Curriculum architecture - a literature review

The analysis of almost 400 abstracts, articles, books from academic sources, policy documents and the educational press has been undertaken to attempt to illuminate the concept of Curriculum Architecture. The phrase itself is not current in the Scottish educational discourse. This review has attempted to look at the international research literature, available over the past ten years or so, on the sub-themes identified in the SEED specification

Shifting Gears: State Innovation to Advance Workers and the Economy in the Midwest

Outlines five states' policy actions to expand access to postsecondary credentials and careers and innovations implemented through Joyce's initiative, including combining basic skills content with workforce readiness, support services, and specialization

Food & Business Global Challenges Programme GCP4 Midterm Workshop Report

This report summarizes the key highlights from the GCP4 Midterm Workshop and Public Dialogue on Scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture in East Africa held at the International Livestock Research Institute from June 12-14 2019, including a field trip held on June 15 2019. The workshop brought together 55 participants drawn from the eight GCP4 project teams, CCAFS, NWO and F&BKP. The public dialogue held on the afternoon of June 13 was attended by an additional 34 participants representing the private sector, research, non-governmental organizations, government and international development partners in Ethiopia. Finally, some of the participants visited the Iteya Agricultural Office and Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center on June 15 to learn about extension services, research and practice from rural agricultural centers in Ethiopia

Supporting inclusive classrooms: can Western approaches to teaching be applied within an Indian context?

As there has been an increase in Western Higher Education Institutions delivering their degree programmes in the emerging economies of Asia so have concerns been expressed that these initiatives may become a form of ‘colonialism’ seen as offering ‘superior’ understanding of how universal educational challenges should be addressed. This concern quite rightly demands that future partnerships for the development of professional development courses needs should be built upon secure and established principles of equity and collaboration. Demands for a more inclusive education system, endorsed through such international agreements as the Salamanca Statement (1994), and more recently through the Millennium Development Goals have led to an increase in training programmes aimed at equipping teachers with the skills to address the needs of a diverse school population. However, in many instances this has resulted in attempts to transport a westernised approach to education to cultural contexts which differ greatly from those in which inclusive schooling has been advanced. The potential for cultural dislocation is clearly in evidence and may prove to be an inhibiting factor rather than a means of promoting the inclusion agenda. This paper is based on a small scale research project which examines the tensions and challenges in transferring skills, knowledge and research findings within a UK accredited University master’s degree programme in inclusive education delivered in India. Course participants were asked to report on the application of ideas and strategies presented on the course and to identify issues related to cultural interpretation and transfer. A survey instrument enabled the researchers to gain data related to teacher expectations, application of learning and cultural transfer and was followed by interviews to elaborate on data acquired at the survey level. Initial findings indicate the importance of course planning and delivery being undertaken in partnership with local educators and the early recognition of cultural factors that may influence assumptions made about learning. Examples of student interpretation of definitions and ideas around inclusion and approaches to teaching illustrate the value of such collaborative initiatives. Aspects of the programme funding, delivery and assessment of outcomes will be shared based on qualitative data accrued from participating staff and students. This will include the presentation of practical learning outcomes demonstrating a synthesis between theory and practice and the implementation of teaching approaches in Indian classrooms which foster increased inclusion of children with learning difficulties. The authors will suggest a successful outcome based upon a well-established learning partnership whilst highlighting points of sensitivity and potential challenge between differing perceptions of inclusive education especially in relation to special educational needs an identification of universal ‘truths’ which transcend cultures and creeds will be offered

Conceptualizing Emerging Technology in Local Contexts: An Ethnographic Study of RFID in an Emirate’s Farming Industry

Situated in an emirate’s farming industry, this ethnographic study develops a framework to help bridge the existing knowledge gap about what and how local contexts interact with emerging technology, RFID in particular. Findings suggest that numerous local factors pertaining to the researched emirate’s unique environmental, project, cultural, and societal/political contexts shape and/or are reshaped by RFID implementation. For example, geographic landscape demands systems modification and device adaptation; religious custom increases project difficulty, and the systems, in turn, requires changes in certain religious practice; the notion of social sustainability establishes objectives for RFID project, while the latter helps reshape social welfare systems. As these local factors have rarely been empirically examined, my framework can help contribute to future RFID implementation in different local contexts. More specifically, insights gained urge stakeholders involved to carefully manage unique factors of the emirate or similar contexts for intended RFID projects. The findings also suggest that stakeholders should be aware of RFID’s reshaping effects on the local context particularly because those effects might be unexpected

Participation and organizational commitment during change: From utopist to realist perspectives

Trust has a great potential for furthering our understanding of organizational change and learning. This potential however remains largely untapped. It is argued that two reasons as for why this potential remains unrealized are: (i) A narrow conceptualization of change as implementation and (ii) an emphasis on direct and aggregated effects of individual trust to the exclusion of other effects. It is further suggested that our understanding of the effects of trust on organizational change, should benefit from including effects of trust on the formulation stage. It should also benefit from exploring the structuring effects of trust in organizations. Throughout this chapter, ways to extend current research on trust in organizations are suggested. The chapter also provides examples of relevant contributions where available. In order to capture organizational effects of trust, it is suggested that trust should be studied over longer time intervals, and include several referents of trust, spanning both horizontal and vertical relationships in the organizatio

Integrating Policies, Systems, and Environments (PSE) Work into FCS Extension Programming: Lessons Learned from a Multi-State Training

Public health efforts have emphasized changes to policies, systems and environments (PSEs) to improve health behaviors for individuals and communities. Extension has increasingly emphasized these approaches, particularly for work of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents. In part, this emphasis on PSEs in Extension has been driven by SNAP-Ed and other federally funded initiatives, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) High Obesity Programs (HOP). However, broader adoption and implementation of PSEs at the local level has lagged in some states for various reasons. These include limited understanding about PSE interventions and how this work fits with a traditional Extension emphasis on direct education. To address these issues, faculty and specialists from two states receiving funding in the CDC’s first HOP round planned, designed, and implemented a face-to-face, multi-state, multi-institution PSE training for FCS agents. This paper describes the multi-state training effort, barriers to PSE work in Extension, and offers best practices and implications for others seeking to provide similar training

Critical Thinking Teaching Practices in Community College

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more ubiquitous, and machine learning continues to optimize systems and data, the human contribution to our working and social worlds must evolve to be more sophisticated. Labeled as the fourth industrial revolution by the World Economic Forum (2019), employment roles comprised of repetitive tasks and rote analysis will no longer be needed because machines and artificial intelligence will be able to program themselves to perform these functions. Many experts forecast that for every low-skilled occupation a new, more sophisticated role will be invented (Skilton & Hovesepian, 2018)

Organizational readiness and its contributing factors to adopt KM processes: a conceptual model

The main purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model that can be used to assess the organizational readiness and its contributing factors for KM process adoption. The authors propose that the organizational readiness should be assessed considering both organizational and individual factors. The model has been developed by integrating KM infrastructure and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). This model will enrich the KM literature, especially on KM readiness, while being the basis for other researchers and authors to develop further