Leadership In Prison Industry

How do some managers inspire extraordinary achievement, going beyond productivity to touch the lives of their subordinates, while others in the same organization, drawing from the same employee pool, make do with ordinary or insufficient performance? One key difference appears to be the leadership style of the manager. Situational Leadership Theory contends this can be done by matching the leader\u27s amount of relationship and task oriented behaviour to the skill level and willingness of subordinates. Transformational Leadership Theory contends it is done through charisma, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation.;This research applies the two theories and measures their impact on subordinate productivity and growth. Staff who supervise inmate work in penitentiaries were divided into three groups. One group received training in Situational Leadership, another group received training in Transformational Leadership, and the third group served as a control. Measures were taken on the work-group productivity and inmates\u27 personal growth for a three month period before the training and a three month period after the training program. The training program was also evaluated.;Both experimental groups improved on many of the dependent variables, with increases of ten percent to fifty percent on key measures, while the control group was generally stable. Both courses were highly rated by those who attended and by the managers who saw the impact on their staff. Both experimental groups improved on both productivity and personal growth variables. The Situational Leadership Group had greater improvement on productivity, the Transformational Group had greater improvement on personal growth and development

An Exploratory Study of Lecturers' Views of Out-of-class Academic Collaboration Among Students

This article reports an exploratory study of lecturers' perceptions of out-of-class academic collaboration (OCAC) among students at a large Singapore university. Two types of OCAC were investigated: collaboration initiated by students, e.g., groups decide on their own to meet to prepare for exams, and collaboration required by teachers, e.g., teachers assign students to do projects in groups. Data were collected via one-on-one interviews with 18 faculty members from four faculties at the university. Findings suggest that OCAC, especially of a teacher-required kind, is fairly common at the university. Faculty members' views on factors affecting the success of OCAC are discussed for the light they might shed on practices to enhance the effectiveness of OCAC

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF LECTURERS' VIEWS OF OUT-OF-CLASS ACADEMIC COLLABORATION AMONG STUDENTS

This article reports an exploratory study of lecturers' perceptions of out-of-class academic collaboration (OCAC) among students at a large Singapore university. Two types of OCAC were investigated: collaboration initiated by students, e.g., groups decide on their own to meet to prepare for exams, and collaboration required by teachers, e.g., teachers assign students to do projects in groups. Data were collected via one-on-one interviews with 18 faculty members from four faculties at the university. Findings suggest that OCAC, especially of a teacher-required kind, is fairly common at the university. Faculty members' views on factors affecting the success of OCAC are discussed for the light they might shed on practices to enhance the effectiveness of OCAC

Redefining Simulation Fidelity for Healthcare Education

Background. Fidelity - an intrinsic property of simulation is crucial to simulation design and to educational effectiveness. Yet the term fidelity is inconsistently used, which makes it difficult to draw inferences from current literature and translate research into practice. Aim. In this article, we attempt to bring some clarity to the term simulation fidelity in healthcare education. Method. We are opposed to the notion that high-fidelity simulation requires complete and faithful replication of reality, and instead argue for an accurate representation of real-world cues and stimuli. We address a number of issues surrounding the term fidelity and how it is currently used in the literature. Result. In recognising the limitations of current methods of describing fidelity in the literature, we propose an alternative 3-dimensional framework for fidelity along the axes of the patient, clinical scenario, and healthcare facilities as a means for more precise and practical positioning of current healthcare simulation activities. Conclusion. All aspects of fidelity significantly hinge on the learners’ perceived realism of the context of the learning episode as opposed to any one particular element such as the technology used.Peer reviewe

Designing leadership and soft skills in educational games: The e-leadership and soft skills educational games design model (ELESS)

While the field of leadership studies includes a large corpus of literature and studies, the literature and scientific research in the field of e-leadership and soft skills used in learning game environments are at present small in scale. Towards contributing to this newly emerging field of literature and study, this research paper presents a new model, the e-Leadership and Soft Skills Educational Design Model (ELESS) for assessing the use and constructing the effective design of soft skills and leadership skills in multiplayer learning game environments. The central research question considers: what is the role of e-leadership and how can it be designed and tested in the context of educational games? To address this question, the research paper includes a review of the current literature around distributed (shared) leadership models and presents some examples of studies assessing how leadership is designed, used and tested in available game environments. The paper then presents the ELESS model and validates it within the context of a case study of the Leadership Game. As a result, the ELESS model can be used to test the efficacy of existing games and to inform the effective design of new games that focus upon developing leadership and soft skills