Diego Zapata‐Rivera, Waverely VanWinkle, Bryan Doyle, Alyssa Buteux and Malcolm Bauer
The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate an evidence‐based scenario design framework for assessment‐based computer games.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate an evidence‐based scenario design framework for assessment‐based computer games.
Design/methodology/approach
The evidence‐based scenario design framework is presented and demonstrated by using BELLA, a new assessment‐based gaming environment aimed at supporting student learning of vocabulary and math. BELLA integrates assessment and learning into an interactive gaming system that includes written conversations, math activities, oral and written feedback in both English and Spanish, and a visible psychometric model that is used to adaptively select activities as well as feedback levels. This paper also reports on a usability study carried out in a public middle school in New York City.
Findings
The evidence‐based, scenario design framework proves to be instrumental in helping combine game and assessment requirements. BELLA demonstrates how advances in artificial intelligence in education, cognitive science, educational measurement, and video games can be harnessed and integrated into valid instructional tools for the classroom.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides initial evidence of the potential of these kinds of assessment‐based gaming tools to enhance teaching and learning. Future work involves exploring student learning effects in randomized controlled studies and comparing the internal assessment models to more traditional assessment instruments.
Originality/value
BELLA is the first step toward achieving engaging, assessment‐based, gaming environments for a variety of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)‐related areas with explicit support for English language learners.
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The concept of student behaviour provides a tool for describing and understanding the underlying mechanisms between academic success as a dependent variable and individual…
Abstract
The concept of student behaviour provides a tool for describing and understanding the underlying mechanisms between academic success as a dependent variable and individual determinants of students and the institutional context of study as independent variables. Defined as the micro-level characteristics that encompass students' actual behaviour and transitions within higher education, student behaviour influences the outcomes of academic performance, learning outcomes, the duration of studies, completion rates and future career paths. Student behaviour therefore serves as an intermediary construct between inputs and student outcomes. This chapter provides a comprehensive heuristic framework of student behaviour, drawing on insights from a range of disciplinary theoretical perspectives, including education, psychology, sociology, economics and political science. The conceptual model outlines the central role of student behaviour within the student life cycle and its implications for higher education research. In doing so, the chapter offers a conceptual panorama that encompasses both the factors that explain student behaviour and the phenomena that student behaviour itself influences, including its relationship to the concept of student engagement. The framework is not limited to conceptual delineation but invites further theoretical development.
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Sònia Mas-Alcolea and Helena Torres-Purroy
This chapter aims to offer a focussed critical discussion of the combination of two qualitative data-collection methods used in a longitudinal multiple case study investigating…
Abstract
This chapter aims to offer a focussed critical discussion of the combination of two qualitative data-collection methods used in a longitudinal multiple case study investigating the impact of intra-European mobility on the students' linguistic and intercultural development. The participant being the main (and often the only) source of data in higher education research, this chapter will centre on the use of shadowing as a data-collection strategy and on how this offered an other-report that favoured the co-construction and negotiation of meaning between the researcher and the research participant(s) in the narrative interview. Based on our experience shadowing and interviewing undergraduate students, we will stress: (1) the advantages of combining the direct and first-hand nature of the experience of the researcher with the participants' accounts of their experiences and (2) the need to not only rely on the participants' self-report(s) but also obtain an other-report about the phenomena being studied.
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Judith A. Singleton, Lisa M. Nissen, Nick Barter and Malcolm McIntosh
Pharmaceuticals have played an important role in improving the quality of life of the human population in modern times. However, it must also be acknowledged that both the…
Abstract
Purpose
Pharmaceuticals have played an important role in improving the quality of life of the human population in modern times. However, it must also be acknowledged that both the production and use of pharmaceuticals have a significant, negative impact on the environment and consequently, a negative impact on the health of humans and wildlife. This negative impact is due to the embedded carbon in pharmaceuticals' manufacture and distribution and the waste generated in their manufacture, consumption and disposal. Pharmaceutical waste is comprised of contaminated waste (unwanted pharmaceuticals and their original containers) and non-contaminated waste (non-hazardous packaging waste). The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The article is a literature review.
Findings
The article identified a gap in the literature around pharmacist attitudes and behaviour toward the environmentally responsible handling of pharmaceutical waste.
Originality/value
Pharmacists, with their professional commitment to the quality use of medicines and their active participation in the medicines management pathway, already play an important role in the more sustainable use of pharmaceuticals. Even so, they have the potential to play an even greater role with the environmentally responsible disposal of pharmaceutical waste (including packaging waste) and the education of other health professionals and the general public on this topic.
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Irina V. Gewinner, Victoria A. Bauer and Mara Osterburg
The conceptual “model of cultural stereotypes” offers a comprehensive understanding of gendered career choices of higher education students. Rooted in socio-cultural perspectives…
Abstract
The conceptual “model of cultural stereotypes” offers a comprehensive understanding of gendered career choices of higher education students. Rooted in socio-cultural perspectives, the model integrates socialization effects, individual gender ideology and internalized cultural stereotypes to provide a nuanced understanding of career-related orientations. The model addresses the limitations of existing theories by recognizing the interplay between individual, institutional and cultural factors. It emphasizes the impact of societal values, norms and prevailing gender roles on career decisions. Empirical validation through a large-scale survey at a German research university underscores the efficacy of the model. The chapter also explores theoretical, methodological and practical implications to guide researchers and practitioners in advancing a contextually informed approach to understanding and addressing gender disparities in career decisions and differences regarding certain occupational fields.
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The environment poses many ‘wicked problems’ that cannot be addressed from a single disciplinary perspective. In a research-oriented university, it is a challenge to overcome…
Abstract
The environment poses many ‘wicked problems’ that cannot be addressed from a single disciplinary perspective. In a research-oriented university, it is a challenge to overcome discipline boundaries to create different pathways for thinking and teaching about the environment. This vignette reflects on two strands, performance and academic culture, in what is necessarily a complex system involving the development and implementation of a new interdisciplinary subject. While we imagined what the learning process was for the students, what evolved was a mutual process of rethinking expectations about how to collaboratively learn as an academic team. This chapter examines three learning tasks prescribed for students as examples of how we came to understand the difficult nature of our engagement, and to reflect on what happened in the initial semester of the subject. Emergent from our reflections is the need for a culture of interdisciplinarity, and suggestions for how to more effectively support the kind of learning practices that will inform our understanding of complex systems as citizens and scholars.
In this article The TQM Magazine profiles the 1990 US Malcolm Baldrige winners. All four winners, Federal Express, Cadillac, IBM Rochester, and Wallace, have one common goal �…
Abstract
In this article The TQM Magazine profiles the 1990 US Malcolm Baldrige winners. All four winners, Federal Express, Cadillac, IBM Rochester, and Wallace, have one common goal — increasing customer satisfaction.
Much empirical evidence is in conflict with the expectations of the service‐profit chain which suggests that increases in customer satisfaction will increase customer loyalty and…
Abstract
Purpose
Much empirical evidence is in conflict with the expectations of the service‐profit chain which suggests that increases in customer satisfaction will increase customer loyalty and earn additional profits from customers. Management focus on the achievement of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and associated investment, might, therefore, be misguided, if they believe that the available empirical evidence supports a link between these variables and firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to help firms understand the value of their intangible assets – most notably the important role played by customers in increasing a firm's value.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of survey‐based research carried out in the Taiwanese credit card market, this paper generates a structural equation model facilitating the measurement and evaluation of the relative efficiencies of customer‐related strategies.
Findings
The findings help managers to understand the relationship between customer‐related strategies (customer acquisition, retention, and add‐on selling) and their impact on customer measures and ultimately firm performance. Customer lifetime value is shown to be the most important indicator of financial performance and the firm's shareholder value; the customer loyalty measure is shown to have no impact on shareholder value, and to be negatively related to the implementation of an acquisition strategy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is conducted within the Taiwanese credit card market, and the findings may not be generalisable to other locations or to other markets.
Practical implications
These empirical findings suggest that marketing strategy has a central role in the formulation of financial policy, since such strategies can be shown to have an impact on the financial value of the business.
Originality/value
The paper provides further evidence linking customers with firm value, which will be important for management decision making and resource use.