4101 research outputs found
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Cultivating autonomy in writing through 21st Century literacy : "The digital noisis model" in Higher Education
No full textThe purpose of this study was to cultivate students’ autonomy in second language writing with the use of cutting edge technology tools such as blogs wikis, Google docs and videos. Specifically, this thesis reports on an individual teacher action research that has been conducted over two academic semesters in 2 different cohorts of freshmen ESL students who study in a private higher Education college in Athens. I started the research with the aim to promote learners’ autonomy in writing by integrating new media tools in the ESL classroom to prepare them for the challenges of the digital writing era. Also, I aimed to explore students’ perceptions on the effectiveness of on-line peer-feedback and on-line reflection.Methodology: An individual-teacher action research methodology was adopted in this project. As a teacher-researcher, I made a diagnosis of learning problems, I planned, I observed, I acted and I reflected, following a two cycles action research model. A vast variety of measurement tools have been used during this longitudinal study: data from artifacts, researcher’s journal, semi-structured interviews. This study is also supplemented by the qualitative data obtained from students’ online portfolios and videos that have been used to present students’ reflections regarding their writing autonomy.Research findings: The qualitative data thematic analysis showed that the integration of wikis and blogs in cycle 1 encouraged collaboration, self - learning via technology and reflection in the writing class. Though instructor’s choices in training methods and tools impacted students’ engagement and autonomy in writing. Improvement in teaching methodology and change in technology tools in cycle 2 lead to the discovery of an effective writing model.Students reported gains from online peer feedback via Google Drive in cooperative skills, language awareness, task awareness and critical thinking.Also, self- assessment and critical thinking were cultivated via reflection in vlogs. Overall, students claimed that they have benefitted from autonomous learning by using modern technologies since they developed a collaborative culture, engaged in online writing in and out of class, developed their digital literacy and built their confidence in writing
Undwarfing the giant: a shared value approach
No full textThis is a follow up paper on the dwarfed giant: impact of trade and related policies on SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry. This study uncovers how the dwarfed giant can be undwarfed through the creation of shared value. To achieve this, the study examines areas of SMEs collaborative partnership in the Nigerian textile industry. SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry are faced with challenges that limit their abilities to compete favourably due to growing pressures from the liberalisation of international trade. These challenges have been an issue of concern, especially for SMEs fabric manufacturers operating in the Nigerian textile industry who are faced with the fundamental task of attaining long-term sustainability while simultaneously creating value for their customers and the society. The study identified some elements of collaborative partnerships between SMEs, customers and the government. It also identified the absence of on-going collaboration between SMEs and educational institutions in the country. However, these collaborative efforts have yielded little or no result due to the lack of shared understanding and values among key stakeholders in the industry. In bridging this gap, the study suggests that the principles of shared value creation be embedded into SMEs business strategy in inter-organizational relationships with key stakeholders in and out of the textile value chain. This way, they can effectively co-create shared value in the internal environment and adequately tackle the challenges of the external business environment
Motivating Chinese students with personal influence
No full textOn 7th April 2017, we attended a video conference (International Conference on Responsible Research and Transformation in Education) in London. Our paper evaluated perceptions and attainments of Chinese students in relation to the use of translanguaging support via WeChat (Tencent Holdings Limited, 2011). We developed a honeycomb framework for the implementation of this kind of support with quick response, accurate information, informal communication style, convenient communication platform, variety of communication choices, and collaborative environment (Sun et al., 2017b). Delegates from different parts of the world appeared to have great interest in this piece of research. Many questions were asked during the video session. However, we felt a question on ‘how to motivate our Chinese students’ has provoked us to reflect on another dimension of this project - the impact of personal influence from the lecturer on students. This might be an inspiring topic to be explored further
Anecdotal storytelling in the adult ESOL and literacy classroom
No full textThis study investigates how anecdotal stories were used as a pedagogic tool in the teaching practice of trainee ESOL and literacy teachers. It analyses how trainees utilised anecdotal storytelling to enhance a 'participatory' approach to ESOL/literacy teaching. The data was collected in the form of short reflective posts written by the trainee teachers and uploaded on a Virtual Learning platform. The analysis focuses on the posts describing the features, uses and purposes of anecdotes used in the ESOL/literacy classroom. It provides a theoretical framework capturing the form, content, and primary and secondary functions of anecdotal storytelling
Exploring negative feedback – is there a positive side?
No full textThis article considers student feedback and its interpretation in relation to developing students' personal development planning. At the outset of professional education required values and behaviours might not be in evidence. Student feedback can be used as a point for learning so that values and preferences that are not a ‘given’ can be given the space needed to enable communication skills, empathy and compassion to grow. We should anticipate that not everyone has these at the outset of professional education and honesty in identifying through feedback what is lacking is a good starting point to develop individualised student support
Gender and job (in)security in commercial banks : challenges and opportunities in Nigeria
No full textThis thesis set out explore the experiences of men and women working in Nigerian commercial banks and to understand the link between gender and job insecurity. To achieve this aim, the following research questions were asked: Are men and women treated equally in Nigerian banks? Are jobs in Nigerian banking secure/insecure? Who has job security/insecurity? Men or women? Using a constructivist approach to grounded theory, a total of twenty four (24) indepth interviews with bank employees were conducted by the researcher. The insights from the field work conducted during the course of this research are summarized under the three reseach questions below.What emerged from the data is two conflicting views. On the one hand, the general sentiment from research participants is that on balance within Nigerian banks, men and women are treated equally. However, on the other hand, research participants also reported instances of unequal treatment of both men and women with instances of recruitment bias in favour of single, unmarried and ‘beautiful’ women. Another insight from the experiences of research participants overwhelmingly is that jobs in the Nigerian banking sector are insecure. Research respondents reported a general sense of uncertainty about their jobs. Thirdly, men and women equally suffered from the job insecurity occasioned by the cut-throat corporate culture ubiquitous in Nigerian banking. Although banks were more interested in performance and profits for their shareholders, the emphasis was on individuals, be they men or women who could/would bring in business for the banks, the job roles at the lower levels of the organisational chart were the most insecure and tended to be occupied more by women
Three stages of student engagement in a flipped-classroom environment: Appendix 3 - Twelve-mixed-Item Questionnaire
No full textThe literature suggests that students tend to prefer in-person lectures to video lectures. This paper identifies potential causes of this phenomenon and triggers of student engagement in a flipped-classroom environment.Eight short in-house mathematics videos were prepared and made available to foundation engineering students on the university’s virtual learning environment, prior to each topic being discussed in class. The in-house videos were viewed more than accompanying external on-line video lectures for all topics covered. Students preferred in-house videos with a voice describing a drawing as it is being drawn, not one drawn earlier, and an equation as it is being written, not one written earlier. In-house videos that were produced using high numbers of pre-prepared pages tended to be viewed less. These findings suggest a gradient of student engagement from the external on-line video lecture to the interactive group learning experience. Three evidence-based stages of student engagement are proposed: (1) external video, (2) in-house video with high numbers of pre-prepared pages and (3) in-house video with low numbers of pre-prepared pages. Further validation of these stages of student engagement, and an exploration of lecturer preparedness and social presence during the production of short in-house mathematics videos, is recommended
Examining customer selection criteria, satisfaction and loyalty in the Islamic banking industry : a comparative study between Malaysian ethnic groups.
No full textCustomer behaviour is a complex and dynamic area of investigation. Organisations, managers and researchers are interested in the potential of ethnicity as how it affects the behaviour of people in various domains. It influences organizational decisions to customise services and allocate resources to fulfil the needs of certain types of customers. The stiff competition among banks particularly in the dual banking system such as in Malaysia requires banks to win over customers and enhance loyalty among them. In response, this thesis examined the selection factors, satisfaction and loyalty behaviour among multi-ethnic customers in the Malaysian Islamic banking industry. The researcher adopts pragmatism paradigm that underpins the methodological choice, data collection techniques and analyses. The investigated issues were examined from two different perspectives; bank customers and bank managers. Accordingly, the data collection methods utilised were questionnaires for bank customers and semi-structured interviews with the bank managers.The results indicated that there were significant differences between the ethnic groups in terms of their selection factors, satisfaction and loyalty. These differences indicated that ethnicity is a significant predicting variable to determine customer decisions. The factor analysis revealed five selection factors (religious and ethical, services and convenience, service quality and benefit, external, operational and charges) which attracted customers to choose Islamic banks in Malaysia. Further analysis discovered that the Reliability dimension significantly influenced customer satisfaction. In addition, there was a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in this study. However, the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches suggested that there were some inconsistencies regarding the issue of ethnicity as most of the bank managers held views that there was no difference among the ethnic groups in terms of their preferences or behaviours. The mix results demonstrated that bank management had not considered ethnicity as a potential variable to predict customer behaviour. Overall, the findings from this study provide useful information on customers within a multicultural society and this information could assist bank marketers in developing the right marketing strategy to optimise the diverse market opportunities
The effects of culture and leadership behaviour on ethical practices in managing labour within the UK and Bangladesh- readymade garment industry
No full textDuring the 21st century there has been a rapid globalization. Consequently, numbers of multinational companies in developed countries are outsourcing many industrial production and services to developing countries. In the clothing sector of UK, businesses source textile products from Bangladesh due to lower material and labour costs in this country. Cultures and leaders’ leadership behaviour of these countries are not same. For that reason, both countries have different labour management system in their readymade garment industry. In UK, rules and regulations are very strict, employee safety is very important, and employees get a fixed national minimum wage or more in every sector including textile industry. But records from last few decades show in Bangladesh who supplies a huge amount of readymade garment product to UK, thousands of garment workers have been killed in unsafe workplace. In 2012 there was a fire in a clothing factory and a building collapsed in the year 2013, in Bangladesh. This led to number of deaths of the people who worked in these factories. These workers were actually producing clothings for retailers those who are from countries such as U.S., Canada and Europe. Eighty percent of the workers were young women, 18-20 years of age, toiling 90 to 100 hours a week with just two days off a month and their monthly salary is not more than £60. From these incidents, ethical practices in managing labour and the total HRM issues need to be focused on. Also, there is an effect of cross-culture and leadership behaviour in RMG industry of UK and Bangladesh. Therefore, this study intends to investigate whether there are effects of culture and leadership behaviour on ethical labour management in the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh and UK.This research will analyse and compare the interrelationships between UK and Bangladesh, their cultures and leaders’ leadership behaviour and consider how they influence businesses (Readymade Garment sector’s) in terms of ethical practices in managing labour. The study carried out with a mixed method research design considering pragmatism philosophical view and has taken case study research strategy. To construct the research questions and develop the hypotheses, both countries’ culture and leadership behaviour of leaders in the readymade garment industries are observed, as well as staff and leaders have been interviewed which also led to set up the case studies and questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The studied clothing retails from UK include Arcadia, F&F-Tesco, George-Asda, M&S, Next, Primark, and River Island. Studied factories from Bangladesh include Sailor Moon Sweater Ltd, Trims Zone Ltd, Aviator, Epyllion Group, Palmall Group, Hannan Fashions, New Age Ltd, Jeans Express Ltd, Devine Garments, Fahim Fashion World. Bangladesh case studies also include, Rana Plaza incident, Fire in Tazreen Fashions, and Fire in Smart Export Garment. Collected empirical data were analysed statistically, graphically and narratively to compare HR practices, leadership behaviour, the cultural differences and perceptions of organizations with regard to ethical labour management in RMG industry of Bangladesh and UK
Fantasy and Feminism An Intersectional Approach to Modern Children’s Fantasy Fiction
No full textThis thesis compares modern children’s fantasy literature with older texts, particularly Grimms’ fairy tales. The focus is on tropes from fairy tales and myths that devalue women and femininity. In looking at these tropes, this thesis examines how they are used in modern fiction; whether they are subverted to show a more empowering vision of femininity or simply replicated in a more modern guise. Whereas other approaches in this area have addressed the representation of gender in an isolated fashion, this study adopts an intersectional approach, examining the way that different axes of oppression work together to maintain the patriarchal hegemony of powerful, white, heterosexual men. As intersectional theory has pointed out, mainstream feminism has tended to focus only on the needs and rights of more privileged women, who are themselves complicit in the oppression of their more marginalised “sisters”. Intersectional feminism, in contrast, seeks to dismantle the entire system of interlinked oppressions, rather than allowing some women to benefit from it to the detriment of others. The intersectional issues around feminism that this thesis addresses include race, disability, class, and sexuality.There is also an emphasis on female solidarity, which is championed as an effective strategy to weaken the hold of patriarchy and subvert it in its aim to “divide and conquer”. It is this intersectional approach to children’s fantasy literature that is seen as the thesis’s main contribution to knowledge.The primary texts under examination are mainly from the United Kingdom, but also include works from the United States, Australia, and Germany. All of them were originally published between 1980 and 2013. The thesis explores heroism, beauty, magic, and gender performance in these works, showing how such themes can be dealt with in ways that are either reactionary and detrimental or progressive and empowering