Sergio Altomonte, Brian Logan, Markus Feisst, Peter Rutherford and Robin Wilson
This study aims to explore the opportunities offered by interactive and situated learning (e-learning and m-learning) in support of education for sustainability in disciplines of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the opportunities offered by interactive and situated learning (e-learning and m-learning) in support of education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper illustrates the development of an online portal and a mobile app aimed at promoting students’ motivation and engagement with sustainability in design, and discusses the outcomes of their testing, investigating users’ acceptance, comparing academic results and analysing feedback.
Findings
The findings add empirical evidence to the view that information and communication technology-enhanced pedagogies can substantially contribute to the agenda of sustainability in higher education, primarily due to their affordance of interactive communication and contextualisation of knowledge, while guaranteeing flexible time and pace of learning.
Research limitations/implications
The study solely focused on the development and testing of e-learning and m-learning tools to foster students’ competence of sustainability in design studio work. The tools trialled were mostly at their prototypical stage and their testing included a relatively short-term evaluation and a narrow, self-selected, user base. However, the approach and findings are felt to be applicable to a much wider range of educational contexts.
Originality/value
Interactive and situated pedagogical methods and tools have the potential to prompt a departure from transmissive educational models, encompassing at once theoretical, experiential and analytic learning processes. This is of value to education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment due to the requirement to holistically consolidate multi-/inter-/trans-disciplinary knowledge into a coherent design whole.
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Literature and legend features many dangerous female characters. However, in fiction (and in film), it is the male psychopath who dominates. In the scientific literature, research…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature and legend features many dangerous female characters. However, in fiction (and in film), it is the male psychopath who dominates. In the scientific literature, research into psychopathy in men also dominates. Studies of the nature and treatment of this severe personality disorder in women are sparse and little is known or agreed about its presentation in this group. Consequently, psychopathy is not routinely assessed in women and the harmful potential of some can be overlooked leading to failures in the management of risk, especially towards partners and children. The purpose of this paper is to explore how psychopathic women manifest the traits of their disorder compared to men.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper focuses on the representation of women in fiction who appear to demonstrate psychopathic traits. Several relevant works of fiction will be identified but three texts are described in detail and their female characters and storylines explored.
Findings
Gender differences and practice implications are highlighted. Specifically, the paper explores the nuanced ways in which women execute their harmful conduct on others and their most likely relationships with the victims of their aggression; comparisons with men are drawn throughout. Further, comparisons are drawn between the psychopathic female characters created by men and women writers.
Practical implications
The study of psychopathic women in fiction is an invaluable adjunct to empirical research as a way of understanding the phenomenology of psychopathy in this group.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to examine the representation of psychopathic women in fiction and to propose the value of fiction in the study of this particular group of clients.
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Brian Waterwall, Cody Logan Chullen, Dennis Barber and Tope Adeyemi-Bello
This paper aims to examine work values among job seekers and how these values differ across experience and gender.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine work values among job seekers and how these values differ across experience and gender.
Design/methodology/approach
This study asked participants to rate the importance of various intrinsic and extrinsic work values on a five-point Likert scale. Responses were compared for 865 participants.
Findings
This study found that individuals differed in their ratings of work values based on experience. Individuals with more experience assigned greater importance to intrinsic job characteristics, while those with less experience assigned greater importance to extrinsic job characteristics. Findings further reveal differences in gender ratings of work values, with females assigning greater importance ratings to both intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics as compared to males.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this study include that it drew its data exclusively from a sample of US respondents. Research investigating populations from other geographic regions within the same study may uncover important cross-national similarities/differences. Moreover, although this study examined experience and gender, it excluded other potentially important factors such as ethnicity. Future research should explore international samples and broaden its focus to include additional factors.
Practical implications
Organizations should be aware of how experience and gender shape work values to impact job choice and retention. They may wish to target their recruitment efforts toward certain groups to ensure alignment between candidates' work values and those of available positions.
Originality/value
This study improves on prior research by examining the dual impact of experience and gender in shaping work values.
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Alan A. Stephens, J. Brian Atwater and Vijay R. Kannan
The collapse of the sub‐prime mortgage market parallels several earlier failures within the financial services sector, begging the question why the lessons of past failures were…
Abstract
Purpose
The collapse of the sub‐prime mortgage market parallels several earlier failures within the financial services sector, begging the question why the lessons of past failures were not learned. Throughout history from the tulip bulb crisis of the 1600s to the most recent economic crisis, decision‐makers keep making the same mistakes. This occurs in part because of a failure to recognize similarities between past and current events. This conceptual paper aims to use systems dynamics tools to examine the crisis and illustrate how seemingly independent events are linked.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a fundamental review of systems thinking concepts and uses a tool of systems dynamics, causal loop diagrams (CLD), to provide a visualization of the dynamics of the sub‐prime market collapse over time. This approach provides insights that traditional analytic methods do not, which should be beneficial in understanding future cases where speculative demand drives behavior.
Findings
The paper uses the CLD tool to understand the evolution of the recent financial crisis. It finds that the dynamics of the collapse closely mirror many historic financial disasters (the paper cites several) and proposes the fundamental CLD of this phenomenon be elevated to a special category of the “limits to growth” archetype model. The paper makes this recommendation in the hope it will allow investors and policy makers to quickly recognize future speculative events when they happen again.
Originality/value
This paper argues that, despite the surface level uniqueness and complexity of the recent economic collapse, there is an underlying simplicity that links the recent collapse with speculative boom/busts going back over 400 years. The representation that the paper develops applies the language of systems thinking to the most recent financial crisis. A mental model of this system and the corresponding systems structure can be used to not only understand what happened, but also inform decision‐makers when similar speculative behavior occurs in the future.
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Chase Ochrach, Kathryn Thomas, Brian Phillips, Ngonidzashe Mpofu, Tim Tansey and Stacie Castillo
Employers increasingly seek a competitive advantage through inclusive hiring practices and recruitment of persons with disabilities. Early research indicates when employers…
Abstract
Purpose
Employers increasingly seek a competitive advantage through inclusive hiring practices and recruitment of persons with disabilities. Early research indicates when employers consider individuals for their strengths rather than solely for their needs, the organization prospers. However, details about how companies pursue a disability inclusive workplace and the effect of those efforts are poorly understood.
Design/methodology/approach
An inductive qualitative case study approach was utilized to understand one biotechnology corporation and their approach to recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees with disabilities. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted.
Findings
Results suggest that when the company lives its mission around wellness and inclusivity, they benefit from working with and learning from a range of perspectives, furthering their growth. Placing equal emphasis on hiring a diverse workforce and prioritizing supports and wellness practices lead to greater productivity and innovation.
Practical implications
This study illustrates how one company successfully recruits and hires persons with disabilities, resulting in benefits to their financial bottom line and to the organizational culture.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights for other companies intentionally hiring persons with disabilities, providing accommodations in the workplace, and creating an organizational culture where all employees feel valued and supported. These steps have a direct impact on employee engagement, productivity, and retention.
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Ursula Kilkelly and Emily Logan
Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, focus has shifted to its implementation at national level. In this regard, the UN Committee on the…
Abstract
Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, focus has shifted to its implementation at national level. In this regard, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that every state party needs an independent human rights institution for children which should, whatever its form, be able independently to monitor, promote and protect children’s rights. Ireland established its Ombudsman for Children in 2004, with a founding law that gives the institution a wide range of powers associated with the duty to promote children’s rights. These include the express duty to advise Government, raise awareness, undertake research, and consult with children about matters that concern them. The Ombudsman for Children also has the power to receive complaints from children and investigate actions of public bodies that have adversely affected a child in areas of social and health services, child protection and education. This chapter considers the exercise by the Ombudsman for Children of these statutory powers against the backdrop of international standards on independent institutions for children. It illustrates how the Ombudsman for Children has advanced children’s rights in Ireland by taking a proactive and strategic approach to its legislative mandate, and notes in particular the role that soft power – derived from the Ombudsman’s independence, legitimacy and influence – has helped to maximize the potential of the institution.
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As libraries introduce Online Public Access Catalogs and integrated library systems, the need for staff training becomes essential. The characteristics of training sessions are…
Abstract
As libraries introduce Online Public Access Catalogs and integrated library systems, the need for staff training becomes essential. The characteristics of training sessions are identified and discussed. Administrative support and advance planning are encouraged.
Abstract
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It's been three years since my previous survey in RSR. Superb reference books in pop music have been appearing so frequently that I've been having trouble keeping up. Let's hope…
Abstract
It's been three years since my previous survey in RSR. Superb reference books in pop music have been appearing so frequently that I've been having trouble keeping up. Let's hope “next year's” survey will only be 12 months in the making and not 36.