Graph Modelling (ERGM) to investigate the structural properties of the collaborative, knowledge exchange and influence networks of these MSPs and compared them against value propositions derived from the innovation network literature. Results demonstrate a number of mismatches between collaboration, knowledge exchange and influence networks for effective innovation and scaling processes in all three countries: NGOs and private sector are respectively over- and under-represented in the MSP networks. Linkages between local and higher levels are weak, and influential organisations (e.g., high-level government actors) are often not part of the MSP or are not actively linked to by other organisations. Organisations with a central position in the knowledge network are more sought out for collaboration. The scaling of innovations is primarily between the same type of organisations across different administrative levels, but not between different types of organisations. The results illustrate the potential of Social Network Analysis and ERGMs to identify the strengths and limitations of MSPs in terms of achieving development impacts. more...
- Published
- 2017
42. The emergence and proliferation of agroholdings and mega farms in a global context
- Author
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Hermans, Frans L.P., primary, Chaddad, Fabio R., additional, Gagalyuk, Taras, additional, Senesi, Sebastián, additional, and Balmann, Alfons, additional
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. Social network analysis of multi-stakeholder platforms in agricultural research for development: Opportunities and constraints for innovation and scaling
- Author
-
Hermans, Frans, primary, Sartas, Murat, additional, van Schagen, Boudy, additional, van Asten, Piet, additional, and Schut, Marc, additional
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Teaching the Dutch how to pronounce English
- Author
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Hermans, Frans, Sloep, Peter, RS-Research Line Teaching and Teacher Professionalisation (T2) (part of WO program), and Department T2
- Subjects
intelligibility ,teaching design ,pronunciation teaching ,accent - Abstract
The Dutch overestimate their English speaking skills. Their pronunciation is not always convincing and certain pronunciation mistakes are easily recognised as being typical for Dutch speakers of English. Although intelligibility cannot exist without adequate pronunciation, teaching English pronunciation at Dutch secondary schools is often absent from the EFL teaching curriculum. Focussing on the most prominent pronunciation difficulties, often caused by the mother tongue (L1), will benefit the non-native speaker’s pronunciation and intelligibility. In order to provide teachers with a time-efficient approach to teach English pronunciation, preliminary research is needed to establish the most prominent error types in the English pronunciation of secondary school pupils and bachelor students in the Netherlands. Research shows that fifty percent of the subject group makes seven types of pronunciation mistakes in more than fifty percent of the cases that such mistakes could be made. The conclusion discusses a general approach for addressing the kind of pronunciation problems we identified. more...
- Published
- 2015
45. Taal en Spraak
- Author
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Cornips, L., Tummers, Paul, Berkvens, Louis, Bijsterveld, Arnoud-Jan, Hermans, Frans, Knotter, Ad, Wessels, Leo, van Royen, Eric, and Variatielinguïstiek
- Published
- 2015
46. Near-native pronunciation? Who cares?
- Author
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Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
near-native ,teaching Pronunciation ,accent - Abstract
It will be hard to find a Dutchmen under 50 years old who is not able to understand and speak English. Dutch pupils in secondary education spend about 4 hours a week studying grammar, reading texts, listening to conversations and giving presentations, all in English and that for four to six years. They even study cultural and historical aspects of the English speaking world. Music, films and playing online-computer games all add to a better understanding of the English language. The quality of most Dutch vowels and consonants are quite close to the quality of many English vowels and consonants. Most of the time an English utterance produced with Dutch vowel and consonant qualities will still be easily understood by native speakers of English. Phonological interference does not automatically make a Dutchman’s English unintelligible. However, why is it so easy to recognise a Dutchman as being Dutch while speaking English? Would it not be worthwhile to try and achieve a near-native accent for our pupils and students? more...
- Published
- 2014
47. The importance of a near-native accent.: Do the Dutch speak English or Double Dutch?
- Author
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Hermans, Frans
- Subjects
near-native ,Pronunciation ,accent - Abstract
The importance of a near-native accent. This talk will discuss whether or not it is important for EFL-teachers to try and achieve a near-native generally accepted accent for their students. The focus will be on the credibility of non-native speakers of English while speaking English in a globalising world, with a heavy or mild foreign accent. These days and in the future more and more non-native speakers of English will communicate with each other in English. For a native speaker it is not that difficult to understand a non-native speaker speaking English with a lot of local or regional phonological interferences. For two non-native speakers of different origin, both speaking English with a mild or heavy accent, it might be more likely that confusion about what is being said occurs because of the foreign accent. Research (Shiri Lev-Ari &, Boaz Keysar, Why don't we believe non-native speakers? The influence of accent on credibility, 2010) proves that a near-native accent adds to the credibility of the speaker. In the Netherland most EFL-teachers were trained to speak English with an RP or GA accent. As soon as they start teaching students in secondary education they accept “World English” and most teachers do not pay a lot of attention to pronunciation mistakes made by their students, as long as they can get the message across. During the talk the audience will be asked how important they consider a near-native accent is, what mistakes they accept and don’t accept and in which way teaching pronunciation is an issue in their lessons. Some sound samples with typical mistakes the Dutch make while speaking English will be presented and discussed to see if the audience consider them to be confusing or not. Then a strategy, using phonetics as a tool, will be presented to help correcting a few typical mistakes. session type : talk (30 minutes) Audience; EFL teachers & teacher trainers more...
- Published
- 2014
48. A Systemic Innovation Policy Framework: The Cases of Scottish and Dutch Agrifood Innovation Systems
- Author
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Lamprinopoulou-Kranis, Chrysa, Renwick, Alan W., Klerkx, Laurens, Hermans, Frans, Islam, Md. Mofakkarul, and Roep, Dirk
- Subjects
national innovation system, IS failure matrix, Dutch, Scottish, agrifood, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy - Abstract
Innovation and knowledge exchange are receiving increased attention among policy makers as a means to address sustainable economic development challenges (European Commission, 2011). However, a range of factors such as inappropriate structures and institutional or capabilities barriers may negatively influence the spread or direction of processes of innovation and knowledge exchange (Klein-Woolthuis et al., 2005). These problems are often referred to as systemic weaknesses or failures, and highlight the need to focus on the innovation system (IS) as a whole (Smiths and Kuhlmann, 2004; Raven et al., 2010). The purpose of the paper, using a comprehensive innovation systems failure framework, is to assess and he performance of agrifood innovation systems of Scotland and the Netherlands, through analysis of the key innovation actors (organisations, networks or influential individuals), and their key functions (research provider, intermediary etc), and those mechanisms that either facilitate or hinder the operation of the IS (known as inducing and blocking mechanisms, respectively). This framework was drawn up based on literature research and a series of semi-structured interviews and/or workshops with experts involved in the agrifood innovation systems in the two countries. The findings confirm the appropriateness of considering actors, functions, inducing or blocking mechanisms and governance instruments as analytical tools to evaluate the performance of agrifood innovation systems. In both countries, blocking mechanisms in terms of actors’ interactions and competencies as well as market and incentive structure were revealed. The proposed mix of governance mechanisms in each country offers actors a better chance to influence the direction and speed of innovation in agrifood systems. more...
- Published
- 2012
49. What Drives Human Migration in Sahelian Countries? A Meta-analysis
- Author
-
Neumann, Kathleen, primary and Hermans, Frans, additional
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Application of an integrated systemic framework for analysing agricultural innovation systems and informing innovation policies: Comparing the Dutch and Scottish agrifood sectors
- Author
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Lamprinopoulou, Chrysa, primary, Renwick, Alan, additional, Klerkx, Laurens, additional, Hermans, Frans, additional, and Roep, Dirk, additional
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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