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This study analyzed articles from India, Italy and Singapore regarding how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is conceptualized in the K-12 setting. The research questions that guided our study were as follows: (1) How is K-12 STEM education conceptualized in literature in other countries? (2) Which STEM subject areas are more documented in K-12 STEM literature? (3) How are K-12 STEM teaching practices implemented?

This study utilized a systematic literature review methodology by (1) creating search terms based on the research questions, (2) choosing databases in which to conduct the search, (3) conducting the search and gathering articles and (4) selecting articles based on inclusion criteria. We chose search terms according to three domains relevant to our study as follows: countries of interest, content of interest and teaching practices. Articles researched were (1) an empirical journal article or literature review; (2) primarily focused on the concept of K-12 STEM teaching practices in one of the countries of interest and (3) written in English.

Findings from the study revealed few articles addressed a conceptualization of STEM; however, the majority of articles agreed upon the importance of STEM teaching methods in the K-12 classroom setting. Science was documented as the top documented area in K-12 STEM literature for India and Italy, whereas technology and mathematics were the top documented areas in Singapore. Comparing K-12 STEM teaching practices, Italy and Singapore were found to focus more on student-centered STEM teaching practices whereas schools in India mostly utilized student-centered teaching approaches.

The parameters of the systematic literature review, such as key terms used in the search and limited scope of countries investigated, were identified as limitations of the study. By expanding search parameters to include other countries or search terms, STEM education can be viewed on a more global scale.

This study will improve the global perspective of STEM education practices.

This study is unique in that it compared the conceptualization and K-12 STEM teaching practices implemented in India, Italy and Singapore.

Concepts equip the mind with thought, provide our theories with ideas, and assign variables for testing our hypotheses. Much of contemporary research deals with narrowly circumscribed concepts, termed simple concepts herein, which are the grist for much empirical inquiry in the field. In contrast to simple concepts, which exhibit a kind of unity, complex concepts are structures of simple concepts, and in certain instances unveil meaning going beyond simple concepts or their aggregation. When expressed in hylomorphic structures, complex concepts achieve unique ontological status and serve particular explanatory capabilities. We develop the philosophical foundation for hylomorphic structures and show how they are rooted in dispositions, dispositional causality, and various mind–body trade-offs. Examples are provided for this emerging perspective on “Big concepts” or “Big Ideas.”

Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

Inclusion of deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) students is more common than ever before. General education teachers need to be aware of strengths and needs of this particular group of students as well as have a few simple strategies to implement in the classroom. This chapter will present strengths and needs relative to language, social/emotional skills, and literacy. Language modalities, educational philosophies, as well as assistive listening technologies are discussed. We will further present important information on changes in technology and support personnel that may be used to improve the education of D/HH students.

In contextualizing critical race theory (CRT), this chapter utilized prismatic inquiry to analyze a researcher–participant's story at different levels in education through a DisCrit lens, offering the “what, why, and how” of DisCrit as an analytical tool important to the everyday lives of educators and students. Using prismatic inquiry and a DisCrit lens, the anecdotal experiences of an educator were gathered, transcribed, examined, and analyzed. Lessons from this educator's experiences that emerged were aligned to existing research literature, viewed and further analyzed through a DisCrit lens, and synthesized to offer insights in improving the training of current and future educators, classroom teachers, and school leaders.

This paper investigates the integration of leadership training into IT curricula to develop current and future skills needed by the IT job market. The technical and non-technical skills required for IT professionals are presented and a conceptual model for including leadership training in technical courses is outlined. To implement this model, we adopted the Problem-Based Learning approach to teach an IT course. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered, through a survey, from 52 undergraduate students in the College of Information Technology at Zayed University. Our results show that our adopted approach was successful in teaching IT skills as well as developing leadership skills. Given these findings, we highlight the importance and feasibility of integrating leadership development on a daily basis within technical courses to develop both the technical and non technical skills required by the job market.

The purpose of the study is to examine the research problem that represents an attempt to approximate the importance of quality costing in managing a modern enterprise using the selected enterprises from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland.

The primary goal of the research is a need to acquire knowledge about the use of quality cost accounts in enterprises operating in Poland. The research has been conducted in the SMEs of production and services. From October 2018 to December 2018, survey-based research was carried out in the selected SMEs of production and service in Poland. The targeted participants of the study are from the medium-sized enterprises, employing 50–250 people.

The pilot studies conducted in companies indicate that modern enterprises are focused on quality. Many enterprises declare to be continuously improving quality system and quality costing. However, generally, these are large companies that have implemented ISO standards, often part of international corporations. The survey result of the study shows that medium-sized enterprises still make little use of modern cost accounting variants. Based on the study, only 9.75% (39 enterprises) from a representative group of 400 companies from the sectors of manufacturing, services and production as well as service companies apply quality costing. Some of the other enterprises are only taking measures to implement quality cost accounting.

The research has been conducted in randomly selected SMEs in the form of a questionnaire interview. In order to further analyze the construction of quality cost management (QCM) systems and the use of information from QCM by enterprises, case study method should be used more widely.

The results of the study provide useful help for companies that are quality-oriented and want to implement quality costing. The survey has been conducted in 400 enterprises, and the survey results of considered SMEs reveal the most important aspects of the application of quality costing.

The questionnaire used, the answers provided and the resulting conclusions fill the identified research gap. In the author's opinion, findings of research are relevant and useful, not only for accounting practice but also for theory. They show that although TQM and quality costing have been very popular in the literature since the 1990s, the degree of application of quality costing in practice (except for large, often international companies) is too low. So, the suitability of QCM in managing a modern enterprise from the SMEs should be promoted.

NEW COUNCIL The Council for the year 1948/49 is as follows: