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1 – 10 of 93This paper aims to describe the characteristics of virtual environments (VEs) that reinforce internationalization and to explore further implications for their utilization…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the characteristics of virtual environments (VEs) that reinforce internationalization and to explore further implications for their utilization. Internationalization at universities is often argued as being key to developing global citizens. The use of VEs for global experiences is a relatively new phenomenon for universities. Understanding the aspects of VEs that develop global citizens will assist in their further development for internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a case study comparison of students and their experiences in the real world and VEs used in the Monash University Chinese Studies program. The student participants were interviewed using semi‐structured questions to establish the elements of the Monash Secondlife© Island contributing to their understanding of internationalization.
Findings
The case study concludes that students perceived the Monash Secondlife© Island useful for basic interactions in language learning and for students less confident with social interaction. Another outcome is the indication that students desire more technology (e.g. voice) to be used in subsequent developments.
Originality/value
The paper provides a unique analysis of the utilization of VEs to develop internationalization at university. It outlines the characteristics expected as part of internationalization, the current usage of VEs to develop internationalization, and articulates the specific characteristics that VEs enable as part of the internationalization process.
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Anton Meyer, Richard Chase, Aleda Roth, Chris Voss, Klaus‐Ulrich Sperl, Larry Menor and Kate Blackmon
This paper provides a cross‐country examination of service management practice and performance of service organizations in the UK, USA and Germany. The findings reported are based…
Abstract
This paper provides a cross‐country examination of service management practice and performance of service organizations in the UK, USA and Germany. The findings reported are based on a sample of firms from the international service study (ISS) from four service sectors: financial services, professional services, hotels, and utilities. The paper argues that generally there are differences in services management practices and performance and, more specifically, that service quality performance may be explained by the nature and market dynamics of the service sector within the individual countries.
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As Ratnam makes clear, a cultural–historical perspective on teacher/faculty excessive entitlement is indispensable if we are to use this concept to work with, rather than…
Abstract
As Ratnam makes clear, a cultural–historical perspective on teacher/faculty excessive entitlement is indispensable if we are to use this concept to work with, rather than undermine, education practitioners. In this chapter, a networked relational model of activity is proposed as a tool for understanding excessive entitlement from a cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT) perspective, so that the transformative potential of both entitlement and the modeling of it may be harnessed. The networked relational model, which represents CHAT activity systems as a hand-draw or painted network of relationships between actors and artifacts, allows its creators, in their capacity as researchers or academics, to use it as an imaginative artifact in the Wartofskian sense. That is, by representing activity systems of academic performance as networks of interacting entities, the emergence of excessive entitlement can be traced to, and perhaps mitigated through the relationships that they represent. In this regard, the why, what, and how artifacts proposed by Engeström are taken up as useful means for enhancing the functioning of the networked relational model not just as a tool for analyses of entitlement but also a means for envisioning alternative countercultures into being.
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Assessing the capacity of individuals with learning disabilities to make decisions about treatment is problematic. This field has received little attention in the United Kingdom…
Abstract
Assessing the capacity of individuals with learning disabilities to make decisions about treatment is problematic. This field has received little attention in the United Kingdom, the concept of capacity proving difficult to define. There are no commonly agreed standards, English law in this area is still developing and there are few guidelines to instruct health professionals. This paper reviews the diagnostic, outcome and functional approaches to examining the issue of capacity and outlines a number of tests that have been developed for use in the clinical setting, though not adapted for use with people with a learning disability. Issues to be addressed in the adaptation of tests are explored and areas for practitioners to consider are discussed.
Christopher A. Voss, Pär Åhlström and Kate Blackmon
Investigates the link between benchmarking and operational performance using a sample of over 600 European manufacturing sites. Benchmarking is linked to the identification and…
Abstract
Investigates the link between benchmarking and operational performance using a sample of over 600 European manufacturing sites. Benchmarking is linked to the identification and adoption of improved operational practices, an increased understanding of competitive positioning, and the larger context of the “learning organization”. Shows that benchmarking may indeed contribute to improved operational performance, first through improving the firm’s understanding of its competitive position and its strengths and weaknesses, and second through providing a systematic process for effecting change. Learning organizations were more likely to benchmark than other firms.
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I address the question, Is theory useful when collaborating with teachers to improve student engagement?
Abstract
Purpose
I address the question, Is theory useful when collaborating with teachers to improve student engagement?
Design/methodology
We based our work on four principles of motivation drawn from the research literature: students are more likely to engage in learning if teachers support their perceptions of competence, autonomy, belongingness, and make learning meaningful. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, we suggested that teachers use certain instructional strategies, like open-ended questions, related to supporting student engagement. These strategies were both more complex than the standard practices and more challenging to implement, given the current U.S. emphasis on standardized testing. In two longitudinal studies, we provided rationales for engagement principles and instructional strategies related to student engagement and encouraged teachers to use new practices. Mixed methodology included online observation measures and video of classroom instruction, retrospective interviews with teachers, and student interviews and experience sampling self-reports.
Findings
Short case studies of teachers change illustrate the examples of implementation. In both studies, about half the teachers made significant instructional changes, which were related both to teacher perceptions of student engagement and to student self-reports.
Originality/value
Insights gained from the studies may offer researchers practical information about how to work with teachers to improve engagement in the classroom. They include whether teachers can understand abstract motivation terminology, consider students’ “basic needs” when planning instruction, and implement strategies so that they are likely to support student engagement. Other learnings include the strong impact of teacher culture on change efforts and the need to consider teachers’ “basic needs” if we are to support them in instructional change. Long-term collaboration and establishing mutual trust may be the best way for both researchers and teachers to develop common understandings for supporting student motivation in the classroom.
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Deborah A. Harris and Patti A. Giuffre
Sociologists have documented how women in male-dominated occupations experience subtle and overt forms of discrimination based on gender stereotypes. This study examines women…
Abstract
Sociologists have documented how women in male-dominated occupations experience subtle and overt forms of discrimination based on gender stereotypes. This study examines women professional chefs to understand how they perceive and respond to stereotypes claiming women are not good leaders, are too emotional, and are not “cut out” for male-dominated work. Many of our participants resist these stereotypes and believe that their gender has benefited them in their jobs. Using in-depth interviews with women chefs, we show that they utilize essentialist gendered rhetoric to describe how women chefs are better than their male counterparts. While such rhetoric appears to support stereotypes emphasizing “natural” differences between men and women in the workplace, we suggest that women are reframing these discourses into a rhetoric of “feminine strength” wherein women draw from gender differences in ways that benefit them in their workplaces and their careers. Our conclusion discusses the implications of our findings for gender inequality at work.
Jean-Baptiste Litrico and Mary Dean Lee
In this chapter, we examine the interplay between external legitimacy judgments, internal identity beliefs, and conceptions of sustainability. Based on observation at industry…
Abstract
In this chapter, we examine the interplay between external legitimacy judgments, internal identity beliefs, and conceptions of sustainability. Based on observation at industry events and interviews with key stakeholders, we examine how organizational actors interpret the concept of sustainability in civil aviation, an industry subject to intense legitimacy threat for its environmental impact. We find that the concept of sustainability is interpreted through a process of naturalization, by which conceptual ties to past practices are forged, and the concept becomes corrupted. We describe three mechanisms (relabeling, bundling, and zooming out) through which concept naturalization occurs, and we show how this process creates resonance between sustainability and an industry ethos, which captures the aspirations, ideals and values of the industry.
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