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The first-aid courses organized by the Youth Red Cross Carinthia (Austria) had a quality problem, necessitating a professionalization in teaching and time structure. This research aimed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of these courses by implementing modified lesson studies with non-professional trainers. The paper presents the realization process, empirical research and results obtained by applying the first-aid curriculum.

Around 22 lesson study first-aid courses (14 classes with 2 cycles, 8 with 3 cycles) were conducted and evaluated in different Austrian school types. An observation sheet was created to evaluate attention and competencies. Interviews were conducted with both teachers and students to validate the results.

The research findings demonstrate that lesson studies can significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of first-aid courses. Inexperienced and experienced first-aid teachers significantly improved their teaching skills. Newly educated first-aid teachers showed substantial improvement, leading to the introduction of an induction period and coaching opportunity within the Youth Red Cross Carinthia.

This is the first lesson study conducted in a non-academic context. It highlights the adaptation process of Carinthian first-aid courses. It illustrates how lesson studies impact lesson clarity, instructional variety, student engagement in the learning process, student outcome, student feedback and teaching effectiveness in a non-academic context. It contributes to the literature on the application of lesson study in first-aid education and provides insight into the benefits of this approach in enhancing the quality of first-aid training.

The purpose of this study is to examine, review and analyse the current literature on building and construction quality and determine the related themes and gaps.

A systematic review approach was adopted on the building quality literature, and keywords such as “construction” or “building”; “defect” and “quality” or “rework” were searched through the Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases. A number of articles were found and filtered by title, abstract and keyword relevancy. Further articles were cross-referenced from these and again filtered by title, abstract and keyword relevancy. The time period for the search was 2000–2020. A total of 97 articles were found and analysed on the topic.

A number of recurring themes were found throughout the literature. They are safety, occupier satisfaction, cost, time, licensing, culture, training, software and building quality frameworks, classifications and recommendations. These themes were linked to display relationships between them from the literature. Based on the project lifecycle stages, an amalgamated classification system was developed and is presented here. The gaps in the current literature have been analysed and reported on.

A comprehensive descriptive, thematic and gap analysis was conducted on the available literature of building and construction quality. The emerging themes were discovered, their relationships were demonstrated and the research gaps were identified. A new classification system positioned in the project lifecycle stages is presented.

The study delves into the influence of wear cycles on these parameters. The purpose of this paper is to identify characteristic patterns of σ_RS and ε_PEEQ that discern varying wear situations, thereby contributing to the enrichment of wear theory. Furthermore, the findings serve as a foundational basis for nondestructive and in situ wear detection methodologies, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, known for its sensitivity to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

This paper elucidates the wear mechanism through the lens of residual stress (σ_RS) and plastic deformation within distinct fretting regimes, using a two-dimensional cylindrical/flat contact model. It specifically explores the impact of the displacement amplitude and cycles on the distribution of residual stress and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ) in both gross slip regime and partial slip regimes.

Therefore, when surface observation of wear is challenging, detecting the σ_RS trend at the center/edge, region width and ε_PEEQ distribution, as well as the maximum σ_RS distribution along the depth, proves effective in distinguishing wear situations (partial or gross slip regimes). However, discerning wear situations based on ε_PEEQ along the depth direction remains challenging. Moreover, in the gross slip regime, using σ_RS distribution or ε_PEEQ along the width direction rather than the depth direction can effectively provide feedback on cycles and wear range.

This work introduces a novel perspective for investigating wear theory through the distribution of residual stress (σ_RS) and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ). It presents a feasible detection theory for wear situations using nondestructive and in situ methods, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, which is sensitive to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2024-0005/

This article investigates the application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in experiential learning for authentic assessment in higher education. Recognized for its human-like content generation, GenAI has garnered widespread interest, raising concerns regarding its reliability, ethical considerations and overall impact. The purpose of this study is to explore the transformative capabilities and limitations of GenAI for experiential learning.

The study uses “thing ethnography” and “incremental prompting” to delve into the perspectives of ChatGPT 3.5, a prominent GenAI model. Through semi-structured interviews, the research prompts ChatGPT 3.5 on critical aspects such as conceptual clarity, integration of GenAI in educational settings and practical applications within the context of authentic assessment. The design examines GenAI’s potential contributions to reflective thinking, hands-on learning and genuine assessments, emphasizing the importance of responsible use.

The findings underscore GenAI’s potential to enhance experiential learning in higher education. Specifically, the research highlights GenAI’s capacity to contribute to reflective thinking, hands-on learning experiences and the facilitation of genuine assessments. Notably, the study emphasizes the significance of responsible use in harnessing the capabilities of GenAI for educational purposes.

This research showcases the application of GenAI in operations management education, specifically within lean health care. The study offers insights into its capabilities by exploring the practical implications of GenAI in a specific educational domain through thing ethnography and incremental prompting. Additionally, the article proposes future research directions, contributing to the originality of the work and opening avenues for further exploration in the integration of GenAI in education.

Professional development (PD) is an essential component of continuing learning for in-service teachers. This paper discusses a school-based example of using the best practice of coaching in early childhood education supported by a professional development school partnership. We explain how a teacher identified need led to a collaborative, multistep approach to meeting that need in connection to State mandates.

In this research, we used a case study methodological approach with a team of preschool teachers at one school. The model combines use of PD sessions, classroom coaching, classroom observation and reflection.

Teachers’ feedback indicates that using the strategy positively impacted most of the participants’ ability to support communication, community-building and inclusive practices in their classrooms. The data that emerged in the following year evidenced increased use of visual supports in classrooms, use in connection with literacy goals and interest in creating new uses in the school.

This article contributes an action-oriented school-based example of bridging research to practice to support teachers’ needs through PD and coaching in a PDS. The design and practical implications may interest preschool educators, instructional coaches, administrators, professional development schools and others involved with monitoring teacher development initiatives.

Digitalising cities requires new urban governance processes that account for rapidly changing environments and technological advances. In this context, agile development methods have become valuable, if not necessary. However, agile development contradicts public administration practices of risk aversion and long-term planning. The purpose of this study is to discuss practical avenues for navigating these two contradictions by adapting agile development to the needs of public sector organisations.

The authors review the collaborative elaboration of Dresden’s smart city strategy as a critical case study. Dresden’s smart city strategy was developed using agile development and quadruple-helix innovation. The year-long co-creation process involved stakeholders from various groups to conceive an integrated and sustainable vision for digitalisation-based urban development.

Despite the apparent contradictions, this study finds that key aspects of agile development are feasible for public sector innovation. Firstly, risks can be strategically managed and distributed among administration and non-administration stakeholders. Secondly, while delivering value through short iterative loops, adherence to formal processes remains possible. Informal feedback cycles can be harmoniously combined with official statements, allowing iterative progress.

The empirical material is based on a single case study and thus risks overemphasising the general applicability of the proposed methods.

This paper outlines practical steps to greater agility for public administration engaged in digitalising cities. The paper conceptualises a forward and lateral momentum for the agile development of a smart city strategy that aims to reconcile formal policymaking processes with short-term loops and risk aversion with experimental value creation. This approach balanced risks, created value and enhanced the strategy‘s alignment with strategic frameworks, ultimately promoting innovation in the public sector.

This paper proposes a novel, empirically grounded conceptualisation of implementing agile methods that explicitly recognises the peculiarities of public administrations. It conceptualises the orchestrated and pragmatic use of specific agile development methods to advance the digitalisation of cities.

This study aims to understand the manifestation and adherence of performance management system (PMS) components in Brazilian startups, concurrently considering the different stages of development and catalyzing factors.

We gathered data through semi-structured interviews with founders and C-level executives from 19 startups. We used an inductive and exploratory method to spot patterns and differences through content analysis, aiming for a contextual understanding of startup PMS manifestation.

We analyzed the PMS of each startup, highlighting the consistency and differences among PMS components in each stage, considering the value proposition, goals, performance perspectives, monitoring indicators, action plans and performance evaluation processes. We also observe various catalyst factors that played an important role in accelerating the early development of the PMS in each stage.

This study provides a practical understanding of the meaning of each PMS component maturity that could be applied to startups in different stages and the catalyzing factors that played an important role in accelerating the initial development of PMS, providing practitioners with a holistic and situated context approach.

This is one of the first studies to provide empirical evidence on the manifestation and adherence of different components of the PMS in Brazilian startups, considering concurrently the organizational life cycle and existing catalyzing factors to the reality of these organizations.

Real estate projects are capital-intensive and deeply intertwined with economic factors, making them subject to various influences besides local housing needs. This paper aims to comprehensively understand the dynamics of the Egyptian real estate market, examining real estate cycles, driving factors and their correlation and scale of impact.

The study conducts a literature review to explore real estate cycles and their driving factors, along with the relationship between real estate and macroeconomic cycles. It then delves into the dynamics of the Egyptian real estate market, followed by a time series analysis that incorporates five key indicators: economic indicator, demand indicator, supply indicator, capital flow indicator and cost indicator over a 12-year interval (2012–2023), to examine short-term cycle factors, followed by correlation and multi-linear regression analysis to elucidate interrelations among these factors.

Through measuring and comparing the prementioned indicators with different economic and social events, the study paints a comprehensive picture of the macroeconomic environment and the real estate cycle in Egypt. Where demand has been found to be more sensitive and directly affected by macroeconomic factors than the supply. With the economic factor as the factor with the highest impact, especially in times of economic fluctuations, the impact has been immediate and short-term. These findings support the idea that the demand in Egypt is speculative, laying a threat of longer recession periods in the long term and having greater and more direct impact.

This paper contributes to the understanding of the Egyptian real estate market by integrating insights from real estate cycles, macroeconomics and specific market dynamics. The application of time series, correlation and multi-linear regression analysis provides a nuanced understanding of the interplay between several factors shaping the real estate cycle. Ultimately, the findings offer valuable insights for decision-makers involved in urban development planning, facilitating more informed and precise decision-making processes.

When implemented effectively and systematically across a curriculum, high impact practices (HIP) have the potential to increase student engagement and result in higher student achievement. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a four-year military university with a large liberal education core curriculum that provides the foundation for service and officership in the United States Air or Space Forces. Building on the liberal education core, the civil engineering (CE) major’s courses begin with the cornerstone field engineering course, paired with a two-week co-curricular experience for students at an Air or Space Force installation. With its motto “construct first, design later,” the field engineering course is an HIP and quintessential experiential learning course that gives students a practical frame-of-reference for future analysis and design courses. The CE major culminates with another HIP, the capstone design course, which gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, building confidence in their ability to successfully apply those skills to the increasingly complex problems they will face after graduation. This book chapter provides a case study of the CE major at the USAFA, documenting the HIPs across the majors’ program, and highlighting the key elements and benefits of each.

This paper aims to look at the implementation of project-funded research governance and its potential to induce organisational learning on responsible research and innovation (RRI). This paper analysed what types of organisational learning and change can take place within organisations of an Europe-funded project and to what extent. This paper examined whether and how change occurs and how it is shaped and co-produced with other orderings.

The paper is based on materials and evidence collected while working on the internal evaluation of a Horizon 2020-funded project. Analysis of the results of the mixed methods evaluation design was used to characterise occurrences of organisational learning and change.

The authors identified different forms of learning (single-loop learning, double-loop learning, reflexive and reflective learning and situational learning). The extent of learning that could lead to long-lasting organisational change was limited. This was due to the project-based and organisational design, the key-based definition of RRI and the indeterminacy of what constitutes learning and change – both at the level of funding and performing the project. For organisational change to occur, the authors argue for governance mechanisms based on reflexive learning that consider a range of structural conditions and measures.

Organisational learning plays an important role in change processes, which has so far been given too little consideration concerning the governance and implementation of RRI through project-based funding. The authors argue for a restructuring of governance and funding mechanisms to create more space for reflexivity and learning.