Doing it differently

Purpose: Work-based learning is increasingly viewed as important in students’ higher education experiences. Drawing from the process of re-validating a Joint Honours in Education (JHE) programme, we highlight challenges involved in ensuring a meaningful placement experience for students that is fully embedded within their course. Primary challenges included the disparate number of subject strand combinations and concomitant career aspirations, wider university requisites on developing Graduate Attributes and student expectations of their placement opportunities. In broadening the scope and number of placement opportunities, we simultaneously increased our partnership links with employers to attract increased student buy-in to the opportunities available to them. Design/methodology/approach: This case study utilises staff reflections, stakeholder contributions and student evaluations to illuminate the process involved in re-validating a JHE programme to incorporate increased placement opportunities. A particular focus is placed on consideration of the tensions inherent within work based learning opportunities and the ways in which such experiences can be successfully embedded within a Higher Education (HE) degree programme. Whilst we are able to report on successful integration of placement opportunities in Year 1, we utilise student perspectives to gain understanding of the importance, or otherwise, they place on placements through the duration of their degree. Findings: Whilst placements are widely accepted as a positive feature of HE, inherent tensions emerged from some students who questioned the value and purpose of placements and time away from university. Conversely, employers saw placement and particularly the assessment of students whilst on placement as critical in students’ development into professional workers. The inclusion of placements in HE is therefore problematic, particularly in light of increased tuition fees. This case study however, suggests that meaningful and disparate placement opportunities can be successfully embedded within each year of an HE degree programme and can be viewed as enhancing the student academic experience. Research limitations/implications: The paper is located within a body of research that focuses positively on placement/work-based learning opportunities for undergraduate students, but does raise some emerging tensions linked to the marketization of HE and resulting student perspectives on ‘value’. Although generic themes can be applied to curriculum design elsewhere, outcomes may be different and linked to differing institutional habituses that influence practice. In addition, this paper reports solely on a single case that has developed a degree course to support the unique needs of its students within a particular context. Practical implications: The work-based learning model presented here facilitates student empowerment in tailoring their degree to their interests and career aspirations. It requires effective internal and external partnerships to inform curriculum design and the organization of placements. This paper will therefore be of interest to HE practitioners who are faced with the challenges of providing a broad range of placement opportunities for large and diverse groups of students with differing career aspirations. In addition, it will also be attractive to employers that have strong links with universities and are in the position to influence curriculum design. Social implications: The focus on employability and the development of key generic skills is interconnected with structures influencing social mobility. The range of students entering higher education and the concomitant expectations on their degree to have ‘value’ in the employment ‘market’ on graduation is becoming increasingly important - particularly for students categorized as widening participation. Offering increased opportunities for placements and linking assessment to work-based competencies can therefore be viewed as an integral part of HE’s responsibilities to students. Originality/value: This case study highlights the versatility of work-based learning that on one hand, requires the academy to embrace alternatives ways of learning, but on the other hand, creates new and innovative ways of engaging students. In addition and critically, it illuminates an approach to embedding work-based learning into an overarching degree structure that enables students to tailor their degree to their interests and career aspirations

A phronetic approach to educational design-based research: Issues and aspirations

This paper is a theoretical attempt to show how the Aristotelian notion of phronesis may provide a fruitful viewpoint to trigger and animate a series of discussions on educational design-based research. In particular, we focus on the overall meaning that the notions of intervention and theory can acquire. What concerns the former, phronesis helps avoid interpreting intervention as the making of an object, be it a learning environment, an application, a piece of software. Conversely, it posits that intervention can be fruitfully located within teachers’ professional judgment. The specific focus on professional judgment helps point to a different conception of “theory”, which does not revolve around the development of generalized principles informing the practice. Conversely, theory can be viewed as the effort to articulate teachers’ experiences in the form of stories “from the field”. &nbsp

Mass Customization in Wireless Communication Services: Individual Service Bundles and Tariffs

This paper presents results on mass customization of wireless communications services and tariffs. It advocates for a user-centric view of wireless service configuration and pricing as opposed to present-day service catalog options. The focus is on design methodology and tools for such individual services and tariffs, using altogether information compression, negotiation algorithms, and risk portfolio analysis. We first analyze the user and supplier needs and aspirations. We then introduce the systematic design-oriented approach which can be applied. The implications of this approach for users and suppliers are discussed based on an end-user survey and on model-based calculations. It is shown that users can achieve desired service bundle cost reduction, while suppliers can improve significantly their risk-profit equilibrium points, reduce churn and simplify provisioning.negotiation;mass customization;service configuration;mobile communication services;individual tariffs

Developing a Conceptual Model Based on the Correlations Between Marketing Higher Education and Knowledge Based Economy

The purpose of this paper is highlighting the bi-univocal relationship between the development of the Marketing Higher Education and the design of knowledge-based economy. On one hand, marketing science needs to incorporate the principles and the mentality of the knowledge based economy in order to develop itself separately from other socio-economic sciences and, on the other hand, knowledge-based economy needs to incorporate marketing techniques and philosophy to enhance economic relations in human communities, based not only on technology but primarily on the needs, expectations and aspirations of the people. Starting from an analysis of the state of art of the concept of knowledge-based economy and from an analysis of the current developmental stage of marketing science, particularly in Romania, this paper will highlight the strong links between those two areas and multiple interferences between them. The paper will also develop a conceptual model to emphasize these relationships.knowledge based economy, marketing, marketing higher education, macro-marketing, Romania

Utilization of Information Technology as Media for Village Community Aspirations

The ease and openness of information is a necessity that demanded by society. Easy and fast access to information utilizing advances in information and communication technology can actually improve services to the community. Badan Permusyawaratan Desa (BPD) Saentis dan Kolam Kecamatan Percut Sei Tuan for the embodiment of democracy in the implementation of the village government are expected to be able to optimally provide information services to the village community. Until now, information service activities have not utilized online media that can be accessed easily and quickly to explore, accommodate, and channel the aspirations of the village community. Therefore, we need a system in the form of an application that can be used by BPD to explore, collect, and channel the aspirations of village communities online. The method applied in developing this application is the User Centered Design method, which is a user-focused design. The next, the target achieved is the availability of a web-based media for channeling the aspirations of rural communities that can be used easily and quickly

A cross-sectional study to explore the mediating effect of intrinsic aspiration on the association between unconditional positive self-regard and posttraumatic growth

Person-centered psychotherapy is based on the growth paradigm of psychological distress. Person-centered therapy is, therefore, ideally placed to facilitate posttraumatic growth. There were two aims of this study. The first was to explore the association between unconditional positive self-regard and the construct of posttraumatic growth. The second was to explore the mediating effect of intrinsic aspirations on the association between unconditional positive self-regard and posttraumatic growth. A cross-sectional correlation design was used to ask a sample of Cypriot origin participants (N = 99) to complete the Unconditional Positive Self-Regard Scale (UPSR), Intrinsic Aspirations subscale of the Aspirations Index and Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Findings showed that unconditional positive self-regard was significantly positively correlated with posttraumatic growth and that the association between unconditional positive self-regard and posttraumatic growth was successfully partially mediated by intrinsic aspirations. This is the first study to test for the mechanisms by which unconditional positive self-regard predicts posttraumatic growth. The findings also support a link between the phenomenon of posttraumatic growth and person-centered theory at a construct level. Implications for person-centered therapy are discussed and suggestions for further research are proposed

Empowering Surabaya Creative Communities and Start-Ups through Human-Centered Design

Objective - Creative communities have the potential to increase a city�s social, economic, and touristic values. Despite their evident existence in Surabaya, these communities lack support in terms of public spaces and exhibition facilities with suitable designs that could accommodate their unique activities and communicate their aspirations to the public. This research-design project aims to prove the social and economic benefits of the human-centered design process by implementing various human-centered design approaches in the interior design of creative community spaces (CCS) so that they can accommodate the unique activities of existing creative communities and serve as assembly points for entrepreneurial or start-up groups. Methodology/Technique � Two teams of interior designers were tasked to design a community space and exhibition facility for two creative communities in Surabaya. A combined method based on different human-centered design approaches of applied ethnography, participatory design, co-design, contextual design, emphatic design, and lead user approach was conducted through six stages of design process consisting of: Empathize, Point of View, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Findings & Novelty - The results of this research-design project are novel designs of community co-working spaces and exhibition facilities based on the unique human values, hobbies, and characteristics of the creative community that proved the social and economic benefits of human-centered design in the practice of interior design. Through the design of the creative community spaces yielded, interior and building designers can promote the activities and aspirations of existing creative communities such that they may, in turn, contribute to the development of Surabaya�s social, economic, and touristic values

An Qualitative Study of the Meaning High School Students Ascribe to Occult Media Consumption

This qualitative research design explored how high school students ascribe meaning to occult media in pop culture, and it explore possible effects of occult consumption impacting their life aspirations. The research conducted at a high school located on the west side of Chicago, Illinois with a sample size of 10 students from the eleventh grade. First, an exploratory assessment will show how youth ascribe meaning to occult media consumption, and in turn, qualitative interviews presented whether it imposed any effects on life aspirations. The qualitative methods included a qualitative interview, where the researcher asked each participant to explore the meaning ascribed to occult media. The results show that youth ascribe meaning to occult symbols based upon differentiated factors including previous experiences with the symbol, the ability to associate the symbol with various celebrities, as well as their familiarity with occult symbols found in movies, television, or videos. Participants’ familiarity to occult symbolism had no correlation relationship with life aspirations, as a result provided a null response where there was no great impact on positive life aspirations such as the desire to attend college or pursue a career post-graduation

IMPLEMENTASI ALGORITMA ADVANCED ENCRYPTION STANDARD (AES) E-ASPIRASI MAHASISWA PADA FAKULTAS SAINS DAN TEKNOLOGI BERBASIS WEB

Student aspirations are various demands that are packaged in students' creative ideas that propose a process of changing something. There is no aspiration complaint service system at the Fakultas Sains dan Teknologi, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara. So that students do not have a place to express their aspirations. Along with the development of technology, a web-based student complaint application was made which is equipped with the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm which is able to secure student aspiration messages so that the aspiration messages conveyed by students cannot be read by other students, so that student aspiration messages are more confidential. The design and manufacture of this web-based public complaint application uses the waterfall model. The waterfall model begins with the analysis stage, namely by analyzing and collecting data through interviews with students and the Administration of the Faculty of Science and Technology, the system design stage, namely by designing the system interface, the system coding stage, and this stage ends with the system testing stage. Carried out to determine the feasibility of the system