Semiotics Consultants (Pvt.) Limited: Framing the Collaborative Education Project

2019 ◽  
pp. 097282011984523
Author(s):  
Ehsan ul Haque ◽  
Suwaibah Mansoor

Ajmal Baig, CEO of Semiotics Consultants, a development consulting firm based in Islamabad, Pakistan is in the midst of heated debates with his team members on the evolution and performance of their currently ongoing project on education in the province of Punjab. The project, ‘Collaborative Education Project (CEP)’, is an GDA funded project for which a grant of Euro 10 million was allocated. The project was launched in 2003 and is now in its mid-term stages. During the life of the project, its Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) has been revised four times in the light of feedback from stakeholders and experience on the ground. The project team at Semiotics is reviewing and debating this journey. A robust and well thought out LFA is the starting point for any good program design and it also serves as its monitoring and evaluation tool. However, learning organisations expect that changes will be made based on ground realities and changing circumstances leading to revisions in the LFA. The key question is how much deviation from the original design is kosher. Too little and too much flexibility both have the potential to adversely impact the project outcomes.

Author(s):  
Savitri Shitarukmi ◽  
Siti Rokhmah Projosasmito ◽  
Herma Roebertsen

Background: PBL problems are used as a starting point to students in attaining learning objectives. Students are expected to discuss the problems according the principles of collaborative learning, constructive learning, contextual learning, and self-directed learning. A continuous monitoring, evaluating, and improving the PBL problems should be done systematically. Nevertheless, the problems are lacking monitoring and evaluation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of PBL problem by providing an evaluation tool. The evaluation involved students and tutors.Method: A survey by using questionnaire based on six factors of an effective PBL problem was conducted to obtain students and tutors perception towards the effectiveness of 6 PBL problems used in tutorial session. The questionnaire for each scenario distributed to four randomly selected group tutorials (total samples per scenario is 40 students and four tutors). The perceptions were then analysed by using descriptive statistic. Four open ended questions included in the questionnaire were used to get better understanding and explanation of quantitative result.Results: A total of 198 (82.5% response rate) students and 23 (95% response rate) tutors filled the questionnaire. Students and tutors gave their score for the overall quality of each PBL problems. Some differences among students and tutors in rating the overall quality on each problem were found. The strength and the weakness of each problem were also obtained from students’ and tutors’ rate for the six factors in the questionnaire. Each group of participants had their own concern regarding the most important factor for an effective PBL problem.Conclusion: The result of this evaluation could reflect the effectiveness of PBL problems in achieving students’ learning objectives from different viewpoints: students and tutors. This valuable information can be used by problem designers and their institutions to monitor and improve the quality of PBL problems continuously. 


Author(s):  
Serghei Musaji ◽  
Julio De Castro

Despite the continuous interest in studying entrepreneurial teams, the relationship between team composition and, particularly, team diversity and performance remains fertile ground for active debate. Taking roots in the knowledge-based view and organizational learning literatures, this chapter argues that performance in entrepreneurial teams is contingent on (a) the overlap between team members’ knowledge/competences and the content of the performed tasks, (b) the duplication of the team members’ knowledge in the areas with that content, (c) the nature of tasks (exploration or exploitation), (d) the team’s flexibility to adapt to changes in the content and nature of those tasks, and (e) the rate of environmental change. Because an important source of ambiguity in the understanding of how team diversity and performance are linked ties to issues of how team diversity is conceptualized and operationalized, the chapter also proposes a new way of looking at diversity in future research.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Sally Fowler Davis ◽  
Rachel Cholerton ◽  
Louise Freeman-Parry ◽  
Jo Tsoneva

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians seek to improve person-centred care. Improvements to systems for care homes seeks to reduce medicines waste and inefficiency, particularly through supporting care home staff, to enhance safer administration of medicines. A complex evaluation used qualitative design and utilised narrative enquiry, and team members and key stakeholders were interviewed. Framework analysis was used, aligning findings to a person-centred care framework for older people. The Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH) team brokered improvement practices across care homes to enhance person-centred care. The framework analysis confirms that the team used ‘authentic attention’ in relation to the residents’ experiences and flexibility in relation to negotiating medication. The importance of transparency of processes and systems in medicines management is highlighted, alongside requirements for person-centred care to make explicit the reason for taking a medication, and the continuous discussion with a range of stakeholders about the continuing need for particular medications. The outcome of the evaluation includes insights into a new area of pharmacy practice in community, based on the skills, knowledge, and experience of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in the care home sector. Further study is needed into the efficacy and outcomes of medicines management interventions.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3515
Author(s):  
Weikang Wang ◽  
Xuanchun Wei ◽  
Xinhua Cai ◽  
Hongyang Deng ◽  
Bokang Li

: The early-age carbonation curing technique is an effective way to improve the performance of cement-based materials and reduce their carbon footprint. This work investigates the early mechanical properties and microstructure of calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement specimens under early-age carbonation curing, considering five factors: briquetting pressure, water–binder (w/b) ratio, starting point of carbonation curing, carbonation curing time, and carbonation curing pressure. The carbonization process and performance enhancement mechanism of CSA cement are analyzed by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), thermogravimetry and derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that early-age carbonation curing can accelerate the hardening speed of CSA cement paste, reduce the cumulative porosity of the cement paste, refine the pore diameter distribution, and make the pore diameter distribution more uniform, thus greatly improving the early compressive strength of the paste. The most favorable w/b ratio for the carbonization reaction of CSA cement paste is between 0.15 and 0.2; the most suitable carbonation curing starting time point is 4 h after initial hydration; the carbonation curing pressure should be between 3 and 4 bar; and the most appropriate time for carbonation curing is between 6 and 12 h.


Genome ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 549-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everestus C. Akanno ◽  
Graham Plastow ◽  
Carolyn Fitzsimmons ◽  
Stephen P. Miller ◽  
Vern Baron ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to identify SNP markers that associate with variation in beef heifer reproduction and performance of their calves. A genome-wide association study was performed by means of the generalized quasi-likelihood score (GQLS) method using heifer genotypes from the BovineSNP50 BeadChip and estimated breeding values for pre-breeding body weight (PBW), pregnancy rate (PR), calving difficulty (CD), age at first calving (AFC), calf birth weight (BWT), calf weaning weight (WWT), and calf pre-weaning average daily gain (ADG). Data consisted of 785 replacement heifers from three Canadian research herds, namely Brandon Research Centre, Brandon, Manitoba, University of Alberta Roy Berg Kinsella Ranch, Kinsella, Alberta, and Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe, Alberta. After applying a false discovery rate correction at a 5% significance level, a total of 4, 3, 3, 9, 6, 2, and 1 SNPs were significantly associated with PBW, PR, CD, AFC, BWT, WWT, and ADG, respectively. These SNPs were located on chromosomes 1, 5–7, 9, 13–16, 19–21, 24, 25, and 27–29. Chromosomes 1, 5, and 24 had SNPs with pleiotropic effects. New significant SNPs that impact functional traits were detected, many of which have not been previously reported. The results of this study support quantitative genetic studies related to the inheritance of these traits, and provides new knowledge regarding beef cattle quantitative trait loci effects. The identification of these SNPs provides a starting point to identify genes affecting heifer reproduction traits and performance of their calves (BWT, WWT, and ADG). They also contribute to a better understanding of the biology underlying these traits and will be potentially useful in marker- and genome-assisted selection and management.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim van Breukelen ◽  
Wendy Wesselius

Differential treatment by coaches of amateur sports teams: right or wrong? Differential treatment by coaches of amateur sports teams: right or wrong? J.W.M. van Breukelen & W. Wesselius, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, November 2007, nr. 4, pp. 427-444 A central assumption in the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders do not adopt a single style towards all members of their work unit, but treat the various team members differently. This may result in different kinds of working relationships between the leader and the various members ranging from formal to intense. The effects of these different LMX relationships are visible in important outcome variables such as job satisfaction and performance. Not only in working organizations but also in the context of sports differential treatment by the coach seems a relevant topic. In this article we describe the results of a field study among the players (N = 218) of 21 amateur sports teams. Firstly, we investigated on which aspects the coaches of these teams differentiated between the various team members and how these incidents of differential treatment were experienced by the players in terms of justice and fairness. In addition, we analyzed whether the frequency and evaluation of differential treatment was related to the players' enthusiasm and to team atmosphere and team performance. Social differentiation was appreciated less than task differentiation. Especially task differentiation proved to be important for team performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-65
Author(s):  

It is the position of American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) that all inpatient interdisciplinary teams include a diabetes educator to lead or support improvement efforts that affect patients hospitalized with diabetes or hyperglycemia. This not only encompasses patient and family education but education of interdisciplinary team members and achievement of diabetes-related organizational quality metrics and performance outcomes.


Author(s):  
John V. Sharp ◽  
Edmund G. Terry ◽  
John Wintle

Many offshore installations in the North Sea have now exceeded their original design life and are in a life extension phase. A Framework of six processes has been developed for the management of ageing of Safety Critical Elements (SCEs) in offshore installations. The processes include an analysis of the effect of ageing modes on SCE performance. Examples of performance indicators for typical SCEs are proposed based on how their condition and performance as may be affected by physical deterioration and other effects of ageing. Indicators for calibrating the maturity and effectiveness of the management processes are also suggested.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiamin Zhang ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Marina Yue Zhang

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the impact of cross-level interplay between team members’ and their leaders’ goal orientations (learning, performance approach, and performance avoidance) on knowledge sharing using samples from design teams in two companies in China. Our results show that team leaders’ learning goal orientation plays a critical moderating role. Specifically, team leaders’ learning goal orientation strengthens the positive relationship between team members’ learning orientation and knowledge sharing; positively moderates the relationship between team members’ performance approach orientation and knowledge sharing; and weakens the negative relationship between team members’ performance avoidance orientation and knowledge sharing. Team leaders’ performance approach orientation demonstrates a positive moderating effect when there is congruence between the performance approach orientation of leaders and members. Finally, team leaders’ performance avoidance orientation negatively moderates the relationship between team members’ learning and performance approach orientation on knowledge sharing. This research enhances our understanding of the conditions under which knowledge sharing occurs among team members, using the lens of Trait Activation Theory.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document