Designing a design thinking approach to HRD

This article considers the value of design thinking as applied to a HRD context, Specifically, it demonstrates how design thinking can be employed through a case study drawn from the GETM3 programme. It reports on the design, development, and delivery of a design thinking workshop which was created to draw out and develop ideas from students and recent graduates about the fundamental training and skills requirements of future employment. While design thinking has been widely deployed in innovation and entrepreneurship, its application to HRD is still very much embryonic. Our overview illustrates how the key characteristics of the design thinking process resonate with those required from HRD (e.g. focus on end user, problem solving, feedback, and innovation). Our contribution stems from illuminating a replicable application of design system thinking including both the process and the outcomes of this application. We conclude that design thinking is likely to serve as a critical mind-set, tool, and strategy to facilitate HRD practitioners and advance HRD practice

Designing a Design Thinking Approach to HRD

This article considers the value of design thinking as applied to a HRD context, Specifically, it demonstrates how design thinking can be employed through a case study drawn from the GETM3 programme. It reports on the design, development, and delivery of a design thinking workshop which was created to draw out and develop ideas from students and recent graduates about the fundamental training and skills requirements of future employment. While design thinking has been widely deployed in innovation and entrepreneurship, its application to HRD is still very much embryonic. Our overview illustrates how the key characteristics of the design thinking process resonate with those required from HRD (e.g. focus on end user, problem solving, feedback, and innovation). Our contribution stems from illuminating a replicable application of design system thinking including both the process and the outcomes of this application. We conclude that design thinking is likely to serve as a critical mind-set, tool, and strategy to facilitate HRD practitioners and advance HRD practice

Archaeology and archaeometallurgy: some unresolved areas in the interpretation of analytical data

This paper uses examples from Mediterranean and in particular Italian prehistory to explore the interface between prehistoric archaeology and metals analysis by examining three areas: the usefulness of data from past analyses (‘what is it made of?’), lead isotope analysis and the problem of unpublished data (‘where is it from?’), and the interpretation of analytical data (‘what does it mean?’). Issues discussed include big data, the integration of datasets from different analytical programmes (especially where analytical results are in disagreement), and open access and the withholding of data through incomplete publication, which means that conclusions cannot be verified. It offers some suggestions as to how communication between archaeologists and archaeometallurgists can be improved

The spirit of the sword and spear

From the Norse sagas or the Arthurian cycles, we are used to the concept that the warrior’s weapon has an identity, a name. In this article I shall ask whether some prehistoric weapons also had an identity. Using case studies of La Tène swords, early Iron Age central and southern Italian spearheads and middle and late Bronze Age type Boiu and type Sauerbrunn swords, I shall argue that prehistoric weapons could indeed have an identity and that this has important implications for their biographies, suggesting that they may have been conserved as heirlooms or exchanged as prestige gifts for much longer than is generally assumed, which in turn impacts our understanding of the deposition of weapons in tombs, where they may have had a ‘guardian spirit’ function

The Curse of the pXRF: the Negative Consequences of the Popularity of Handheld XRF Analysis of Copper-Based Metal Artefacts

In this paper I shall explore some of the negative consequences of the current popularity of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis. There is no doubt that this portable device, which can be taken to museums and sites, has revolutionised the study of the compositions of many classes of archaeological material, but the apparent simplicity of its operation and the generation of analytical results has also created problems, particularly as regards the analysis of metals.Many archaeologists and museum curators do not seem to understand that pXRF data generally does not reflect bulk composition of copper-based metalwork. PXRF analyses the surface of an artefact, which is of course subject to weathering and alteration, and, moreover, some elements segregate or enrich on the surface of objects during metallurgical processes. A further problem is that it is becoming more and more common for museum curators to refuse to authorize destructive methods of analysis since pXRF analysis can be effected without damage to ancient artefacts.The misunderstanding by many archaeologists and curators of the nature and significance of pXRF is illustrative of the misunderstandings that exist between materials scientists and archaeologists

What Are the Barriers Which Discourage 15-16 Year-Old Girls from Participating in Team Sports and How Can We Overcome Them?

Given the clear benefits of regular physical activity (such as reduced risks of cardiovascular disease and obesity, as well as other benefits including those related to mental health), exploration of the reasons that adolescent girls give for not taking part in team sports may be particularly valuable for enhancing later rates of participation. We combined questionnaires and semistructured interviews to assess the barriers that prevent 15-16-year-old girls from participating in extracurricular team games and what can be done to overcome these barriers and improve physical activity levels. Four barriers became prominent as to why girls in this sample do not participate: Internal Factors, Existing Stereotypes, Other Hobbies and Teachers. Methods to overcome these barriers were identified; changing teachers’ attitudes and shifting the media’s focus away from male sport. Following the successful summer Olympics and Paralympics in the UK, and the resulting positive focus on some of the nation’s female athletes, a shift in focus may be possible. However, this needs to be maintained to allow girls more opportunities, role models and motivation to participate in sport