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Article
Publication date: 28 March 2008

Greta Kelly

This paper seeks to propose a collaborative process for evaluating, piloting and selecting, new and emerging educational technologies. It aims to promote discussion about how such…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to propose a collaborative process for evaluating, piloting and selecting, new and emerging educational technologies. It aims to promote discussion about how such an evaluative process can be inclusive of interdisciplinary stakeholders and envision the actual application of these technologies in real teaching and learning contexts across disciplines.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology applied in the piloting and evaluation of new educational technologies involves the design and identification of learning activities, the development of evaluation criteria which map to the goals of the learning activities and stakeholders' needs, and the incorporation of the technology‐enabled activities into the total course design.

Findings

Evaluation methodologies that involve interdisciplinary stakeholders collaborating on a software pilot expose participants to multiple perspectives and divergent views. The evaluation of new educational technologies within a teaching and learning context is more effective in exposing the benefits and weaknesses of the technology than a conventional software pilot.

Research limitations/implications

The new educational technologies evaluation methodology proposed in this paper has only been fully applied in three product pilots and is still in its developmental stage. The research is limited to the evaluation of educational software, not the implementation of new educational technologies.

Practical implications

The re‐iterative and time‐consuming process of piloting and evaluating new educational technologies within a course context is one in which academics require pedagogical, technological and administrative support. This paper presents a methodology that ensures each of these varieties of support is included.

Originality/value

With the rapid expansion of new, sometimes costly educational technologies, universities can benefit from employing evaluation techniques based within an educational context, and ensure that their investments in these tools make an effective contribution to the enhancement of teaching and learning.

Details

Campus-Wide Information Systems, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-0741

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Campus-Wide Information Systems, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-0741

Article
Publication date: 24 January 2024

Gurpinder Lalli, Kim Smith, Jayne Woodside, Greta Defeyter, Valeria Skafida, Kelly Morgan and Christopher Martin

The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of secondary school food policy (SSFP) across the devolved nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to offer…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of secondary school food policy (SSFP) across the devolved nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to offer insights into a growing area of policy concern. The selected context of research is school food policy (SFP), an area of research which has received little attention in terms of policy approaches. The review is focused on 2010 to 2022.

Design/methodology/approach

This work combines interdisciplinary perspectives spanning across food policy, public health, psychology, education and sociology. This combination has merit as it offers different perspectives in terms of understanding SFP. The study was conducted between August 2021 and March 2022, using a desk-based review, analysing policies on food in secondary schools. Data collection was conducted through the Web using key search terms. The READ (Read, Extract, Analyse, Distil) approach was used as a systematic procedure to analyse policy and evaluation documents.

Findings

To all levels of government, it is recommended that a coherent policymaking approach be used to tackle SSFP improvements, to progress a whole school approach to food, supported by long-term dedicated resources while engaging children in SSFP development. For education departments, it is recommended that a food curriculum review, connected to school meals alongside a refocus on school food standards monitoring and reporting is crucial in serving the future generations. The current economic crisis has had an impact on public spending. Universal Free School Meals has been said to make an enormous difference to well-being.

Originality/value

The current findings suggest that researching SFP across nations has merit. There is a relative lack of focus on secondary schools, in light of England’s focus on the National Food Strategy (focus on children), post-pandemic, economic crisis – together this makes school food and food policy a topic of real urgency and importance. Lessons can both be learned, particularly in promoting healthier and more educationally inclusive school food practices. Research in this area can inform curriculum design and school food environment and system changes from the perspective of learnings around taking a whole school food approach to education.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 54 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2020

Vera Hagemann, Greta Ontrup and Annette Kluge

This paper aims to explore the influence of collective orientation (CO) on coordination and team performance for interdependently working teams while controlling for…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the influence of collective orientation (CO) on coordination and team performance for interdependently working teams while controlling for person-related and team variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 58 two-person-teams participated in a simulation-based firefighting task. The laboratory study took 2 h for each team. The effects of CO in tasks of increasing complexity were investigated under the consideration of control variables, and the relations between CO, coordination and team performance were assessed using a multivariate latent growth curve modeling approach and by estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models.

Findings

Team members high on CO performed significantly better than low-scoring members. The effect of CO on team performance was independent from an increasing task complexity, whereas the effect of CO on coordination was not. The effect of CO on team performance was mediated by coordination within the team, and the positive relation between CO and performance persists when including group efficacy into the model.

Research limitations/implications

As CO is a modifiable person-related variable and important for effective team processes, additional research on factors influencing this attitude during work is assumed to be valuable.

Practical implications

CO is especially important for highly interdependently working teams in high-risk-organizations such as the fire service or nuclear power plants, where errors lead to severe consequences for human beings or the environment.

Originality/value

No other studies showed the importance of CO for coordination and team performance while considering teamwork-relevant variables and the interdependence of work.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2023

Peter Kelly, Seth Brown and James Goring

In this paper we report on the outcomes of a scenario planning project in Melbourne's (Australia) inner northern suburbs, which was undertaken in the context of an extended…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper we report on the outcomes of a scenario planning project in Melbourne's (Australia) inner northern suburbs, which was undertaken in the context of an extended lockdown during Melbourne's second wave of COVID-19 infections. In this project, the researchers sought to identify the ways in which young people and youth service providers understood the challenges that the pandemic was creating for young people and the provision of youth services, and through the 5 years up to 2025.

Design/methodology/approach

The project was shaped by a scenario planning methodology that produced three research informed scenarios of possible futures for young people in Melbourne's inner north in 2025. The project conducted a series of structured video interviews with young people, and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders that asked participants to reflect on the context of the pandemic, and what the future might hold in relation to young people's pathways and health and well-being, and the futures of their communities and the planet.

Findings

The scenario planning methodology revealed many concerns, uncertainties and anxieties that were shared, but which also varied between young people and stakeholders – both about the immediacy of the pandemic, and its aftermaths and intersection with future crises.

Originality/value

The scenario planning approach offers sociologies of education and youth a means to do the future-oriented, “hopeful” work that multiple crises for young people demand. Scenario planning is an “affirmative” exercise in hope by which sociologies can “stay with the trouble” that we find ourselves in, and that the pandemic has amplified.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 March 2023

Dong-Heon Kwak, Derek L. Nazareth, Saerom Lee, Jinwoong Lee, Greta L. Polites and Deborah Erdos Knapp

Drawing upon the consistency literature, the theory of visual rhetoric and social judgment of warmth and competence, this study examines the determinants and impacts of perceived…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing upon the consistency literature, the theory of visual rhetoric and social judgment of warmth and competence, this study examines the determinants and impacts of perceived interface design consistency in the context of charity websites.

Design/methodology/approach

To identify design factors of perceived interface design consistency, this study separates charity website interface design into two aspects: main appeal design (i.e. appeal quality) and peripheral design (i.e. image type). The authors designed a two (appeal quality: low vs high) × three (image type: control vs adults vs children) controlled lab experiment to investigate the effects of various interface choices. A total of 217 subjects participated in the experiment. The authors used structural equation model (SEM) analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

This study found that appeal quality and human images increase perceived interface design consistency. The authors also found that the relationship between appeal quality and perceived interface design consistency is moderated by image type. Finally, the authors showed that perceived interface design consistency increases perceived warmth and competence of charity websites, which in turn affect intention to use the website for donations.

Originality/value

The authors’ findings provide novel insights for theory on consistency and interface design and practical implications for charity website designers by identifying determinants and consequences of perceived interface design consistency.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2018

Greta Miezinyte, Jolita Ostrauskaite, Egidija Rainosalo, Edvinas Skliutas and Mangirdas Malinauskas

The purpose of this paper is the design and investigation of novel acrylated epoxidized soybean oil-based photocurable systems as candidate materials for optical 3D printing.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is the design and investigation of novel acrylated epoxidized soybean oil-based photocurable systems as candidate materials for optical 3D printing.

Design/methodology/approach

Aromatic dithiols, benzene-1,3-dithiol or benzene-1,4-dithiol, were used as cross-linking agents of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil in these systems. Kinetics of photocross-linking was investigated by real-time photorheometry using two different photoinitiators, 2, 2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone or 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, in different quantities. The effect of the initial composition on the rate of photocross-linking, mechanical, thermal properties and swelling of obtained polymers was investigated.

Findings

The rate of photocross-linking was higher, more cross-links and shorter polymer chains between cross-linking points of the network were formed when benzene-1,4-dithiol and 2, 2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone were used in compositions. The higher yield of insoluble fraction, glass transition temperatures and values of compressive modulus were obtained when benzene-1,3-dithiol and 2, 2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone were used in compositions.

Originality/value

This is the first study of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil-based thiol-ene system by real-time photorheometry. The designed novel photocurable systems based on acrylated epoxidized soybean oil and benzenedithiols are promising renewable photoresins for rapid optical 3D printing on demand.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2021

Michael Mehmet, Troy Heffernan, Jennifer Algie and Behnam Forouhandeh

The purpose of this paper is to examine how upstream social marketing can benefit from using social media commentary to identify cognitive biases. Using reactions to leading…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how upstream social marketing can benefit from using social media commentary to identify cognitive biases. Using reactions to leading media/news publications/articles related to climate and energy policy in Australia, this paper aims to understand underlying community cognitive biases and their reasonings.

Design/methodology/approach

Social listening was used to gather community commentary about climate and energy policy in Australia. This allowed the coding of natural language data to determine underlying cognitive biases inherent in the community. In all, 2,700 Facebook comments were collected from 27 news articles dated between January 2018 and March 2020 using exportcomments.com. Team coding was used to ensure consistency in interpretation.

Findings

Nine key cognitive bias were noted, including, pessimism, just-world, confirmation, optimum, curse of knowledge, Dunning–Kruger, self-serving, concision and converge biases. Additionally, the authors report on the interactive nature of these biases. Right-leaning audiences are perceived to be willfully uninformed and motivated by self-interest; centric audiences want solutions based on common-sense for the common good; and left-leaning supporters of progressive climate change policy are typically pessimistic about the future of climate and energy policy in Australia. Impacts of powerful media organization shaping biases are also explored.

Research limitations/implications

Through a greater understanding of the types of cognitive biases, policy-makers are able to better design and execute influential upstream social marketing campaigns.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates that observing cognitive biases through social listening can assist upstream social marketing understand community biases and underlying reasonings towards climate and energy policy.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2000

David Houghton

The article describes the design and implementation process for developing an academic library website at De Montfort University (DMU) and gives practical guidance and advice. The…

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Abstract

The article describes the design and implementation process for developing an academic library website at De Montfort University (DMU) and gives practical guidance and advice. The aim of the website is to provide access to quality information services for students and staff at a large decentralised university. The article discusses resources and subject areas that are specific to DMU’s teaching and learning environment. However it aims, where possible, to give generalised advice to any academic library that is considering building a website in the hope that others will benefit from the DMU experience.

Details

Program, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0033-0337

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1967

AT the time of writing (Autumn 1966), those who are concerned with technical college libraries stand at a very interesting stage in the development of those services. I was…

Abstract

AT the time of writing (Autumn 1966), those who are concerned with technical college libraries stand at a very interesting stage in the development of those services. I was reminded of this fact the other day when I was lunching with one of the College Principals who had been concerned with the ATI Memorandum on College Libraries in 1937. (That, as you may know, was a very forward‐looking document and outlined objectives, not all of which have yet been attained.)

Details

New Library World, vol. 68 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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