Reflection and reflexivity in reviewing and evaluating CDIO:an empirical approach to evaluation

Facilitated by an Engineer and a Social Scientist, both of whom have expertise in Engineering Education Research and Evaluation (EERE), this interactive workshop is divided into three main sections, each one focusing on a different area of evaluation. It will build on research conducted at Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science to explore and critique the value of introducing CDIO across the first year undergraduate curriculum. Participants will be invited to consider the pedagogical and engineering related challenges of evaluating the academic and practical value of CDIO as a strategy for learning and teaching in the discipline. An empirical approach to evaluation developed by the researchers to provide empirically grounded evidence of the pedagogical and vocational value of CDIO will form the theoretical and conceptual basis of the workshop. This approach is distinctive in that it encapsulates both engineering and social science methods of evaluation. It is also contemporaneous in nature, with the researchers acting as a ‘fly on the wall’ capturing data as the programme unfolds. Through facilitated discussion and participation, the workshop will provide colleagues with the opportunity to develop a cross-disciplinary, empirically grounded research proposal specifically for the purposes of critically evaluating CDIO. It is anticipated that during the workshop, colleagues will work together in small groups. Suitable pedagogical approaches and tools will be suggested and a purposefully developed Engineering Education Research Guide, written by the workshop facilitators, will be given to all participants to inform and support the Workshop approach.

Moving on from nascent entrepreneurship:measuring cross-national differences in the transition to new business ownership

Nascent entrepreneurship and new business ownership are subsequent stages in the entrepreneurial process. We illustrate how information from the largest internationally harmonized database on entrepreneurship, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project, can be used to approximate the entrepreneurial process. We make a methodological contribution by computing the ratio of new business ownership to nascent entrepreneurship in a way that reflects the transition from nascent to new business ownership and provides cross-nationally comparable information on the efficiency of the entrepreneurial process for 48 countries. We report evidence for the validity of the transition ratio by benchmarking it against transition rates obtained from longitudinal studies and by correlating it with commonly used entrepreneurship indicators and macro-level economic indices. The transition ratio enables future cross-national research on the entrepreneurial process by providing a reliable and valid indicator for one key transition in this process. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Global HR roles and factors influencing their development:evidence from emerging Indian IT services multinationals

The rapid growth of emerging markets’ multinational companies (MNCs) is a recent phenomenon and, as such, their nature and structure of key management processes, functions, and roles need further examination. While an abundance of low-cost labor is often the starting point of competitive advantage for many of the emerging markets’ MNCs, it is the optimum configuration of people, processes, and technology that defines how they leverage their intangible resources. Based on case studies of four Indian IT services MNCs, involving 51 in-depth interviews of business and human resource (HR) leaders at the corporate and subsidiary levels, we identify five key HR roles—namely, strategic business partner, guardian of culture, builder of global workforce and capabilities, champion of processes, and facilitator of employee development. The analysis also highlights that the HR function in Indian IT service MNCs faces several challenges in consolidating the early gains of internationalization, such as lack of decentralized decision making, developing a global mind-set, localization of the workforce, and developing a global leadership pipeline. Based on our exploratory findings, we propose a framework outlining the global HR roles pursued by emerging IT services MNCs, the factors influencing them, and the challenges facing their HR function for future research.

Communication in investigative and legal settings:integrated approaches from forensic psychology, linguistics and law enforcement

Communication in Forensic Contexts provides in-depth coverage of the complex area of communication in forensic situations. Drawing on expertise from forensic psychology, linguistics and law enforcement worldwide, the text bridges the gap between these fields in a definitive guide to best practice. •Offers best practice for understanding and improving communication in forensic contexts, including interviewing of victims, witnesses and suspects, discourse in courtrooms, and discourse via interpreters •Bridges the knowledge gaps between forensic psychology, forensic linguistics and law enforcement, with chapters written by teams bringing together expertise from each field •Published in collaboration with the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, dedicated to furthering evidence-based practice and practice-based research amongst researchers and practitioners •International, cross-disciplinary team includes contributors from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and from psychology, linguistics and forensic practice

The unequal segmentation of public preparedness for mass evacuation:a cross-national perspective

This thesis is concerned with understanding how Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs) influence public preparedness for mass evacuation across seven countries. Due to the lack of cross-national research (Tierney et al., 2001), there is a lack of knowledge on EMAs perspectives and approaches to the governance of public preparedness. This thesis seeks to address this gap through cross-national research that explores and contributes towards understanding the governance of public preparedness. The research draws upon the risk communication (Wood et al., 2011; Tierney et al., 2001) social marketing (Marshall et al., 2007; Kotler and Lee, 2008; Ramaprasad, 2005), risk governance (Walker et al., 2010, 2013; Kuhlicke et al., 2011; IRGC, 2005, 2007; Renn et al., 2011; Klinke and Renn, 2012), risk society (Beck, 1992, 1999, 2002) and governmentality (Foucault, 1978, 2003, 2009) literature to explain this governance and how EMAs responsibilize the public for their preparedness. EMAs from seven countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom) explain how they prepare their public for mass evacuation in response to different types of risk. A cross-national (Hantrais, 1999) interpretive research approach, using qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, documents and observation, was used to collect data. The data analysis process (Miles and Huberman, 1999) identified how the concepts of risk, knowledge and responsibility are critical for theorising how EMAs influence public preparedness for mass evacuation. The key findings grounded in these concepts include: - Theoretically, risk is multi-functional in the governance of public preparedness. It regulates behaviour, enables surveillance and acts as a technique of exclusion. - EMAs knowledge and how this influenced their assessment of risk, together with how they share the responsibility for public preparedness across institutions and the public, are key to the governance of public preparedness for mass evacuation. This resulted in a form of public segmentation common to all countries, whereby the public were prepared unequally.  - EMAs use their prior knowledge and assessments of risk to target public preparedness in response to particular known hazards. However, this strategy places the non-targeted public at greater risk in relation to unknown hazards, such as a man-made disaster. - A cross-national conceptual framework of four distinctive governance practices (exclusionary, informing, involving and influencing) are utilised to influence public preparedness. - The uncertainty associated with particular types of risk limits the application of social marketing as a strategy for influencing the public to take responsibility and can potentially increase the risk to the public.

Migrant entrepreneurs as cosmopolitan change agents:a Bourdieuan perspective on capital accumulation

Purpose : The aim of this paper is to provide novel insights into how the cosmopolitan mind-set can be fostered at a time of globalization by considering a group of social actors that has received scant attention in the literature on institutional change, notably migrant entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach : This is a conceptual study that draws on Bourdieu’s theory of capital to develop a set of testable propositions as to how the economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital endowments of migrant entrepreneurs shape their agency in bringing about cosmopolitan transformation. Findings : Together, migrant entrepreneurs endowed with higher levels of capital may act as institution reformers and promote the cosmopolitan mind-set by influencing the beliefs, incentives and behaviors of those embedded in more entrenched traditional institutions. Research limitations/implications : Our conceptual framework deals with only one of the many agents that may help bring about cosmopolitan change and is particularly well suited to a Western European context. Practical implications This conceptual paper provides a number of testable propositions that can be central to an empirical investigation into how the levels of capital possessed by migrant entrepreneurs affect their engagement in cosmopolitan change. Originality/value : The novelty of this paper lies in the development of a set of propositions that shows how divergent change toward a cosmopolitan vision might be engendered by spatially dispersed actors endowed with varying degrees of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital.

Heterogeneity in Residential Yard Care: Evidence from Boston, Miami, and Phoenix

The management of residential landscapes occurs within a complex socio-ecological system linking household decision-making with ecological properties, multi-scalar human drivers, and the legacy effects of past management. Conventional wisdom suggests that resource-intensive turf grass yards are the most common landscaping outcome, resulting in a presumed homogeneous set of residential landscaping practices throughout North America. We examine this homogenization thesis through an interview-based, cross-site study of residential landscape management in Boston, Phoenix, and Miami. Counter to the homogeneity thesis, we find that yard management practices often exhibit heterogeneity, for example, in groundcover choice or use of chemical inputs. The degree of heterogeneity in management practices varies according to the scale of analysis, and is the outcome of a range of constraints and opportunities to which households respond differently depending on their existing yard and landscaping preferences. This study highlights the importance of multi-scalar and cross-site analyses of decision-making in socio-ecological systems, and presents opportunities for longitudinal and cross-site research to examine the extent to which homogeneity is actually present in the management of residential landscapes over time and in diverse places.

The impact of cross -training on team processes and performance

Recently, researchers have begun to investigate the benefits of cross-training teams. It has been hypothesized that cross-training should help improve team processes and team performance (Cannon-Bowers, Salas, Blickensderfer, & Bowers, 1998; Travillian, Volpe, Cannon-Bowers, & Salas, 1993). The current study extends previous research by examining different methods of cross-training (positional clarification and positional modeling) and the impact they have on team process and performance in both more complex and less complex environments. One hundred and thirty-five psychology undergraduates were placed in 45 three-person teams. Participants were randomly assigned to roles within teams. Teams were asked to “fly” a series of missions on a PC-based helicopter flight simulation. ^ Results suggest that cross-training improves team mental model accuracy and similarity. Accuracy of team mental models was found to be a predictor of coordination quality, but similarity of team mental models was not. Neither similarity nor accuracy of team mental models was found to be a predictor of backup behavior (quality and quantity). As expected, both team coordination (quality) and backup behaviors (quantity and quality) were significant predictors of overall team performance. Contrary to expectations, there was no interaction between cross-training and environmental complexity. Results from this study further cross-training research by establishing positional clarification and positional modeling as training strategies for improving team performance. ^

Redes Interorganizacionais: um estudo sobre partilha e utilização do conhecimento em organizações da Rede Associativa Empresarial da Região Centro de Portugal

Tese de doutoramento em Psicologia, na especialidade de Psicologia das Organizações, do Trabalho e dos Recursos Humanos

Social machines dictating social behaviors – When context is missing what is the fallout of uberveillance?

Abstract: In the mid-1990s when I worked for a telecommunications giant I struggled to gain access to basic geodemographic data. It cost hundreds of thousands of dollars at the time to simply purchase a tile of satellite imagery from Marconi, and it was often cheaper to create my own maps using a digitizer and A0 paper maps. Everything from granular administrative boundaries to right-of-ways to points of interest and geocoding capabilities were either unavailable for the places I was working in throughout Asia or very limited. The control of this data was either in a government’s census and statistical bureau or was created by a handful of forward thinking corporations. Twenty years on we find ourselves inundated with data (location and other) that we are challenged to amalgamate, and much of it still “dirty” in nature. Open data initiatives such as ODI give us great hope for how we might be able to share information together and capitalize not only in the crowdsourcing behavior but in the implications for positive usage for the environment and for the advancement of humanity. We are already gathering and amassing a great deal of data and insight through excellent citizen science participatory projects across the globe. In early 2015, I delivered a keynote at the Data Made Me Do It conference at UC Berkeley, and in the preceding year an invited talk at the inaugural QSymposium. In gathering research for these presentations, I began to ponder on the effect that social machines (in effect, autonomous data collection subjects and objects) might have on social behaviors. I focused on studying the problem of data from various veillance perspectives, with an emphasis on the shortcomings of uberveillance which included the potential for misinformation, misinterpretation, and information manipulation when context was entirely missing. As we build advanced systems that rely almost entirely on social machines, we need to ponder on the risks associated with following a purely technocratic approach where machines devoid of intelligence may one day dictate what humans do at the fundamental praxis level. What might be the fallout of uberveillance? Bio: Dr Katina Michael is a professor in the School of Computing and Information Technology at the University of Wollongong. She presently holds the position of Associate Dean – International in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences. Katina is the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine editor-in-chief, and IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine senior editor. Since 2008 she has been a board member of the Australian Privacy Foundation, and until recently was the Vice-Chair. Michael researches on the socio-ethical implications of emerging technologies with an emphasis on an all-hazards approach to national security. She has written and edited six books, guest edited numerous special issue journals on themes related to radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, supply chain management, location-based services, innovation and surveillance/ uberveillance for Proceedings of the IEEE, Computer and IEEE Potentials. Prior to academia, Katina worked for Nortel Networks as a senior network engineer in Asia, and also in information systems for OTIS and Andersen Consulting. She holds cross-disciplinary qualifications in technology and law.

Jaquard Laquer

In 2010 Avella worked with the Yves St Laurent (YSL) textiles research team to find elements for a coating that could be applied to weave surfaces in the form of a ‘laquer’ finish. Working with industrial chemists, Avella designed a Jaquard weave pattern to function as substrate for this laquer coating. Successfully used to make womenswear with a high gloss finish, this textile was patented before being displayed in 2010 and much imitated in other collections. Continuing this research for the following collection Avella pursued experiments in laboratory-based industrial chemistry to find a liquid coating that could, like ‘laquer’, be applied as a surface finish to textiles. The resulting metallic iridescent surface was first used in the 20?? Collection (Intellectual Property YSL). Whilst the culture of neophilia in Womenswear fashion at YSL demands permanent innovation for stylistic rather than functional reasons, the innovations in the surface coatings of textiles has potential instrumentality which Avella brings to the resources of the RCA Materials For Living Research Hub and its Inspiring Matter Biennial Conference (2012). Cross disciplinary knowledge transfer between design practices is fundamental to research as process in the School of Material, and textile, as medium, has particularly conformable properties which are especially valuable to this. Anthropologist Susanne Kuechler describes woven textiles as having ’profound meaning as agents of boundary creation’, and Avella’s textiles innovations explore the complexity of the garment as boundary between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’.

Evaluation of Tottenham Thinking Space Pilot: Final Report. Research Report 11.

This reports summarises research that began in March 2014 and was completed in October 2015 by an experienced inter-disciplinary research team from the Centre for Social Justice and Change and Psycho-Social Research Group, School of Social Sciences, the University of East London (UEL) and included Dr Yang Li from the Centre for Geo-Information Studies, UEL, for the first phase of the study. Tottenham ‘Thinking Space’ (TTS) was a pilot therapeutic initiative based in local communities and delivered by the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust and funded by the London Borough of Haringey Directorate of Public Health. TTS aimed to improve mental health and enable and empower local communities. TTS was situated within a mental health agenda that was integral to Haringey’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2012-2015 and aimed to encourage people to help themselves and each other and develop confident communities. On the one hand TTS was well-suited to this agenda, but, on the other, participants were resistant to, and were trying to free themselves from labelling that implied ‘mental health difficulties’. A total of 243 meetings were held and 351 people attended 1,716 times. The majority of participants attended four times or less, and 33 people attended between 5 and 10 times and 39 people attended over 10 times. Attending a small number of times does not necessarily mean that the attendee was not helped. Attendees reflected the ethnic diversity of Tottenham; 29 different ethnic groups attended. The opportunity to meet with people from different cultural backgrounds in a safe space was highly valued by attendees. Similarly, participants valued the wide age range represented and felt that they benefited from listening to inter-generational experiences. The majority of participants were women (72%) and they were instrumental in initiating further Thinking Spaces, topic specific meetings, the summer programme of activities for mothers and young children and training to meet their needs. The community development worker had a key role in implementing the initiative and sustaining its growth throughout the pilot period. We observed that TTS attracted those whose life experiences were marked by personal struggle and trauma. Many participants felt safe enough to disclose mental health difficulties (85% of those who completed a questionnaire). Participants also came seeking a stronger sense of community in their local area. Key features of the meetings are that they are democratic, non-judgemental, respectful, and focussed on encouraging everyone to listen and to try to understand. We found that the therapeutic method was put in place by high quality facilitators and health and personal outcomes for participants were consistent with those predicted by the underpinning psychoanalytical and systemic theories. Outcomes included a reduction in anxieties and improved personal and social functioning; approximately two thirds of those who completed a questionnaire felt better understood, felt more motivated and more hopeful for the future. The overwhelming majority of survey respondents also felt good about contributing to their community, said that they were more able to cooperate with others and accepting of other cultures, and had made new friends. Participants typically had a better understanding of their current situation and how to take positive action; of those who completed a questionnaire, over half felt more confident to seek support for a personal issue and to contact services. Members of TTS supported each other and instilled hope and build community-mindedness that reduced social isolation.

Optimising plant bed performance through adaptive research with the Australian sweetpotato industry

A key driver of Australian sweetpotato productivity improvements and consumer demand has been industry adoption of disease-free planting material systems. On a farm isolated from main Australian sweetpotato areas, virus-free germplasm is annually multiplied, with subsequent 'pathogen-tested' (PT) sweetpotato roots shipped to commercial Australian sweetpotato growers. They in turn plant their PT roots into specially designated plant beds, commencing in late winter. From these beds, they cut sprouts as the basis for their commercial fields. Along with other intense agronomic practices, this system enables Australian producers to achieve worldRSQUOs highest commercial yields (per hectare) of premium sweetpotatoes. Their industry organisation, ASPG (Australian Sweetpotato Growers Inc.), has identified productivity of mother plant beds as a key driver of crop performance. Growers and scientists are currently collaborating to investigate issues such as catastrophic plant beds losses; optimisation of irrigation and nutrient addition; rapidity and uniformity of initial plant bed harvests; optimal plant bed harvest techniques; virus re-infection of plant beds; and practical longevity of plant beds. A survey of 50 sweetpotato growers in Queensland and New South Wales identified a substantial diversity in current plant bed systems, apparently influenced by growing district, scale of operation, time of planting, and machinery/labour availability. Growers identified key areas for plant bed research as: optimising the size and grading specifications of PT roots supplied for the plant beds; change in sprout density, vigour and performance through sequential cuttings of the plant bed; optimal height above ground level to cut sprouts to maximise commercial crop and plant bed performance; and use of structures and soil amendments in plant bed systems. Our ongoing multi-disciplinary research program integrates detailed agronomic experiments, grower adaptive learning sites, product quality and consumer research, to enhance industry capacity for inspired innovation and commercial, sustainable practice change.

A Multi-Agent Simulation of Retail Management Practices

We apply Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between human resource management practices and retail productivity. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that intelligent agents do offer potential for developing organizational capabilities in the future. Our multi-disciplinary research team has worked with a UK department store to collect data and capture perceptions about operations from actors within departments. Based on this case study work, we have built a simulator that we present in this paper. We then use the simulator to gather empirical evidence regarding two specific management practices: empowerment and employee development.

Agent based simulation as a novel decision support tool for retail managers

Intelligent agents offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. We apply agent-based simulation to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between human resource management practices and retail productivity. Our multi-disciplinary research team draws upon expertise from work psychologists and computer scientists. Our research so far has led us to conduct case study work with a top ten UK retailer. Based on our case study experience and data we are developing a simulator that can be used to investigate the impact of management practices (e.g. training, empowerment, teamwork) on customer satisfaction and retail productivity.