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1 – 10 of 82Sara Smith, Uttara Karnik, Karen Kendall, Abigail Pugh, Kelvin Robson, Nabeel Salmons and Martin Khechara
Continual professional development is essential to foster and enhance professionals’ abilities. A wide variety of methods have been adopted to support professional learning for…
Abstract
Purpose
Continual professional development is essential to foster and enhance professionals’ abilities. A wide variety of methods have been adopted to support professional learning for healthcare professions but many still focus upon a need to update knowledge and the learning of isolated competencies for practice. The purpose of this paper is to report upon a collaborative partnership that enabled the reframing of a professional development course away from this objectivist epistemology to foster pedagogically appropriate approaches nurturing the development of the knowledge and skills required for extended practice in specimen dissection.
Design/methodology/approach
An action research approach informed this study which drew upon aspects of simulated learning, “creative play” and “hands-on” practice to nurture development of the knowledge and mastery of essential skills required for extended practice in dissection. A questionnaire allowed the gathering of quantitative and qualitative data from delegates. Open coding of delegate free-text responses enabled thematic analysis of the data.
Findings
Delegates reported upon a positive learning and teaching experience providing them with a unique opportunity to develop the essential skills and knowledge required to enhance their extended practice. Four key themes were identified from delegate feedback: legitimacy of learning experience; safe-space for learning; confidence as a practitioner; and professional and social interactions.
Originality/value
Research into skill development in this field is currently lacking. Findings highlight the value of a creative approach to professional development which enables individuals to master the skills required for practice. It also underlines the importance and value of collaborative partnerships. As allied health professionals advance and extend their roles professional development must move away from the didactic delivery of isolated topics and ensure that it offers legitimate learning experiences allowing skill development and technique mastery alongside knowledge enhancement.
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Karen D. Arnold and Katherine Lynk Wartman
Research that tracks low-income populations across educational transitions contains threats to validity that can compromise evidence-based educational policy and practice. The Big…
Abstract
Research that tracks low-income populations across educational transitions contains threats to validity that can compromise evidence-based educational policy and practice. The Big Picture Longitudinal Study is a national, multiyear study that follows low-income urban youth who were accepted into college as high school seniors. Triangulating the results of multiple longitudinal data sources showed that reported college aspirations and enrollment intentions were inconsistently and differently reported by students and teachers in the final semester of high school. Relying on a particular data source and time can result in mistakenly equating college aspirations and enrollment behaviors, these findings suggest. In particular, secondary school educators’ inflated assumptions about their students’ college aspirations can obscure the need for supporting multiple pathways to college and work for low-income, first-generation high school seniors.
John Fenwick and Karen Johnston Miller
Reform of local political management continues to be part of the international agenda for change as governments seek to create the conditions for better performance in local…
Abstract
Purpose
Reform of local political management continues to be part of the international agenda for change as governments seek to create the conditions for better performance in local government. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of changes in political management upon the performance of local government, with England as a case study, and the implications for local government reform elsewhere.
Design/methodology/approach
Using statistical data derived from the system of comprehensive performance assessment (CPA), the analysis uses Kendall's tau to correlate CPA score per local authority against the respective political governance arrangement of each local authority in England.
Findings
As the correlation coefficient did not reach the level of statistical significance, the principal finding is that the relationship between different political governance arrangements and local authorities' performance is not demonstrated. The implications of this for governments' reforms of political management are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
The data are based upon English sources and point to the importance of conducting comparable analysis in other societies that have undergone similar changes in local political management.
Practical implications
In instituting reforms of local governance, governments rarely pay serious attention to measurable outcomes and the paper suggests the value in so doing.
Originality/value
The specific relationship between local political management and performance has not previously been measured in precisely this way.
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Cristina del Río, Karen González-Álvarez and Francisco José López-Arceiz
The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of greenwashing and sustainable development goal (SDG)-washing processes by comparing ex ante (SDG Compass) and ex post (SDG…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of greenwashing and sustainable development goal (SDG)-washing processes by comparing ex ante (SDG Compass) and ex post (SDG Compliance) indicators and investigating whether the limitations associated with these indicators encourage companies to engage in washing processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a sample of 1,154 companies included in the S&P Sustainability Yearbook (formerly the RobecoSAM Yearbook). The authors test for the presence of greenwashing by comparing ex ante and ex post indicators for each SDG, whereas to test for SDG-washing, the authors compare the two ex ante and ex post approaches considering the full set of SDGs.
Findings
The results show that there is no consistency between the two types of indicators to measure the level of SDG implementation in organisations. This lack of consistency may facilitate both greenwashing and SDG-washing processes, which is due to the design and limitations of these measurement tools.
Practical implications
Companies may choose those indicators that paint their commitment to the SDGs in the best light, but they may also select indicators based on the SDGs they want to report on. These two options would combine greenwashing and SDG-washing.
Social implications
The shift towards improved standards and regulations for measuring SDG achievement is the result of several social factors such as investor scrutiny, regulatory reform, consumer awareness and increased corporate accountability.
Originality/value
Few previous studies have analysed in detail the interaction between greenwashing and SDG-washing. They focus on the use of ex ante or ex post indicators separately, with samples composed of local companies, and without considering the whole set of SDGs.
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Karen A. Geiger and Cheryl Jordan
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the work of those with societal privilege in the practice of inclusion. It outlines the experience of privilege, obstacles raised by the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the work of those with societal privilege in the practice of inclusion. It outlines the experience of privilege, obstacles raised by the study of women in cross-race relationships, and offers guidance for those with privilege in how to use it in relationships and organizational inclusion efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes lessons from varied literatures about privilege, social justice, and organizational inclusion/diversity and applies them to the work of inclusion for those privileged by race in the USA.
Findings
The paper offers guidance to those with race privilege in the USA. It suggests ways to problematize privilege, how to become a social justice ally, reframe what white means, develop awareness about race dynamics, use empathy cautiously, create a “third culture,” balance multiple identities, and acknowledge numerous power differentials.
Research limitations/implications
Given the specific contexts and social identities chosen here, the conclusions may not generalize. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to extend the experience, obstacles and guidance for those with other kinds of privilege in other contexts.
Practical implications
Because of global demographics, organizations have incorporated a wide range of workforce diversity and now need to maximize practices of inclusion so talent can be fully utilized. This paper provides specific practices that can cause those with privilege to create a truly inclusive environment.
Originality/value
There is very little exploration about the role of those with societal privilege in the definitions and practices of inclusion. This paper's contribution is to outline the work to be done by those privileged.
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Amber Strong Makaiau, Karen Ragoonaden, Jessica Ching-Sze Wang and Lu Leng
This chapter explores how four culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse colleagues use self-study methodologies and online journaling to systematically examine…
Abstract
This chapter explores how four culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse colleagues use self-study methodologies and online journaling to systematically examine inquiry-based teaching and learning in international contexts. Respectively from the USA, Canada, Taiwan, and China, the main research question is, “How can we develop an inquiry stance in our similarly diverse teacher candidates?” For five months, they explore the question with one another in an interactive online journal. The analysis of their written journal reflections result in four main themes: (1) naming and framing inquiry and context, (2) perspectives on translating theory to practice, (3) common practices for developing inquiry stance, and (4) policy work. The chapter concludes with a list of recommendations for fostering inquiry-based teaching and learning with culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse teacher candidates. Self-study research methodologies, Philosophy for Children, and online journaling are also suggested as professional development models for diverse globalized teacher educators.
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Jyrki S. Rytilä and Karen M. Spens
The overall aim of the research presented is to improve blood supply chain management in order to use the scarce resource of blood more efficiently. Computer simulation is used as…
Abstract
Purpose
The overall aim of the research presented is to improve blood supply chain management in order to use the scarce resource of blood more efficiently. Computer simulation is used as a tool for increasing efficiency in blood supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
An application of discrete event simulation modeling in the health‐care sector, more specifically in the area of blood transfusion services. The model has been refined in cooperation with medical expertise as it is vital that practitioners are closely involved so that the model can be tested against their understanding as it develops.
Findings
Decision makers can make better and less risky decisions regarding changes in the blood supply chain based on the knowledge created by simulation experiments. Simulation modeling can be used to make complex and chaotic systems comprehensible and more efficient. In health care, this means that scarce resources can be allocated better, and thereby simulation can aid in increasing the overall quality of health care.
Research limitations/implications
Models are simplifications and there is no guarantee that they will be valid, however, when used sensibly, simulation models and modeling approaches provide an important tool to managing risk and uncertainty in health care supply chains.
Practical implications
Earlier calculations and improvement efforts of blood supply chain in focus were based on “gut feeling”. Through applying simulation to this complex system, the dynamics of blood supply chain was more easily understood by the medical expertise.
Originality/value
There is a lack of work on computer simulations of blood supply chains, a challenge which this work has taken up on.
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Karen C. Su, Chung-Bow Lee, Shu-Hui Lin, I-Chien Liu and Hong-Chi Chen
Cyber risk refers to risk affecting information and technology assets of a corporation or government institution. As cyber risk management become important, insurance is one…
Abstract
Cyber risk refers to risk affecting information and technology assets of a corporation or government institution. As cyber risk management become important, insurance is one possible solution. However, lack of data and severe information asymmetries increase the difficulties in pricing-related insurance products. In this chapter, we discuss first-party insurance that indemnifies the loss when the insured encounters virus attack and provide pricing model for the policy using copula methodology. Simulation results show that model risk may exist in the distribution of server downtime hours and is minor in the distribution of incident frequency and number of personal computers (PCs) infected.
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Abstract
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Christine M. Shea, Mary Fran Fran T. Malone, Justin R. Young and Karen J. Graham
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, implementation and impact evaluation of an interactive theater-based workshop by the ADVANCE program at the University of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, implementation and impact evaluation of an interactive theater-based workshop by the ADVANCE program at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The workshop is part of a larger institutional transformation program funded by the National Science Foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
This institutional transformation program relied upon a systems approach to diagnose potential causes for the underrepresentation of women faculty in certain disciplines. This revealed that increasing awareness of, and reducing, implicit gender bias among members of faculty search committees could, in time, contribute to increasing the representation of women faculty at UNH. A committee charged with developing a faculty workshop to achieve this change identified interactive theater as an effective faculty training approach. The committee oversaw the development of customized scripts, and the hiring of professional actors and a facilitator to implement the workshop.
Findings
The workshop’s effectiveness in fulfilling its goals was assessed using faculty hiring and composition data, program evaluations, participant interviews and questions in an annual faculty climate survey. Findings indicate that the representation of women faculty increased significantly at UNH since the implementation of the interactive theater workshop. Analysis of the multiple sources of data provides corroborating evidence that a significant portion of the increase is directly attributable to the workshop.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of interactive theater-based workshops in an academic environment and of the systems approach in diagnosing and solving organizational problems.
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