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Preparing Tourism, Hospitality and Events graduates to be industry ready: Extending the three-factor model of authentic learning
No full textAuthentic learning is a critical pedagogy and curriculum requirement in higher education to better prepare students for future workforce requirements. As such, educators adopt a range of authentic learning tasks such as work-integrated learning, industry reports, and field trips to enable student engagement in current industry issues. Although such actions are practical and have valuable impact on students, there has been little effort to narrow the theoretical gap. The present study addresses this by extending the authentic learning three-factor model (construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school) to evaluate the perceptions of educators in THE higher education towards their understanding and embeddedness of authentic elements in their teaching curriculum to better prepare industry-ready graduates. In-depth interviews were conducted with higher education THE academics (n=21) in Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and Scotland. Thematic analysis using NVivo revealed seven key themes within the authentic learning three-factor model: knowledge co-creation and scaffolding, customising knowledge and experiences, student engagement, educator capability, industry readiness, real-world problems, and meaningful connections. The proposed seven standards necessitate a paradigm shift in curriculum design, syllabus structuring, and student assessment within THE institutions. Emphasising industry-readiness as a core objective, educators must align their teaching approaches with the theoretical findings of this research to better prepare students for real-world challenges
Open-Pose 3D zero-shot learning: Benchmark and challenges
Get PDFWith the explosive 3D data growth, the urgency of utilizing zero-shot learning to facilitate data labeling becomes evident. Recently, methods transferring language or language-image pre-training models like Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) to 3D vision have made significant progress in the 3D zero-shot classification task. These methods primarily focus on 3D object classification with an aligned pose; such a setting is, however, rather restrictive, which overlooks the recognition of 3D objects with open poses typically encountered in real-world scenarios, such as an overturned chair or a lying teddy bear. To this end, we propose a more realistic and challenging scenario named open-pose 3D zero-shot classification, focusing on the recognition of 3D objects regardless of their orientation. First, we revisit the current research on 3D zero-shot classification and propose two benchmark datasets specifically designed for the open-pose setting. We empirically validate many of the most popular methods in the proposed open-pose benchmark. Our investigations reveal that most current 3D zero-shot classification models suffer from poor performance, indicating a substantial exploration room towards the new direction. Furthermore, we study a concise pipeline with an iterative angle refinement mechanism that automatically optimizes one ideal angle to classify these open-pose 3D objects. In particular, to make validation more compelling and not just limited to existing CLIP-based methods, we also pioneer the exploration of knowledge transfer based on Diffusion models. While the proposed solutions can serve as a new benchmark for open-pose 3D zero-shot classification, we discuss the complexities and challenges of this scenario that remain for further research development. The code is available publicly at https://github.com/weiguangzhao/Diff-OP3
Invested in excellence: evaluating the impact of internal funding on pedagogical development and collaboration in higher education
Get PDFThis study explores the impact of internal funding on the development of scholarship in learning and teaching within a post-92 Scottish higher education institution. Employing a qualitative survey approach, this research engaged sixteen principal investigators from internally funded learning and teaching projects to understand how such funding influences academic practices. Through thematic analysis, four key themes emerged: enhancement of pedagogical skills, fostering of interdisciplinary collaboration, administrative challenges, and the integration of students as partners. The findings illustrate that internal funding significantly bolsters pedagogical capabilities, facilitating the adoption of innovative teaching strategies and nurturing broader academic collaborations. Based on these insights, the paper suggests three strategic recommendations for enhancing the efficacy of funding processes: refining support for project management, simplifying administrative procedures, and strengthening frameworks for student involvement in projects. These recommendations aim to optimise the benefits of internal funding, so that it better supports educational advancements in higher education
Enhancing the Stability of Solid Electrolyte Interphase with Ionic Liquids for Long-Lasting Lithium–Metal Batteries
No full textLithium (Li) metal batteries are considered promising candidates for next-generation energy storage due to their high energy density. However, their practical application is hindered by the unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), which limits battery lifespan and raises significant safety concerns. Therefore, a stable SEI is essential for overcoming these battery challenges. Here, we stabilize the SEI by introducing 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim][BF4]) into an ether-based electrolyte. The incorporation of [Bmim][BF4] not only serves as an immediate source of lithium fluoride (LiF), which is known to enhance interfacial stability, but also facilitates the formation of a stable and ion-conductive SEI. This modification reduces the initial interfacial resistance from 171 to 142 Ω and lowers the polarization voltage drop from 115 to 47 mV. Consequently, the lifespan of a Cu//Li cell extends from fewer than 30 to over 100 cycles, and the LiCoO2//Li cell demonstrates enhanced capacity retention, improving from 20 to 100 mAh·g–1 after 95 cycles. These findings highlight a simple yet effective approach to stabilize SEI and enhance the lifespan of Li metal batteries
Optimizing BaTiO3 Content in Flexible PVDF Films for Enhanced Piezoelectric Nanogenerator Performance
No full textThis study addresses the underutilized potential of harvesting mechanical energy from routine human activities, while also addressing environmental and flexibility concerns associated with conventional lead-based piezoelectric materials. With the increasing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly energy solutions, lead-free piezoelectric technologies have emerged as a promising alternative, particularly in the development of flexible nanogenerators. In this study, the flexible PVDF/BaTiO₃ composite films fabricated via drop casting with varying BaTiO₃ filler loadings (1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt%) were analyzed for their influence on piezoelectric performance. Characterization techniques included contact angle analysis, FESEM, XRD, FTIR, and piezoelectric output. Results showed that 1 wt% BaTiO₃ yielded the highest output voltage (8.24 V), attributed to optimal β-phase formation. However, loadings beyond 3 wt% led to void formation and particle agglomeration, reducing β-phase crystallinity and overall performance. These findings demonstrate that controlled BaTiO₃ loading enhances piezoelectric performance while promoting environmental safety and device flexibility
Guest editorial: Corporate digital responsibility in hospitality and tourism in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
Get PDFTackling misinformation and disinformation for Scottish school librarians project report
Get PDFThis project investigated the ‘what is, could and should be’ of Scottish school librarians’ work to support students facing mis- and disinformation issues.The findings and recommendations focus on positive changes to how school librarians are enabled to support their students in this context
Advancing real-world applications: A scoping review on emerging wearable technologies for recognizing activities of daily living
Get PDFWearable technologies for Activities of Daily Living (ADL) recognition have emerged as a crucial area of research, driven by the global rise in aging populations and the increase in chronic diseases. These technologies offer significant benefits for healthcare by enabling continuous monitoring and early detection of health issues. However, the field of ADL recognition with wearables remains under-explored in key areas such as user variability and data acquisition methodologies. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in ADL recognition using wearable devices, with a particular focus on commercially available devices. We systematically analyzed 157 studies from six databases following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, narrowing our focus to 77 articles that utilized proprietary datasets. These studies revealed three main categories of wearables: prototype devices (40 %), commercial research-grade devices (32 %), and consumer-grade devices (28 %) adapted for ADL recognition. Additionally, various detection algorithms were identified, with 31 % of studies utilizing basic machine learning techniques, 40 % employing advanced deep learning methods, and the remainder exploring ensemble learning and transfer learning approaches. Our findings underscore the growing adoption of accessible, commercial devices for both research and clinical applications. Furthermore, we identified two key areas for future research: the development of user-centered data preparation techniques to account for variability in ADL performance, and the enhancement of wearable technologies to better align with the practical needs of healthcare systems. These advancements are expected to enhance the usability and efficiency of wearables in improving patient care and healthcare management
How do tour guides cope with knowledgeable tourists? Conceptualising knowledge/information asymmetry in tour-guiding contexts
Get PDFPurpose Tourists’ resource integration both offers opportunities and presents challenges to tourism service providers. Focussing on the tour guide perspective, this paper explores how tour guides experience knowledge/information-based asymmetry in encounters with tourists, and identifies the roles and coping strategies used by guides to facilitate service co-production.Methodology Critical incident technique (CIT) is used in qualitative interviews with 47 tour guides in Scotland, broadly representative of the Scottish tour guiding context. 107 critical incidents were analysed, with an average of 2.32 incidents per interview. Narrative analysis of the incidents was performed inductively in four iterative steps using QSR NVivo.Findings Three resource asymmetry incident categories are identified: 1) Probing - Guide-Oracle is questioned by inquiring tourists and copes through diverting, evasion, and follow-up strategies; 2) Learning - Guide-Magpie learns from expert tourists through acknowledging and co-delivery; and 3) Negotiation - Guide-Diplomat with greater knowledge helps misguided tourists save face through appeasing, following the official line, and tactfully correcting.Originality The paper contributes to service co-production research in tourism by theorising about contexts where knowledge/information asymmetry exists between tour guides and tourists, particularly where fluid power relations between guides and knowledgeable tourists occur, or where misguided tourists co-produce the service by prioritising own meanings. Findings highlight the importance of soft skills and other non-content capabilities of guides, and suggestions are offered for effective training and resource sharing/ learning initiatives for tour guiding services
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