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Article
Publication date: 19 January 2015

Bingxi Jia, Shan Liu and Yi Liu

The purpose of this paper is to propose a more efficient strategy, which is easier to implement, i.e. the engineer can directly operate the target object without the robot to do a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a more efficient strategy, which is easier to implement, i.e. the engineer can directly operate the target object without the robot to do a demonstration, and the manipulator is regulated to track the trajectory using vision feedback repetitively. Generally, the applications of industrial robotic manipulators are based on teaching playback strategy, i.e. the engineer should directly operate the manipulator to perform a demonstration and then the manipulator uses the recorded driving signals to perform repetitive tasks.

Design/methodology/approach

In the teaching process, the engineer grasps the object with a camera on it to do a demonstration, during which a series of images are recorded. The desired trajectory is defined by the homography between the images captured at current and final poses. Tracking error is directly defined by the homography matrix, without 3D reconstruction. Model-free feedback-assisted iterative learning control strategy is used for repetitive tracking, where feed-forward control signal is generated by iterative learning control strategy and feedback control signal is generated by direct feedback control.

Findings

The proposed framework is able to perform precise trajectory tracking by iterative learning, and is model-free so that the singularity problem is avoided which often occurs in conventional Jacobean-based visual servo systems. Besides, the framework is robust to image noise, which is shown in simulations and experiments.

Originality/value

The proposed framework is model-free, so that it is more flexible for industrial use and easier to implement. Satisfactory tracking performance can be achieved in the presence of image noise. System convergence is analyzed and experiments are provided for evaluation.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Abdul karim Armah and Jinfa Li

Through the “Going Digital Initiative,” the Ghanaian government has introduced policies that aim at improving the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure of…

Abstract

Purpose

Through the “Going Digital Initiative,” the Ghanaian government has introduced policies that aim at improving the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure of the country. These ICT policies have benefited numerous sectors of the Ghanaian economy. In logistics management, ICT has impacted drone medical delivery in the healthcare and maritime sectors. However, the importance of ICT is not realized in the motorcycle goods transport (MGT) industry, regardless of its popularity and high economic dependency. Second, all research on motorcycles is focused on diverse social concerns, and no study has attempted to analyze ICT implementation for MGT operations. This is a significant gap in logistics management. Hence, the study aimed to investigate the impact of ICT on Ghana's MGT industry empirically.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a two-phase data collection approach to collect the data. The authors use partial least square structural equation modeling to analyze the study's measurement and structural assessment model.

Findings

ICT positively impacts MGT and the drivers considered. The drivers positively influence MGT. The study further analyzes novel results on the relationships between the drivers and their mediating roles in enhancing MGT performance.

Originality/value

The study's originality is the extension of ICT adoption and usage in MGT. The lack of literature on the importance of ICT for MGT services makes this study the primary source of literature, and the relationships investigated are unique as the research area is unexplored.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 March 2016

Anthony Clarke, Harry Hubball and Andrea Webb

This chapter examines a recently launched initiative for developing institutional leadership for scholarly approaches to and the Scholarship of Graduate Student Supervision…

Abstract

This chapter examines a recently launched initiative for developing institutional leadership for scholarly approaches to and the Scholarship of Graduate Student Supervision (SoGSS) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). This initiative is led by the Dean, Associate Dean, and former Associate Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and is supported by a team of National Teaching Fellows and a graduate student. It involves a customized graduate student supervision (GSS) leaders’ cohort within the International Faculty SoTL Leadership Program at UBC. The initiative arose from institutional concerns about quality assurance and strategic supports for the enhancement of GSS in UBC’s multidisciplinary research-intensive context. The following were noted: (1) widespread discrepancies in the ways that GSS (sometimes referred to as mentoring) is being taken up and exercised across campus; (2) lack of strategic leadership for GSS within units and related professional development initiatives; and (3) inadequate faculty assessment and evaluation protocols (e.g., formative for professional development purposes or summative for tenure, promotion and reappointment purposes) for discipline-specific GSS practices.

Details

Emerging Directions in Doctoral Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-135-4

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2023

Shafique Ur Rehman, Muhammad Usman, Yudi Fernando, Diyana Kamarudin and Abdul Waheed

This paper aims to model the mediating effects of facilitating conditions and innovativeness in the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and blockchain technology (BT) on…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to model the mediating effects of facilitating conditions and innovativeness in the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and blockchain technology (BT) on manufacturing supply chain performance (MSCP).

Design/methodology/approach

Partial least square structural equation modelling was used to test the goodness of the model fit and hypotheses by using SmartPLS 3.3.3. Data was collected from 464 managers in Pakistan’s automotive industry through a stratified random sampling technique.

Findings

IIoT, BT, facilitating conditions and innovativeness significantly enhanced the MSCP. Therefore, the mediation between facilitating conditions and innovativeness to IIoT and BT adoption was significant in the MSCP.

Practical implications

The adoption of digital technology to improve the MSCP can assist companies in reducing the cost of complex procurement, production and distribution processes through secured and efficient operations. Furthermore, organisations must establish a conducive atmosphere that fosters experimentation, collaboration and resource allocation towards technological advancements to capitalise on the advantages of these technologies effectively.

Originality/value

This study developed a research model integrating IIoT technology, BT, facilitating conditions and innovativeness to determine the MSCP under the resource-based view theory. The outcome of this study could help organisations design a framework to improve supply chain performance by integrating innovativeness.

Details

Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2022

Stephanie Lynn Craig, Sean J. Smith and Bruce B. Frey

This paper examines instructional coaching as a means to support teachers at all levels in primary and secondary schools in implementing new and innovative practices using the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines instructional coaching as a means to support teachers at all levels in primary and secondary schools in implementing new and innovative practices using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework as a design guide.

Design/methodology/approach

This mixed-methods study compared the impact of an instructional coaching intervention around the implementation of the UDL framework on educators versus the UDL implementation efforts of educators who did not receive the coaching intervention. Coached participants shared their experiences with the coaching cycle. These qualitative data were collected through teacher interviews, self-assessments, and observations. The data assisted in the interpretation of the quantitative findings from a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test comparison group design.

Findings

The results of this study revealed positive outcomes for teachers in knowledge and application of UDL, although not at statistically significant levels. The qualitative data collected supported the positive gains and revealed that teachers valued and changed their practices from the use of coaching as they navigated the implementation of UDL in their learning environments.

Research limitations/implications

One limitation to be noted includes the district site that participated in this study had used the UDL framework for several years and maintained high expectations for teachers to increase their UDL-aligned practices each year. Therefore, all teachers who participated in this study were under the same district evaluative expectations to participate in professional development at some level to increase proficiency with UDL implementation, whereas a district in the beginning stages of UDL implementation might serve as a better gauge of growth. Additionally, the control participants were self-identified and not randomly assigned.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first conducted that investigates the effect of instructional coaching on teachers' increased understanding and implementation of the UDL framework. This study examines instructional coaching as a stand-alone professional development in supporting teachers' use of UDL in design-inclusive classrooms. Written into US law, the UDL framework is a scientifically valid framework that supports teachers with the design of flexible and accessible classrooms for an increasingly diverse population of students.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2018

Marcelle Harran and Howard William Theunissen

In 2004, the Council for Higher Education (CHE) required a curriculum responsiveness to the teaching and learning of literacies at the programme level, which needed to be…

300

Abstract

Purpose

In 2004, the Council for Higher Education (CHE) required a curriculum responsiveness to the teaching and learning of literacies at the programme level, which needed to be addressed across all disciplines. This study aims to describe a situated higher education (HE) collaboration project between mechanical engineering and the Department of Applied Language Studies (DALS) at Nelson Mandela University from 2010 to 2014. The collaboration project aimed to develop the literacies levels of engineering students, reduce the first-year attrition rate and prepare engineering students to meet the high graduate attribute expectations of a competitive workplace amid employer concerns that engineering graduate communication competencies were lacking and insufficient.

Design/methodology/approach

The collaboration study used a mixed-method approach, which included student and lecturer questionnaires, as well as an interview with one engineering lecturer to determine his perceptions of the collaboration practices instituted. As the sample was purposeful, two mechanical engineer lecturers and 32 second-year mechanical engineering students from 2012 to 2013 were selected as the study’s participants, as they met the study’s specific needs. From the questionnaire responses and transcribed interview data, codes were identified to describe the themes that emerged, namely, rating the collaboration practices, attitudes to the course, report feedback provided and report template use.

Findings

Most of the student participants viewed the collaboration practices positively and identified their attitude as “positive” and “enthusiastic” to the language/engineering report collaboration initiative. The report feedback practices were viewed as improving writing skills and enabling the students to relate report writing practices to workplace needs. The engineering lecturers also found that the collaboration practices were enabling and improved literacy levels, although time was identified as a constraint. During the four-year collaboration period, the language practitioner increasingly gained report content knowledge, as well as unpacking the specific rhetorical structures required to produce the report text by co-constructing knowledge with the mechanical engineering lecturers.

Research limitations/implications

Studies have shown that language practitioners and discipline lecturers need to change their conceptualisation of academic discourses as generic transferable skills and autonomous bodies of knowledge. Little benefit is derived from this model, least of all for the students who grapple with disciplinary forms of writing and the highly technical language of engineering. Discipline experts often tend to conflate understandings of language, literacy and discourse, which lead to simplistic understandings of how students may be inducted into engineering discourses. Therefore, spaces to nurture and extend language practitioner and discipline-expert collaborations are needed to embed the teaching and learning of discipline-specific literacies within disciplines.

Practical implications

For the collaboration project, the language practitioner and mechanical engineering lecturers focused their collaboration on discussing and negotiating the rhetorical and content requirements of the Design 3 report as a genre. To achieve the goal of making tacit knowledge and discourse explicit, takes time and effort, so without the investment of time and buy-in, interaction would not be sustained, and the collaboration would have been unproductive. As a result, the collaboration project required regular meetings, class visits and negotiations, as well as a language of description so that the often tacit report discourse conventions and requirements could be mutually understood and pedagogically overt to produce “legitimate texts” (Luckett, 2012 p. 19).

Social implications

In practice, peer collaboration is often a messy, complex and lengthy process, which requires systematic and sustained spaces to provide discourse scaffolding so that the criteria for producing legitimate design reports are not opaque, but transparent and explicit pedagogically. The study also describes the organisational circumstances that generated the collaboration, as establishing and sustaining a collaborative culture over time requires planning, on-going dialogic spaces, as well as support and buy-in at various institutional levels to maintain the feasibility of the collaboration practice.

Originality/value

Literacy and discourse collaboration tends to reduce role differentiation amongst language teachers and specialists, which results in shared expertise for problem-solving that could provide multiple solutions to literacy and discourse learning issues. This finding is important, especially as most studies focus on collaboration practices in isolation, whilst fewer studies have focused on the process of collaboration between language practitioners and disciplinary specialists as has been described in this study.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2022

Molly Cross and Tim Clarke

In response to elevated local self-harm and suicide rates, and the lack of a dedicated pathway for children and young people (CYP) who self-harm, a rapid response pathway united…

Abstract

Purpose

In response to elevated local self-harm and suicide rates, and the lack of a dedicated pathway for children and young people (CYP) who self-harm, a rapid response pathway united to reduce self-harm (RUSH) was developed and implemented within Norwich (Norfolk, England). This public health case study aims to describe the pathway model and share its outcomes, learnings, and reflections over the pilot year.

Design/methodology/approach

RUSH was a community-based pilot pathway aiming to support CYP, 11–18 years old, engaging in or at risk of engaging in repeated self-harm and subsequently at risk of repeated attendance at local emergency departments. From May 2020 to April 2021, RUSH supported 61 CYP using funding from NHS England and Improvement.

Findings

This case study shares the pathway’s outcomes, through a mixed-method evaluation. Results indicate statistically significant reductions in self-harm frequency (p = 0.01) and anxiety and depression symptomatology (p < 0.001); a statistically significant increase in progress towards goals (p < 0.001); and a general downward trend in re-attendance at local emergency departments following RUSH. Findings also illustrate high service user satisfaction. Framework analysis of focus group data highlights positive experiences with hope for recommissioning from a staff perspective.

Originality/value

This study will be valuable for services looking to develop and implement a similar service provision, in response to the need to tackle self-harm rates as a broader approach to suicide prevention. In light of the NHS long-term plan (2019), it also serves as an example of how to develop and use a strategic co-production group, and work collaboratively with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2014

Mathews Nkhoma, Narumon Sriratanaviriyakul, Hiep Pham Cong and Tri Khai Lam

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of real, localized case studies on students’ learning engagement, the learning process and learning experience and the role…

1420

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of real, localized case studies on students’ learning engagement, the learning process and learning experience and the role of such case studies in influencing students’ learning outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 400 undergraduate students through an online questionnaire immediately after discussion of the case in Business Information Systems classes. Student learning from the case study was measured by two components consisting of case knowledge and case perceptions. The student course engagement questionnaire was used to examine engagement in skills, emotions, participation and performance while the study process questionnaire was administered to assess students’ learning approaches. Additionally, the seven predominant roles of the feedback were used to analyse students’ learning experience. Finally, students’ learning outcomes were assessed both in group performance and individual performance. Structure equation modelling was applied to test the causal model.

Findings

The results revealed that the case study had a positive influence on students’ engagement in skills and emotions. Moreover, case perceptions led students to surface approach in their learning. Furthermore, case knowledge had a positive impact on the learning experience.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests that localized case studies should be designed cautiously. Furthermore the method of instruction regarding the method must be clearly explained for undergraduate students. Future research should consider a way of evaluating academic achievement as a result of using localized cases.

Originality/value

The findings reported in the paper contributed to an area of educational research by emphasizing on the mediating role of learning engagement, the learning process and the learning experience.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 56 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1986

Clive Fletcher

From the organisation's point of view, feedback assists effective learning. From the individual's viewpoint it can satisfy any personal need for information on progress and…

1407

Abstract

From the organisation's point of view, feedback assists effective learning. From the individual's viewpoint it can satisfy any personal need for information on progress and facilitate social comparison with others. Whether criticism achieves any beneficial effects is dependent on the amount of critical feedback; a balanced review of performance, covering strengths and weaknesses; clear, relevant feedback content emphasising the performance of the individual; the availability of other sources of feedback; the extent of subordinate participation in the interview; and the relationship between the manager and the subordinate. Self‐appraisal may be a more robust approach and may overcome many of the problems normally encountered in discussing performance. There is ample evidence for its effectiveness.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2014

Lindsay M. Andiola

This paper synthesizes the extant feedback literature, focusing on how feedback affects an auditor’s learning, performance, and motivation. Performance feedback is an important…

5536

Abstract

This paper synthesizes the extant feedback literature, focusing on how feedback affects an auditor’s learning, performance, and motivation. Performance feedback is an important component in the auditing environment for ensuring quality control and for developing and coaching staff auditors. However, the literature on feedback in the audit environment is fragmented and limited making it difficult to assess its behavioral effects on auditors. This paper has three main objectives. The first is to review some of the influential research in psychology and management to identify key variables and issues that appear to be critical in the study of behavioral consequences of feedback in organizational settings. The second is to review performance feedback research specifically in auditing to identify the areas previously examined and synthesize the findings. The third is to suggest a variety of future research opportunities that may assist in developing an understanding and knowledge of the behavioral effects of feedback on auditors. The literature analysis has significant implications for audit research and practice. In particular, the analysis provides important insights into understanding who, how, and when performance feedback should be given to improve its effectiveness in the audit environment.

Details

Journal of Accounting Literature, vol. 33 no. 1-2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-4607

Keywords

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