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This study aims to evaluate the usability of the augmented reality-based Evoke Education System (EES) to improve service operations in educational settings. The EES uses an animated character (Moe) to interact with children in a classroom by reproducing their teacher's movements and speech.

This study uses a quantitative approach for the system usability evaluation. The ESS was evaluated by 71 children aged 6–8 years old, from two primary schools. After interacting with the EES, they completed a system usability questionnaire and participated in a knowledge acquisition test.

The knowledge acquisition test undertaken on the initial day showed statistically significant improvements for children taught with the EES, compared to children taught through traditional teaching approaches. However, the retest nine days later was not statistically significant (as only one school participated) due to low power. This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), resulting in the identification of five essential factors (likeability, interactiveness, retention, effectiveness/attractiveness and satisfaction) that contribute to the EES's usability. The comparison with existing literature shows that these factors are consistent with the definition of system usability provided by the International Organization for Standardization and current academic literature in this field.

The findings presented in this study are based on the data from only two schools. The research can be extended by involving children from a greater number of schools. Mixed methods and qualitative research approaches can be used for future research in this area to generalise the results.

This study proposes an innovative augmented reality-based education system to help teachers deliver their key messages to the children in a fun way that can potentially increase their knowledge retention.

At each New Year we stand at the threshold of fresh scenes and hopes, of opportunities and pastures new. It is the time for casting off shackles and burdens that have weighed us down in the old year; almost a new chapter of life. We scan the prevailing scene for signs that will chart the year's unrolling and beyond, and hope profoundly for a smooth passage. The present is largely the product of the past, but of the future, who knows? Man therefore forever seems to be entering upon something new—a change, a challenge, events of great portent. This, of course, is what life is all about. Trends usually precede events, often by a decade or more, yet it is a paradox that so many are taken by surprise when they occur. Trends there have been and well marked; signs, too, for the discerning. In fields particular, they portend overall progress; in general, not a few bode ill.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, Confucian doctrines on one’s self-cultivation have been re-introduced to curriculum in China. The revived cherish of the Confucian legacy in the twenty-first century is a reverse from the official rejection of Confucianism in the Mao era (1950–1976). It also appears as a counterweight to the individualism proliferating among the Chinese youths born at the beginning of the new millennium (Gen Z). The re-introduction of Confucianism is thus ideologically purposeful. Yet how does the mixed exposure to Confucius’ legacy and the modern idea of self-awareness impact this cohort of young people, in particular their way of learning? This chapter focusses on Chinese Gen Z studying in Australia. Using the Bourdieuan theory of human habitus, this chapter examines how these students negotiate between the ideas of self-cultivation and self-awareness, and what implications such experiences have in an intercultural academic community.

Describes Poetry in the Branches, a multi‐layered, replicable program model, devised by Poets House, New York, to foster the link between librarians, the public and the living tradition of poetry. Provides a comprehensive list of titles of contemporary poetry collections by single authors and anthologies.

Explores issues surrounding the recent evolution of benchmarking in the UK public sector with particular regard to local authorities. Argues that what is being done in the name of benchmarking in UK local authorities is fundamentally different to the current understanding of benchmarking practice in the private sector. Despite these differences, and somewhat ironically, the development of benchmarking in the public sector pre‐dates its popularity in the private sector. In the public sector, benchmarking is frequently in response to central government requirements, or is used for defensive reasons rather than striving for performance gains. These themes are captured in two new benchmarking typologies: compulsory and voluntary models of benchmarking. Concludes that: the reasons for benchmarking in the public sector are confused; pressures for accountability in the public sector may militate against real performance improvement; and an appropriate balance between the use of benchmarking for control and improvement purposes is yet to be achieved.

Previous empirical research into the performance measurement of exemplary e‐businesses has pointed to a lack of progress in developing distinctive performance metrics for e‐business and a failure to adopt best practice in performance management. The objective of this paper is to reconsider the evidence from that study by drawing on innovation adoption theories.

The paper re‐examines the findings from case study‐based research that investigated leading e‐business performance measurement practices. The study suggests that there are limitations in analysing the findings using normative best practice, the dominant paradigm within performance management. Given that e‐business innovation relies on the adoption of multiple technologies this paper reconsiders the findings using the conceptual perspective of the innovation adoption literature.

The study highlights the importance of individual, cognitive, social and cultural influences in an organisation's operating environment on its willingness to adapt performance measurement metrics for online business activities. The findings point to the benefits available from incorporating new theoretic perspectives in performance measurement research.

The work points to a need to adopt a more context‐specific approach to the development of e‐business performance measurement. Furthermore, it indicates ways in which both the understanding and practice of performance measurement in e‐business can be advanced.

This paper highlights the limitations of current performance management literature as monopolised by normative best practice thinking, and argues for the need to incorporate other theoretical perspectives into performance management research.

American radical economists in the 1960s perceived China under Maoism as an important experiment in creating a new society, aspects of which they hoped could serve as a model for the developing world. But the knowledge of “actually existing Maoism” was very limited due to the mutual isolation between China and the US. This chapter analyses the First Friendship Delegation of American Radical Political Economists (FFDARPE) to the People’s Republic of China in 1972, consisting mainly of Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) members, which was the first visit of a group of American economists to China since 1949. Based on interviews with trip participants as well as archival and published material, this chapter studies what we can learn about the engagement with Maoism by American radical economists from their dialogues with Chinese hosts, from their on-the-ground observations, and their reflection upon return. We show how the visitors’ own ideas conflicted and intersected with their perception of the Maoist practice on gender relations, workers’ management, and life in the communes. We also shed light on the diverging conceptions of the role for economic expertise between URPE and late Maoism. As the first in-depth study on the FFDARPE, we provide rich empirical insights into an ice-breaking event in the larger process of normalization in the Sino-US relations, which ultimately led to the disillusionment of the Left with China.

This paper analyses financial support services (loans and grants) from the perspective of beekeepers in Fiji's Northern Division.

A mixed-method, case study approach was used with key informant interviews, focus groups, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.

Financial support was found to be an appropriate intervention. While beekeepers have access to loans, matching grants or small business grants to assist the establishment and growth of their activities, the appropriateness of these services varies based on the experience and skill of beekeepers. Capacity building was an important shortcoming in all financial services. It is recommended beekeeping clients undertake outcome-based, practical and/or mentorship-styled training to ensure beekeepers have the appropriate skills to maintain a viable enterprise.

This study was limited by a small sample size. Further research is needed to understand long-term impacts of financial support services and the availability and appropriateness of these within and between regions.

Recommendations are provided to encourage effective financial support for beekeepers to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of their activities. This can impact beekeepers' livelihoods by increasing household income and income security.

There is a paucity of literature on the effectiveness of financial interventions to support beekeeping enterprises. This is the first study to compare financial support services from the perspective of beekeepers in the Pacific region.