Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

IRGC Resource Guide on Resilience (Volume 2)

Volume 2 of the IRGC Resource Guide on Resilience provides an in-depth and pragmatic evaluation of concepts and methods for resilience-based approaches in contrast to risk-based approaches, as proposed and practised in different domains of science and practice. Adequate articulation of risk and resilience is key to ensure security in systems. The guide also considers possible drawbacks of resilience, such as if efforts to improve resilience diverts attention from core functions of risk management, or from the need to discourage inappropriate risk-seeking behaviour. Some of the papers in Volume 2 also discuss the relevance and role of resilience as a strategy to address the challenges posed by systemic risks that develop in complex adaptive systems (CAS). Such systems are interconnected, with the result that risks can cascade within and between systems. Resilience can help navigate dynamic changes in CAS, as those evolve in response to internal and external shocks and stresses

Investigation of mobile devices usage and mobile augmented reality applications among older people

Mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones have allow users to communicate, entertainment, access information and perform productivity. However, older people are having issues to utilise mobile devices that may affect their quality of life and wellbeing. There are some potentials of mobile Augmented Reality (AR) applications to increase older users mobile usage by enhancing their experience and learning. The study aims to investigate mobile devices potential barriers and influence factors in using mobile devices. It also seeks to understand older people issues in using AR applications

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen

Supply chain risk management : harnessing organisational culture to optimise the management of risks along the supply chain

Disruptions to supply chains, whether they are natural, accidental or intentional, are increasingly distorting supply chain performance. Given that such disruptions are unlikely to decrease in the short term, supply chain risk mitigating solutions will play an increasingly significant role in the management of supply chains.The research acknowledges the existence of a wide range of approaches to mitigate risks across supply chains, yet argues that most approaches are not sustainable or effective if they are not supported by the culture of an organisation.Whilst the areas of supply chain risk, risk mitigating strategies and organisational culture as topics, have been researched in great levels of depth, it has been identified that the relationship between all three areas and particularly the relationship between organisational culture and supply chain risk management has been largely ignored.The research argues that the culture of an organisation can be harnessed strategically to enhance the effectiveness of risk management along the supply chain. As part of such approach, businesses need to create an environment in which supply chain risk management is a core facet of business activities and thus the mitigation of risks is more likely to develop naturally.The thesis investigates the relationship between different organisational culture types and supply chain risk management, developing theoretical assertions, which outline how different organisational cultures can be harnessed to effectuate a change in supply chain risk management efficiency.In pursuit of meeting the requirements of the research questions, four leading international organisations with different organisational cultures were researched. Data was collected by way of conducting semi-structured interviews, researcher observation, as well as additional documentation in various forms was collected. Interviews were transcribed and evaluated in conjunction with additional data that was collected during site visits and triangulated by means of researcher observation.The thesis clearly identifies strong relationships between different organisational cultures and organisational approaches to risk management in the supply chain. Moreover, the research uncovers that some types of organisational cultures are more conducive to managing risks in the supply chain than others. Based on this, the study provides a detailed overview of how traits from different organisational cultures can be harnessed to effectuate a change in an organisation’s approach to risk and risk management in the supply chain

Learning from practice : enhancing the resilience of cities through urban design and planning

The thesis draws from examples of practice as a means to find new ways of enhancing the resilience of cities through urban design and planning. Literature reviews of urban design and governance provide the study with a theoretical base, whilst investigations of resilience connect and ground these earlier understandings. Accordingly, urban design is identified as a ‘transdisciplinary space' for an ongoing socio-spatial process, governance provides integration and collaboration, and resilience is increasingly understood as simultaneously a theory, practice and tool for analysing systems response to disruptive challenge. It is thus contended that successful implementation of resilience initiatives requires a ‘joined-up’ approach to design and governance, with decision making enacted in a holistic and integrated manner. Utilising an inductive, case study based approach, the foundation of the study is the contention that resilience can be enhanced thorough understanding and responding to earlier failures. Drawing from an analysis of urban incident case studies, the concepts of design weakness and maladaptation are used to conceptualise these failures in design, governance and ongoing management. Conversely, there is also consensus that building ‘adaptive capacity’ is another path to enhanced resilience. A similar rationale was used to consider the Nottingham case study, which revealed the primacy of economic concerns in local decision making with a corresponding failure to consider risks in an integrated manner, underpinned by new policies of rescaling, austerity and ill-considered national policy directives. Further investigation of individual design projects uncovered multiple maladaptations and inadequacies, as well as highlighting the difficulties of implementing institutional changes and the emergence of an ‘implementation gap’ between policy rhetorics and urban design practice. The study concludes with some wider reflections and principles for ‘resilient urbanism’, whilst an exploration of resilient design implementation outlines an iterative process for more resilient cities through ongoing learning, innovation and transformative practice

Proceedings of the Interagency Workshop on Lighter than Air Vehicles

Papers presented at the workshop are reported. Topics discussed include: economic and market analysis, technical and design considerations, manufacturing and operations, design concepts, airship applications, and unmanned and tethered systems