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1 – 10 of over 1000This is a comparative case study of how three high school history teachers in the U.S.A. use art in their practice. The following research question was investigated: How do…
Abstract
This is a comparative case study of how three high school history teachers in the U.S.A. use art in their practice. The following research question was investigated: How do secondary history teachers incorporate the arts—paintings, music, poems, novels, and films—in their teaching of history and why? Data were collected from three sources: interviews, observations, and classroom materials. Grounded theory was utilized to analyze the data. Findings suggest these teachers use the arts as historical evidence roughly for three purposes: First, to teach the spirit of an age; second, to teach the history of ordinary people invisible in official historical records; and third, to teach, both with and without art, the process of writing history. Two of the three teachers, however, failed to teach historical thinking skills through art.
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S. BRANDON and J.J. DERBY
A finite element method for the analysis of combined radiative and conductive heat transport in a finite axisymmetric configuration is presented. The appropriate…
Abstract
A finite element method for the analysis of combined radiative and conductive heat transport in a finite axisymmetric configuration is presented. The appropriate integro‐differential governing equations for a grey and non‐scattering medium with grey and diffuse walls are developed and solved for several model problems. We consider axisymmetric, cylindrical geometries with top and bottom boundaries of arbitrary convex shape. The method is accurate for media of any optical thickness and is capable of handling a wide array of axisymmetric geometries and boundary conditions. Several techniques are presented to reduce computational overhead, such as employing a Swartz‐Wendroff approximation and cut‐off criteria for evaluating radiation integrals. The method is successfully tested against several cases from the literature and is applied to some additional example problems to demonstrate its versatility. Solution of a free‐boundary, combined‐mode heat transfer problem representing the solidification of a semitransparent material, the Bridgman growth of an yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal, demonstrates the utility of this method for analysis of a complex materials processing system. The method is suitable for application to other research areas, such as the study of glass processing and the design of combustion furnace systems.
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PETER S. BRANDON and FRANCISCO LOFORTE RIBEIRO
This paper describes a multistrategy knowledge‐based framework for supporting human experts in assessing applications for the house renovation grant system (HRGS). This framework…
Abstract
This paper describes a multistrategy knowledge‐based framework for supporting human experts in assessing applications for the house renovation grant system (HRGS). This framework integrates different problem solving strategies as set up by the task analysis. The task analysis carried out in the context of the HRGS domain decomposed the overall task into a number of subtasks and problem solving methods for performing each subtask. The framework modularises the knowledge required to solve each subtask into historical cases, objects, procedures and domain models. The framework was implemented as a computer system using Kappa‐PC which is a shell designed for implementing knowledge‐based systems. The implementation followed the client centred approach (CCA) method. This computer application has been successful in demonstrating that a multistrategy knowledge base can be used to support human experts in assessing applications for the HRGS. Therefore, the application has proved to perform as accurately as human experts do for all of the subtasks set up by the task analysis.
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David J Lowe and Martin Skitmore
The focus of this paper is on the influence of the learning climate in organisations on practitioner competence. Practitioners in the context of the paper are Chartered Quantity…
Abstract
The focus of this paper is on the influence of the learning climate in organisations on practitioner competence. Practitioners in the context of the paper are Chartered Quantity Surveyors, while competency is measured in terms of the accuracy of construction contract price forecasts. The results indicate that: The learning climate within quantity surveying practices is perceived to be supportive in terms of human support and to a lesser extent working practices, but less supportive in terms of staff development systems (specifically, the use of appraisal systems and the provision of resources and development facilities). The degree of accuracy of the subjects’ forecasts was found to improve as their perception of the overall learning climate, working practices, staff development systems and specifically items relating to the opportunity to introduce new skills, discussion of prob‐lems, working practices, provision of resources and the identification of needs increased. It is recommended that surveying organisations assess their ability to provide an ef‐fective learning environment and to address any deficiencies, especially in the provision of staff development systems, to improve individual forecasting performance. Further, they should consider introducing effective feedback mechanisms that require both the individual to critically reflect on their own performance and the organisation to provide effective constructive feedback on an individual’s performance.
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David J. Lowe, Margaret W Emsley and Anthony Harding
There is a paucity of recent literature on the influence of project strategic, site related and design related variables on the cost of construction. This paper seeks to redress…
Abstract
There is a paucity of recent literature on the influence of project strategic, site related and design related variables on the cost of construction. This paper seeks to redress this omission by presenting the results of an investigation into the influence of 41 independent variables on both construction cost and client cost. Data were collected from 286 construction projects in the United Kingdom and correlation and test for differences were used to determine the relationships that exist between the dependent and independent variables. The analysis both confirms the strong relationship between construction cost and client cost and between those two measures of cost and GIFA, and establishes other relationships which exist within the data, confirming many of the relationships that had been anticipated from the literature. It also established the ordinal sequence of several nominal variables. These data, therefore, can be confidently used to develop models of the total cost of construction.
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Lixuan Zhang, Iryna Pentina and Yuhong Fan
This study aims to investigate the differences in consumers’ perceptions of trust, performance expectancy and intention to hire between human financial advisors with high/low…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the differences in consumers’ perceptions of trust, performance expectancy and intention to hire between human financial advisors with high/low expertise and robo-advisors.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments were conducted. The respondents were randomly assigned to human advisors with high/low expertise or a robo-advisor. Data were analyzed using MANCOVA.
Findings
The results suggest that consumers prefer human financial advisors with high expertise to robo-advisors. There are no significant differences between robo-advisors and novice financial advisors regarding performance expectancy and intention to hire.
Originality/value
This pioneering study extends the self-service technology adoption theory to examine adoption of robo-advisors vs human financial advisors with different expertise levels. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is among the first studies to address multi-dimensionality of trust in the context of artificial intelligence-based self-service technologies.
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Udayangani Kulatunga, Dilanthi Amaratunga and Richard Haigh
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of performance measurement (PM) within construction research and development (R&D) activities to enhance its efficiency…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of performance measurement (PM) within construction research and development (R&D) activities to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review is used as the methodology of this paper where it will look into two main areas. First, the paper discusses R&D work in construction industry with particular reference to its role, main contributors, and the issues which hinders its successfulness. From this section the paper arrives at a definition for construction R&D and the scope of the study. The second section of the paper defines PM and identifies the importance of it in general. Finally, the paper justifies how the issues within construction R&D could be minimised by implementing PM system.
Findings
The paper justifies the implementation of PM within construction R&D and identifies how PM could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of construction R&D through: identifying requirements of the parties involved within the research process; defining clear aims and objectives; evaluation of the successfulness of activates/confirmation of milestones; providing information for the research funders regarding the utilisation of resources; improving the communication and coordination of the parties involved; and providing feedback for future improvements of the research work.
Originality/value
The paper reveals the impact and influence of PM towards the construction R&D activities.
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T. Bettina Cornwell, Abby Frank and Rachel Miller-Moudgil
The purpose of this work is (1) to supply a framework of actors in sport sponsorship and articulate the service relationships that support these partnerships and (2) to propose…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is (1) to supply a framework of actors in sport sponsorship and articulate the service relationships that support these partnerships and (2) to propose research questions in this space that are unaddressed and forward-looking.
Design/methodology/approach
Sponsorship is part of a complex network of actors and service relationships found in sport. The sports team, activity, or event is a sport property, often with long-term and dynamic service relationships. The authors consider how a sponsor's relationship with the sport property intersects with organizing bodies, venues, communities and society. The authors identify clusters of actors that interact with and influence other clusters (e.g. governing bodies, media, host community and venue/teams/fans) within an ecosystem, paying special attention to aspects of co-creation and co-destruction and the feedback loops that cause them.
Findings
Through this analysis, the authors identify areas of needed research at the intersection of sport sponsorship and service. The model synthesizes the literature from service-dominant logic, sports, sponsorship, systems thinking and co-creation/co-destruction research areas. Using the model and relevant cases, the authors can better understand the complexities of sport service relationships and advance research at the intersection of sport sponsorship and service.
Originality/value
This is the first sport sponsorship service ecosystem model. It is also the first integration of systems thinking with constructs in sport sponsorship and services.
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Beth McGowan and Meredith Ayers
This paper aims to assess relative full-text coverage of core nursing and allied health journals in three databases: CINAHL Complete, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess relative full-text coverage of core nursing and allied health journals in three databases: CINAHL Complete, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source and Lippincott Wilkins and Wilson (LWW)’s Nursing & Health Professionals Premier Collection.
Design/methodology/approach
The 2012 Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section (NAHRS) of the MLA list of 213 core nursing journals and the 1996 Brandon Hill list of 75 important allied journals were checked against full-text coverage of the three databases.
Findings
CINAHL Complete provided 126 of 213 titles or 59 per cent of NAHRS titles and 31 of 75 or 41 per cent of the Brandon Hill titles; ProQuest provided 74 of 213 titles or 35 per cent of NAHRS titles and 27 of 75 or 36 per cent of the Brandon Hill titles; LWW provided 42 of 213 or 20 per cent of NAHRS titles and 5 of 75 or 6 per cent of the Brandon Hill titles.
Research limitations/implications
If researchers have access to CINAHL Complete, they have access with that single database to significant coverage of quality nursing and allied health titles. The other two databases provide additional coverage and some unique title coverage, but their offerings are more limited.
Originality/value
As no studies comparing full-text coverage of core nursing and allied health journals in three databases, CINAHL Complete, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source and LWW’s Nursing & Health Professionals Premier Collection, exist, this study fills that need for librarians.
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The University of Michigan has installed one of the largest private communications switches in the world. The switch and supporting network are designed to meet the voice, data…
Abstract
The University of Michigan has installed one of the largest private communications switches in the world. The switch and supporting network are designed to meet the voice, data service, security, and video transmission requirements of the university into the next century. The processes of defining needs, selecting a vendor, and implementing the system are discussed.