Trust: The Enabler of Knowledge-sharing Culture in an Informal Setting

Trust in an organization has been perceived as one of the key factors behind knowledge sharing mainly in an unstructured work environment. The study developed a framework for building trust in knowledge sharing in a virtual environment. The artifact called KAPE (Knowledge Acquisition, Processing, and Exchange) was developed to facilitate knowledge sharing using a web-based platform for Cassava farmers. A survey was conducted, data were collected from 382 farmers from 21 farming communities. Multiple regression techniques, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test; Tukey’s Honestly significant difference (HSD) analysis; one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and trust acceptable measures (TAM) were used to test the hypotheses. The results show a significant difference when there is trust in knowledge sharing between farmers, those who have high trust levels of trust were differed in the model (M = 3.66 SD = .93) from with low trust acceptable values (M = 2.08 SD = .28), (t (48) = 5.69, p = .00). Furthermore, using the Cognitive Expectancy Theory showed that farmers with cognitive-consonance exhibited a higher level of trust and satisfaction with knowledge and information from KAPE, as compared with a low level of Cognitive-dissonance. These results imply that the adopted trust model (KAPE) shows a positive improvement in knowledge sharing activities in an informal environment amongst rural farmers

Examining community of inquiry model in influencing e-learning usage among female students

The use of online social games, nowadays, is so rampant especially among students of higher learning. This provides them with means to interact with one another by sharing the same interests irrespective of locations. The use of online social games tools is noticed to be high among female students. Meanwhile, an e-learning environment that has the features of social network tools such as games has great potential to innovate and stimulate the continual usage of E-learning among students, by fostering social interaction and knowledge sharing among the students. E-learning is an important online tool that can be used to achieve quality of learning and teaching among students in higher education.It is thus pertinent for any online technological tools that will maintain efficient usage, especially among female students to be able to facilitate social interaction, since female students are more comfortable sharing ideas among their peers.To this end, the study intend to consider the assumptions of community of inquiry model which highlights three important constructs that provide theoretical details for consideration in this study. To be specific, this research examines the impact of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence of online social games on E-learning usage among female students of higher institutions .To achieve these objectives, three hypotheses were formulated based on previous studies. In order to examine these hypotheses, data was collected among female students at school of computing, Universiti Utara Malaysia . While the sample size of the study was 80 female students and the data was subjected to tests of reliability, descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study revealed that, the attributes of online social games; cognitive presence and teaching presence have positive significant impact on E-learning usage. Meanwhile, social presence does not have a significant impact on E-learning usage

The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America

This report looks at how the federal government can leverage the arts to foster healthy aging and inclusive design for this growing population. This white paper features recommendations from the May 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a convening of more than 70 experts hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging. The paper highlights recommendations on healthy aging, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design. The summit was a precursor to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which addressed four major issues: retirement security, long-term services and supports, healthy aging, and elder abuse

The Ebenezers, 1843-1859

Students of history are actively engaged in processes and meanings of memory, heritage and history. The differences between memory, heritage and history generate constructive conflict and inquiry about the past. Contextualization and corroboration of primary sources accesses the past. Contextualization and corroboration of inquiry primary sources, as with other primary sources, informs understandings about the past. Construction of a webpage using primary sources of memory, heritage, history, and contextualized and corroborated inquiry may provide one model for inquiry within memory, heritage, and history

INSIDE THE REZ CROSS: AN ASSESSMENT OF HOSTING EVACUEES DURING A WILDFIRE DISASTER IN BEARDY’S & OKEMASIS FIRST NATION

Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan cause evacuations of Indigenous communities every year in summer. The summer of 2015 brought with it one of the most destructive and widespread wildfire season in Saskatchewan history, provoking massive evacuations of northern communities to shelters in urban centres across the province. Alongside provincial and local governments and the Red Cross, First Nations also took the lead in organizing and establishing their own evacuation centres on their reserves. This research considers the case of Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation’s emergency response (through “Rez Cross”), which adopted a culturally-based approach to hosting evacuees. To understand how planning for and responding to wildfire emergencies can be more inclusive of cultural values, I created and designed a comprehensive wildfire emergency management framework. This framework is based on a literature review and qualitative methodology consisting of document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The literature review considers three key themes. First, the concept of effectiveness is used to understand critical elements in developing and evaluating an emergency plan. Second, a dual perspective considering both processes and outcomes is used to extract key meanings in planning and implementing emergency plans. Third, the role of culture in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is considered, specifically, using evidence from Indigenous-led emergency responses to determine how culture is incorporated and what impact cultural responses have on evacuated communities. Hand in hand with this literature review, I conducted document analysis and semi-structured interviews to gather insights from existing emergency guidelines and plans and from people involved with planning and implementing evacuations. I interviewed members of Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation (BOFN), federal government officials, Red Cross representatives, and leaders of evacuated communities. The findings revealed that, in its emergency planning, BOFN developed a holistic culturally-based strategy rooted in inner cultural symbols, traditions, principles, and ideas that define BOFN as a community

Explaining users’ intentions to continue participating in Web 2.0 communities: The case of Facebook in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Traditional communications media has been transformed and reshaped with the introduction of the Internet and its technologies. The Internet has massively evolved over time, and the World Wide Web or otherwise referred to as Web 1.0 has developed to what is so called Web 2.0. The explosive diffusion of this global system has fostered the emergence of Web-based communities supported by the existence of globally connected individuals. As both the number of World Wide Web virtual community sites and users has expanded and grown quickly, these communities have become a subject of study to researchers of multiple disciplines. However, sustaining a successful operation of any Web 2.0 community depends on the continuous participation of its own users. It is massively important to maintain committed members in terms of continuous participation. Yet, their level of participation might vary depending on one‘s personal, social, situational, and cultural influences that eventually affect their intentions and behaviour on whether to continue or discontinue participating in that community. Facebook as a particular Web 2.0 community has been used as an exemplary case study in this research reflecting the drivers of its continuous usage in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Moreover, very few studies on Web 2.0 communities covered the Middle East area and more specifically there is almost absence of research in Jordan on how users of Facebook along with their cultural and behavioural influences would continue using this Web 2.0 community or not. Therefore, this study tackles this issue to investigate the influences affecting the continuous participation in these communities This research develops a conceptual framework that can be used as an instrument to guide empirical work in the field of Web 2.0 communities. The empirical context of the research is random Facebook users in Jordan, where data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Results and findings show that Personal attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control has shown to be all significant and highly influential on affecting users‘ intentions to continue participating on Facebook, perceived behavioural control (i.e. facilitating conditions, controllability) ranked the highest in its significance towards examining users’ intentions to continue participating on Facebook. Followed by the subjective norms (i.e. critical mass, compliance, and informational influences), then ranked the personal attitude (i.e. satisfaction, compatibility). Results have proved that most Facebook users in Jordan do participate on this site in the first place to deliver epistemic value elements, not with a much difference came the social value after, then ranked the hedonic third. The utilitarian value proved to be insignificant by all means, therefore, users intend to continue participating on Facebook despite of the perceived value elements to be delivered. Interestingly, analysis have proved the insignificance of the three cultural dimensions (i.e. masculinity vs. Femininity, individualism vs. Collectivism, and long-term vs. Short-term orientation), therefore, it has not been considered moderating in the framework of this research. Furthermore, the study concludes with specific implications for relevant theories, and useful findings on the individual, organizational, and the societal levels. Additionally, researchers in similar areas can find this work useful as a way to approach new streams in studying participation in Web 2.0 communities

End-of-life decision making: information preferences and behaviors of Uchinanchu older adults

End-of-life (EOL) decisions are unique and sensitive health decisions that require nuanced health information. Careful examination of EOL decision-making preferences and behaviors from both medical and cultural information perspectives is increasingly necessary as the national and global population grows older and more diverse. While information preferences and behaviors have been examined and represented within the health science literature, there is a glaring paucity of EOL decision-making research coming from information science scholars. My dissertation research addresses this staggering gap. This qualitative study employs semi-structured interviews of 18 Uchinanchu older adults. To better understand the EOL decision making information preferences and behaviors of Uchinanchu older adults I proposed three research questions: (RQ1) What information do Uchinanchu older adults want to have when making EOL decisions?; (RQ2) From what sources do Uchinanchu older adults draw on for the medical/and or cultural information they want when making EOL decisions?; and (RQ3) What factors influence Uchinanchu older adults’ information-seeking behavior in EOL decision making? Through reflexive thematic analysis, I identified that Uchinanchu older adults are making EOL decisions in two worlds: (1) a larger, dominant world encompassing Western (U.S.) medical, legal, and cultural systems; and (2) a smaller world encompassing unique Uchinanchu culture. These two worlds became my two main themes and I use them to organize my results. Within each theme, features of information behavior (information types, information sources, and influencing factors of information behavior) are identified and discussed. Results of this dissertation research contribute to the development of an in-depth, culturally informed understanding of EOL decision-making information preferences and behaviors within the information science literature. Additionally, this work has practical implications for community health leaders and policy makers to design culturally informed programs for EOL decision making within underrepresented communities.Informatio

Latina College Student Leadership Development at a Historically White College/university

This dissertation study contributes to the dearth of research examining the leadership development of Latina college students. Using critical race feminism (CRF) as a guiding framework, this study centers the experiences of Latina college students, exploring how dominant cultural values, Latinx cultural values, and the context of the collegiate environment influence how this population experiences leadership development. Utilizing a qualitative research design, participants shared stories and insights related to how they conceptualized and experienced leadership development in the context of a historically White college/university. The data indicates that Latina college students experience leadership as a constant negotiation of dominant cultural values, institutional and peer ostracism, gender norms, and various states of visibility and invisibility within higher education. This study offers a foundational addition to leadership discourse, presenting the experiences of Latina college students as unique, intersectional, and multi-faceted

The effect of ethnicity on collectivist families’ meal social interaction behaviour in Sierra Leone, International Journal of Advanced Research

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Ethnicity has been touted to have a significant influence on Sierra Leonean families’ meal consumption behaviour. It is used to define the social grouping of individuals as it is aligned with the type of language they speak, their cultural beliefs, the region or community they come from and most notably the assumptions they espoused at the dinner table. These factors are symbolic in defining the character of individuals at mealtimes, but it significance vary from family to family based on their ethnic orientation and the degree of acculturation experienced by them. This paper evaluates the effect ethnicity has on the collectivist behaviour of Christian and Muslim families’ when they interact socially at mealtimes. This is emblematic of the fact that the cultural behaviour of families is never sacrosanct and inflexible, but changes from time to time based on their level of exposition either to a new environment or a new social group they interact/come in contact with. Consequently, this paper highlights the degree of influence ethnicity has on the behaviour of Christian and Muslim families (husband and wife) at mealtimes and draw attention to its significance as influencer of collectivism, particularly in relation to its impact on the social interaction between similar and dissimilar gender groups. The authors critically reviewed the degree of influence ethnicity has on families’ meal consumption behaviour and presented a comparative analytical summary of how gender affect the meal behaviours of different gender and religious groups.Peer reviewe

A Study of Indigenous Boys and Men

The authors highlight community programs that promote the education and well-being of Native men and boys. The findings and recommendations capture the breadth and depth of educational experiences among Indigenous men and boys. In addition, the authors identify guiding principles that might not otherwise be included in archival data or as educational tactics, such as cultural practices (i.e., spirituality) in intervention(s), personal, and emotional influences, and other individualized details regarding educational access, persistence, and attainment