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The study investigates the comparative efficacy of the culturo-techno-contextual approach (CTCA) and the lecture method in students’ understanding of the human resource management (HRM) curriculum in Ghana.

A quasi-experimental design is employed to gather data from 245 4th-year undergraduate students studying HRM at a Ghanaian public university. The experimental group with a population of 115 students was taught with CTCA, whilst the control group with a population of 130 students was taught using the lecture method. The data was collected using the HRM achievement test (HRMAT). The data were analysed using the descriptive analysis of covariance technique with pre-test scores added as a covariate.

The findings reveal that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the study of HRM, affirming the effectiveness of the CTCA over the lecture method.

This study is novel because it is the first paper to apply the CTCA to the study of HRM in the Ghanaian higher education space. It will, therefore, benefit HRM education in the country when educational stakeholders adopt a sequential and methodical approach to teaching and learning HRM using the CTCA.

Project-based learning is one of the most effective methods of transferring academic knowledge and skills to real-world situations in higher education. However, its effectiveness is not much investigated focusing on the students' narrative. This study aims at evaluating the students' experience and perspective on adopting project-based learning in master by research and doctoral programmes for proactive skills development.

This study evaluates the self-reflection of 10 postgraduate students and their supervisor who have participated in developing a software tool for solar photovoltaics (PV) integrated building envelope design, management and the related education.

Findings reveal that the students have effectively improved their knowledge on the subject via collaborating with the industry, self-learning/observation, peer learning, problem-solving and teamwork. Dividing the project into student-led tasks has improved the decision-making and leadership skills, risks identification, planning and time management skills. The overall experience has (1) built up confidence in students, (2) enhanced their creativity and critical thinking and (3) improved their proactive skills and context knowledge.

A clear research gap can be seen in exploring the effectiveness of project-based learning for master by research and doctoral programmes, which mainly focus on extensive research. These programmes do not necessarily focus on developing students' proactive skills, which is the main requirement if they intend to work in the construction industry. This paper addresses the above research gap by demonstrating the effectiveness of project-based learning for developing the proactive skills in a research-intensive learning environment.

This paper describes the development of a digital role play game (RPG) designed to help construction apprentices to better communicate with their supervisors about issues with the potential to impact on their physical and psychological health and safety.

A participatory approach was adopted to utilise the knowledge and insights of the target users to inform the digital RPG development. Apprentices and supervisors were interviewed to identify characteristics of effective supervisor-apprentice communication, which became the RPG’s learning objectives. The scenarios constructed in the RPG were drawn from lived experiences shared by the apprentices in the interviews. During the development process, consultations were conducted with an advisory committee comprising of apprentices and supervisors to improve the realism of the RPG scenarios.

Three scenarios were developed for the RPG. In each scenario, players are asked to make decisions at various interaction points about how the characters should respond to the unfolding and challenging situations. Scripts were developed for the game, which were acted out and motion captured to animate digital MetaHuman characters embedded in a virtual construction site. Two example situations are introduced in this paper to illustrate the development process.

To our knowledge, the RPG introduced is one of the first applications of digital game-based training in the construction industry. The adoption of a participatory design approach ensures that the game content relates to real-world experiences. The digital RPG is highly interactive and engaging in nature and presents a novel approach to developing “soft” skills in construction.

This paper outlines the active learning methods used to develop and deliver a sustainable business course to undergraduate students. Moreover, the paper aims to investigate the effect of the sustainable business course on the students’ engagement in sustainable consumption.

From a pedagogical perspective, the paper describes the active learning methods applied in a newly introduced sustainable business course via numerous distinctive assessment techniques. On the empirical front, the research investigates the impact of the sustainable business course on the students’ engagement in sustainable consumption. To test such impact, an online survey was distributed among students who completed the sustainable business course, and as a control group for comparison, students who did not take the course.

The research results indicate a positive relationship between completion of the sustainable business course and engagement in sustainable consumption. Furthermore, the data revealed that female students exhibited more engagement in sustainable consumption than male students.

The study contributes to the literature on student-centered pedagogy, active learning techniques and the relationship between sustainable business education and engagement with sustainable consumption.

The study contributes to the literature on student-centered pedagogy, active learning techniques and the relationship between sustainable business education and engagement with sustainable consumption. Pedagogically, the nonconventional course curricula and assessment methods described in this study can be used as a reference by instructors aiming to integrate active and experiential teaching methods into their sustainable business curricula. For decision makers in higher education who are working in line with the global direction to achieve sustainability, this research provides preliminary evidence that students’ engagement with sustainability is influenced by their course curricula.

By depicting innovative approaches to teaching sustainability in business, the research enriches the field of sustainable business pedagogy which remains under-researched in many countries. Furthermore, the research goes further by investigating the effect of the course on students’ sustainable consumption. This acts as evidence of the effectiveness of teaching sustainable business in changing future leaders’ perspectives and priorities to include environmental and social aspects, which has become a global goal. Accordingly, the research has the potential to encourage more business schools to make sustainable business education mandatory.

This study aims to investigate the integration of education for sustainable development (ESD) into landscape architecture (LA) programs in North American universities to understand its benefits and challenges and provide insights into the implementation of sustainability principles, pedagogies and teaching methods.

This study analyzed survey data from 128 LA faculty members from 85 Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture member schools. The survey assessed the implementation of sustainability principles, pedagogies, teaching benefits and challenges to integrating sustainability into their courses. To complement the survey data, 62 LA course syllabi were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify the topics covered, learning objectives and learning activities.

The study revealed that LA programs incorporate sustainability topics in various courses using project-based and interdisciplinary learning approaches. Integrating ESD into LA curricula promotes sustainability literacy, improved understanding of sustainability concepts and the development of sustainability skills. The study also found positive correlations between teaching methods, the enhancement of sustainability literacy and the development of design and planning skills.

This research examined the effects of teaching methods on student learning outcomes and the challenges instructors faced, providing practical insights into the integration of ESD in LA education. It offers recommendations to enhance the ESD knowledge of future LA practitioners, considering the inclusion of ESD as a core value of the standard by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board.

Business process training is a crucial activity in the business process management lifecycle, performed whenever an organization needs to train workers about how to carry out their activities according to defined processes, after significant process changes, or whenever new workers come on board. Due to their motivational character, serious games have been understood as an unconventional alternative to support training in organizational processes. Still, methodologies to design serious digital games specifically for business process training are missing in the literature. This research paper presents a method – Play Your Process for Training (PYP4Training) – for designing digital games for business process training.

The research is guided by design science research methodologies and comprises the adaptation of Play Your Process (PYP), a method for designing business process-based digital games (BPBDG). PYP activities and supporting tools were shaped to cope with the specific requirements of BPBDG design for process training purposes, bringing to light a new method: PYP4Training.

PYP4Training was evaluated by designing a BPBDG for training a heavy equipment maintenance process in a multinational mining company. The game was evaluated by process owners and actors who reported a positive perception of the game as an option for process training. However, there is still space for improving trainees' engagement.

The research proposes an innovative way for business process training using digital games. Nevertheless, literature shows a lack of systematic procedures to build such games and results about their use.

This paper aims to explore the key factors through which an optimum pedagogy mix can be determined towards effective teaching practice and enhanced student learning outcomes in business/management education.

An exploratory research design has been used. A sample of 310 was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data. It was pre-tested, and essential modifications were made before its final implementation.

The study has presented the idea of pedagogy mix, which refers to a set of most obvious teaching methods/tools suitable to deliver marketing education in a context-bound manner. Eight factors have been identified that help to decide and/or maintain an optimum mix of pedagogies for effective teaching. An adequate “pedagogy mix” would help achieve educational objectives and equip students with the essential competencies.

The study is particularly significant to educators who are in the initial years of their careers. The identified factors help educators decide and/or maintain an optimum mix of pedagogies by offering an understanding of different pedagogies, their strategic relevance and student needs.

An institution's academic philosophy and commitment to the learning outcomes make it excellent or poor. Present institutions have and retain a main focus on preparation for professional careers, and without a perfect blend of pedagogies, it cannot be achieved. An optimum pedagogy mix would facilitate the key learning process and proffer the intricacies of the concerned profession. In this sense, this paper is a significant attempt, particularly in management education and higher education in general, that enables the educators of higher academics to decide and utilize an idyllic blend of pedagogies towards the successful execution of an educational process of higher order and ensuring the holistic student development.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been robustly endorsed through policy mechanisms, prompting numerous context-specific voluntary initiatives in Japanese schools and communities. However, this field remains in its infancy. This study aimed to investigate the literature on ESD in Japan to reveal research trends, identify research gaps and propose areas for future research, from early childhood to higher and non-formal education.

This study employed a qualitative design with a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach to analyze 88 peer-reviewed empirical studies on ESD in Japan from 2005 to 2023.

This study has revealed an observable increase in the number of ESD-related publications, especially after 2015. Most studies emphasize formal education, particularly from elementary school to universities. These articles were categorized into seven thematic foci, with “Pedagogical Approaches and Material Development in ESD” being the most prevalent. There has been an evident shift in Japan from traditional lecture-style methods toward learner-centered ESD pedagogies. However, the country lags behind the global education community in terms of research on and the implementation of Teacher Education for Sustainable Development and the Whole-School Approach.

The study is confined to peer-reviewed, empirical publications in Japanese or English, potentially overlooking significant non-empirical works and studies in other languages. This limitation could mean missing out on broader insights and perspectives. Furthermore, as a qualitative analysis, there's an inherent risk of bias in interpreting data and categorizing themes. These constraints suggest caution in generalizing the findings and indicate areas for further research, such as expanding the linguistic and methodological scope and enhancing objectivity in analysis.

The findings suggest a pressing need for Japan to refine its approach to ESD, particularly in teacher training and school management, aligning more closely with global practices. For practical application, this involves adopting more holistic teacher education programs and school management strategies that integrate ESD principles comprehensively. Recognizing the unique challenges of Japan's educational culture is crucial for developing tailored strategies that not only follow global best practices but also resonate locally. These insights aim to guide meaningful interventions, promoting an education system adept at addressing sustainability challenges.

Categorizing the literature into formal and non-formal settings and subsequently into seven themes offers a clear depiction of the research trends. A comparison of Japan's specific advancements and challenges in ESD with global trends, particularly in pedagogy, teacher education and institutional management, highlights the areas needing further exploration.

This research aims to investigate the attitudes of young children toward learning science in the early educational grades.

The study involved conducting interviews with seventy-three children attending institutions in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The structured interview method was employed to collect valuable data.

The findings of the interviews shed light on the inclination of young children to foster positive attitudes toward science education. These inclinations include the facilitation of knowledge acquisition that enables children to develop skills for applying scientific concepts in real-life contexts, the incorporation of hands-on activities both inside and outside the classroom, and the prioritization of child-centered approaches to learning.

This research aims to explore the attitudes of young children in early educational grades toward learning science. Interviews were conducted with seventy-three children in Sharjah, UAE, using a structured interview method. The findings highlight children’s inclination toward positive attitudes in science education, including the importance of knowledge acquisition for applying scientific concepts in real-life contexts, hands-on activities inside and outside the classroom, and child-centered learning approaches. Based on these findings, the study provides recommendations and conclusions to enhance science education experiences for young children.

Security education, training and awareness (SETA) programs are the key to addressing “people problems” in information systems (IS) security. Contrary to studies using conventional methods, the present study leveraged an “event” lens and dimensionalized employees' perceptions into three sub-dimensions: perceived novelty, perceived disruption and perceived criticality. Moreover, this research went a step further by examining how pedagogical and communication approaches to a SETA program affect employees' perceptions of the program. This study then investigated whether – and if so, how – these approaches impact employees' perceptions of the SETA program and their subsequent commitment to it.

Utilizing a factorial-based scenario survey, this study empirically tested a model of the above relationships via covariance-based structural equation modeling.

The results of this research showed that pedagogical approaches were more effective than communication approaches and that employees' perceptions of the SETA program accounted for a large variance in their commitment to SETA.

First, this research deepens understanding of the protection of information assets by elaborating on the different approaches that organizations can take to encourage employees' commitment to SETA. Second, the study enriches the SETA literature by theorizing a SETA program as an organizational “event”, which represents a major shift from the conventional approach. Third, the study adds to the theoretical knowledge of the event lens by extending it to the SETA context and investigating the relationship among three event strength components.