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The purpose of this paper is to: (1) explore existing practices of STEM faculty at a private Lebanese university and (2) assess the extent of implementation of active learning among faculty members of selected STEM departments.

The Working Group on “Integrating Modern Scientific teaching methodologies in STEM” (IM-STEM) at a tertiary university in Lebanon advocates for novel research-based methods to enhance STEM education. This pilot study investigated, using a modified version of the Wieman and Gilbert “Teaching Practices Inventory”, the current teaching methods used by faculty members in selected STEM departments.

Remarkably, most respondents admit a willingness to incorporate new teaching methods. Main findings indicate that traditional teaching via didactic lecturing remains prevalent in the STEM classrooms at the tertiary academic institution in Lebanon despite sporadic individual efforts by faculty members to utilize unconventional methods and active learning.

One major limitation that influenced the efficiency of this study is the small number of respondents (71 faculty members). More in-depth data collection combining quantitative and qualitative data should be done in future studies.

Gaining insight into the actual methods used in STEM fields in various departments can help the university management to better understand the key importance of educational reform.

The main value of this paper is to serve as a prelude for educational reform at a tertiary academic institution.

Motivated by the acoustics of motor vehicles, a coupled fluid–solid system is considered. The air pressure is modeled by the Helmholtz equation, and the structure displacement is described by elastodynamic equations. The acoustic–structure interaction is modeled by coupling conditions on the common interface. First, the existence and uniqueness of solutions are investigated, and then, after recalling fundamental notions of shape optimization, the tensor form of the distributed shape derivative is obtained for the coupled problem. It is then applied to the minimization of the sound pressure by variation of the structure shape through the positioning of beads.

The existence and uniqueness of solutions up to eigenfrequencies are shown by the Fredholm–Riesz–Schauder theory using a novel decomposition into an isomorphism and a compact operator. For the design optimization, the distributed shape derivative is obtained using the averaged adjoint method. It is then used in a closed 3D optimization process of the position of a bead for noise reduction. In this process, the C++ library concepts are used to solve the differential equations on hexahedral meshes with the finite element method of higher order.

The existence and uniqueness of solutions have been shown for the case without absorption, where the given proof allows for extension to the case with absorption in the domain or via boundary conditions. The theoretical results show that the averaged adjoint can be applied to compute distributed shape derivatives in the context of acoustic–structure interaction. The numerical results show that the distributed shape derivative can be used to reduce the sound pressure at a chosen frequency via rigid motions of a nonsmooth shape.

The proof of shape differentiability and the calculation of the distributed shape derivative in tensor form allows to consider nonsmooth shapes for the optimization, which is particularly relevant for the optimal placement of beads or stampings in a structural-acoustic system.

The Education Reform Act and, in particular, the Local Management of Schools will demand different skills, understanding and differing roles of senior management in educational establishments. This text draws on written assignments and experience of teachers and headteachers who piloted an MBA programme, designed specifically for senior teachers. Topics such as customers, product, price, promotion and the notion of teachers as a salesforce are unfamiliar to educators. They draw attention to the kind of strategic planning which will take place in schools as they take over responsibility for delegated budgets. All of this is new territory for the majority of state schools and this collection hopefully provides a useful resource.

Attempts to prove, in this second chapter of the author’s monograph, that with a new research programme, it is possible to build a methodological bridge between economics and all other natural sciences and the scientists should address this challenge. Reviews basic principles that govern nature, including Einstein’s findings along with such luminaries as Copernicus, Newton, Galileo and Jeans. Concludes that the future is safe, as a new generation of scientists is now emerging in the East and the West, and that the new methodology should provide enough space for new roads, ideas and interpretations, which may occur in the future. Closes by saying a new spirit should be initiated in economics and transplanted into natural sciences.

There is a double crisis in modern science and in particular in physics and mechanics. Among others Einstein and Stephane Lupasco, in the 1930s, warned about this crisis. The Quantum Theory cannot be reconciled with the Relativity Theory. Specifically there is a gap (cleavage) between micro – and macro‐physics and mechanics. Parallel or beneath there is also a second crisis derived from a discontinuity (again a cleavage) between classical and modern science, that is between two previous revolutions. A new research programme of a simultaneous equilibrium versus disequilibrium approach, initially applied in economics has now been extended to include natural sciences. It is the question of a new, more comprehensive methodology which is actually a sui generis synthesis between classical and modern heritage. The rigorous application of the new research programme leads to the organisation of an Orientation Table, that is, a methodological map of all possible combinations (systems). The Table shows, without any exaggeration, a few revolutionary results. For instance, with the help of the Table, modern science or the second revolution (Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg) does not appear contradictory but rather complementary to classical science or the first revolution (Newton, Lavoisier). The Kuhnian thesis to the contrary is disproved and the second crisis is solved. With the help of the Universal Hypothesis of Duality (the basis of the Orientation Table), matter and energy, at the micro – and macro‐level, appear in a double form (the Principle of Duality): stable (equilibrium) particles and unstable (disequilibrium) waves. The strong interactions from modern physics are associated with the law of gravitation (attraction) or stable equilibrium which governs stable matter and energy. The weak interactions are associated with the law of disgravitation (dispersion or repulsion) including entropy or unstable equilibrium which governs unstable matter and energy. In this way the first crisis is also solved.

Surveys the use of mathematics in what are now commonly called the social sciences up to the time of the earliest use of the term “social science” in the late 1700s. Explains the rationale for the organization and structure of the paper and proceeds to reason for the broad definition of mathematics as it relates to the social sciences. The introduction also describes the periodization used. The next section contains a brief description of the state of what were to become the social sciences in the late 1700s. This is followed by a brief description of the state of mathematics at that time. Then follow sections demonstrating that mathematics was used by important developers of social thought from the earliest times right up to the dawn of the modern social sciences. Concludes with a discussion of some of the lessons to be learned from history. The most important lesson that history teaches us about the role of mathematics in the modern social sciences at the dawn of their existence is that the social sciences require the use of mathematics and could not exist without them.

The exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, coupled with advanced algorithms and increased computational capacity, has facilitated their widespread adoption in various industries. Among these, the financial technology (FinTech) sector has been significantly impacted by AI-based decision-making systems. Nevertheless, a knowledge gap remains regarding the intricate mechanisms behind the micro-decision-making process employed by AI algorithms. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issue.

This research utilized a sequential mixed-methods research approach and obtained data through 18 interviews conducted with a single FinTech firm in France, as well as 148 e-surveys administered to participants employed at different FinTechs located throughout Europe.

Three main themes (ambidexterity, data sovereignty and model explainability) emerge as underpinnings for effective AI micro decision-making in FinTechs.

This research aims to minimize ambiguity by putting forth a proposition for a model that functions as an “infrastructural” layer, providing a more comprehensive illumination of the micro-decisions made by AI.

This research pioneers as the very first empirical exploration delving into the essential factors that underpin effective AI micro-decisions in FinTechs.

The purpose of this paper is to present a history of social and environmental accounting (SEA) in France.

The choice is made to select and analyze three important breakthroughs in the development of SEA in France, at different periods. Three case studies are presented, based on secondary sources for two of them and on the author’s own research for the third one. The author choses the concept of organizational field, defined through its actors, how they interact, what they do, what tools and practices are being developed and what regulations are being enacted.

If each case is different in terms of context and outcome, all three present common characteristics which characterize the underlying forces which shaped SEA in France: mainly the role played by elites both in government and industry, an ability for industry to present its interests as the interests of France with an impact on the international standardization of some tools and regulatory issues such as product labeling. The French scene is dominated by engineers, characterized by quantitative tools which “measure” environmental performance, in line with the culture of the French elite for which mathematics are a tool for action and problem-solving. In a certain way this “depoliticized” environmental questions and made them a question of optimization more than a question of politics.

Because of the specific context in which some tools emerge, they may not be transferable to other countries without important changes.

The focus on problem solving through quantitative tools to make the most rational decision, and the claim by the engineering profession to be in the best position to do so, is not a focus on accountability. This may be part of the reason why the accounting profession is not as involved as in other countries.

This paper also shows how France has been both a local field of SEA production, when it comes to developing quantitative tools, with occasional global reach, and an importer of global standards and SEA concepts which originated from the Anglo-Saxon word, when it comes to reporting. More generally, it is also a good illustration of how the development of a “local” organizational field is congruent with the characteristic of its national environment.

The purpose of this research is to study how current research reports reflect on using public displays in the smart city. In particular, it looks at the state-of-the-art of this domain from two angles. On the one hand, it investigates the participation of citizens in the development of public displays. On the other hand, it aims at understanding how public displays may foster citizen participation in addressing urban issues. Its goal is to provide a literature review of this field, and a research agenda.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted following a thoroughly detailed protocol. It surveys 34 recent papers through multiple aspects, including interaction modality, level of participation, socio-demographics of participating citizens, topic of participation, evaluation of the display and participation of end-users in the early development stages of the display. Then, a research agenda informed by the results of the SLR is discussed in light of related literature.

The SLR showed that further research is needed to improve the involvement of citizens in the early stages of the development of public displays, broaden the spectrum of citizen participation achieved through public displays, integrate public displays with other means of participation and handle the changing urban context to improve the participation experience.

Previous literature reviews have been conducted in the field of public displays, including one specifically related to citizen participation. However, they have emphasized the technological aspects of public displays and omitted other essential aspects. This article aims at addressing this gap by conducting a literature review, including also non-technological perspectives such as socio-demographics and participation in development, complementing other works.

Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry that the incomplete determinism in Nature opens to the occurrence of innovation, growth, organization, teleology communication, control, contest and freedom. The new tier to the methodological edifice that cybernetics provides stands on the earlier tiers, which go back to the Ionians (c. 500 BC). However, the new insights reveal flaws in the earlier tiers, and their removal strengthens the entire edifice. The new concepts of teleological activity and contest allow the clear demarcation of the military sciences as those whose subject matter is teleological activity involving contest. The paramount question “what ought to be done”, outside the empirical realm, is embraced by the scientific methodology. It also embraces the cognitive sciences that ask how the human mind is able to discover, and how the sequence of discoveries might converge to a true description of reality.