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In this chapter we present a case study about a bottom-up approach in creating the strategy and action plan for the mainstream implementation of blended learning in one Faculty at a higher education institution in Croatia, and the implications this has on the access and retention of students from equity groups. In previous research the target groups were identified, and the next step was to investigate the specific needs of those groups of students, focusing on creating an effective learning environment. Taking an evidence-informed approach, institutional experts, management and staff developed a strategic framework, covering ICT support, the E-learning system and curriculum development to meet the specific needs of these students. One of the very important goals of mainstreaming widening participation at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) is to create an effective learning environment for all students. E-learning is recognized as an important tool in making learning and education more accessible to all students at the FOI. The FOI's Strategy for E-learning contributes to this objective and since FOI is one of the leading faculties in the implementation of E-learning at the University of Zagreb, FOI's approach to E-learning is exemplary within the institution, and it has been taken into account when University of Zageb Strategy was being developed and implemented.

Displaying appropriate emotions enhances followers’ perceptions toward a leader. The present study examined the moderating effect of leader group-prototypicality on the relationship between leader’s emotion appropriateness and followers’ perceptions toward the leader (i.e., self-sacrifice intentions and effectiveness). Based on a set of 366 Malaysian students’ experimental survey responses, leader group-prototypicality emerged as a significant moderator. Specifically, the effect of leader’s emotion appropriateness was stronger for group-prototypical leaders than non-group-prototypical leaders. Hence, to enhance their perceived effectiveness, leaders should portray appropriate emotions and ensure that they are viewed as representative by their followers.

Knowledge is critical for employee and firm success. We show that being perceived as prototypical organizational members is a source of prominence in knowledge exchange that operates beyond preexisting communication or affective relationships. Self-categorization processes produce – through depersonalization – a positive attitude among the members which represents an autonomous mechanism of social attraction for knowledge exchange, while social network mechanisms are triggered by interpersonal attraction. Our findings also suggest that including perceived members’ prototypicality can avoid a potentially spurious relationship in assessing the role played by social identity and categorization theory in explaining attitude and behaviors.

Curriculum design is an essential task that is complex, painstaking, thought provoking, and cognitively demanding. Often, educators leave curriculum design up to the “experts,” such as textbook makers, program directors, and curriculum leaders. Although deference to “experts” can be perceived as the more efficient way to approach curriculum design, it removes the power from the instructors to exert their expertise, content knowledge, pedagogical artistry, and ability to address the needs of their specific students. In turn, students’ learning and ultimate generalization and application of that learning may not be fully realized. This chapter seeks to challenge that deference of power and illustrate that curriculum design should be a fundamental component to any course design and implementation. This chapter will illustrate considerations that instructors must keep at the forefront of their thinking when designing curricula; specifically, the provision of relevant content that serves as a basis for sustained and successful employability and addressing diverse student learning needs. This chapter will also provide reasonable, practical frameworks for educators to use to embark on executing this critical component of teaching and learning.

This study assessed the psychosocial factors of home conflict as predicators to the academic performance of young adults, using undergraduates in Babcock University, Ilishan, Remo, Ogun State. Descriptive survey research design was adopted, with a sample size of 387 respondents from different schools and faculties were randomly selected for the study. Findings indicated that home conflict affects the academic performance of young adults based on the psychosocial factors. The set null hypotheses were tested at 0.001 level of significance. The report reveals that the anxiety mean and SD is 14.8552 and 5.03982, respectively. For aggression and academic performance, it reveals that F = 54.788, df_42,321; p > 0.005. Hence, there is no significant difference. There is a significant difference between peer rejection and academic performance. It reveals that F = 94.418, df_42,321 p > 0.001. Hence, there is no significant difference. The study recommended that parents should be enlightened about having a stable home and how conflict in the home can affect the academic performance of a child. It also recommends the support of the government and educational sectors to help create awareness of the importance of a good family relationship.

The analysis of criminality among older offenders is particularly important in the context of the changing age structure of Polish society. The share of older people among the inhabitants of Poland is increasing (from 10% in the 1990s to 17% in 2017), and this trend – as shown in the official statistical data – will remain consistent. It is estimated that by 2050, 33% of Polish society will be over 65 years of age. Doubtless this change will influence crime patterns – in particular the age of offenders and the crime structures. It is already visible in the statistics that within the population of convicted persons, the share of people aged 60+ has been increasing for several years (from 3.1% in 2007 to 4.8% in 2017). But the criminality of the older offenders differs from general crime patterns. Driving while intoxicated is the most common reason for convicting a person above 60.

The aim of this chapter is to present the spectrum of crimes committed by older offenders in Poland. The analysis was based on the findings from the field research conducted by the author. The research covered in-depth analysis of the data retrieved from 353 criminal court cases when the convicted perpetrator was at least 60 years of age at the time of offending. The data was used to analyse patterns of offending in older age, the types of crimes committed by older perpetrators and their circumstances, and the portrait of the victims of those offences. In addition, the author focused on the problem of appearance of offending in the life course of older offenders.

This paper explores the benefits of teaching young people about sex through a sexual debut framework.

Dominant conceptual frameworks that shape young people’s introduction to sexual intimacy are analyzed.

Sexual debut is a process by which young people are given the power to decide the who, what, when, where, why, and how of their first sexual encounters. The evolution and nuances of young people’s first sexual engagements can be understood through the interface of culture, social, and psychological contexts, language, actions, experiences, and how they transform those processes into their own conceptualization of sexual behavior and involvement with it.

This framework explains a process by which young people engage in particular sexual acts at a particular time and place with a certain partner. It allows for future data gathering and analysis to refine this model.

Benefits of teaching children they have power to influence with whom they want to become sexually active, what types of sexual activities they want to experience, when they wish to engage in those actions, and where they occur should reduce the risk of abuse, rape, and harm.

The debut model challenges abstinence approaches to sex education. The implications of this research reinforce the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to support young people’s participation to influence their lives and well-being.

It provides a realistic view of sexual experimentation and has the potential to reduce risk and increase young people’s well-being.

This chapter examines the affordances of social media to understand how groups are experienced through social media. Specifically, the chapter presents a theoretical model to understand how affordances of social media promote or suppress entitativity.

Participants (N=265) were recruited through snowball sampling to answer questions about their recent Facebook status updates. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the goodness of fit for our model.

We validate a model of entitativity as it occurs through the affordances offered by social media. Participant’s knowledge that status update responders were an interacting group outside of Facebook affected their perceptions of interactivity in the responses. Interactivity and history of interactions were the strongest predictors of status update entitativity. Further, status update entitativity had positive relationships with overall Facebook entitativity as well as group identity.

To encourage group identity through social media, managers need to increase employees’ perceptions of entitativity, primarily by enabling employees to see the interactions of others and to contribute content in social media platforms.

This is the only study we know of that empirically examines how groups are experienced through social media. Additionally, we draw from an affordance perspective, which helps to generalize our findings beyond the site of our study.

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the reader to Spatial Health Econometrics (SHE). In both micro and macro health economics there are phenomena that are characterised by a strong spatial dimension, from hospitals engaging in local competitions in the delivery of health care services, to the regional concentration of health risk factors and needs. SHE allows health economists to incorporate these spatial effects using simple econometric models that take into account these spillover effects. This improves our understanding of issues such as hospital quality, efficiency and productivity and the sustainability of health expenditure of regional and national health care systems, to mention a few.

The author looks at how advertising aimed at cisgender men has shifted over the last two decades, moving from standard representations of hegemonic forms of masculinity to the adoption of the language and style of “postfeminist authenticity.” Drawing on a range of insights from across the social sciences and using the examples of three popular grooming products, Axe, Gillette, and Dollar Shave Club, the author critically examines the manner in which these new campaigns emphasize individual self-improvement and consumption choices as a means to solving the problems generated “by traditional, supposedly inauthentic, expressions of masculinity.”