scholarly journals Effective Elements of School-based Provision for the Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles: A European Delphi Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 546-557
Author(s):  
Richard Bailey ◽  
Iva Glibo ◽  
Claude Scheuer,
Keyword(s):  
Delphi Study ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Healthy Lifestyles ◽  
School Students ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Health Promotion In Schools ◽  
Health Support

Objective: Schools can serve as settings for promoting their student health, although it is necessary to identify the key elements of provision to leverage change. This study’s objective was to develop a Europe-based list of the elements of learning and health support systems judged by a group of experts to be most effective in influencing school student healthy lifestyles education. Methods: A 3-stage Delphi study involving a group of 18 Europe-based subject specialists was used to articulate shared expert opinions on the main research question: what are the most effective elements of learning and health support systems influencing school students’ healthy lifestyles education? Over 3 rounds of data-gathering, experts were asked to assess the effectiveness of 25 specific elements. Results: The 3 rounds resulted in the following ranked list: Physical Education (PE), Staff Professional Development, Healthy School Policies, Active Recess, Family & Community Engagement, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity in Classroom Lessons, and Active Transport. Conclusions: Cautious of overly generalizing from the results, we suggest the findings offer useful information for evidence-based programs, as well as future research that explores the necessary components of health promotion in schools.

scholarly journals A close-up on ‘top tweeters’ in Finland: Relevance of the national context in political Twitter campaigning

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erkka Railo ◽  
Eliisa Vainikka
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Party Position ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
The Right

This article examines the use of Twitter by Finnish candidates in the European parliamentary election of 2014. It concentrates on two groups of candidates: the 20 most active Twitter users measured by the number of tweets sent and those 20 candidates who aroused the most interest, measured by the number of Twitter replies received. The study takes into consideration contextual variables, such as gender, age, party, position and place of residence of the candidates. The main research question asks for what kind of candidates does Twitter offer a platform to challenge existing political power structures (equalizing hypothesis), and for what kind of candidates does Twitter not offer this platform (normalization hypothesis) The main finding was that Twitter was mostly used by established, middle-aged, urban, professional politicians of the right-wing National Coalition Party. This party has mostly young, well-educated and urban supporters in Southern Finland. For these people, Twitter was an effective tool to normalize the current power structures. However, for some other candidates Twitter seemed to have a more equalizing nature: the Green candidates, women and representatives of the parties’ youth organisations. The article demonstrates the need for a more nuanced approach to the normalization/equalization hypothesis in future research.

scholarly journals Dental Students’ Perceptions of ESP Material and its Impact on Their Language Proficiency: A Case Study of a Saudi Arabian University

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uzma M Hashmi ◽  
Hussam Rajab ◽  
Asrar Ehsan Sindi
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
The Impact

The paper aims to explore the dental English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students’ perceptions of the ESP material and its influence on their English proficiency in the dentistry department of a Saudi Arabian university. The study adopts a qualitative technique of semi-structured interviews to elicit the views of 12 purposively chosen participants. The process of a thematic analysis of the qualitative data led to the emergence of three overarching themes that aimed to answer the main research question which is how the dental students in the Saudi context perceive the ESP materials and the impact these materials have on their language proficiency. The key findings indicate that the ESP learners in the dentistry department have a very positive attitude towards learning the English language in general and ESP in particular. Their awareness of their linguistic needs makes it a significant study in the field of ESP in Saudi Arabia. The results also suggest that the coursebook contents and material are outdated and inappropriate for the ESP learners in the Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The findings illustrate that the ESP teachers need to use the English language in classrooms and introduce learner-centred interactive activities to encourage students to participate in classroom activities. In light of the findings, the study outlines the implications and gives directions for future research.

scholarly journals Competences for Strengthening Entrepreneurial Capabilities in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Tatjana Ņikitina ◽  
Inga Lapiņa ◽  
Modris Ozoliņš ◽  
Madara Mara Irbe ◽  
Martijn Priem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Economic Literacy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Domestic Markets

Authors in previous studies pointed out that the professional competences of managers overlap with the competences and skills that are attributed to entrepreneurs. The goal of this study is to analyze the correlation between the actual market demand for competences to develop new businesses and the competence of training and development by higher education institutions (HEIs) and business supporting institutions (BSIs). The research question is “Are the entrepreneurial competences demanded by the domestic markets in Finland, Latvia and The Netherlands aligned with the entrepreneurship educational and business supporting policies?” As a research methodology, we chose focus groups and semi-structured interviews conducted for start-up entrepreneurs, HEIs, and BSIs as methods for data gathering. An importance–performance analysis (IPA) was applied as the method for data analysis. As the main research results, the authors identified that ethical and sustainable thinking as well financial and economic literacy were considered to be the least important competences, while motivation and perseverance were commonly ranked as highly important by entrepreneurs in all the countries studied. Entrepreneurship education policy in The Netherlands is fully harmonized with market demand. Entrepreneurship development activities in Finland also meet the market’s needs, however HEIs and BSIs could develop self-awareness and self-efficacy as well as cope with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk competences. The major disagreement was detected between entrepreneurs’ expectations and entrepreneurship education activities conducted by HEIs and BSIs in Latvia. This research implication fills the gap in knowledge about the entrepreneurial competences developed by HEIs and BSIs and were demanded (considered as important) by the market in the researched countries. Further, we developed the entrepreneurship training methodology for transdisciplinary students to enhance entrepreneurial competence dissemination and development across education programs and beyond.

scholarly journals Arabizi across Three Different Generations of Arab Users Living Abroad: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Haghegh
Keyword(s):  
Generational Differences ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Insight Into

The study explores the sociolinguistic phenomenon, Arabizi, from a new perspective by investigating the case of three Arabizi users coming from different generations: Azer (42 years old), Nada (29 years old), and Mira (21 years old). The main research question of the study is how generational differences between Arabizi users shape their experiences with Arabizi in terms of 1) how they learned it, 2) how they currently use it, 3) how they perceive its effect on the Arabic language, 4) their attitude towards its users, 5) and their expectations for its future use. Semi-structured interviews were employed to gain a deeper insight into participants’ experiences with Arabizi, taking into consideration their linguistic, educational, work, and social backgrounds. The significance of this case study lies in how Arabizi users’ surroundings and life experiences influence their linguistic choices and perceptions. Findings provide insight into how Arabizi is considered advantageous compared to using English language. It is also perceived to be a phase for youngsters that will subside in the future as technology develops. The study concludes with recommendations for future research on how Arabizi transforms as its users grow older.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy Cooperatives as a Stimulating Factor in Household Energy Savings

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hoppe ◽  
Frans Coenen ◽  
Maria Bekendam
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Household Energy ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Save Energy

Little is known about how renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops) try to influence energy conservation among households and the resulting impact. In this article the main research question is: What is the predictive value of renewable energy cooperatives on intention to save energy, engagement in energy-saving actions, and self-reported energy conservation by households? A survey was conducted to answer this question. Data analysis involved multivariate and binary logistic regression on data from two cooperatives: Ecopower (Belgium; N = 1000) and Enercoop (France; N = 8290). Results show that in addition to psychological and socio-demographic variables, REScoop items modestly contribute to the explained variation in engagement in energy-saving actions and reported energy conservation. At Enercoop 18.2% of the respondents indicated that their cooperative contributed to household energy savings; for Ecopower this figure was 36.9%. Moreover, at Enercoop, 38.7% of the respondents reported consuming less energy since obtaining cooperative membership; at Ecopower this was 64.7%. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Arabizi across Three Different Generations of Arab Users Living Abroad: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-173
Author(s):  
Mariam Haghegh
Keyword(s):  
Generational Differences ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Insight Into

The study explores the sociolinguistic phenomenon, Arabizi, from a new perspective by investigating the case of three Arabizi users coming from different generations: Azer (42 years old), Nada (29 years old), and Mira (21 years old). The main research question of the study is how generational differences between Arabizi users shape their experiences with Arabizi in terms of 1) how they learned it, 2) how they currently use it, 3) how they perceive its effect on the Arabic language, 4) their attitude towards its users, 5) and their expectations for its future use. Semi-structured interviews were employed to gain a deeper insight into participants’ experiences with Arabizi, taking into consideration their linguistic, educational, work, and social backgrounds. The significance of this case study lies in how Arabizi users’ surroundings and life experiences influence their linguistic choices and perceptions. Findings provide insight into how Arabizi is considered advantageous compared to using English language. It is also perceived to be a phase for youngsters that will subside in the future as technology develops. The study concludes with recommendations for future research on how Arabizi transforms as its users grow older.

Determinants of collaborative interfaces in public-private IT outsourcing relationships

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-83
Author(s):  
Francois Bernard Duhamel ◽  
Isis Gutiérrez-Martínez ◽  
Sergio Picazo-Vela ◽  
Luis Luna-Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
It Outsourcing ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Successful Case ◽  
Interface Characteristics

Purpose Collaborations between public administrations and private sector represent a specific challenge to manage contractual and organizational relationships among partners with different goals, working cultures, norms, rules and processes. Therefore, the main research question of this paper is: What are the antecedents of effective collaboration in public-private IT outsourcing relations? Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of collaborative interface characteristics as scaffolding structures to manage public-private IT outsourcing relations effectively. Design/methodology/approach Two cases of public-private IT outsourcing relationships in Mexico were used to compare and contrast the main antecedents of collaborative interface characteristics. Case selection was based on the success in each case, as perceived by the collaborating members involved. A successful case and a less successful case of application development for the provision of public services from two state administrations in Mexico were chosen. Data gathering took place via face-to-face interviews. Findings The quality of the organizational interface depends on the interactions between exchange of knowledge and mutual trust, along with the commitment between partners. Trust, commitment and knowledge sharing interacted to enhance interface characteristics that have an impact on public and political values. Research limitations/implications This paper used and extended an outsourcing technology enactment model to emphasize the quality of organizational interfaces as a main antecedent for the success of public-private IT outsourcing relations. Practical implications Effectively designing work practices and contracts implies the development of flexible contracts, objects and routines to adjust project requirements to fulfill better public-private goals. Such flexible contracts and practices are only possible in a trusting environment where participants shape their mutual understanding of the project. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on public-private IT outsourcing relationships by offering a theoretical framework on key antecedents and processes of success of these relationships.

scholarly journals Uncertainties, Knowledge, and Futures in Foresight Studies — A Case of the Industry 4.0

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Andrzej Magruk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Deductive Reasoning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
The One ◽  
Modern Technologies ◽  
Future Management

The main purpose of this publication is an attempt to treat phenomenon of uncertainty as the one of main research facility in future studies and not as the background for future research — by answering the following research question: “What is the methodical relation among the scope of the uncertainty phenomenon vs. levels of knowledge and types of the future in the foresight approach?”. The study uses the results of the analysis and criticism of the literature as the main research method. On this basis were performed deductive reasoning. Proposed by the author of the paper types of future and scope of uncertainty allowed to define the author’s scale of knowledge levels. This paper has attempted to draw together three methodological fields: uncertainty, foresight, and knowledge. Author analysed complex relations among above areas on the basis of their characteristic which are author’s extensions of existing concepts available in the literature. In the author’s opinion conclusions from the results presented in the article can be a valuable contribution to the development of the area of management in the area of future management. In management of complex systems (such as Industry 4.0), from the foresight methodological point of view, it seems relevant to determine which specific uncertainties can be managed by which classes of foresight methods, and which foresight methods by what level of knowledge, will be appropriate for the analysis of a specific types of future. According to the author, the results of research presented in the publication may be used in creating research methodology of technological foresight projects and as a complementary element of research devoted to the issues of development of modern technologies, which include Industry 4.0.

scholarly journals Virtual World Construction and The Relationship to Creativity in Art Education / Construction de mondes virtuels et lien avec la créativité en éducation artistique

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Cheng (Sandrine) Han
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Research Question ◽  
School Students ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Virtual Commons ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract: This paper presents findings from a participatory observational case study with a perspective on creativity. In this research, high school students from Vancouver, Canada, worked in the virtual world of VCER (Virtual Commons for Education and Research), an Open Simulator, to create an ecosystem. The main research question of this study was: How can the virtual world creation process foster student creativity? The sub-questions were 1. How do students express their creativity through the virtual world creation process? And 2. What can teachers do to further student creativity?Keywords: Virtual worlds; Creativity; Technology. Résumé : Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude d’observation participative axée sur la créativité. Des étudiants du secondaire, basés à Vancouver au Canada, ont exploité le monde virtuel du VCER (Virtual Commons for Education and Research) pour créer un écosystème. Cette étude posait essentiellement la question suivante : en quoi la création de mondes virtuels favorise-t-elle la créativité chez les étudiants ? Les questions subséquentes étaient les suivantes : 1. Comment les étudiants expriment-ils leur créativité par la construction de mondes virtuels ? et 2. Que peuvent faire les enseignants pour promouvoir la créativité des étudiants ?Mots-clés : mondes virtuels, créativité, technologie.

INITIAL STEP OF SPECIALIZED CORPORA BUILDING: CLEANING PROCEDURES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Yakubson ◽  
Victor Zakharov
Keyword(s):  
Text Processing ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Linguistic Annotation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Cleaning Procedures ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
Future Work

This paper deals with the specialized corpora building, specifically academic language corpus in the biotechnology field. Being a part of larger research devoted to creation and usage of specialized parallel corpus, this piece aims to analyze the initial step of corpus building. Our main research question was what procedures we need to implement to the texts before using them to develop the corpus. Analysis of previous research showed the significant quantity of papers devoted to corpora creation, including academic specialized corpora. Different sides of the process were analyzed in these researches, including the types of texts used, the principles of crawling, the recommended length of texts etc. As to the text processing for the needs of corpora creation, only the linguistic annotation issues were examined earlier. At the same time, the preliminary cleaning of texts before their usage in corpora may have significant influence on the corpus quality and its utility for the linguistic research. In this paper, we considered three small corpora derived from the same set of academic texts in the biotechnology field: “raw” corpus without any preliminary cleaning and two corpora with different level of cleaning. Using different Sketch Engine tools, we analyzed these corpora from the position of their future users, predominantly as sources for academic wordlists and specialized multi-word units. The conducted research showed very little difference between two cleaned corpora, meaning that only basic cleaning procedures such as removal of reference lists are can be useful in corpora design. At the same time, we found a significant difference between raw and cleaned corpora and argue that this difference can affect the quality of wordlists and multi-word terms extraction, therefore these cleaning procedures are meaningful. The main limitation of the study is that all texts were taken from the unique source, so the conclusions could be affected by this specific journal’s peculiarities. Therefore, the future work should be the verification of results on different text collections

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