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1 – 10 of 296Gavin Melles, Neil Anderson, Tom Barrett and Scott Thompson-Whiteside
Design thinking has become something of a buzz word in innovation discussions and has recently also invested occupied education spaces. In this chapter we briefly compare design…
Abstract
Design thinking has become something of a buzz word in innovation discussions and has recently also invested occupied education spaces. In this chapter we briefly compare design thinking to problem-based learning (PBL) and enquiry-based learning (EBL) approaches to problem solving in education before focusing on the approach itself and current debates about its meaning and significance. This chapter focuses particular attention on the problem finding aspect of design thinking and its integration of creative methods for solving a range of tame to wicked problems in a variety of spaces. We ground our analysis in three environments of design thinking and five specific cases of application across education sectors from primary through to university. The examples focus on the generative potential of design thinking for all students and especially those from non-design disciplines. It is this capacity of design thinking to complement existing pedagogies and provide inspiration for change and innovation that is the strength of the model.
Patrick Blessinger and John M. Carfora
This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to strengthen the…
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to strengthen the interconnections between teaching, learning, and research within the multidisciplinary programs. This chapter provides a synthesis and analysis of all the chapters in the volume, which present a range of perspectives, case studies, and empirical research on how IBL is being used across a range of courses across a range of institutions within multidisciplinary programs. The chapter argues that the IBL approach has great potential to enhance and transform teaching and learning. Given the growing demands placed on education to meet a diverse range of complex political, economic, and social problems and personal needs, this chapter argues that education should be a place where students learn “how-to-learn” – where increasingly higher levels of self-directed learning is fostered – and where students grow in the three key areas of learning: cognitively, emotionally, and socially. To that end, this chapter argues that IBL, if designed and implemented properly, can be an important approach to enhancing and transforming teaching and learning.
E‐portfolios, which document and facilitate learning and performance, have recently attracted interest in the USA, UK, and Europe as means to increase employability and support…
Abstract
Purpose
E‐portfolios, which document and facilitate learning and performance, have recently attracted interest in the USA, UK, and Europe as means to increase employability and support lifelong learning. This article aims to critically examine these objectives in order to guide the future e‐portfolio practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Social theory, drawing on the work of Foucault, suggests that the discourse of employability and lifelong learning shapes individuals into means to fulfill economic objectives. This theory is applied to show that many e‐portfolio projects participate in this discourse. In the USA, the discourse around integrative learning suggests an alternative.
Findings
Integrative learning has two different styles, which correspond with two different types of self, the network and symphonic. The network self suggests ways for e‐portfolios to promote employability, while representing the symphonic in e‐portfolios creates space for a broader conception of what is important in life that pushes back against an entirely economic conception of citizenship. e‐portfolio projects have made progress cultivating both kinds of selves, and two, the Nedcar project in The Netherlands, and the eFolio Minnesota project in the USA, are examined. These selves need to be woven together, layering the networked and symphonic, to create e‐portfolios that promote employability while asserting the value of their authors as whole human beings. The idea of “good work” developed to describe the professions may serve as a model for this integration.
Originality/value
Much current work developing e‐portfolio software, services, and policies uncritically embraces the problematic conceptions of employability and lifelong learning discussed. The alternative model proposed in the paper can inform future work.
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Patrick Hopkinson, Andrew Voyce and Jerome Carson
The purpose of this paper is to compare the stories of Syd Barrett musician, with Andrew Voyce, and their respective recovery journeys.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the stories of Syd Barrett musician, with Andrew Voyce, and their respective recovery journeys.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use collaborative autoethnography to share their own perspectives on Syd Barrett and to contrast his story with that of Andrew, a co-author.
Findings
Both Syd and Andrew experienced serious mental distress. While Syd had only limited contact with mental health services, Andrew’s contact was extensive, with a 20-year history of admissions and discharges. In the end, when the psychiatric services listened to Andrew’s concerns and acted on them, he was able to enter into the journey of recovery.
Research limitations/implications
The authors are restricted in the amount of available information on Syd Barrett, especially that related to mental health problems. The story of Andrew shows how recovery is possible even after years of serious mental illness.
Practical implications
Andrew’s story shows why professionals should never give up on people, with even the most seemingly severe and intractable problems. Could services have done more for Syd?
Social implications
Mental illness still attracts huge stigma. Today there is a much more open culture. Would Syd have come out about his own struggles with mental health had society been more open?
Originality/value
Bringing together two stories of mental distress enables the authors to explore the concept of recovery.
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OUR readers will, we trust, appreciate our double souvenir number issued in connection with the Library Association Conference at Glasgow. Special features are the articles on the…
Abstract
OUR readers will, we trust, appreciate our double souvenir number issued in connection with the Library Association Conference at Glasgow. Special features are the articles on the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, 1874–1924, by a member of the staff, Mr. J. Dunlop, and one on the Burns Country, by Mr. J. M. Leighton, of Greenock Public Library. We printed the provisional programme in our July issue and as we go to press have little to add to the particulars there given, except to compliment the Library Association and the Local Reception Committee on the excellent programme arranged for the occasion, from both the professional and social point of view.
Melissa S. Baucus and Philip L. Cochran
Investigate how leaders of illegal organizations build and maintain positive reputations and how the deaths of these firms impact groups of external stakeholders.
Abstract
Purpose
Investigate how leaders of illegal organizations build and maintain positive reputations and how the deaths of these firms impact groups of external stakeholders.
Methodology/approach
We conduct a forensic analysis of nine firms in eight different countries by leaders who appeared to be highly successful corporate citizens but who turned out to be operating illegal Ponzi ventures.
Findings
These illegal firms built positive reputations by engaging in activities that enhanced perceptions of their firms’ perceived quality, gaining certifications and approvals from influential external individuals/organizations, engaging in philanthropic activities, and affiliating with high-status actors. Death of these nine firms had profoundly impacted external stakeholders resulting in investor devastation, a toxic environment of mistrust, damage to reputations of anyone affiliated with these illegal firms, and a major earthshake to the philanthropic community.
Research limitations/implications
Extends Rindova et al.’s (2005) research on how leaders use signals of quality and prominence to build reputations in the context of illegal organizations. Philanthropic activities are added as a reputation-building mechanism used by illegal organizations. The results draw attention to the need to examine how the death of illegal organizations affects a variety of external stakeholders, both individuals and organizations.
Practical implications
Leaders of illegal firms can be quite successful in building positive reputations and this success exacerbates the negative consequences that occur when the firms collapse.
Originality/value
Provides a qualitative study of reputation building and the extensive impact on stakeholders of the dissolution of illegal ventures.
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Zahra Khayyer, Hamidreza Oreyzi, Karim Asgari and Sverker Sikström
A wide range of variables, including cognitive, emotional and relational factors, could affect the level of peacefulness. The purpose of this paper is to examine key variables…
Abstract
Purpose
A wide range of variables, including cognitive, emotional and relational factors, could affect the level of peacefulness. The purpose of this paper is to examine key variables (theory of mind (ToM) and harmony) that mediate the personality trait of peacefulness.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants were 182 university students recruited from three universities in Isfahan, Iran. Some different scales were applied in order to measure the intended peace variables.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that ToM, as the ability to attribute mental states, significantly mediates the association between interpersonal peacefulness and inhibition skill, interpersonal peacefulness and conflict resolution abilities, and interpersonal peacefulness and level of aggression. In addition, harmony mediates the relationship between intrapersonal peacefulness, hope, intrapersonal peacefulness and self-compassionate competency.
Practical implications
These findings indicate that peaceful feelings enable a person to provide more attention to the concerns of others and to relationship issues.
Originality/value
This an original type of study in the field of peace psychology.
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José Luis Fernández Sánchez, Ladislao Luna Sotorrío and Elisa Baraibar Diez
The purpose of this study is to provide more knowledge about the model to generate reputation and its relationship in the long term with companies’ strategy of social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide more knowledge about the model to generate reputation and its relationship in the long term with companies’ strategy of social responsibility. Particularly, research is done to test whether there is a positive effect of firms’ social behaviour (corporate social responsibility [CSR]), analysing differences of intensity and consistency, on their corporate reputation (CR) and whether the current financial crisis is a factor that has changed the relationship between both variables (moderator factor).
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a sample of 26 Spanish large firms of the Ibex35 index and covers an eight-year period from 2004 to 2011. To test the hypotheses of this research, a fixed-effects model was estimated using moderating regression analysis.
Findings
The results obtained show that, for the Spanish Ibex35 companies, CSR practices according to their consistency have a significant positive effect on CR and in turbulent environments, as in the current financial crisis, it has had a significant positive influence on the CSR-CR relationship.
Originality/value
Although a substantial number of empirical studies have examined the relationship between firms’ strategy and their performance, only a few of them have analysed the impact of the external environment on this relationship, whereby there is a need for longitudinal studies with different economic scenarios to achieve better knowledge of the CSR–CR relationship.
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