Francisco Buitrago-Florez, Mario Sanchez, Vanessa Pérez Romanello, Carola Hernandez and Marcela Hernández Hoyos
Numerous challenges in education emerge as our technology-driven society rapidly evolves and manifests more exigent requirements from engineering professionals. Higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
Numerous challenges in education emerge as our technology-driven society rapidly evolves and manifests more exigent requirements from engineering professionals. Higher education, nonetheless, seems to adapt to such requirements at an unequal speed, generating some tensions between industry and higher education institutions. The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences obtained through a process of assessment and redesign of a large enrollment course of programming from which the authors developed a systematic approach for course design/redesign.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed method approach was deployed for data gathering and evaluation, consisting of close-ended surveys, open-ended questionnaires, information matrices and state of the art compilation. Triangulation of the information offered clear data about the necessity of curriculum redesign; therefore, a new programming course curriculum encompassed with relevant necessities in engineering and science was developed.
Findings
The authors produced a coherent and dynamic systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of course curriculum, which the authors find extremely helpful to improve negotiation processes inside higher education institutions, as it can be implemented to improve any large enrollment course curricula in engineering and science.
Research limitations/implications
By following the systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of curricula the authors developed, higher education systems could embark more efficiently in the ever-challenging process of adapt their courses and programs to tackle the upcoming demands of our society.
Originality/value
So far, a systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of course curriculum was not published, and it supports the improvement of pedagogical approaches in academic institutions.
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Carola Hernandez and Irma Alicia Flores
The purpose of this paper is to identify how pedagogical mentoring contributed to the transformation of teachers’ pedagogical practices and to the consolidation of a team of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify how pedagogical mentoring contributed to the transformation of teachers’ pedagogical practices and to the consolidation of a team of autonomous leaders in a Colombian regional university, within the framework of a curricular reform.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a qualitative research under the methodology of experience systematization. In this methodology, the participants and researchers analyze experiences and generate knowledge about why processes are developed in a particular way. This requires organizing, reconstructing and interpreting facts and experiences. In education, the main actors (teachers) research their own pedagogical practice, developing critical thinking and generating curricular and pedagogical knowledge.
Findings
Results show that pedagogical mentoring was effective in achieving the proposed objectives by means of learning conversations. The entire process addressed the curriculum in all its complexity, encouraged reflection about the teachers’ pedagogical practice and empowered them as designers, implementers and evaluators of the curriculum.
Research limitations/implications
Curricular reforms are complex educational phenomena. In this study, the authors limited the analysis to understanding how to generate a new community of practice with teachers to implement curricular changes in all their complexity. Other actors such as principals or students were not included in the process.
Originality/value
The systematization of this experience shows that pedagogical mentoring is a successful strategy to develop a curricular reform in a participative manner. In addition, it provides elements – from both pedagogical practice and theory – to foster communities of reflexive teachers who are ultimately the actual designers and implementers of curricula that can tackle the challenges of education for the twenty-first century.
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Carola Strandberg and Maria Ek Styvén
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of brand love in place brand communication by incorporating potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes of place brand love in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of brand love in place brand communication by incorporating potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes of place brand love in a social media setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 281 residents and visitors of a place through an online survey focusing on a place brand video. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model.
Findings
Results show that place brand love has a strong direct relationship with positive word of mouth (WOM), and an indirect effect on intention to share the place brand message. Self-expressiveness of the place brand message also seems to influence place brand love as well as intention to share the message.
Research limitations/implications
The role of self-related concepts and brand love to a place has theoretical implications for research in place branding and electronic word of mouth. The study has limitations to its generalizability in terms of cultural aspects and sample representativeness.
Practical implications
Place marketers need to successfully reflect the self-concept of key stakeholders in communication messages in order to increase the probability that recipients will engage in positive WOM and share the message.
Originality/value
Research on place brand love is scarce and previous studies have focused solely on brand love in connection to tourists. The main contribution of the current study is the exploration of the role of brand love in connection to residents, who are vital co-creators of the place brand.
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Christine Abagat Liboon, Rose Ann E. Gutierrez and Ariana Guillermo Dimagiba
While the concept of reciprocity has gained traction in qualitative research, especially as the term relates to challenging power dynamics inherent within the research and…
Abstract
While the concept of reciprocity has gained traction in qualitative research, especially as the term relates to challenging power dynamics inherent within the research and evaluation process, a gap remains in understanding how a researcher's or elevator's cultural background shapes the way reciprocity is conceptualized and practiced. We explore how Filipino concepts connected to reciprocity (utang na loob, pakikipagkapwa, and alalay) inform the practice of Filipina American researchers and evaluators in academia. We use Sikolohiyang Pilipino and Critical Kapwa in the conceptual framework to guide our study and employ a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) methodology. We present three findings: (1) reciprocity and utang na loob as a nontransactional debt, (2) reciprocity and pakikipagkapwa as seeing the humanity in others, and (3) reciprocity and alalay as carrying the weight together. We discuss this study's implications – regarding theorizing reciprocity, using collaborative autoethnography as methodology, and reclaiming deeper ways of knowing from a critical perspective – for transforming evaluation and research practice. Specifically, through a collaborative autoethnography, we learned the importance of understanding the nuances of language (i.e., Tagalog and other Filipino languages) as a decolonizing approach to arriving at our analysis of pakikipagkapwa through kuwentuhan. Methodologies that attend to a culturally responsive evaluation and research practice – –such as CAE and kuwentuhan– – amplify the voices of silenced communities. Lastly, deeply understanding the cultural context of evaluators' and researchers' experiences and cultural identities as well as studying oneself through a collaborative autoethnography can create practices of reciprocity that have been buried by settler colonialism.