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This study aims to address how a higher education pedagogical course in sustainable development (SD) for university educators affects their teaching efforts in providing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address how a higher education pedagogical course in sustainable development (SD) for university educators affects their teaching efforts in providing sustainability matters for students.
Design/methodology/approach
With the aim of improving that course, a case study approach was used to understand how the educators made use of the course in their teaching practice. Data were collected as written and oral feedback reflections and as semi-structured interviews at course completion.
Findings
Educators clearly express that they understand the concept “about” SD, but there are only vague expressions of a developed teaching repertoire to address education “for” SD in their teaching practice.
Research limitations/implications
When it comes to the purposes of developing sustainability literacy among students, implications from the study furthermore address the needs for further clarifications on both structure and intent on the course presented in this contribution.
Practical implications
The educators as well as their students will be exposed to, and trained in concepts, to prepare them to act in alignment with SD. This, in turn, meets requirements from higher education authorities concerning SD at higher education institutions.
Social implications
A core aim of the covered approach is to support student readiness in SD, and for those to become future agents of positive change.
Originality/value
This study has a focus on presenting how educators change the structures of courses and learning elements to approach SD in their teachings.
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Claes Dahlqvist and Christel Persson
Primary teachers play a vital role in fostering pupils' successful futures. Therefore, gaining knowledge of primary teacher students' learning processes, including the achievement…
Abstract
Purpose
Primary teachers play a vital role in fostering pupils' successful futures. Therefore, gaining knowledge of primary teacher students' learning processes, including the achievement of information-seeking skills, is crucial. The aim of this paper is to understand better the interplay between cognitive appraisals and emotions in the constructivist process of learning and achieving information-seeking skills.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Swedish primary teacher students. The analysis of qualitative data was deductive and theory-driven, guided by Kuhlthau's information search process model, Scherer's semantic space of emotions and Pekrun's control-value theory of achievement emotions.
Findings
Anger/frustration, enjoyment and boredom were identified as activity emotions and anxiety, hopelessness and hope as prospective outcome emotions. The retrospective outcome emotions found were pride, joy, gratitude, surprise and relief. The appraisals eliciting the achievement emotions were the control appraisals uncertainty/certainty (activity and prospective outcome) and oneself/other (retrospective), and value appraisals negative/positive intrinsic motivation (activity) and failure/success (prospective and retrospective). The interplay between appraisals and emotions was complex and dynamic. The processes were individually unique, non-linear and iterative, and the appraisals did not always elicit emotions.
Originality/value
The study has theoretical and methodological implications for information behaviour research in its application of appraisal theories and the Geneva affect label coder. In addition, it has practical implications for academic librarians teaching information-seeking skills.
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Alejandro Morales-Vargas, Rafael Pedraza-Jimenez and Lluís Codina
The field of website quality evaluation attracts the interest of a range of disciplines, each bringing its own particular perspective to bear. This study aims to identify the main…
Abstract
Purpose
The field of website quality evaluation attracts the interest of a range of disciplines, each bringing its own particular perspective to bear. This study aims to identify the main characteristics – methods, techniques and tools – of the instruments of evaluation described in this literature, with a specific concern for the factors analysed, and based on these, a multipurpose model is proposed for the development of new comprehensive instruments.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a systematic bibliographic review, 305 publications on website quality are examined, the field's leading authors, their disciplines of origin and the sectors to which the websites being assessed belong are identified, and the methods they employ characterised.
Findings
Evaluations of website quality tend to be conducted with one of three primary focuses: strategic, functional or experiential. The technique of expert analysis predominates over user studies and most of the instruments examined classify the characteristics to be evaluated – for example, usability and content – into factors that operate at different levels, albeit that there is little agreement on the names used in referring to them.
Originality/value
Based on the factors detected in the 50 most cited works, a model is developed that classifies these factors into 13 dimensions and more than 120 general parameters. The resulting model provides a comprehensive evaluation framework and constitutes an initial step towards a shared conceptualization of the discipline of website quality.
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Chunlai Yan, Hongxia Li, Ruihui Pu, Jirawan Deeprasert and Nuttapong Jotikasthira
This study aims to provide a systematic and complete knowledge map for use by researchers working in the field of research data. Additionally, the aim is to help them quickly…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a systematic and complete knowledge map for use by researchers working in the field of research data. Additionally, the aim is to help them quickly understand the authors' collaboration characteristics, institutional collaboration characteristics, trending research topics, evolutionary trends and research frontiers of scholars from the perspective of library informatics.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt the bibliometric method, and with the help of bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace and VOSviewer, quantitatively analyze the retrieved literature data. The analysis results are presented in the form of tables and visualization maps in this paper.
Findings
The research results from this study show that collaboration between scholars and institutions is weak. It also identified the current hotspots in the field of research data, these being: data literacy education, research data sharing, data integration management and joint library cataloguing and data research support services, among others. The important dimensions to consider for future research are the library's participation in a trans-organizational and trans-stage integration of research data, functional improvement of a research data sharing platform, practice of data literacy education methods and models, and improvement of research data service quality.
Originality/value
Previous literature reviews on research data are qualitative studies, while few are quantitative studies. Therefore, this paper uses quantitative research methods, such as bibliometrics, data mining and knowledge map, to reveal the research progress and trend systematically and intuitively on the research data topic based on published literature, and to provide a reference for the further study of this topic in the future.
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Based on a review of professional staff (PS), which includes research managers and administrators, in 54 academic publications, I propose a novel definition for this category of…
Abstract
Based on a review of professional staff (PS), which includes research managers and administrators, in 54 academic publications, I propose a novel definition for this category of staff: ‘degree holding university employees who are primarily responsible for developing, maintaining and changing the social, digital and physical infrastructures that enable education, research and knowledge exchange’. The proposed definition facilitates the development of new research questions that target the level of the organisational fields of higher education and science, to complement research on the university and individual levels. This view supports the study of the contributions of PS to higher education and science. I anticipate that such a broader focus will help to counter and nuance accounts of ‘administrative bloat’ by focusing on how PS as a group shape and are shaped by the organisational fields of higher education and science, rather than dismissing them as superfluous or parasitic.
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Georgios Pallaris, Panayiotis Zaphiris and Antigoni Parmaxi
The purpose of this study is to chart the development of Makerspaces in higher education (MIHE), by building a map of existing research work in the field. Based on a corpus of 183…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to chart the development of Makerspaces in higher education (MIHE), by building a map of existing research work in the field. Based on a corpus of 183 manuscripts, published between January 2014 and April 2021, it sets out to describe the range of topics covered under the umbrella of MIHE and provide a holistic view of the field.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted in this research includes development of the 2014–2021 MIHE corpus; literature overview and initial coding scheme development; refinement of the initial coding scheme with the help of a focus group and construction of the MIHE map version 1.0; refinement of the MIHE map version 1.0 following a systematic approach of content analysis and development of the MIHE map version 2.0; evaluation of the proposed structure and inclusiveness of all categories in the MIHE map version 2.0 using card-sorting technique; and, finally, development of the MIHE map version 3.0.
Findings
The research trends in the categories of the MIHE map are discussed, as well as possible future directions in the field.
Originality/value
This paper provides a holistic view of the field of MIHE guiding both junior MIHE researchers to place themselves in the field, and policymakers and decision-makers who attempt to evaluate the current and future scholar activity in the field. Finally, it caters for more experienced researchers to focus on certain underinvestigated domains.
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Marguerite Alice Nel, Pfano Makhera, Mabjala Mercia Moreana and Marinda Maritz
Although universities have extensive research and initiatives in place that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is still a significant gap…
Abstract
Purpose
Although universities have extensive research and initiatives in place that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is still a significant gap in documenting and assessing these efforts. This paper aims to discuss how academic libraries can apply their information management skills and open-access platforms, to facilitate the discoverability and retrieval of evidence on SDGs.
Design/methodology/approach
Introduced by a brief literature review on the role of libraries in contributing to the SDGs in general, the authors draw on their personal experiences as metadata specialists, participating in a project aimed at linking their university’s research output to the SDGs. A case study, from the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Science Library, is used as an example to demonstrate the benefits of resourceful metadata in organising, communicating and raising awareness about the SDGs in the field of veterinary science.
Findings
Through practical examples and recommended workflows, this paper illustrates that metadata specialists are perfectly positioned to apply their information management skills and library platforms to facilitate the discoverability and retrieval of evidence on SDGs.
Originality/value
Although there are increasing reports on the contributions of libraries to support the successful implementation of the SDGs, limited information exists on the role of metadata specialists, as well as those with a practical focus.
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Andrew Ebekozien and Clinton Aigbavboa
The built environment is a complex sector that demands coordination and cooperation of stakeholders. Construction projects from the complex sector require skills, services, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The built environment is a complex sector that demands coordination and cooperation of stakeholders. Construction projects from the complex sector require skills, services, and integration of major disciplines in the built environment. Sustainability of the major disciplines' standards regarding the appropriateness of the built environment tertiary education cannot be over-emphasised in Nigeria. Studies concerning Nigeria's built environment programmes accreditation (BEPA) in the 21st-century education system are scarce. Thus, the study investigated the relevance and perceived factors hindering Nigeria's BEPA in the 21st-century education system. Also, the study proffered measures to improve Nigerian built environment tertiary education accreditation ranking.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were sourced from elite virtual interviews across Nigeria. The interviewees were knowledgeable about Nigeria's built environment programmes accreditation, and many of them have been directly or indirectly involved. The investigators utilised a thematic analysis for the collated data and enhanced it with secondary sources.
Findings
The study revealed that several Nigerian academia in the built environment lack fame in research, publication, and citations due to barriers in their workplace. It has hindered their global institution's accreditation and ranking standards. Findings identified inadequate basic infrastructure, obsolete curricula, lack of research novelty, lack of higher education institutions funding, inadequate staffing and lax upskilling and reskilling, and unethical practices “systematic corruption” as major factors hindering BEPA. Also, findings proffered measures to improve Nigeria's BEPA global ranking.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to the perceived barriers and measures to improve BEPA in the 21st-century in Nigeria via semi-structured virtual interviews. Future study is needed to validate the findings as highlighted in the thematic network.
Practical implications
The paper confirms that the BEPA requires innovative and multidisciplinary measures to improve the global ranking of these programmes and, by extension, the higher education institutions ranking globally. The paper would stir major stakeholders and advance the built environment programmes quality accreditation regarding international best practices and maintain the minimum standards.
Originality/value
The paper comprehensively analyses the perceived factors and proffered measures to improve Nigeria's BEPA in the 21st-century via a thematic network. The outcome intends to improve the global ranking and stir stakeholders to reposition and showcase Nigeria's built environment programmes to the world.
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