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1 – 10 of 258
Article
Publication date: 5 December 2023

Zhirui Zhao, Lina Hao, Guanghong Tao, Hongjun Liu and Lihua Shen

This study discusses the tracking trajectory issue of the exoskeleton under the bounded disturbance and designs an useful tracking trajectory control method to solve it. By using…

124

Abstract

Purpose

This study discusses the tracking trajectory issue of the exoskeleton under the bounded disturbance and designs an useful tracking trajectory control method to solve it. By using the proposed control method, the tracking error can be successfully convergence to the assigned boundary. Meanwhile, the chattering effect caused by the actuators is already reduced, and the tracking performance of the pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) elbow exoskeleton is improved effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

A prescribed performance sliding mode control method was developed in this study to fulfill the joint position tracking trajectory task on the elbow exoskeleton driven by two PAMs. In terms of the control structure, a dynamic model was built by conforming to the adaptive law to compensate for the time variety and uncertainty exhibited by the system. Subsequently, a super-twisting algorithm-based second-order sliding mode control method was subjected to the exoskeleton under the boundedness of external disturbance. Moreover, the prescribed performance control method exhibits a smooth prescribed function with an error transformation function to ensure the tracking error can be finally convergent to the pre-designed requirement.

Findings

From the theoretical perspective, the stability of the control method was verified through Lyapunov synthesis. On that basis, the tracking performance of the proposed control method was confirmed through the simulation and the manikin model experiment.

Originality/value

As revealed by the results of this study, the proposed control method sufficiently applies to the PAMs elbow exoskeleton for tracking trajectory, which means it has potential application in the actual robot-assisted passive rehabilitation tasks.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini and Thomas M. Cooney

This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The article critically examines the current state of women’s entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology.

Findings

The prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women’s entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance of considering the ontological dimensions of lived experiences of situatedness, intersubjectivity, intentionality and temporality in analysing women entrepreneurs’ agency within gendered institutional contexts. It also demonstrates that feminist phenomenology could broaden the current scope of IPA regarding the embodied dimension of language.

Research limitations/implications

The adoption of feminist phenomenology and IPA presents new avenues for research that go beyond the traditional cognitive approach in entrepreneurship, contributing to theory and practice. The proposed conceptual framework also has some limitations that provide opportunities for future research, such as a phenomenological intersectional approach and arts-based methods.

Originality/value

The article contributes to a new research agenda in women’s entrepreneurship research by offering a feminist phenomenological framework that focuses on the embodied dimension of entrepreneurship through the integration of IPA and conceptual metaphor theory (CMT).

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 30 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Amina Dinari, Tarek Benameur and Fuad Khoshnaw

The research aims to investigate the impact of thermo-mechanical aging on SBR under cyclic-loading. By conducting experimental analyses and developing a 3D finite element analysis…

Abstract

Purpose

The research aims to investigate the impact of thermo-mechanical aging on SBR under cyclic-loading. By conducting experimental analyses and developing a 3D finite element analysis (FEA) model, it seeks to understand chemical and physical changes during aging processes. This research provides insights into nonlinear mechanical behavior, stress softening and microstructural alterations in SBR compounds, improving material performance and guiding future strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study combines experimental analyses, including cyclic tensile loading, attenuated total reflection (ATR), spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) line scans, to investigate the effects of thermo-mechanical aging (TMA) on carbon-black (CB) reinforced styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). It employs a 3D FEA model using the Abaqus/Implicit code to comprehend the nonlinear behavior and stress softening response, offering a holistic understanding of aging processes and mechanical behavior under cyclic-loading.

Findings

This study reveals significant insights into SBR behavior during thermo-mechanical aging. Findings include surface roughness variations, chemical alterations and microstructural changes. Notably, a partial recovery of stiffness was observed as a function of CB volume fraction. The developed 3D FEA model accurately depicts nonlinear behavior, stress softening and strain fields around CB particles in unstressed states, predicting hysteresis and energy dissipation in aged SBRs.

Originality/value

This research offers novel insights by comprehensively investigating the impact of thermo-mechanical aging on CB-reinforced-SBR. The fusion of experimental techniques with FEA simulations reveals time-dependent mechanical behavior and microstructural changes in SBR materials. The model serves as a valuable tool for predicting material responses under various conditions, advancing the design and engineering of SBR-based products across industries.

Details

Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1573-6105

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2023

Ömer Sarı and Selma Meydan Uygur

Although it is assumed that migration and tourism directly affect each other, neither has received enough attention in the literature. Moreover, the relationship between them…

Abstract

Purpose

Although it is assumed that migration and tourism directly affect each other, neither has received enough attention in the literature. Moreover, the relationship between them remains unclear. The UNWTO interprets said relationship in two ways: tourism-led migration (TLM) and migration-led tourism (MLT). The latter is crucial for the marketing of tourism. This study aims to clarify the migration-tourism relationship in ways the relevant literature has inadequately addressed and to evaluate the significance of MLT for Turkey's tourism marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out with a qualitative research design. Document scanning was used to collect data. A time series analysis was performed based on secondary data. Vector autoregressive models (VARs), which test the relationship between two or more variables, were preferred in the analysis selection. The empirical evidence depends on annual data of German tourists visiting Turkey and persons admitted to Germany from 2006 to 2019.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed a significant short-term relationship between those immigrating to Germany and tourists visiting Turkey.

Practical implications

The research shows that migration is a factor in the purchasing behavior of touristic products. In this respect, the practical conclusion of the study reveals that it may be beneficial for national tourism marketers in these countries to promote touristic products through citizens who have migrated abroad.

Originality/value

In the relevant literature, the relationship between tourism and migration (RTM) has been limitedly examined from an MLT perspective. In this respect, the subject has not been examined in detail in many respects (distribution by years, various sampling and data collection technique, etc.). The present research helps fill this literature gap by addressing the subject directly.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 April 2024

Marianne Thejls Ziegler and Christoph Lütge

This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging interests of office workers for the purpose of addressing work ethical and business ethical issues of professional collaboration, competition, and power in future hybrid work models.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 28 qualitative interviews conducted between November 2020 and June 2021, and through the theoretical lens of phenomenology, the study develops explanatory hypotheses conceptualising four basic intentions of professional interaction and their corresponding preferences for video conferences and working on site.

Findings

The four intentions developed on the basis of the interviews are: the need for physical proximity; the challenge of collective creativity; the will to influence; and control of communication. This conceptual framework qualifies a moral ambivalence of professional interaction. The authors identify a connectivity paradox of professional interaction where the personal dimension remains unarticulated for the purpose of maintaining professionality. This tacit human connectivity is intertwined with latent power relations. This plasticity of both connectivity and power in direct interaction can be diminished by transferring the interaction to video conferencing.

Originality/value

The application of phenomenology to a collection of qualitative interviews has enabled the identification of underlying intention structures and the system in which they affect each other. This research identifies conflicts of interests between workers relative to their different self-perceived abilities to persevere in competitive professional interaction. It is therefore able to address consequences of future hybrid work models at an existential and societal level.

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Md. Rabiul Awal and Asaduzzaman

This qualitative work aims to explore the university students’ attitude toward advantages, drawbacks and prospects of ChatGPT.

Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative work aims to explore the university students’ attitude toward advantages, drawbacks and prospects of ChatGPT.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies well accepted Colaizzi’s phenomenological descriptive method of enquiry and content analysis method to reveal the ChatGPT user experience of students in the higher education level.

Findings

The study’s findings indicate that ChatGPT enhances the quality of learning and facilitates faster learning among university students. However, despite numerous positive outcomes, it is noted that ChatGPT may diminish students' creativity by swiftly addressing their critical queries. Over time, students may experience a decline in patience and critical thinking skills as they excessively rely on ChatGPT, potentially leading to ethical misconduct.

Originality/value

This paper primarily explores the advantages and drawbacks of using ChatGPT in the university context of Bangladesh. The present study creates a platform for future research in this domain with comprehensive study design. The study results alert the policy makers to improve upcoming version of ChatGPT with convenient user experience and academicians as this paper unleash several positive as well as negative consequences of using this AI-enabled chatbot.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Pallavi Srivastava, Trishna Sehgal, Ritika Jain, Puneet Kaur and Anushree Luukela-Tandon

The study directs attention to the psychological conditions experienced and knowledge management practices leveraged by faculty in higher education institutes (HEIs) to cope with…

Abstract

Purpose

The study directs attention to the psychological conditions experienced and knowledge management practices leveraged by faculty in higher education institutes (HEIs) to cope with the shift to emergency remote teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing attention on faculty experiences during this transition, this study aims to examine an under-investigated effect of the pandemic in the Indian context.

Design/methodology/approach

Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to analyze the data gathered in two waves through 40 in-depth interviews with 20 faculty members based in India over a year. The data were analyzed deductively using Kahn’s framework of engagement and robust coding protocols.

Findings

Eight subthemes across three psychological conditions (meaningfulness, availability and safety) were developed to discourse faculty experiences and challenges with emergency remote teaching related to their learning, identity, leveraged resources and support received from their employing educational institutes. The findings also present the coping strategies and knowledge management-related practices that the faculty used to adjust to each discussed challenge.

Originality/value

The study uses a longitudinal design and phenomenology as the analytical method, which offers a significant methodological contribution to the extant literature. Further, the study’s use of Kahn’s model to examine the faculty members’ transitions to emergency remote teaching in India offers novel insights into the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on educational institutes in an under-investigated context.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

I Putu Gede Eka Praptika, Mohamad Yusuf and Jasper Hessel Heslinga

The impact of COVID-19 on tourism destinations has been severe, but a future crisis is never far away. How communities can better prepare for disasters to come in the near future…

Abstract

Purpose

The impact of COVID-19 on tourism destinations has been severe, but a future crisis is never far away. How communities can better prepare for disasters to come in the near future continues to be researched. This research aims to understand the tourism community’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and present the Tourism Community Resilience Model as a useful instrument to help communities better respond to disasters in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses a qualitative research approach which seeks to understand phenomena, events, social activities, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and individual and group opinions that are dynamic in character in accordance with the situation in the field. Research primary data is in the form of Kuta Traditional Village local community responses in enduring the COVID-19 pandemic conducted between January and May 2022. These data were obtained through in-depth observations and interviews involving informants based on purposive sampling, including traditional community leaders, village officials, tourism actors (i.e. street vendors, tourist local guides, taxi drivers and art workers) and tourism community members. We selected the informants who are not only directly impacted by the pandemic, but also some of them have to survive during the pandemic because they do not have other job options. The results of previous research and government data concerning the pandemic and community resilience were needed as secondary data, which were obtained through a study of the literature. The data which had been obtained were further analysed based on the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) technique, which seeks to make meaning of something from the participants’ perspective and the researchers’ perspective as a result there occurs a cognition of a central position.

Findings

Based on findings from Bali, Indonesia, this resilience model for the tourism community was created in response to the difficulties and fortitude shown by the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comprises four key elements, namely the Local Wisdom Foundation, Resource Management, Government Contributions and External Community Support. These elements are all rooted in the concepts of niskala (spirituality) and sekala (real response); it is these elements that give the tourism community in the Kuta Traditional Village a unique approach, which can inspire other tourism destinations in other countries around the world.

Research limitations/implications

A tourism community resilience model based on local community responses has implications for the process of enriching academic research and community management practices in facing future crisis, particularly by involving local wisdom foundation.

Practical implications

A tourism community resilience model based on local community responses has implications for the process of enriching academic research and community management practices in facing future crisis, particularly by involving local wisdom foundation.

Social implications

The existence of the resilience model strengthens local community social cohesion, which has been made stronger by the bonds of culture and shared faith in facing disaster. This social cohesion then stimulates the strength of sustainable and long-term community collaboration in the post-pandemic period. For tourism businesses, having strong connections with the local communities is an important condition to thrive.

Originality/value

The value of this research is the Tourism Resilience Community Model, which is a helpful tool to optimise and improve future strategies for dealing with disasters. Illustrated by this Balinese example, this paper emphasises the importance of adding social factors such as niskala and sekala to existing community resilience models. Addressing these local characteristics is the innovative aspect of this paper and will help inspire communities around the world to prepare for future disasters better and build more sustainable and resilient tourism destinations elsewhere.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2023

Benjamin Ajibade and Catherine Hayes

The aim of the study is to explore perceptions of the impact of assessment feedback by international undergraduate nursing students. Research to date indicates that summative…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the study is to explore perceptions of the impact of assessment feedback by international undergraduate nursing students. Research to date indicates that summative assessment feedback may impact significantly on student achievement but if it is undertaken sub optimally or does not provide students with the opportunity to engage with the process and reflexively respond, it can also be exceptionally damaging to the learning experience.

Design/methodology/approach

A scoping exercise of overall student feedback experience was initially collated via the adoption of an Interpretive Phenomenological Approach (IPA). Participants were recruited via purposive sampling and the LEGO® Serious Play® method was used to collect data. Analysis with Quirkos software was used to examine the salience as well as commonality of findings as an integral part of a recognised five-step thematic analytical approach.

Findings

Feedback was perceived, by students, as significantly impacting factor in relation to their overall progression, attainment and retention rates. Themes generated from the findings evidenced student perceptions that summative feedback is a positive driver and source of motivation for academic success and progression. It was perceived that levels of attainment were related to the clarity, quality and individualised nature of feedback that students received and that this was perceived to be evident in their final grades. These were accompanied by perceptions that feedback clarity also determined the potential of breaking down perceived student barriers to learning, their perceived capacity for effective assignment planning and preparation and the likelihood of them having any positive collective or individual interpersonal relationships with their tutors. Summarised, students perceived that feedback ought to lead to student empowerment in managing their studies and as such it ought to be clear, straightforward and non-ambiguous.

Research limitations/implications

The methodological design of the study means that generalisability from its findings was never intended or possible. However, there may be the potential transferability of findings to similar institutions and contexts of nurse education with students who have similar demographic profiling. The study was also a means of providing an insight into the lived experience of students which could be used in the prospective adaptation of feedback mechanisms for staff at a local level within Higher Education.

Practical implications

The study reveals the perceived impact of gamification as a mechanism of summative assessment as conveyed by a designated group of students. Whilst specific recommendations for change can only be made within the context specificity of the research, there may be aspects of the findings which are potentially transferable to other similar contexts of Higher Education delivery whose pedagogical approaches mirror those in operation at the institution where the research was undertaken. It became apparent that the standardisation of feedback approaches offered many opportunities to improve existing systems. The issue of monitoring workloads is also of significance in terms of the level and degree of summative assessment and feedback that academic staff can undertake.

Originality/value

The study revealed the perceived magnitude of assessment feedback on progression, attainment and retention rates, alongside the perceived need for a universal feedback template and the opportunity to provide audio-video feedback. This study adds to existing knowledge in the field of pedagogic practice about both the execution of LEGO® Serious Play® as a research methodology and why the perceptions of feedback as articulated and illuminated by a group of contemporary nursing students ought to matter in the context of Higher Education.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2023

Lindsay J. Hastings, Hannah M. Sunderman and Addison Sellon

Building upon a larger mixed-methods research agenda, the purpose of this research study was to explore the growth of generativity (i.e. care for the next generation) among…

Abstract

Purpose

Building upon a larger mixed-methods research agenda, the purpose of this research study was to explore the growth of generativity (i.e. care for the next generation) among college student leaders who mentor, answering the central question “What changes in generativity do college student leaders who mentor associate with their mentoring experience, and why?” and associated sub-question “How does generativity develop among college student leaders who mentor?”

Design/methodology/approach

Applying methodological innovation to a phenomenological design, semi-structured interviews were conducted and triangulated with pictorial degree-of-change graphs among 33 collegiate leadership mentors at a large Midwestern USA land-grant university.

Findings

The findings indicated that senior collegiate leadership mentors overwhelmingly acknowledged sustained generativity increases as a result of mentoring a younger student when given the tools, environment to process and time needed to develop trusting investment relationships. These increases in generativity were associated with changes in their understanding of generativity, the desire to pass on the knowledge given to them and growth in both mentor and mentee.

Originality/value

Findings from the current study advance mentoring research and practice by providing a deeper understanding of mentoring as a developmental intervention, informing antecedents of generativity and utilizing innovative qualitative methodological techniques.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

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