Contextualising, Embedding and Mapping (CEM): A model and framework for rethinking the design and delivery of an in-sessional academic literacy programme support

The paper documents the background, research and preliminary findings relating to a key area emerging in Higher Education institutions in the UK: providing academic language and study skills to support international students running concurrently with their degree programmes. The paper presents research carried out by an academic literacy specialist and a Programme Director in the postgraduate area of Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University. The paper documents a critique of past practice and research leading to identification of key issues influencing the attendance and participation of overseas students on an in-sessional academic literacy programme. To address these issues, a model was developed model which identified Contextualisation, Embedding and Mapping (CEM) as the foundation for improving academic literacy programme provision. The findings show that application of the CEM model is already demonstrating added value in the key areas of student attendance, understanding of the relevance of the academic literacy programme and integration within degree programme learning objectives and outcomes. To address the issue of sustaining the benefits of the CEM model the work concludes with the development of a framework which establishes the integration of an academic literacy programme within postgraduate programmes both at the strategic level through teaching and learning policies and at operational level through programme and module development

RECAP Series Paper 30. The CEM Model: developing an operational model and strategic framework to support the in-sessional delivery of academic literacy to international students

This guide documents the background, research and preliminary findings relating to a key area emerging in Higher Education institutions in the UK

Living lab methodology as an assessment tool for mass customization

Mass customization has been regularly used as a growth strategy during the last decades. The strength of this approach stems from offering products adjusted to customers' individual needs, resulting in added value. The latter resides in the word 'custom,' implying unique and utilitarian products allowing for self-expression of the consumer. Researchers and practitioners however predominantly focused on the company's internal processes to optimize mass customization, often resulting in market failure. As a response, a framework with five factors determining the success of mass customization was developed. Additionally, Living Lab methodologies have been used to improve innovation contexts that were too closed. This paper will fill a gap in the literature by demonstrating that the integration of the five-factor framework in the Living Lab methodology is well suited to determine the possible success or failure of a mass-customized product in the market by means of a single case study

The Mundane Computer: Non-Technical Design Challenges Facing Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence

Interdisciplinary collaboration, to include those who are not natural scientists, engineers and computer scientists, is inherent in the idea of ubiquitous computing, as formulated by Mark Weiser in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, ubiquitous computing has remained largely a computer science and engineering concept, and its non-technical side remains relatively underdeveloped. The aim of the article is, first, to clarify the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration envisaged by Weiser. Second, the difficulties of understanding the everyday and weaving ubiquitous technologies into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it, as conceived by Weiser, are explored. The contributions of Anne Galloway, Paul Dourish and Philip Agre to creating an understanding of everyday life relevant to the development of ubiquitous computing are discussed, focusing on the notions of performative practice, embodied interaction and contextualisation. Third, it is argued that with the shift to the notion of ambient intelligence, the larger scale socio-economic and socio-political dimensions of context become more explicit, in contrast to the focus on the smaller scale anthropological study of social (mainly workplace) practices inherent in the concept of ubiquitous computing. This can be seen in the adoption of the concept of ambient intelligence within the European Union and in the focus on rebalancing (personal) privacy protection and (state) security in the wake of 11 September 2001. Fourth, the importance of adopting a futures-oriented approach to discussing the issues arising from the notions of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence is stressed, while the difficulty of trying to achieve societal foresight is acknowledged

Contextual meanings: an investigation of their persuasive power in research article introductions

The thesis explores the persuasive power of contextualisaton in research article (RA) introductions. Contextualisation is understood within the framework of systemic functional grammar (SFL). It refers to the interpersonal working of meanings at the interface of discourse semantics and lexicogrammar, as these meanings frame and shape discourse participants and processes, to evoke particular understandings that serve the text's social purpose. A corpus of six RA introductions from the disciplines of history, social science and inorganic chemistry was selected. Analysis included transitivity, periodicity, Theme and appraisal. The thesis argues that in the corupus, contextual meanings fulfil crucial interpersonal tasks, such as framing inquiry, engaging communities, establishing research importance and foregrounding critical issues. Findings suggest contextual meanings work in several ways, with varying densities and on multiple levels, to create interpersonal impacts. Analysis indicates the conglomeration of contextual meanings at particular points is a significant indication of persuasive risk, where precise meaning is required, such as in research claims. It is intended the research will be pedagogically useful in informing development of resources for students who struggle with academic English and experience difficulty, and even failure, in effectively foregrounding their work

Methodological fitness-for-purpose in the phygital age: the case of luxury

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to this special issue on interpretivist research methodologies and the phygital consumerist landscape by exploring some underlying issues within the specific context of luxury consumption. The paper starts with a critique of current research, drawing particular attention to problems of reductionism, poor representativeness and weak contextualisation in research that adopts a positivist epistemology. The paper then highlights some of the contributions that interpretivist scholarship is making, and can potentially make, to our understanding of the experiential and humanistic aspects of luxury consumption, presented in a nuanced, discursive and deeply contextualised manner. Design/methodology/approach This commentary is informed by an in-depth examination of the methodology and approach adopted in the 327 most-recently published academic articles on luxury (from late-2021). Findings This opinion piece suggests the need for a sea-change in the way that scholars approach luxury research in online, offline and hybrid phygital settings to capture and convey its true complexity, diversity, contingency and contextuality and its emotional and symbolic character, and to help ensure that it delivers findings that are of relevance and value to luxury industry practitioners. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to look comprehensively and critically at the methodological approaches adopted by academics writing in the field of luxury consumption