George Papanastasiou, Athanasios Drigas, Charalabos Skianis and Miltiadis D. Lytras
The purpose of this paper is to explore the integration of serious games (SGs) in the area of special educational needs in the last ten years (2007-2017).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the integration of serious games (SGs) in the area of special educational needs in the last ten years (2007-2017).
Design/methodology/approach
SGs indicate positive effects on students with special educational needs and promote a multi-sensory style of learning.
Findings
Research showed that SGs are able to keep K-12 education students with attention, memory and developmental disabilities engaged in classroom facilities scaffolding their learning through increased motivation, independence, autonomy and resultant self-esteem.
Research limitations/implications
Time constraints, cost and availability of appropriate games as well as the small sample of the individuals being investigated are some of the research limitations the paper refers to.
Practical implications
Learning through SGs has educational values that are based on learning concepts intrinsically motivating.
Social implications
Students with attention, memory and developmental disabilities demonstrate characteristics of engagement, creativity, control and communication.
Originality/value
SGs-based learning has proven its value added to students with attention, memory and executive control difficulties as well as mental or developmental disabilities engaging students better than when using traditional methods.
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The talks yielded some progress but fell short of full agreement on the GSI project, a proposed underwater cable that would connect the electricity grids of Cyprus, Greece and…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB289683
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Scalar terms, such as “local” and “global,” “big” and “small” are fundamental in how academics and practitioners make sense of and respond to grand challenges. Yet, scale is so…
Abstract
Scalar terms, such as “local” and “global,” “big” and “small” are fundamental in how academics and practitioners make sense of and respond to grand challenges. Yet, scale is so taken-for-granted that we rarely question or critically reflect on the concept and how it is used. The aim of this paper is to identify scale as an important concept in research on grand challenges and to point out why taking scale for granted can be problematic. In particular, I suggest that to date most research on grand challenges sees scale as a fundamental ontological feature of the world. Yet, scalar categories and hierarchies are not as self-evident and given as they may seem. Moreover, taking scale as an ontological fixed category limits our ability to make sense of, theorize and respond to grand challenges. As an alternative, I suggest seeing scale as an epistemological frame that participants employ in their everyday practices to make sense of, navigate and develop solutions to grand challenges. The chapter concludes with a research agenda for studying scale as socially constructed in practice.
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George A. Marcoulides, Ronald H. Heck and Constantinos Papanastasiou
This study examined the generalizability of a previously validated model concerning how student perceptions of school culture affect student achievement.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the generalizability of a previously validated model concerning how student perceptions of school culture affect student achievement.
Design/methodology/approach
Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data were collected from 1,026 eighth‐grade students in secondary schools on the island of Cyprus. The a priori proposed model concerning school culture and student achievement was tested using structural equation modeling techniques.
Findings
The proposed model was determined to fit the data reasonably well. These results indicate that achievement scores can be explained by students' perceptions of the school's cultural environment.
Originality/value
The theoretical and practical implications of the model concerning school culture and student achievement within the framework of educational management are discussed.
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Jakob Müllner and Igor Filatotchev
In this chapter, the authors review emerging literature on multidimensional, information age-related phenomena across different disciplines to derive common themes and topics. The…
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors review emerging literature on multidimensional, information age-related phenomena across different disciplines to derive common themes and topics. The authors then proceed to analyse recent developments in these fields to provide an interdisciplinary overview of the most disruptive challenges for multinational companies (MNCs) competing in the modern information age. These challenges include more efficient peer-to-peer communication between stakeholders, crowd-organisation, globalisation of value chains and the need to organise knowledge resources. The aim of the chapter is not to review all age research, but to identify fundamental uncertainties for MNCs and discuss strategies of tackling such information age phenomena from an international business perspective.
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Anil Kumar Inkulu, M.V.A. Raju Bahubalendruni, Ashok Dara and SankaranarayanaSamy K.
In the present era of Industry 4.0, the manufacturing automation is moving toward mass production and mass customization through human–robot collaboration. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
In the present era of Industry 4.0, the manufacturing automation is moving toward mass production and mass customization through human–robot collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to describe various human–robot collaborative (HRC) techniques and their applicability for various manufacturing methods along with key challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Numerous recent relevant research literature has been analyzed, and various human–robot interaction methods have been identified, and detailed discussions are made on one- and two-way human–robot collaboration.
Findings
The challenges in implementing human–robot collaboration for various manufacturing process and the challenges in one- and two-way collaboration between human and robot are found and discussed.
Originality/value
The authors have attempted to classify the HRC techniques and demonstrated the challenges in different modes.
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Charlotte Struyve, Alan Daly, Machteld Vandecandelaere, Chloé Meredith, Karin Hannes and Bieke De Fraine
The number of early career teachers leaving the profession continues to be an ongoing issue across the globe. This pressing concern has resulted in increased attention to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The number of early career teachers leaving the profession continues to be an ongoing issue across the globe. This pressing concern has resulted in increased attention to the instructional and psychological conditions necessary to retain early career educators. However, less formal attention has been paid to the social infrastructure in which early career teachers find themselves. The purpose of this paper is to foreground the role of social capital and its effect on job attitudes and educators’ intention to leave the profession.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 736 teachers within ten secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). Using social network and multilevel moderated mediation analysis techniques, the relationships between teachers’ social connectedness, job attitudes, and the intention to leave the profession for both novice and experienced teachers were analyzed.
Findings
Findings indicate that being socially connected to other educators within the school is associated with a reduction in teachers’ intention to leave the profession, mediated by their job attitudes, for both early career and experienced teachers. However, social connectedness was significantly more important for early career teachers. No significant effects are found for being socially connected to the mentor.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence for the importance of social capital for teachers, particularly early career educators. Moreover, by introducing teachers’ social connectedness as related to intention to leave, this study makes a significant and unique contribution to the literature.
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This study aims to examine the relationship between TQM practices and teachers' job satisfaction in Qatar, visualizing this relationship through a path causal model.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between TQM practices and teachers' job satisfaction in Qatar, visualizing this relationship through a path causal model.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey from different schools in Qatar was conducted, using a questionnaire administered to 359 teachers. Factor analysis was used to establish the construct validity of the questionnaire, using two statistical tests: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy, and Bartlett's test of sphericity.
Findings
The TQM practices measured were information, professional development, teachers' involvement in decision-making, teamwork and salary. Regression analyses showed that only four of the five constructs were significant in predicting teachers' job satisfaction. The path causal model's results revealed that each explanatory variable's direct effect was strengthened via the effect of the other independent variables.
Practical implications
Teachers who are highly satisfied with their jobs are willing to give their best. This study proposes a conceptual causal model for TQM adoption in the Qatar educational system. The proposed causal model will help policymakers and decision-makers in Qatari schools to draw strategies based on the antecedents and consequences of teachers' involvement in decision-making.
Originality/value
Empirically, this article has employed the concepts of TQM and job satisfaction to construct a causal model, demonstrating the effect of TQM practices on teachers' job satisfaction in schools in Qatar, thus bridging the gap between the two fields. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no prior studies have examined this relationship within Qatari schools.
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Hongjing Dong, Xi Chen, Guangying Yang, Dandan He, Ying Dai and Pengfei He
The purpose of this paper is to obtain a constitutive model of cement-based material in the rheological stage, which owns the different water-cement ratio (w/c) and temperature…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to obtain a constitutive model of cement-based material in the rheological stage, which owns the different water-cement ratio (w/c) and temperature and have a significant impact on the workability of concrete materials.
Design/methodology/approach
It is introduced a modified Arrhenius equation into the Herschel–Bulkley model, which is widely applied in rheological analysis and constructed an ordinary differential equation (ODE) of w/c from the Navier–Stokes equation. By solving the ODE, an approximate constitutive relation of cement-based materials included w/c and temperature is derived. Compared with the experimental results, the present model is validated.
Findings
The shear stress and shear rate curves with different w/c and temperature are simulated by the present method, and the present model can be applied to analyze the changes of apparent viscosity in cement-based material slurry as the w/c and temperature varying.
Originality/value
This work gives a mathematical model, which can effectively approximate the shear stress–shear rate relation with different w/c and temperature in the rheological stage of cement-based material.
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Martin Omar Gomez, George A. Marcoulides and Ronald H. Heck
The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model of school culture and examine data from schools in Southern California to identify educationally important aspects of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model of school culture and examine data from schools in Southern California to identify educationally important aspects of teacher‐perceived cultural variables and how these perceptions differentially impact school performance in K‐8 and middle school structures.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a sample of 628 teachers from 59 schools (17 K‐8 schools and 42 middle schools) in five different schools districts in Southern California. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling techniques.
Findings
The proposed model was determined to fit the data well. The theoretical and practical implications of the model concerning culture and school performance within the framework of educational management and school configuration are discussed.
Originality/value
This paper identifies educationally important aspects of teacher‐perceived cultural variables and how they impact school performance, and also it discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the proposed model.