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1 – 10 of 197Xin Zhang and Jieming Hu
The combination of mobile devices and innovative tools offers new possibilities for the development of a community of practice for design makers. Mobile learning has become an…
Abstract
Purpose
The combination of mobile devices and innovative tools offers new possibilities for the development of a community of practice for design makers. Mobile learning has become an essential method that design makers should adopt. The main content of this study is to explore the characteristics of learning behaviors and learning needs of creative design makers' group in forming a community of practice in the era of mobile learning.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted questionnaire research on the potentially associated or directly associated population of design makers. The process of the study also combined observational and interview studies to compensate for the lack of questionnaire research.
Findings
Based on the support of mobile learning technology, design makers share and co-create to achieve individual development and evolution of learning organizations, and produce creative value. Design-maker communities of practice form common communities in the framework of informal organizations to support continuous individual learning. Convergent interests or concerns in making things, real-world contexts based on makerspaces and hands-on practice based on real projects are the basis for forming design-maker communities of practice. A variety of open-source hardware, software and platforms that can support mobile learning are important for the development of design-maker communities of practice. The design-maker community of practice needs group factors, activity development, physical and technical resources, spatial support and institutional norms to enhance learning behaviors and satisfy learning needs.
Originality/value
The discovery and construction of these associated factors can help creative design practitioners form a lasting and virtuous organizational development. This study facilitates the formation of a social network for learning and knowledge sharing among design-maker communities of practice. It enhances the innovation ability and enthusiasm of design makers according to the population characteristics and learning needs of design makers. This study also facilitates the generation of a positive adaptive maker culture and maker spirit within design maker organizations.
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Behnam Soltani and William E. Donald
Drawing on a theoretical framework of sustainable career ecosystem theory, our paper aims to consider how domestic and international postgraduates can enhance their employability…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on a theoretical framework of sustainable career ecosystem theory, our paper aims to consider how domestic and international postgraduates can enhance their employability through participation in a landscape of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed an exploratory, longitudinal case study design to capture students' lived experiences on an 18-month Master of Professional Practice course at a higher education institution in New Zealand. The data collection procedure involved field note observations (months 1–4), a focus group (month 13) and narrative frames (months 16–18). The sample was domestic students from New Zealand (n = 2) and international students from Asia (n = 5).
Findings
One’s participation in multiple communities of practice represents their landscape of practice and a commitment to lifewide learning. Through participation in various communities of practice, domestic and international students can enhance their employability in three ways: (1) boundary encounters to develop social capital, (2) transcending contexts to enhance cultural capital, and (3) acknowledging the development of psychological capital and career agency.
Originality/value
Our work offers one of the earliest empirical validations of sustainable career ecosystem theory. Expressly, communities of practice represent various contexts whereby employability capital is developed over time. Additionally, the postgraduate students themselves are portrayed as interconnected and interdependent actors, presenting a novel framing of such dependencies at the micro-level of the ecosystem. The practical implications come from informing universities of the value of a landscape of practice to enhance the employability of domestic and international students in preparation for sustainable careers and to promote the sustainability of the career ecosystem.
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Anjali Dutta and Santosh Rangnekar
Collaboration and preference for teamwork play a fundamental role in strengthening practical completion of team tasks. An organizational culture should facilitate learning systems…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaboration and preference for teamwork play a fundamental role in strengthening practical completion of team tasks. An organizational culture should facilitate learning systems where knowledge creation occurs through socialization. The purpose of this study is to develop a moderated mediation model, investigating the conditional indirect effect of co-worker support on the relationship between preference for teamwork and communities of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire survey was conducted via Google Forms to collect data from 210 employees working in the private and public sector in India. Hayes PROCESS macro models were used for analyzing the mediation of personal interaction and moderation of co-worker support.
Findings
This study showed evidence regarding the mediating role of personal interaction on the relationship between preference for teamwork and communities of practice. Co-worker support moderated the relationship between personal interaction and communities of practice. It also moderated the conditional indirect effect.
Practical implications
The results approve the substantial role of preference for teamwork in influencing personal interaction and communities of practice. The mediating role of personal interaction on preference for teamwork and communities of practice can lead to creation and sustenance of communities of practice. Furthermore, the moderating role of co-worker support as a conditional indirect effect shows that social support and exchange can lead to social learning.
Originality/value
Theoretical explanations and analytical approaches provide insights into the relationship between the preference for teamwork and communities of practice through a conditional indirect effect, a one of its kind of a study.
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Anjali Dutta, Santosh Rangnekar and Piyali Ghosh
This study aims to investigate how an individual’s perception of team goal priority can be affected by personal interaction, with co-worker support mediating the influence and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how an individual’s perception of team goal priority can be affected by personal interaction, with co-worker support mediating the influence and communities of practice moderating the indirect effect of co-worker support.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses from 235 respondents working in private and public manufacturing and service enterprises in India collected through a structured questionnaire were statistically analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and PROCESS Macro with random bootstrap resample.
Findings
Findings showed a positive relationship between personal interaction and the perception of individuals about team goal priority that was partially mediated by co-worker support. Communities of practice moderated the influence of personal interaction on co-worker support and the conditional indirect effect of personal interaction on the perception of team goal priority.
Practical implications
The results highlight the need for greater employee collaboration towards prioritizing team goals, thus showing a psychologically collectivist attitude. Policies and procedures to create and sustain organization-level communities of practice with employees across departments and hierarchies can also be helpful. Emphasizing the social exchange perspective, the authors recommend improving the overall work climate of any organization.
Originality/value
This paper explains the motivating source of personal interactions and co-worker support for prioritizing team goals in an organization. Establishing the moderating role of communities of practice, the authors have confirmed the role of a social learning system in prioritizing team goals.
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Manojprabhakaran Thirupal and Adrian B. Popa
This paper investigates the change talk (CT) strategies of the motivational interviewing (MI) technique and their relevance in achieving change goals within communities of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the change talk (CT) strategies of the motivational interviewing (MI) technique and their relevance in achieving change goals within communities of practice (CoP), focusing on addressing real-world problems in today's complex world.
Design/methodology/approach
We employ a literature review and conceptual analysis to study the interactions and potential areas of complement between CT, MI and CoP theories.
Findings
This paper combines CT, MI and CoP theories to develop an integrated model called Facilitative Change Talk Leadership (FCTL).
Originality/value
This paper provides an innovative model (FCTL) to inform leadership educators about facilitating communities of practice. We provide a hypothetical case study to suggest how FCTL might foster collaborative inquiry and resilience amidst complex challenges. This case study illustrates a practical pathway for leadership educators and community practitioners to use this model in their own contexts.
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Gunda Esra Altinisik and Mehmet Nafiz Aydin
To exploit collaboration-driven innovation, in recent years, many government-sponsored innovation programs and mentor services have emerged. These services support an effective…
Abstract
Purpose
To exploit collaboration-driven innovation, in recent years, many government-sponsored innovation programs and mentor services have emerged. These services support an effective exchange of knowledge among innovation actors, including innovation mentors and enable mentor connectedness as an important factor to develop and sustain effective innovation mentors’ community of practice (CoP). The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree of connectedness in an innovation mentor CoP.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the innovation mentors CoP as part of a national innovation program is considered a network. The connectedness and assortative mixing of this CoP and the effects of these two on each other were examined by using social network measures, including component analysis, the giant component (GC) and assortativity.
Findings
The authors provide the analytical interconnectedness results for both the GC and the whole network with network analysis and assortativity measurements of three attributes of mentors (institution, title and degrees). The degree of correlation of community for the GC shows preferential attachment between high-ranking and low-ranking mentors, while preferential attachment was not observed for the whole network. The correlation coefficient for the institution attribute has the highest value for GC, while the title has the highest value for the whole network.
Originality/value
The study is one of the early attempts to apply social network analysis for an innovation mentor CoP. This study reveals the criticality of evaluating the GC and the whole network separately and provides a number of research and practical directions that will contribute to the development of the innovation mentor CoP.
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Gunda Esra Altinisik, Mehmet Nafiz Aydin, Ziya Nazim Perdahci and Merih Pasin
Positive effect of knowledge sharing (KS) on innovation has come to the fore and government-supported innovation and mentoring communities or mentor networks have become…
Abstract
Purpose
Positive effect of knowledge sharing (KS) on innovation has come to the fore and government-supported innovation and mentoring communities or mentor networks have become widespread. This article aims to examine the community connectedness and mentors' preferences for professional competency-based KS of such innovation community of practice networks (CoPNs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper constructs a directed weighted CoPN model with a node-attribute-based novel fingerprint edge weights. Based on the CoPN, Social Network Analysis (SNA) metrics and measures including Giant Component (GC) were proposed and analyzed to identify mentors' connectedness preferences. The fingerprint was proposed as a novel binarized node attribute of competence. Jaccard similarity of fingerprints was proposed as edge weights to reveal correlations between competences and preferences for KS.
Findings
The work opted to conduct a survey of 28 innovation mentors to measure a CoPN. Both a name generator question and a second set of questions were employed to invite respondents to name their collaborators and indicate their professional competence. SNA metrics result in differing values for GC and the rest, which lead us to focus on GC to reveal salient metrics of connectedness. Jaccard similarity analysis results on GC demonstrate that mentors collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner.
Originality/value
Based on the CoPN, the methods proposed may be effective in predicting preferred relationships for interdisciplinary collaborations, providing the managers with an analytical decision support tool for KS in practice.
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Elizabeth Hale, Hope E. Wilson, Lauren Gibbs, Jessie Didier and Carolyne Ali-Khan
The purpose of this study was to examine how participants experienced and perceived an M.Ed. program that had a school-based design. In particular, the authors sought to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine how participants experienced and perceived an M.Ed. program that had a school-based design. In particular, the authors sought to understand: (1) how participants experienced being in a school-based cohort and (2) whether and how participants experienced the three designated tenets of the M.Ed. program: teacher inquiry, social justice and student engagement and motivation.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study used semi-structured focus group interviews (n = 7) to examine teachers’ perceptions, using a constant comparative method (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) of open coding to analyze the data and determine emergent themes.
Findings
The findings indicate the design of this school-based M.Ed. program provided both social and academic benefits including strengthening teachers’ working relationships and their understanding of students outside their own classroom and a transfer from individual learning to organizational benefit. Teachers positively perceived the three tenets that guided the first year of the program, especially the ability to study social justice and student motivation in depth.
Practical implications
This study has implications for teacher education and retention as well as how boundary spanning roles in PDS schools can impact graduate students’ experiences in schools. Given the current teacher shortage concerns, it is important to understand how M.Ed. programs can be designed with teacher needs at the forefront so learning is relevant and rewarding, both to the individual and the school.
Originality/value
While there are many studies that examine the use of cohorts in education, particularly in doctoral programs, few, if any, studies examine a school-based cohort M.Ed. program for practicing teachers. This study also puts a unique spotlight on how boundary-spanning roles can benefit not only teacher candidates but also practicing teachers in their M.Ed. programs.
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Marion Heron, Doris Dippold, Karen Gravett, Adeeba Ahmad, Samaher Aljabri, Razan Abuorabi Al-Adwan, Priyanki Ghosh, Raniah Kabooha, Mohammad Makram, Dina Mousawa, Ayesha Mudhaffer, Beyza Ucar Longford, Lingyu Wang, Junyi Zhou and Fengmei Zhu
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role an intentional and cohesive research group for doctoral researchers and supervisors can play in surfacing and de-mystifying many…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role an intentional and cohesive research group for doctoral researchers and supervisors can play in surfacing and de-mystifying many of the implicit doctoral literacy practices involved in doctoral study.
Design/methodology/approach
This participatory, collaborative project, involving 11 doctoral researchers and three supervisors, was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, doctoral researchers and supervisors engaged in a discussion which resulted in a shared concept map. The concept map was then used as a prompt for stimulated recall interviews in which the participants reflected on the connections and peer learning afforded by the research group.
Findings
Drawing on ideas from Communities of Practice theory, the data revealed that the research group, including both supervisors and doctoral students, developed knowledge, relational connections and an awareness of a range of doctoral literacies.
Practical implications
This paper makes suggestions for how those in doctoral education can develop and embed research groups into institutional practices.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates the significant role a research group which is structured, intentional and guided plays in supervisors’ and doctoral students’ development of doctoral literacies and the fundamental intellectual and relational connections afforded by participating in such communities.
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Jo Trowsdale and Richard Davies
There is a lack of clarity about what constitutes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and what the arts contribute. In this paper the authors…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a lack of clarity about what constitutes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and what the arts contribute. In this paper the authors discuss a distinct model, theorised from a five-year study of a particular, innovative STEAM education project (The Imagineerium), and developed by the researchers through working with primary school teachers in England within a second project (Teach-Make). The paper examines how teachers implemented this model, the Trowsdale art-making model for education (the TAME), and reflected on its value and positive impact on their planning and pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on two studies: firstly, a five-year, mixed methods, participative study of The Imagineerium and secondly a participative and collaborative qualitative study of Teach-Make.
Findings
Study of The Imagineerium showed strong positive educational outcomes for pupils and an appetite from teachers to translate the approach to the classroom. The Teach-Make project showed that with a clear curriculum model (the TAME) and professional development to improve teachers' planning and active pedagogical skills, they could design and deliver “imagineerium-like” schemes of work in their classrooms. Teachers reported a positive impact on both their own approach to supporting learning, as well as pupil progression and enjoyment.
Originality/value
The paper argues that the TAME, a consolidation of research evidence from The Imagineerium and developed through Teach-Make, offers both a distinctive and effective model for STEAM and broader education, one that is accessible to, valued by and manageable for teachers.
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