15 research outputs found
Gamification of research methods: an exploratory case
This work investigates the benefits of gamification in the taught research methods unit within the Business Management course. It utilises an exploratory design where the team attempted to use a gamified approach to teaching research methods. Two consecutive cohorts were chosen; both cohorts were studying research methods and had the same assessment, in the same format, and were taught and marked by the same teaching team. The first cohort studied the subject without any attempts in gamifying delivery, the second cohort engaged with a gamified curriculum. The latter cohort exhibited stronger final results and a higher level of engagement thus suggesting that a gamified approach to curriculum delivery enhanced the grade results. This first pilot then led to the development of a bespoke software that is imbued with the philosophical streaks from educational pedagogy and the learning literature to support a gamified approach to education
Managing the sublime aesthetic when communicating an assessment regime: The Burkean Pendulum
The importance of understanding studentsâ engagement is prominent in higher education. Assessment is a main driver of student engagement, a phenomenon known as backwash. I argue that studentsâ engagement with learning is often driven by an aesthetic motivation. I establish the connections between Burkeâs (and Kantâs) conceptualisation of aesthetics as a dichotomy of beauty and the sublime (which I label the Burkean
pendulum) to motivation. I explore the links between this aesthetic motivation and the assessment regime focusing on the Burkean/Kantian sublime and suggest four communication strategies to manage the sublime when it arises in studentsâ education journeys. My contributions are twofold:firstly, I introduce the Burkean Pendulum as a means for educators to reflect on the aesthetic aspects of their designed assessment regimes. Secondly, I propose a framework of communication strategy narratives (Thriller, Horror, Exploration, and Action) that could be used to manage the sublime of the assessment regime
Intention to purchase counterfeit luxury products: a comparative study between Pakistani and UK consumers
This study aims to provide a comparison between Pakistani and the UK consumersâ purchase intentions towards counterfeit luxury products by focusing on the relationships between the following factors: perceived quality, status consumption, low price and ethics. A sample of 251 university students from Pakistan (137) and the UK (114) was used. Data was analyzed using AMOS and SPSS. Results show that Pakistani consumers are satisfied with perceived quality of counterfeit products while the UK consumers are not. Status associated with the counterfeit products and prices of these products were found to be important factors for both samples. Pakistani consumers show less ethical behaviour compared to the UK consumers. Considering a single product category, i.e. luxury products, is a limitation of the study and selecting a single product category may possibly restrict the potential generalizability
Developing live projects as part of an assessment regime within a dispersed campus model
Our newly designed MSc unit, Sustainable Business Management (SBM), is designed to engage students in the realâlife practical application of sustainability at work. The authentic assessment uses a live project approach to develop and evaluate both the practical and academic skills needed to deliver sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the unit assessment needed to change beyond the original, intended design (March to December, 2016) and its first delivery (February to March, 2017) in order to accommodate the inclusion of a new transnational education partner delivering the unit synchronously. The use of video technology, weaved into a revised assessment design and adapted in an imaginative way, allowed for a localised delivery that retained the authenticity and creativity of the original assessment while ensuring the maintenance of academic standards
A solution of the coincidence problem based on the recent galactic core black hole mass density increase
A mechanism capable to provide a natural solution to two major cosmological
problems, i.e. the cosmic acceleration and the coincidence problem, is
proposed. A specific brane-bulk energy exchange mechanism produces a total dark
pressure, arising when adding all normal to the brane negative pressures in the
interior of galactic core black holes. This astrophysically produced negative
dark pressure explains cosmic acceleration and why the dark energy today is of
the same order to the matter density for a wide range of the involved
parameters. An exciting result of the analysis is that the recent rise of the
galactic core black hole mass density causes the recent passage from cosmic
deceleration to acceleration. Finally, it is worth mentioning that this work
corrects a wide spread fallacy among brane cosmologists, i.e. that escaping
gravitons result to positive dark pressure.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Phantom Divide Crossing with General Non-minimal Kinetic Coupling
We propose a model of dark energy consists of a single scalar field with a
general non-minimal kinetic couplings to itself and to the curvature. We study
the cosmological dynamics of the equation of state in this setup. The coupling
terms have the form and
where
and are coupling parameters and their dimensions depend on the type
of function . We obtain the conditions required for phantom divide
crossing and show numerically that a cosmological model with general
non-minimal derivative coupling to the scalar and Ricci curvatures can realize
such a crossing.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Gen. Rel. Grav.
arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1105.4967,
arXiv:1201.1627, and with arXiv:astro-ph/0610092 by other author
Managing innovation in IT-based, project-led organizations : a pharmaceutical case study
In this thesis I examine the challenges of project-based innovation management in the context of a multinational pharmaceutical company. I focus on two case project teams and examine how the project structures facilitated the uptake of a radical innovation and the challenges that this new knowledge represents to the established organisational and social order of the pharmaceutical company. The radical innovation is the introduction of bio-science informed IT tools called bioinformatics tools in the pharmaceutical R&D process and has been the outcome of the advent of biotechnology and its incursion to the pharmaceutical industry. From the data there seems to be evidence to suggest that there has to be flexibility in project management when dealing with radical innovation. Furthermore, there has to be attention to the social and political dimensions of the company as they impact the direction and success of project-based innovation management efforts.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Key success factors of using social media as a learning tool
Students are dedicated and innovative users of Social Media; in the context of Higher Education they use such media in a pragmatic fashion to enhance their learning. Higher Education institutions are thus in a position to facilitate their studentsâ learning by embedding Social Media in their teaching and learning pedagogy. This chapter will discuss the Key Success Factors of using Social Media as a coordinating, managing, and learning tool to enhance studentsâ education in the context of Higher Education. The Key Success Factors are mapped along the communication and activity flows of the studentâs study enterprise as viewed from an Actor-Network Theory lenses
Reflecting and integrating the contextual influences of ambiguities and institutional power in organisational research design: a case of Myanmar
Our understanding of how an organisation operates is elucidated by the host countryâs political system. Myanmar has remained abstruse to researchers for many decades, as do most emerging markets prior to their transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy such as China. We establish how the problematising and contextualisation of the methodologies adopted during a longitudinal fieldwork in Myanmar (2008 to 2016) has influenced our research focus and question. By reflecting on our experience of conducting organisational research in a highly institutionalised environment, we have identified limitations in the prevalent research methodologies used by the extant literature. Such methodologies tend to be incompatible with the Asian context. This process of problematisation required us to remain flexible and adaptive during the process of the generation of the research questions. We adopted a context-informed theory-building process and reflect on the interplay between interviewer, interviewees and local institutional contexts. An important insight from this process was the need to nullify the asymmetry of power between the interviewer and interviewees to obtain honest responses rather than superficial data that aimed to satisfy and please the interviewer/institutional context
Making sense of mediated learning: cases from small firms
This article explores how artefacts invoke practices that encourage, support and sustain trajectories of collective learning. Analysis is drawn from three longitudinal case studies of small firms. Illustrations are offered of how learning activities are mediated by symbolic and material artefacts that are present in day-to-day work activities. Artefacts are shown to have a mediating effect on discourse, identity formation, learning routines, politics and conflict, and to create space and time for reflection and learning. The theoretical contribution lies in the explication of the pliable and multifaceted role that artefacts play in supporting learning processes. We also argue for a nuanced understanding of how artefacts might be used to shape learning trajectories. Our conclusions indicate that understanding the role of artefacts can enable more effective policy making and facilitate the development of support mechanisms for small firms. The perspectives we offer also have implications for learning in larger organizations