Development of a Context-based Formative Feedback Practice Framework: A Higher Education Action Research Project

Formative Assessment (FA), and Formative Feedback (FF) as a central part of FA, in Higher Education (HE) is a complex and contested process with various definitions, ranging from the nebulous to the highly specific. This has made the practical task of enhancing FA and FF processes in undergraduate courses challenging. This paper reports on an Action Research (AR) project that sought to understand and develop FA and FF practices within an HE Institute of Education. Emphasis was placed on student experiences and perceptions, as well as the importance of considering learner opinions as a valid source of knowledge generation. The starting point for the project was a theoretical exploration of the broader concept of FA, which highlighted the different interpretations within the literature. It also revealed the potential challenges surrounding its practical implementation regarding FF, particularly the divergences between students and lecturers regarding purpose and goals. Following an iterative AR process, the project used this starting point to develop project goals and ethos, collect and analyse data to audit existing FA and FF practices, and design and apply a framework for evaluating and evolving these practices. The paper concludes by reviewing the benefits and limitations of the AR project and offering proposals for further actions

The Roles of Chatbots and Sustainability in The Marketing of Fashion Brands

This research presents an empirical enquiry into the roles of chatbots in the marketing of fashion brands and how this strategy may improve sales and contribute to a company’s digital marketing strategies. The study explores artificial intelligence-powered chatbots as a communications interface between fashion brands and consumers on digital platforms. This study also addresses the impacts and the roles of sustainability concepts in the marketing of fashion brands. The present study advances the horizon of knowledge and understanding on the roles of chatbots in the marketing of fashion brands, the significance of chatbots in building relationships with customers, the roles of chatbots to establish interactions and communications with customers, and act as interface platform to disseminate information to customers about fashion brands and sustainability. It thereby enables practitioners to understand and acknowledge the roles of chatbots in the marketing of fashion brands and to further develop more related tools that can contribute to the development of innovative digital marketing strategies that can advance product sales and strategic marketing communications to promote, advertise, and persuade customers during their purchase decision-making process

Learning of Innovation Opportunities: Sources and processes of open innovation for sustaining SME hotels

Purpose Open innovation is a critical source of competitive differentiation within the hospitality industry. However, open innovation remains underexplored in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and there is a dearth of knowledge about open innovation processes and mechanisms in the hospitality industry. This study addresses this lacuna by investigating how locally owned Ghanaian SME hotels source ideas for their open innovation practices and what open innovation processes they use to identify opportunities. Design/Methodology This exploratory qualitative study adopted a multiple-case study design using a purposive-homogenous sample of six two-star locally owned SME hotels. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The research found that Ghanaian SME hotels sourced ideas for open innovation through staff suggestions and manager observations (inside-out processes), customer feedback, competitor analysis, and public surveys (outside-in processes), and collaborative meetings with competitors (coupled process). Originality Open innovation procedures in emerging countries and how SME hotels get knowledge for open innovation practices and processes are unexplored. This research identifies how SME hotels source open innovation ideas, providing a potential pathway for other similarly resource-constrained businesses to identify innovation opportunities. Practical Implications The results demonstrate the value of learning from a range of sources to identify opportunities to innovate products, services, and processes, and identify low-cost and easy-to-access information sources to support innovation identification

Exploring midwives perceptions and experiences of home birth

In the context of the low national home-birth rate, a local home birth service was developed. Since its implementation, there has been no formal review of factors that may influence the home birth service’s effectiveness. Midwives’ perceptions and experience of home birth, which can have an impact on the home birth rate, has been largely unexplored. This service evaluation used a qualitative approach, which highlights that midwives believe issues such as: exposure to home birth, midwifery philosophy, essential home birth training and investment from management would increase midwives’ feelings of confidence in home birth, potentially increasing local home birth rates

Validation of Welsh language cognitive assessment tools (CATs): stage one

The primary aim of this research (stage one) is to identify the most frequently used Welsh language CAT in Wales. This information will be used to establish the requirements and set the foundation for subsequent stages of validation. The primary objective of this research is to perform a desk-based review and engage with stakeholders to: • determine the most frequently used CAT(s) in Wales during the study period (2021 to 2023) • evaluate the psychometric properties of the CATs that have been translated into Welsh • identify strategies for gathering high-quality normative data on the most frequently used, robust Welsh-language version(s) of CATs to ensure psychometric validation and facilitate reliable interpretation of assessments in clinical settings The report is structured as follows: • Section 2: methodology used for the desk-based review and consultation with stakeholders • Section 3: main findings • Section 4: conclusions • Section 5: recommendations for further validation work

Tactical behaviors in men’s and women’s middle-distance global championship track finals

Purpose: To analyze tactical behaviors associated with performance in track middle- distance global championship finals. Methods: Finalists’ season-best (SB), finishing race time (RT), 100m section times, and intermediate positions were obtained from 800-m and 1500-m men’s and women’s finals in two Olympic Games and five World Championships. Differences between medalists (M), fourth to eighth (T8), and ninth to 12th/13th (T12) ranked finalists in relative performance (relative to SB), RT and section times were determined. Pearson correlations between intermediate position and section speed with final position, and probability of winning a medal at each race point were calculated. Results: A very high correlation was found between intermediate and final position at first 100m in the women’s 800-m (r = 0.84;p = 0.008), which was maintained throughout the race. M were relatively faster than T8 in men’s and women’s 800-m finals (p = 0.006;d = 0.87, and p = 0.039;d = 0.59, respectively). Differences in relative performance between groups in 1500-m finals appeared at the end of the race, although they arose earlier in women’s races. Probability of winning a medal decreased with lower intermediate positions, especially in the latest race stages. Conclusions: A high intermediate position as well as the ability to run fast in the latest race stages seem critical to medaling in track middle-distance global championship finals. The abilities to adopt leading positions for the whole 800-m event, and to generate an endspurt, relatively faster than the rest of competitors, in the 1500-m event, are critical

Understanding the Scale and Nature of Parent/Guardian Telephone Calls to a Tertiary Children’s Cardiac Centre: A Service Evaluation

Heart defects are the second most common congenital anomaly in babies born in the UK and standards state families should have access to a children’s cardiac nurse specialist telephone advice service. However, there is little published information to describe the nature of calls and the workload associated with telephone support. We conducted a prospective service evaluation of telephone calls received at one UK specialist children’s cardiac surgical center from parents/carers (April–June 2019). All inpatient cardiac teams (cardiology secretaries, inpatient cardiac wards, outpatient department and Clinical Nurse Specialist team) were asked to record calls on a purpose-designed template. This included recording of call duration and reason (from pre-defined categories), with the aim to identify the volume and nature of phone calls. Actions and time taken to resolve issues were not recorded. Data was entered into Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. In a seven-week period, 204 telephone calls were received; 41% (n = 83) to the clinical nurse specialist team, 25% (n = 51) to medical secretaries, 20% (n = 42) to cardiac ward staff and 14% (n = 28) to the cardiac outpatient department. The mean length of calls was 6.08 mins (SD 5.07 mins). Across all groups phone call duration totaled 20.8 hours. Sixty-two calls (31% of all calls) reflected 70 concerns/queries about a current health issue. The most common reasons included respiratory (n = 13), heart rate or rhythm (n = 12) and chest pain/pallor (n = 11). Sixty-five calls (32% of all calls) related to issues surrounding medications, with 23% (n = 15) related to dose queries and 49% (n = 32) related to repeat prescription requests or challenges obtaining prescriptions. The results demonstrated a high telephone support need for current health issues or medication queries which required timely assessment and support from health care professionals working across cardiac services. Further research is required to identify the time implications of dealing with phone calls and interventions to support parent/guardian assessment and communication about their concerns and medication management

(self-) Seduction in the Manufacturing of Consent: Exploring Emotional Exploitation in the Service Sector

This article uncovers an underexplored phenomenon observed in managerial–employee exchanges within the service sector: emotional exploitation. Drawing on ethnographic insights from the public house industry, it explores how managers deploy emotion-inducing tactics to seduce lower-echelon workers into accepting unfavourable working condition. Crucially, such consent is not always manufactured by management; processes of self-seduction - where workers consent through self-persuasion - also play a central role. Emotional exploitation, this paper argues, is a routine feature of pub work, shaped by fluctuating emotional intensities, surplus or shortages of staff, and the affective pull of collegial relationships. It further examines how low-paid workers both heed and resist the mechanisms of (self-)seduction. In doing so, it extends Jocoy’s (2003) analysis of emotional labour within labour control strategies, adds to Burawoy’s (1979) theory of manufacturing consent, and deepens Hochschild’s (1983) thesis on the commodification of emotion under capitalism - highlighting how (self-)seduction further alienates workers from aspects of the self

Dual Process Theory and Smoking: Evidence for independent System 1-2 pathways in predicting smoking frequency

The study develops a novel method to measure System 1 (fast, cue-based, thought-light) smoking frequency as an outcome measure to overcome the limitations of existing measures. It also examines its relationship to System 2 (slow, deliberative) measures. 116 participants met in two sessions set at 48 hours apart. System 2 measure of smoking frequency was measured via self-reported 24-hour smoking frequency. System 1 smoking frequency was measured by observing the number of cigarettes participants carried and asking about the number of cigarette packs consumed between the two sessions. System 2 measure of smoking frequency underestimated System 1 smoking frequency by 47.4%. Results also revealed that System 1 smoking attitudes only predicted the newly developed System 1 smoking frequency significantly, while System 2 smoking attitudes predicted only System 2 smoking frequency significantly. Hence, interventions that modify explicit attitudes (System 2) might have a limited impact on observed (System 1) smoking behaviours

Innovative, appreciative, and impactful research for practice

This chapter identifies significant links between research and quality improvement. By taking an appreciative approach, it aims to support practitioners in evaluating practice and initiating small changes within their settings, based upon engagement with theory and research. It empowers practitioners to understand practice/work-based enquiry. Within this chapter, there is a strong emphasis on improving quality and ensuring that conducting research is purposeful either to the setting, to children’s experiences or your own professional development