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Interactive learning for impact: game-based learning in social work education
Get PDFThis article will present a case study on how game-based learning (GBL) – a live quiz specifically, was used to support the teaching and learning in a social work practice educator program at a university in London. A GBL platform was used to create a live online quiz which was used as a tool to assess 50 trainee practice educators’ (TPEs) knowledge of social work theories. This study employed a qualitative research design using a semi-structured focus group immediately at the end of the quiz, to gather feedback on the TPEs’ experiences of using a live quiz as a formative assessment tool. It was found that the TPEs were not only encouraged to be more creative about how they supported their student’s learning in the placement setting but became more interested in improving their own knowledge of social work theories which lead to a significant increase in the usage statistics for the program’s virtual learning environment (VLE). Wider, initially unintended benefits to placement settings were also identified around the use of GBL in supervision and potentially with service users. The author makes the case that the concept of GBL could have an important place in social work practice education
Frequency of upper body muscular demands in contemporary and ballet dance performance: a cross sectional performance analysis
Get PDFIntroduction
There is currently little research relating specifically to the muscular strength and endurance requirements of the upper body such as lifts at varying heights, ground floor contact with the hands and inversions such as handstands. Enhanced understanding of muscular demands can inform training programme design to build physical tolerance to meet this demand of the activity. The aim of this study was to ascertain the frequency of upper body muscular skills in contemporary and ballet dance performance.
Methods
Analysis of 46 individual ballet performers (F=23, M=23) from 12 performances (duration 63.5±44.5 mins) and 44 individual contemporary performers (F=21, M=23) from 12 performances (duration 35.7±4.3 mins) was carried out. Frequency of upper body skills was recorded using Dartfish Easytag-Note and converted to mean frequency per minute of total performance and per performance by genre and by sex. Differences in frequency between genre were analysed via Mann-Whitney U. Phase two analysed differences between sex via Mann-Whitney U. Finally, analysis of differences between sex within dance genre was carried out via Wilcoxon signed rank test. Significance was accepted at p<0.05.
Results
A significant difference was apparent between ballet and contemporary dance for holding own weight (p<0.05) with a greater total mean frequency within contemporary performances of 8.50±9.03 compared to a total mean frequency of 1.51±3.13 within ballet performances. Additionally, there was a significant difference for above shoulder assisted lift (p<0.05) when comparing male dancers, with male contemporary dancers carrying out significantly more (9.82±8.56) per performance than male ballet dancers (2.33±4.66). A higher mean frequency of below shoulder lifts than above shoulder lifts was also noted, with the majority of above shoulder lifts remaining at eye level.
Conclusion
Training programmes must prepare dancers for upper body movements that consider differing biomechanical demands of a variety of lifts and inversions
Effect of post activation potentiation on weightlifting performance and endocrinological responses
Get PDFPurpose: This study examined the acute performance enhancing effects of a supramaximal clean pull performed at 120% of clean and jerk one repetition maximum, on clean performance. Methods: Eight (n = 8) ranked collegiate level weightlifters attended two days of testing in a randomised order. A control session was used to identify a baseline measure of kinetic and kinematic clean performance and endocrinological status following three cleans interspersed with one-minute recovery between repetitions. The experimental condition required participants to perform a single clean pull at 120% of clean and jerk one repetition maximum followed by three minutes recovery, prior to executing three cleans with one-minute recovery between repetitions. All cleans were performed on a dual force plate set up, synchronised with a 3D motions capture system to simultaneously record barbell and ground reaction force data. All endocrinological data was measured prior to the participant warming up and also following each testing protocol. Results: The results indicated that no significant differences were found between the control and PAP condition (p = 0.140 - 0.902), however effect sizes from group analysis identified moderately negative to trivial effects across kinetic, kinematic and endocrinological variables (d = -0.30 – 0.14). Further analysis on an individual level, demonstrated values, both negative and positive, ranging from extremely large (d = -4.10) to trivial (d = 0.04). Conclusions: Findings suggest a potentially negative affect of PAP on kinetic and kinematic measures of clean performance. However, individual responses varied, and thus some weightlifters may find this useful
Academics' intention to sustain new teaching practices after the COVID-19 pandemic: examined through the theory of planned behaviour
Get PDFFollowing the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education teachers, having transitioned to new teaching methodologies, including online learning and modified assessment strategies, face the question: Do they intend to revert to pre-pandemic ways of operating or retain their new practices? A university-wide invitation with an incentive resulted in 63 academics from all four faculties of the university participating in this study. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this exploratory research assessed the roles of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control in determining academics’ intentions to maintain instructional shifts. Collectively, these elements robustly predicted intention, explaining 38% of the variance. Notably, our findings revealed that fostering a positive attitude towards these changes was the sole unique driver for wanting to maintain them. Without a conducive attitude to teaching, the efforts of others and perceived control become inconsequential in effecting educational change. Within the limitations of a small sample size, our study offers an understanding of the variables influencing academics’ intentions to sustain shifts in teaching practices. Such knowledge can guide future decision-making in higher education environments, especially when substantial transformation is required
Placing authenticity at the heart of student self-assessment: an integrative review
Get PDFSelf-assessment involves students making judgements about their own learning. Self-assessment is promoted widely due to its benefits for lifelong learning. However, students often find self-assessment mechanical, useless and redundant – indeed inauthentic. This may partly result from understanding self-assessment as an instrumental and acontextual practice. We take an alternative approach by focusing on the authenticity of self-assessment. We bring together two research areas that have rarely intersected: self-assessment and authentic assessment. How has research conceptualised authenticity with respect to self-assessment? What could we learn from earlier studies to consider authenticity more meaningfully in self-assessment design? To answer these questions, we conduct an integrative review of 40 studies. We formulate an organising framework that outlines the various dimensions of authenticity in self-assessment. We argue that authenticity is a powerful idea that may bring self-assessment from the margins of higher education to its very centre
Die Customer Journey im Kongress- und Veranstaltungssektor der Schweiz – Analyse wirtschaftlicher Aspekte und Verbesserung des Touchpoint Managements durch Strategien und Handlungsempfehlungen
No full textMotivation
The increasing use of digital technologies has profoundly transformed the Swiss meetings and events sector – particularly following the Coronavirus pandemic. Given the sector’s importance to Switzerland’s economy, this dissertation examines how digitization is altering customer behaviors and recommends effective responses.
Methodology
The dissertation is based on a three-pronged methodology:
1. A comprehensive review of existing research on digitization in the tourism
and meetings industry.
2. An empirical analysis based on interviews with 35 congress and convention organizers and venue managers in Switzerland (the Q12 Group).
3. Triangulation of insights from these areas to develop recommendations for using digital technologies more effectively for booking, conducting, and post-processing events.
Findings
The dissertation confirms new insights into changing customer expectations and touchpoints along the entire customer journey, showing that customers are affected in the pre-, main-, and post-event phases:
In the pre-event phase, more customers now make last-minute bookings, creating greater uncertainty and leading to more cancellations. When making inquiries, customers intensively use social media and review portals and expect quick responses. Rapid, digitized booking systems and advanced tools for event planning and communication are needed. Additionally, customers also increasingly use AI-based communication, heightening the need for data protection.
During events, there is strong demand for comprehensive support and hybrid formats, supported by event management tools and livestreaming to optimize the participant experience. Digital interactions boost engagement but require robust technical infrastructure and security measures.
In the post-event phase, participants expect rapid and effective feedback processing through digital platforms. While challenges lie in technical implementation and data protection, future developments should focus on improved user-friendliness and stronger integration of digital feedback methods. This dissertation provides empirical evidence for the first time that the post-event phase is central to long-term customer loyalty and event development.
Recommendations
Event providers should…
1. Invest in fast, digital booking systems and communication tools to meet pre-event expectations.
2. Enhance event experiences during events with hybrid formats, event management tools, and livestreaming.
3. Use efficient digital feedback systems post-event, balancing digital innovations with personal interactions, ensuring data security and strengthening customer relationships.
Overall, the dissertation underscores that creating a seamless customer experience requires combining traditional know-how with digital tools and methods. It also demonstrates that the customer journey in the meetings industry is primarily shaped by the event life cycle, with the post-event phase gaining importance as sustainable customer interactions and event reflection become crucial
Rigour and reality
No full textResearchers, Claire Farmer MSc and Dr. Ashley McGill share thoughts emerging from Akademi’s ongoing South Asian dance project for children with Special Educational Needs in the South East of England
A risk assessment of information security in a diet centre business: a case study
Get PDFThis paper employed the framework of Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation Allegro (OCTAVE-Allegro) to analyse the key risks and challenges faced by the business of Diet Centre X, particularly in terms of security, operational efficiency, and customer trust. The primary concerns identified include data input errors, outdated billing systems, weak password management practices, and a lack of comprehensive security awareness training. These issues pose significant risks to the centre’s productivity, financial health, and reputation. Contributions of this paper include the proposal of several lessons learned and solutions: creating a customer registration system that is connected to the client data validation in the management system, along with implementing a validation for all input fields to reduce human errors and upgrading the billing system to remove outdated payment methods and enhance the user interface, and conducting quarterly security awareness training for all employees to increase their preparedness against potential security threats
Too close or not enough? The refinement of the Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI) in place brands: a comparison of the significance of personal factors between Kuwait City and London
Get PDFPurpose – The study aims to develop and supply new instrumentation for the diagnostic phase of place brand development at the residential level. This helps to fill a gap in empirical knowledge by addressing a missing factor from the existing Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI), which measures the effectiveness and sustainability of place branding. The CSI primarily evaluates socio-economic factors: nature and recreation, urbanity and diversity, cost efficiency and job opportunities. This focus overshadowed the other factors and unexplored place attributes that can influence residents' level of satisfaction. Personal factors significantly influence residents' stakeholder engagement but remain a neglected domain in literature. Personal factors represent residents' cognitive and affective associations with place branding efforts. They are deeply rooted mental and emotional responses that go well beyond the value of the physical environment or the image and reputation of a place. The study expands the CSI to the Refined Citizen Satisfaction Index (RCSI), which includes a range of personal factors defined through social bonds and relationships, educational background, life stage, and human values. These elements influence our choice of where to live, how long we choose to stay, and our level of satisfaction. The study further explores the resonance of these personal factors in relation to other factors of citizen satisfaction with university students in London and Kuwait City. This gives practitioners and researchers a strategic and inclusive perspective on “how” and “why” particular residents connect with specific place brands. The study also provides a methodological critique on the validation of the original CSI model as a reason for expanding the instrumentation.
Research approach and questions – The research applies a social constructionist epistemological perspective on place branding theory and practice, examining the phenomenon from the residents' perspective. Furthermore, the research applies the co-creation paradigm to analyse the process of place branding for residents because they bring legitimacy to place branding efforts and influence their meaning. I evaluate the importance of place satisfaction in keeping residents involved in creating, developing, and owning place brands on two levels, each with its research question: First, what is the range of personal factors and city attributes influencing a resident’s satisfaction? Second, what influence (if any) do personal factors have on a resident’s connection with a place brand in relation to other citizen satisfaction factors?
Overall research design - The overall research design is divided into two research studies based on the logical sequence for instrumentation development to address each of the abovementioned research questions. The methodological approach is a mixed method, starting with a survey with qualitative measures and then moving to questionnaires with quantitative measures.
In brief, the literature review explores the importance of residents within the place branding process and presents a conceptual elaboration for personal factors. A set of subdomains and items were generated using the combination of a multidisciplinary systematic literature review to inform the empirical evidence gathered from a Delphi survey. Next, I psychometrically test the original factor structure of the CSI when it's exposed to additional scales, which I believe taps into an additional construct, with the RCSI survey using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with Principle Factor Analysis (PFA). In other words, I test if the RCSI maintains the original CSI constructs and if a new stable construct for personal factors emerges. Finally, I test the model fit and explore the relationship between all the latent factors on overall place satisfaction and place attachment using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A total of 1,510 student residents participated in the research study, which included the Delphi survey (n=399) and RCSI survey (n=1,111).
Empirical setting- The study focuses on the representative value of stakeholder engagement from two target groups of resident stakeholders who come from different educational, economic, social, and cultural backgrounds and are connected to highly distinguishable place brands: 1) University Students in Kuwait City; and 2) University Students in London. These cities were chosen according to a maximum-variation selection principle based on urban settings (global versus emergent cities) and cultures (western versus eastern traditions).
Findings—A systematic review of the place satisfaction literature identified the multi-item scales for personal factors (10 items), and further conceptual elaboration undertaken empirically through the application of the Delphi approach identified an additional 30 items to operationalise the construct. The factor analysis results confirm the value of personal factors in place satisfaction and show the benefit of its inclusion in the CSI measure. The original CSI structure was not replicated, but a competing four-factor structure is presented that provides both an objective evaluation of what a place has to offer and a subjective evaluation of the importance of urban features to the individual, improving the total variance explained from the original model by almost 10%. As a result, the research provides further validation and empirical evidence to support the CSI’s simple four-factor model. Furthermore, there is evidence that the importance of these items varies in intensity depending on the individual's urban setting and socio-cultural background.
Practical implications—The study will inform practitioners and scholars how to co-brand places with residents more effectively by addressing the place brand equity factors most important to them.
Social implications—The study will identify and evaluate the cultural and social differences of a highly disparate set of resident stakeholders (local citizens and expat residents). These insights will illustrate how residents contextualise the strength of different network associations and how place brands can connect with people at a deeper and more meaningful personal level.
Originality/value—The study will use a strategic and inclusive perspective to evaluate the factors influencing resident participation and engagement in the place branding process. These factors must be addressed and assessed to understand how to make place brands more appealing. The research aims to highlight the complexity of defining and forming place brands among stakeholders with different backgrounds and multivariate views towards place branding and demonstrate what influence personal factors have on the sustainability of place brands
Notes on two paintings of Jeremy Corbyn
No full textText to accompany public exhibition curated by Jacques Rogers and Catherine Österberg, featuring works by Emanuel Almborg, Merlin Carpenter, Ruth Angel Edwards, Jeremy Glogan, Marie Karlberg, Ghislaine Leung, Dan Mitchell, Georgie Nettell, Lena Tutunjian, and Nikhil Vettukattil