Assessing the Ability of Multidimensional Scaling and Pathfinder Networks to Measure Spatial Knowledge

Cognitive maps, or mental representations of external environments, aid spatial navigation. Typically, researchers study cognitive maps by having participants provide a sketched map. However, multidimensional scaling (MDS) and Pathfinder, statistical techniques which represent a set of input proximities as a n-dimensional space or a network, respectively, can both be used as measures of cognitive maps. Previous research with semantic knowledge suggests that Pathfinder is better than MDS for mental modelling. In the present study, participants drew maps of a familiar environment from memory and provided pairwise distance ratings for landmarks present in those locations. Using those distance ratings as inputs for MDS solutions and Pathfinder networks, the extent to which MDS and Pathfinder related to the participant sketch maps was assessed. Results indicated that MDS solutions were more highly correlated with sketch maps than were Pathfinder networks.

Mapping the intervention of sustainable design studio using multidimensional scaling and pathfinder networks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate undergraduate industrial design students’ perception of sustainable design concepts and how their conceptualization evolves as a function of their attendance to a specific sustainable design studio (SDS) course. Design/methodology/approach Two groups of students participated in the study. Students who did not attend to SDS were in the control group, whereas students who attended SDS were in the experimental group. In total, 22 concepts, which have been highlighted in literature and the SDS course, were selected as keywords. Participants were asked to provide relatedness scores of these keywords before and after they attended the course. The data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and pathfinder (PF) networks. Findings Results indicate that the SDS caused a change in the conceptualization of sustainable design concepts parallel to the course outcomes and the literature. Some concepts were highlighted as conveyors that guide students to conceptualize sustainable development and design. Research limitations/implications This study is considered a case study focusing on declarative knowledge, and owing to the low number of participants, the results should be carefully interpreted. Practical implications The findings may support design educators to enhance their courses and promote deeper debates on teaching sustainable design. Originality/value Two specific dimensions were found from the analysis of multidimensional scaling, and several conveyor concepts were identified from PF networks. Allocating proposed dimensions and concepts into a course may have the potentials to enhance students’ perception of sustainability concepts.

Mining HPV Vaccine Knowledge Structures of Young Adults From Reddit Using Distributional Semantics and Pathfinder Networks

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine protects adolescents and young adults from 9 high-risk HPV virus types that cause 90% of cervical and anal cancers and 70% of oropharyngeal cancers. This study extends our previous research analyzing online content concerning the HPV vaccination in social media platforms used by young adults, in which we used Pathfinder network scaling and methods of distributional semantics to characterize differences in knowledge organization reflected in consumer- and expert-generated online content. The current study extends this approach to evaluate HPV vaccine perceptions among young adults who populate Reddit, a major social media platform. We derived Pathfinder networks from estimates of semantic relatedness obtained by learning word embeddings from Reddit posts and compared these to networks derived from human expert estimation of the relationship between key concepts. Results revealed that users of Reddit, predominantly comprising young adults in the vaccine catch up age-group 18 through 26 years of age, perceived the HPV vaccine domain from a virus-framed perspective that could impact their lifestyle choices and that their awareness of the HPV vaccine for cancer prevention is also lacking. Further differences in knowledge structures were elucidated, with implications for future health communication initiatives.

Effectiveness of Structural Feedback Provided by Pathfinder Networks

Within the field of education, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of formative assessment and of structural knowledge. In an effort to fill needs in each of these areas, this article describes an innovative feedback strategy intended to improve students' structural knowledge. Twenty-four high school physics students were assessed using Pathfinder networks (PFnets) for their structural knowledge of a just-completed unit on work, energy, and power. As feedback, students were shown both their PFnet and a referent PFnet and were asked to reflect on the differences. In addition, misconceptions regarding the concept of work were identified in their PFnets and used to present individualized remedial exercises to each student. Following this feedback/remediation session, students' structural knowledge was again assessed. Results indicate that overall structural knowledge improved following feedback/remediation. In addition, structural knowledge of the concept work improved more than a control concept, indicating that feedback plus remediation had a larger effect than just feedback. We discuss the innovative features of the feedback strategy employed: the novel application of a computer-based assessment tool to provide graphical feedback aimed at improving structural knowledge.