Supply chain quality management in education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the concept of supply chain quality management (SCQM) in education. It then analyses a particular country case study in light of the concept, presenting empirical evidence of the challenges and good practices relating to it. Design/methodology/approach The empirical work is based on a country case study which includes data on four higher education institutions and nine secondary schools. Data are obtained from national and institutional documents, as well as from individual and panel interviews. The authors have used content analysis for both data and interview transcripts. Findings The authors find that whereas we can think of education systems as supply chains, there are important challenges to SCQM in education, namely, regarding information sharing, trust, integration and leadership. Conversely, the authors have found some ad hoc good practice which could be developed into more systematic SCQM practice. Research limitations/implications The study covers only a single case study, and a part of the education supply chain. Practical implications The work could inform policy makers as well as institutional leaders on practices that would improve the performance of the education supply chain. Social implications Education is a very important activity sector with a strong impact on the well-being of societies. Gains in education performance resulting from better SCQM in education would thus impact us all. Originality/value The paper offers a novel way of looking at the education system through the lenses of SCQM; if implemented it could significantly improve the performance of education systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Student satisfaction with Portuguese higher education institutions: the view of different types of students

The purpose of this paper is to discuss student satisfaction with Portuguese higher education institutions, and to analyse how this varies for different types of students. A survey instrument was used to collect data on students’ perceptions and expectations regarding different aspects of service provision. Based on the gap model of satisfaction, satisfaction indices were calculated for all items considered and were checked for their statistical significance. Although, generically speaking, students’ perceptions and expectations are high, the satisfaction indices are all negative and statistically different from zero. Furthermore, significant differences of satisfaction regarding some aspects of service provision were found between different groups of students. This study may contribute to institutions improving the quality of services they provide. Furthermore, this study will contribute to improving the quality of higher education institutions through correcting mistakes and designing better processes, provided that the information collected through student satisfaction surveys has been treated adequately.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

FELICIDADE NO TRABALHO - ENTREVISTA COM PARTICIPANTE: MAX

This scientific work approaches the theme about happiness in the organizational environment, from the perspective of positive psychology. To conduct the research, a qualitative interview was conducted with an employee of a Confederation, in which the structures that induce happiness in the corporate environment were explored. To preserve the identity of employee, a fictitious name called Maxí was attributed.Este trabalho científico aborda o tema acerca da felicidade no ambiente organizacional, na perspectiva da psicologia positiva. Para realização da pesquisa foi realizada entrevista qualitativa junto a um funcionário de uma Confederação, no qual foram exploradas as estruturas que induzem a felicidade no meio corporativo. Para preservar a identidade do colaborador, foi denominado um nome fictício chamado de Max.&nbsp

Quality, Evaluation and Accreditation : from Steering, Through Compliance, on to Enhancement and Innovation?

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Conclusions

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Academics’ perceptions on the purposes of quality assessment

The accountability versus improvement debate is an old one. Although being traditionally considered dichotomous purposes of higher education quality assessment, some authors defend the need of balancing both in quality assessment systems. This paper goes a step further and contends that not only they should be balanced but also that other purposes can be devised for assessing quality in higher education. Five different purposes are proposed: communication, motivation, control, improvement and innovation, derived both from the higher education and the organisational performance literatures. Then the answers given to a set of questions related to these five intended purposes are analysed. The answers were collected through a questionnaire designed to investigate Portuguese academics’ perceptions on higher education quality assessment. Overall the analysis performed reveals a certain degree of support for all the purposes, albeit higher in the case of the improvement and communication purposes and lower for control and motivation. Since an adequate implementation of quality assessment systems needs the support of academics, this paper can inform the design of systems integrating academics’ views on the subject.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Introduction to the research handbook on academic careers and managing academics

This chapter introduces the rationale for looking at how academics are managed, as their status as an elite profession has been questioned. It discusses the multitude of factors at play in managing academics, such as the expansion of higher education, the widespread changes in employment status, the evolving processes to attract and retain talent in the academic profession, the digitalisation and increasing diversity of academic work, the global academic labour market, and the longevity of the academic workforce. It then presents the chapters included in the research handbook on Managing Academics that contribute to a better understanding of how academics are managed at national and institutional levels. A first set of chapters focuses on the changing context for managing academics, a second part discusses the role of academics and other higher education professionals and their relationship, a third group of chapters centres on the theme of gendered academic careers, a fourth collection of chapters delves on the performance of academics, a fifth sequence of chapters looks at human resource management of academics, a sixth section of the handbook analyses mobility and internationalisation of academics, and a final part discusses the theme of age and the generational gaps present in current academia.This work was financially supported by the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029427- funded by FEDER, through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI), and by national funds (OE), through FCT/MCTES

Google trends e google correlate : aspectos emergentes da educação matemática crítica

Este trabalho pretende investigar os possíveis aspectos da Educação Matemática Crítica que surgem nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem da matemática envolvendo o uso de Big Data. A pergunta norteadora da pesquisa é: quais aspectos referentes à Educação Matemática Crítica emergem ao abordar recursos de Big Data como o Google Trends e o Google Correlate? Sendo os objetivos específicos voltados para as potencialidades apresentadas pelos alunos. A prática foi desenvolvida com o segundo ano do Ensino Médio, em uma escola localizada na região central de Porto Alegre. Como recursos tecnológicos foram utilizados o Google Trends e o Google Correlate, que apresentam correlações entre gráficos de funções e dados de pesquisas feitas no Google Search. As referências teóricas foram ancoradas na Educação Matemática Crítica e Tecnologias no ensino. Dentre os aspectos emergentes no âmbito da Educação Matemática Crítica na análise dados destaca-se o reconhecimento de problemáticas sociais e a presença da criticidade na identificação dos mesmos, e aspectos relacionados a autonomia dos estudantes.This work aims to investigate the possible aspects of Critical Mathematics Education that arise in the processes of teaching and learning mathematics involving the use of Big Data. The research question is: what aspects of Critical Mathematics Education emerge when approaching Big Data features like Google Trends and Google Correlate?. The empirical analysis was developed with students from the second year of high school, in a school located in the central region of Porto Alegre. As the technological contribution, we used Google Trends and Google Correlate, which present correlations between function graphs and search data made in Google Search. The theoretical framework comprises Critical Mathematics Education and Technologies in teaching. Among the aspects emerging in the field of Critical Mathematics Education in data analysis, we highlight the recognition of social problems - the presence of criticality in the identification of both of them - and aspects related to students' autonomy

BACK PAIN AND THE POSTURAL AND BEHAVIORAL HABITS OF STUDENTS IN THE MUNICIPAL SCHOOL NETWORK OF TEUTÔNIA, RIO GRANDE DO SUL

to investigate the prevalence of back pain during a prior three-month period; to identify postural and behavioral habits; to assess whether a relationship exists between back pain and the postural and behavioral habits of elementary school students in the municipal school network in the city of Teutônia, Rio Grande do Sul (RS). METHODS: this was an epidemiological population study in which 833 5th to 8th grade students from schools in the municipal school network in Teutônia participated. The students completed a Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument (BackPEI) questionnaire that assessed back pain and postural and behavioral habits. The analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, calculating prevalence ratios (PR) and confidence intervals at the 95% level. The dependent variable was back pain, and the independent variables were postural and behavioral habits. The PR was calculated using a multivariate analysis with robust variance (α = 0.05). RESULTS: the prevalence of back pain in the previous three months was 54.1%. The majority of students reported feeling pain once per month, and 17.4% of the students reported that pain impaired their performance of daily activities. The multivariate analysis showed a correlation between back pain and time spent per day watching television (p = 0.046), sleeping posture (p = 0.048) and sitting Down to write (p = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: these results demonstrate a high prevalence of back pain in schoolchildren, suggesting an urgent need to develop educational and preventative programs in schools