COVID-19 and the Digital Identity of Faculty

Based on Bennett's theoretical framework, “The Digital Practitioner,” rooted in Maslow's Hierarchy of Need, this mixed-method study investigated the digital identity of the Pakistani universities' faculty in the COVID-19 context. The data revealed that the faculty is willing to adopt digital identity with modesty, empathy, and positivity while the negative feelings like fear, risk, and mistakes have been accepted with optimism. The implications of the study guide the policymakers in academia to reflect on the teachers' digital identity and address their fears and challenges through institutional support and proper professional development opportunities.

Educators as Facilitators of Game-Based Learning

Innovative educational methods such as gamification are gaining ground in more formal environments and have great potential to improve learning in education. However, the implementation of this strategy in the classroom is assumed to be a complex practice for beginners and requires the development of new competencies by educators. This chapter aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge about the main competencies needed for educators to perform as facilitators of educational games. The study was developed through critical literature review, interviews, and questionnaires. The outcome is the development of a framework of competencies of an educator willing to use game-based learning. The study highlights the importance of institutional support to boost the development of pedagogical, technological, and social skills among educators. The conclusions of the chapter are valuable for educators aiming to adopt game-based learning and to higher education decision makers committed to expanding innovative learning contexts on their institutions.

Challenges and approaches to accelerating the uptake of conservation agriculture in Africa and Europe.

Over the past few decades the concept of Conservation Agriculture (CA) has spread globally, and almost exponentially, with an adoption rate of around 10 M ha per year in the past few years. This uptake has, however, been experienced rather unequally throughout the different regions. Whereas in the Americas and Australia the share of cropland under CA is considerable, in Africa and Europe both the area under CA and its share of total cropland lag far behind. This chapter provides an overview of the most recent figures available on CA adoption for Africa and Europe, and identifies the major challenges faced by the spread and adoption of CA. Different reasons are identified for the lagging behind of these two continents as a result of huge contrasts between Africa and Europe in terms of agroecological conditions, infrastructure, education and agriculture. Other challenges, however, such as farmers' mindsets, missing or inadequate policy frameworks and institutional support, are common. Yet encouraging opportunities do exist, namely with regard to the political agenda that, if followed up subsequently, could result in concerted efforts towards the expansion of truly sustainable agriculture, including the concept of CA. To be successful in the two continents, however, approaches to mainstream CA need to be tailored to the different regions, and even locally.

Challenges in the Application of Educational Escape Rooms in the Brazilian Context

Game-based learning (GBL) has been gaining ground and notoriety in formal education environments. However, the educational escape room (EER) is still a relatively new approach, and in some countries, their utilization finds more barriers among the higher education setting. In this sense, to spread and facilitate their adoption, it is important to identify which are the competences and attitudes necessary for educators to facilitate EERs. Starting from this knowledge, it becomes easier proposing actions for the development, the dissemination, and the sustainable practice of these activities. This study applied questionnaires applied to Brazilian higher education teacher users of EER in the classroom. The results highlight the importance of the institutional support, as they will feel more confident so that the implementation of this methodology occurs in a gradual way and with purpose in educational institutions. The conclusions are valuable to both educators and decision makers in education in order to give more information to the best practices and implementation of EER.

Lidový knoflík ve Sbírce Waldes-Knoflíky

The study focuses on the set of folk costume buttons from the preserved part of the Waldes Museum collection. The aim of the paper is to present the button set and its ongoing research potentional, both in the further study of the collection itself and in comparison to other similar objects in the Czech Republic and abroad. The study includes the results of the long-term research of the Waldes Museum button subcollection that is provided with an institutional support of Museum of Glass and Jewellery Jablonec nad Nisou.

The Effect of Institutional Support on the Cultural Intelligence of Nursing Students

Background: Cultural intelligence is important for studying, working, and living in multicultural societies. Previous studies have indicated that training and learning support are important for improving students’ cultural intelligence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of institutional support on cultural intelligence. Methods: 933 nursing students in three countries, among Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, answered a rating scale questionnaire. A structural equation model was used to examine the effect of institutional support on cultural intelligence. Results: Institutional support had a statistically significant effect on cultural intelligence, with an effect size of 0.57. Conclusion: For promoting cultural intelligence divided into three aspects, the first concerns the implementation of multicultural experiences in curricula; the second involves extra-curricular activities for being applied in multicultural situations; and the last regards encouraging teachers to realize the importance of culture and integrating cultural content in their teaching and in the students’ learning.

Stages of transformation of the system of institutional support for the development of the textile industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan

The balanced development of any industry is directly determined by a set of characteristics of the institutional environment, formed on the basis of a system of rules and norms of behavior of the subject of management, the degree of structuring of information, as well as formal and informal restrictions imposed by state and non-state structures. Due to the importance that the textile sector has for the country's economy, there is a need to study the effectiveness of the system of institutional support for enterprises working in this direction. The methodology is based on a review of the literature in the field of institutional transformations in economic sectors. The article suggests the main stages of transformation of the system of institutional support for the development of the textile industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The stages of determining stable institutional forms – institutional constraints are given, and an algorithm for determining the effectiveness of institutional transformations in the textile industry is proposed.

Care and rehabilitation institutions for people with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: Polish experiences

People with intellectual disabilities benefit from many forms of institutional support, which include residential, rehabilitation, and educational services. Changes caused by the pandemic, especially the introduction of new rules relating to various aspects of life, raised several challenges and problems in the functioning of these institutions and for the people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research concerned facilities providing services for people with intellectual disabilities in Poland during the pandemic. The research goal was to determine what changes took place in the rehabilitation and care institutions during the pandemic in terms of their organization and the functioning of their clients and personnel. An online questionnaire was used. The respondents were institution employees. Data showed a number of preventive, educational, and supportive activities carried out by the institutions. Adverse changes in the psychosocial functioning of people with intellectual disabilities and other problems during the pandemic were reported.

Students’ perceptions of the entrepreneurial culture in Finnish higher education institutions

The purpose of this study is to add to the literature on entrepreneurial universities by investigating entrepreneurial culture (EC) in higher education institutions (HEIs). The authors investigate how students experience EC and which factors explain their perceptions of EC. The study is based on a survey of HEI students in Finland with 1277 responses. The results show that formal institutional support and institution-level activities have the strongest impact on the students’ experienced EC. According to the findings, formal institutional support has a greater impact on students’ perceptions of EC than student-driven activities. Furthermore, the results highlight that the encouragement of teachers has a greater influence on students’ perceptions of EC than peer students and student-driven activities. Accordingly, the paper’s theoretical contribution to the literature lies in its demonstration that institutional support, in addition to the encouragement of teachers, influences HEI students’ perceptions of EC. With regard to practical implications, the findings indicate that, if HEIs wish to build an EC and operate entrepreneurially, it is vital to support teachers’ entrepreneurial behaviour and thinking. In addition, equal emphasis needs to be placed on the observable artefacts and on clear, well-communicated organisational structures and processes.