Analogies can be used in most areas of human communication to highlight points of special interest. The creation of specific, specialised patterns, examples, or analogies for facilitating communication is resource-consuming. We therefore hypothesize that there are universal patterns that can be used and reused more economically, compared to specialised patterns, for indexing and communicating knowledge. We have conducted empirical tests with altogether 204 students, each one of whom was given 20 minutes to solve problems from six different scientific areas. The results of our tests show clearly an improvement of their problem solving skill when universal patterns were employed as cognitive aids. The average result of the test group that used universal patterns was 81 per cent higher than that of the control group.

There are numerous examples of the use of visualization of events and processes within the field of Information Systems. Rich pictures are used in soft systems methodology (SSM), images of event-driven chain models are used in process modeling, etc. This paper focuses on the use of generic visualization methods in action case research. In action case research, the researcher balances between interpretation of qualitative data and intervention to solve the problem of the research partner. Two kinds of results are expected: conceptual results, as in describing expected events or expected functionality, and concrete results, as in taking action in some problem-solving context. The questions raised in this paper are: 1. What are the benefits of using visualization as a tool for building shared interpretations and mutual understandings between researchers and practice in action case research settings? 2. How can visualization activities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute to bridging the gap between conceptual and concrete levels of results? In this paper we present empirical findings from an action case research project. Flower Systems Ltd. is a software company that has developed a document handling system (ISOX) especially designed to meet the needs of social services in local governments. The concrete result of the collaboration is a more user-friendly, redesigned version of ISOX based on the use of different visualization techniques. The conceptual result is a proposed model for using visualization when balancing between interpretation and intervention.

Knowledge networks can be used to support alternative learning methods at university courses. A method is proposed for activating the students in the learning processes at university courses. The method combines: 1) Active learning where students are training each other, 2) eLearning from intranet based knowledge networks, and 3) Problem Based Learning. The method has been tested and evaluated at two university courses with a total of 127 students and the results show that: 1) Students show a high appreciation of the method, 2) Teachers show a positive interest in the method, and 3) The method makes learning more efficient and is recommended to be used at university courses ingeneral where the theoretical scope of the course can be represented in a knowledge network.

It is easier for students to learn tacit skills if they get much feedback on their behavior. Extensive resources are required for providing students with enough quantities and qualities of a specific feedback that is directly related to the students’ skills or lack of skills. We demonstrate how the demand for extensive feedback resources can be decreased by allowing the students to review film-clips from situations when they and their fellow students received qualified feedback. We will demonstrate a strategy in which we can film students’ behaviors by using cost effective filming techniques. The films allowed the students to study their own behavior in detail. Our conclusions from the study is that the presented type of strategy for supporting learning works very well and we advise other researchers to test similar strategies when they need to mass-produce teaching of tacit skills.

There is a high drop-out rate in distance courses. One of the reasons for this is that students miss the informal and collegial contact with other students that can be provided in on-campus courses. The presented study is based on an assumption that if students could be promoted to give each other more personal online feedback the students would also take initiatives to informal and collegial contact via collaboration tools. The presented experiments demonstrate that a combination of assignments during distance courses will highly increase the amount of spontaneous feedback between students.