Daryl Mahon and Jeb Brown
Supervision is considered the signature pedagogy and after direct client practice it is rated as the number one learning and development method by practitioners. However, as we…
Abstract
Supervision is considered the signature pedagogy and after direct client practice it is rated as the number one learning and development method by practitioners. However, as we set out in this chapter, the relationship between supervision and client outcomes is not a strong one. Drawing on the use of routine outcome data, we demonstrate how clinical supervision can be improved when both practitioner and supervisor demonstrate an attitude of humility and a willingness to learn from the data they collect. Using these data to enhance supervision by improving client outcomes and to inform deliberate practice (DP) is the hall mark of the effective twenty-first century practitioner and supervisor.
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Daniel Lockery and James F. Peters
The purpose of this paper is to report upon research into developing a biologically inspired target‐tracking system (TTS) capable of acquiring quality images of a known target…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report upon research into developing a biologically inspired target‐tracking system (TTS) capable of acquiring quality images of a known target type for a robotic inspection application.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach used in the design of the TTS hearkens back to the work on adaptive learning by Oliver Selfridge and Chris J.C.H. Watkins and the work on the classification of objects by Zdzislaw Pawlak during the 1980s in an approximation space‐based form of feedback during learning. Also, during the 1980s, it was Ewa Orlowska who called attention to the importance of approximation spaces as a formal counterpart of perception. This insight by Orlowska has been important in working toward a new form of adaptive learning useful in controlling the behaviour of machines to accomplish system goals. The adaptive learning algorithms presented in this paper are strictly temporal difference methods, including Q‐learning, sarsa, and the actor‐critic method. Learning itself is considered episodic. During each episode, the equivalent of a Tinbergen‐like ethogram is constructed. Such an ethogram provides a basis for the construction of an approximation space at the end of each episode. The combination of episodic ethograms and approximation spaces provides an extremely effective means of feedback useful in guiding learning during the lifetime of a robotic system such as the TTS reported in this paper.
Findings
It was discovered that even though the adaptive learning methods were computationally more expensive than the classical algorithm implementations, they proved to be more effective in a number of cases, especially in noisy environments.
Originality/value
The novelty associated with this work is the introduction of an approach to adaptive adaptive learning carried out within the framework of ethology‐based approximation spaces to provide performance feedback during the learning process.
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Berna Keskin, Richard Dunning and Craig Watkins
This paper aims to explore the impact of a recent earthquake activity on house prices and their spatial distribution in the Istanbul housing market.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact of a recent earthquake activity on house prices and their spatial distribution in the Istanbul housing market.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a multi-level approach within an event study framework to model changes in the pattern of house prices in Istanbul. The model allows the isolation of the effects of earthquake risk and explores the differential impact in different submarkets in two study periods – one before (2007) and one after (2012) recent earthquake activity in the Van region, which although in Eastern Turkey served to alter the perceptions of risk through the wider geographic region.
Findings
The analysis shows that there are variations in the size of price discounts in submarkets resulting from the differential influence of a recent earthquake activity on perceived risk of damage. The model results show that the spatial impacts of these changes are not transmitted evenly across the study area. Rather it is clear that submarkets at the cheaper end of the market have proportionately larger negative impacts on real estate values.
Research limitations/implications
The robustness of the models would be enhanced by the addition of further spatial levels and larger data sets.
Practical implications
The methods introduced in this study can be used by real estate agents, valuers and insurance companies to help them more accurately assess the likely impacts of changes in the perceived risk of earthquake activity (or other environmental events such as flooding) on the formation of house prices in different market segments.
Social implications
The application of these methods is intended to inform a fairer approach to setting insurance premiums and a better basis for determining policy interventions and public investment designed to mitigate potential earthquake risk.
Originality/value
The paper represents an attempt to develop a novel extension of the standard use of hedonic models in event studies to investigate the impact of natural disasters on real estate values. The value of the approach is that it is able to better capture the granularity of the spatial effects of environmental events than the standard approach.
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Emmanuel Kofi Gavu and Anthony Owusu-Ansah
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test for submarket existence based on an understanding of the residential rental housing market in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test for submarket existence based on an understanding of the residential rental housing market in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on extant literature and market observations, the authors provide key concepts and an overview of the residential rental market dynamics in Ghana. Reseachers appreciate that submarkets may exist in the Ghanaian rental market but have ignored the empirical testing for submarket existence due to data asymmetries. Based on real estate experts and stakeholder consultations, a priori delineation of submarkets are constructed based on spatial, structural and a nested approach. Submarket existence is tested using the Kruskal–Wallis H test and Hedonic modelling techniques.
Findings
By using fieldwork data from Accra rental market, the analysis provides credence to the conceptualisation of submarkets and how to empirically test for same. It is argued that researchers should use alternative methods to compare results to make far-reaching conclusions.
Research limitations/implications
Examining the hypothesis that differential rental values exists for submarkets has implications for policy decisions to target submarket constructs differently to improve market maturity.
Practical implications
The research provides stakeholder investors in the rental space an understanding of market dynamics for profit maximisation, and end-users to maximise utility in deciding where to live – and as such households could benefit from making informed investment decisions on housing.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first attempts to empirically identify and test for submarkets existence in Ghana’s residential rental housing market.
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Chris Leishman and Craig Watkins
This paper argues that the methods of constructing house price indices for UK markets lag behind those employed in Europe, Australasia and North America. This is particularly…
Abstract
This paper argues that the methods of constructing house price indices for UK markets lag behind those employed in Europe, Australasia and North America. This is particularly evident in terms of the range and level of technical sophistication of the index construction methodologies. Importantly, the paper argues that the absence of reliable house price indicators undermines the decision‐making ability of policy makers and investors operating in urban housing markets. The paper suggests that this can, in part, be remedied by the construction of a system of local house price indices for British cities. The empirical research presents the first UK application of the repeat sales method to UK data. Indices are constructed for four cities and a range of diagnostic tests are used to establish the reliability and accuracy of the indices as a means of monitoring house price change. The research concludes by suggesting that the methods used here should be tested further on data from major metropolitan regions in England and Wales.
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Umesh Sharma and Samantha Vlcek
This chapter reports on how funding is used in general education schools around the world to facilitate inclusive education. While research has established the importance of…
Abstract
This chapter reports on how funding is used in general education schools around the world to facilitate inclusive education. While research has established the importance of inclusive education and investigated the diverse funding models employed in different global regions, this narrative review reports on how funding is operationalized at the school and classroom level to achieve the goals of inclusive education. Results indicate funding is commonly allocated to in-service professional learning programmes, resource acquisition, and purposefully tailored supplementary programmes for students with specific educational needs. This chapter outlines recommendations for researchers and policymakers in developing new ways of funding inclusive practices.
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The connection between women’s empowerment and health has been a growing concern among demographers and other social scientists, who theorize that empowering women – or enhancing…
Abstract
The connection between women’s empowerment and health has been a growing concern among demographers and other social scientists, who theorize that empowering women – or enhancing their ability to define and make strategic life choices – will improve their reproductive health (Kabeer, 1999). The importance of empowering women became a central theme at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. The Cairo policy document codified the notion that women must be empowered in order for them and societies as a whole reach their reproductive health goals, including lowering fertility and population growth, stemming the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS, and ensuring healthy pregnancy and delivery (Hodgson & Watkins, 1997; Sen & Batliwala, 2000).