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1 – 10 of 10This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in business schools in Canada and the USA. Ultimately, the paper reveals that those tensions are not irreconcilable, and that through the fortunes of historical contingencies and deliberate decision-taking, a faculty can embrace the benefits of both breadth and depth.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper proposes a critical organizational history of management education through a case study. By drawing on secondary literature and archival sources, the authors focus on moments in business education, such as the founding of the Wharton School of Business, the release of the Carnegie and Ford Reports and the trend towards increased specialization to situate a case study of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management.
Findings
The authors find that the evolution of business education in North America from its broad, liberal origins towards narrow, specialization has come at a cost to some of the benefits of business and management education. An alternative approach, one reflected in the design of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management, its programme offerings and its interconnection with other disciplines, enables the advantages of deep disciplinarity to co-exist (and cross-inform) with the advantages of liberal approach to knowledges.
Originality/value
The Dalhousie model offers business schools an example of a faculty that balances the rich insights of liberal interdisciplinarity with the need for sophisticated approaches to more granular, often disciplinary, topics. In addition, the paper offers the story of a multidisciplinary management faculty, some explanation for how that faculty was maintained despite pressures towards specialization; and in doing so, contributes to the limited historical research of management education, particularly in Canada, post-2000.
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This study aims to explore the self-efficacy of social studies teacher education working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) preservice teachers, teaching…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the self-efficacy of social studies teacher education working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) preservice teachers, teaching LGBTQ content in their methods courses, and helping the preservice teachers they teach in those classes reduce their bias and prejudice against LGBTQ individuals.
Design/methodology/approach
This study, framed by self-efficacy theory, employs a mixed methods approach, qualitative semistructured interviews (n = 6) and quantitative (Likert-scale) survey questions (n = 174).
Findings
Participants reported high self-efficacy in working with LGBTQ students but showed decreased efficacy in teaching about LGBTQ content and helping reduce preservice teacher LGBTQ bias. Participants suggested that time in the curriculum, lack of knowledge about LGBTQ topics/issues, and the lack of institutional support are some of the leading barriers to LGBTQ inclusion in the social studies teacher preparation curriculum.
Originality/value
This is the only work conducted at this scale to examine social studies teacher educators' self-efficacy in LGBTQ-inclusion in methods courses. It has implications for increasing this self-efficacy to help make P-16 social studies education LGBTQ-inclusive.
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The purpose of this scoping review is to find studies testing out psychological interventions to help victims of conversion therapy. Life after conversion therapy can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this scoping review is to find studies testing out psychological interventions to help victims of conversion therapy. Life after conversion therapy can be devastating; nonetheless, what treatment modalities are available for this population?
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts scoping review process using JBI protocol.
Findings
There are minimal results to conclude upon. The paper presents discussion on future research and inquiry. The author introduces a positive autoethnography, adapting the model created by Tedeschi and Calhoun (2004) to create the post-conversion recovery process to aid recovery.
Research limitations/implications
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and positive autoethnography offer valuable insights, but further research is needed to help survivors.
Practical implications
To reduce the current death-by-suicide trends, more education and training are needed to help this specialised group.
Social implications
The suicide rates for sexual minority conversion therapy victims are eight times higher than those of other sexual minority groups and isolation levels. A single point of entry pathway for conversion therapy survivors is needed.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review addressing gay conversion therapy and disfellowship. It requires further attention, and there are gaps in the knowledge that need to be filled.
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Sumathi Annamalai and Aditi Vasunandan
With Industry 4.0 and the extensive rise of smart technologies, we are seeing remarkable transformations in work practices and workplaces. Scholars report the phenomenal progress…
Abstract
Purpose
With Industry 4.0 and the extensive rise of smart technologies, we are seeing remarkable transformations in work practices and workplaces. Scholars report the phenomenal progress of smart technologies. At the same time, we can hear the rhetoric emphasising their potential threats. This study focusses on how and where intelligent machines are leveraged in the workplace, how humans co-working with intelligent machines are affected and what they believe can be done to mitigate the risks of the increased use of intelligent machines.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 respondents working in various leadership capacities associated with intelligent machines and technologies. Using NVivo, we coded and churned out the themes from the qualitative data collected.
Findings
This study shows how intelligent machines are leveraged across different industries, ranging from chatbots, intelligent sensors, cognitive systems and computer vision to the replica of the entire human being. They are used end-to-end in the value chain, increasing productivity, complementing human workers’ skillsets and augmenting decisions made by human workers. Human workers experience a blend of positive and negative emotions whilst co-working with intelligent machines, which influences their job satisfaction level. Organisations adopt several anticipatory strategies, like transforming into a learning organisation, identifying futuristic technologies and upskilling their human workers, regularly conducting social learning events and designing accelerated career paths to embrace intelligent technologies.
Originality/value
This study seeks to understand the emotional and practical implications of the use of intelligent machines by humans and how both entities can integrate and complement each other. These insights can help organisations and employees understand what future workplaces and practices will look like and how to remain relevant in this transformation.
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This article describes an effort to ease the tension between boundary spanning roles for interns participating in a yearlong Professional Development School (PDS) program. In…
Abstract
Purpose
This article describes an effort to ease the tension between boundary spanning roles for interns participating in a yearlong Professional Development School (PDS) program. In order to do this, the structure of a Social Studies Methods course was revised to mimic a professional learning community (PLC) and assignments were not evaluated for grades.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual paper that relies on self-reflection as well as student reaction, work samples and survey data.
Findings
The findings demonstrate both practices contribute to a collegial and less stressful environment for interns, while not affecting the quality of work submitted.
Originality/value
This paper highlights two of the nine NAPDS essentials, Professional Learning and Leading (3) and Boundary Spanning (8), and describes the ways both are incorporated and addressed in a PDS situated methods course. Describing course revisions, including the implementation of an ungrading practice, provides examples for potential replication.
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Yiping Jiang, Yanhua Chen and Xiaobo Chi
The practice of renovation and construction of university libraries is flourishing, but how to attract readers to use the library is an issue that urgently needs to be explored…
Abstract
Purpose
The practice of renovation and construction of university libraries is flourishing, but how to attract readers to use the library is an issue that urgently needs to be explored. Spatial cognition is a subjective judgment of a person's tendency to take action in the future and implies behavioral intention. Based on the sensory–image–cognition relationship, a theoretical model of university library readers' spatial cognition is conducted, and the influencing factors and mechanisms of spatial cognition are explored based on empirical data to provide theoretical references for spatial practices in university libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
A visual and art-based mental map approach is introduced based on a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire is mainly used for the specific evaluation of spatial use and the breakdown of the detailed elements, while the mental map method is mainly used for the evaluation of readers' spatial cognition. Relevant empirical data are collected from the library of the Zhejiang University of Technology.
Findings
The results indicate that readers' spatial sensory experience and mental imagery have positive effects on readers' behavior via the mediator spatial cognition, readers' spatial sensory experience and mental imagery have a positive effect on readers' spatial cognition and spatial cognition has a significant effect on readers' behavior.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study is to construct a theoretical model of readers' spatial cognition and to explore the factors that have an impact on spatial cognition and the influence of cognition on behavior. This provides a more rational and in-depth thinking paradigm for the study of university library space and provides theoretical references for library practice.
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Many students are found facing difficulties in learning English due to plenty of reasons: known and unknown ones. In order to overcome such an issue, the instructors have to…
Abstract
Purpose
Many students are found facing difficulties in learning English due to plenty of reasons: known and unknown ones. In order to overcome such an issue, the instructors have to explore for effective techniques of teaching English to motivate learners by any means. Technology in general and informatics in particular can be thought of as innovative tool of pedagogy in the current teaching-learning environment. The present proposal of research aims at creating innovative approaches, which attract learners' interest and catch their attention for better outputs.
Design/methodology/approach
Following subsections have been discussed keeping the significance in view. Setting of the study: The present study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, which is one of the Saudi Arabian universities; however, it has opened up new avenues for the pedagogues, teachers of English and researchers to conduct studies in various allied fields. In order to have a representative sample of students' population, the participants were chosen from the “preparatory year”. Material and tools: This study used a questionnaire (Appendix) and a test to evaluate performances of the two groups: controlled and experimental. In order to further strengthen the findings, semi structured interview was conducted for a few select students from the student-sample. Since the questionnaire was adapted, the statistical validity and reliability was not considered to be essential; however, content/face validity was ensured by consulting 10 experts in the field of education/methods of teaching.
Findings
Based on the analysis of data gathered from the test performances of the two groups of students, it was found that there existed a significant difference in the test scores. The questionnaire responses also proved that infographics can be proved to be an interesting tool of education in general and English language teaching in particular. However, it has been noticed from the gathered data that not many teachers are comfortable using multimedia or infographics for different reasons. The results of the present study are in line with the study by Rezaei and Sayadian (2015) that support the idea of infographics that would help English teachers to develop understanding and insights to design among the learners. They further contend that the infographic instruction offers choices for the utilization of collaborative activities. In addition, the infographics enhance students' performance as a whole as also supported by Alrwele (2017).
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted on a small sample which might affect the generalization of the outcomes. It was carried out with special reference to teaching of vocabulary and reading.
Practical implications
There can be many recommendations for different stakeholders. For teachers, it is recommended that they should know about the significance of infographs for catching the attention of students. They should know how to design interesting and colorful infographs. The administration/management should facilitate the teachers with the required software or platform to create infographics and integrate in an English language class. In addition, teachers should attend workshops and training courses organized for topics related to the infographs.
Originality/value
The author checked the study for plagiarism (excluding references) and found it to be 93% plagiarism free.
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Srinivasa Rao Kareti, Vivek Singh Rajpoot and Hari Haran Ramar
The purpose of this study was to develop a suitable module for digital conservation of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants (MPs) used by tribal communities living in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to develop a suitable module for digital conservation of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants (MPs) used by tribal communities living in the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh, Central India.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a qualitative approach to gather the data of MPs through the use of literature review and field survey. Based on the acquired data, a prototype digital learning system was constructed and assessed. This study used digital learning technologies to assess the requirements for transmitting traditional knowledge of important MPs used by tribal communities so that people can absorb and conserve them.
Findings
Over time, the focus on the digital conservation of traditional MP’s knowledge has progressively increased globally. Despite the rise in this field of study, information technology methods to preserve and distribute traditional knowledge of MPs have remained a few. When adopting digital learning to maintain traditional knowledge of MPs, it was discovered that it would be necessary to engage with relevant knowledge keepers, use multimedia, and provide content in local languages.
Research limitations/implications
This study helps in conservation of important MP species that are having biologically important therapeutic compounds meant for treating various ailments. Older generations of various tribal communities mainly hold traditional knowledge of important MPs, and unless it is preserved, it will perish along with its caretakers.
Originality/value
It is worth looking at a digital platform that can help future generations to maintain traditional knowledge of MPs, as it is a dynamic and ever-changing, it must involve a digital tool for its future conservation. Current methods for maintaining traditional knowledge of MPs were ineffective and constrained by space and time.
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Shaoming Chai, Emily Pey-Tee Oon, Yuan Chai and Zuokun Li
Metadiscourse is an important dialogue technique used in productive knowledge building to help a group evaluate and advance their knowledge progress. Previous studies have…
Abstract
Purpose
Metadiscourse is an important dialogue technique used in productive knowledge building to help a group evaluate and advance their knowledge progress. Previous studies have identified and defined various types of metadiscourse. However, there is scant knowledge about how different metadiscourse types emerge among different groups or what implicit correlations lie between progressive discourse and metadiscourse. Moreover, research on how different types of metadiscourse influence groups' knowledge advancement and artifacts is still inadequate. Therefore, this study aims to further examine the roles that different types of metadiscourse play in the collaborative knowledge building community on both a fine-grained (i.e. progressive discourse) and coarse-grained (i.e. group knowledge advancement and group artifacts) level.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study are drawn from the behaviour of undergraduate students participating in a 12-week course at a key university in China. On the fine-grained level, epistemic network analysis (ENA) is applied to illustrate how metadiscourse promotes the development of progressive discourse. On the coarse-grained level, two different chi-square tests are conducted to examine the roles of different types of metadiscourse in groups' knowledge advancement and artifacts.
Findings
The analysis allowed several conclusions to be drawn. First, the types of metadiscourse that students most often adopted were reflecting on ideas development (RD) and commenting on ideas (CI); they less frequently adopted setting group goals (SG) and making group plans (MP). Second, most types of metadiscourse correlated with developments in progressive discourse, particularly RD and CI. Third, the metadiscourse types RD, CI and coordinating group efforts (CE) played essential roles in knowledge advancement. Fourth, higher-quality artifacts could be created by using the metadiscourse type reviewing the state of knowledge building progress (RP).
Originality/value
A more profound comprehension of the role that metadiscourse plays in the collaborative knowledge building community not only contributes to the literature in the knowledge building field but also carries a significant meaning in regulating community, promoting learner agency and sustained knowledge, and consequently improving collaborative learning performance.
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Damion Waymer and Theon E. Hill
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to science communication literature by further highlighting the underexplored role of organizational and corporate perspectives in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to science communication literature by further highlighting the underexplored role of organizational and corporate perspectives in science communication.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a conceptual article that uses two illustrative vignettes to highlight the power of corporate science communication.
Findings
The key argument is that corporate science communication is a compound ideology that results from merging the hegemonic corporate voice with the ultimate/god-term science (see the work of Kenneth Burke) to form a mega-ideological construct and discourse. Such communication can be so powerful that vulnerable publics and powerful advocates speaking on their behalf have little to no recourse to effectively challenge such discourse. While critiques of corporate science communication in practice are not new, what the authors offer is a possible explanation as to why such discourse is so powerful and hard to combat.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is in the degree to which it both sets an important applied research agenda for the field and fills a critical void in the science communication literature. This conceptual article, in the form of a critical analysis, fills the void by advocating for the inclusion of organizational perspectives in science communication research because of the great potential that organizations have, via science communication, to shape societal behavior and outcomes both positively and negatively. It also coins the terms “compound ideology” and “mega-ideology” to denote that while all ideologies are powerful, ideologies can operate in concert (compound) to change their meaning and effectiveness. By exposing the hegemonic power of corporate science communication, future researchers and practitioners can use these findings as a foundation to combat misinformation and disinformation campaigns wielded by big corporate science entities and the public relations firms often hired to carry out these campaigns.
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