Student-Faculty Portal using ML and Cloud Services

In March 2020, many institutions and companies abruptly closed their premises in response to the spread of COVID19, preventing them from hosting any in-person activities which promoted the sense of working in groups and collaborating with peers. As a result, many students missed out on ways in which they can connect with those around them. Restrictions on inperson interactions between students, staff, and faculty are likely to persist in the future as well resulting in the lack of sense of collaborative working. Student Faculty Portal concentrates on effective connection building between people in colleges and universities by providing them a platform to collaborate based on their skills, interests, knowledge, and expertise. Keywords: skill profile, recommendation, collaboration, portal, interests, expertise

Connection, Context, and Power

In Chapter 3, three principles of systems work are proposed: the values and beliefs that organizations uphold to support systems that are more responsive and representative of the people who live in them. These principles are: Principle 1—Foster Connection: Organizations working in systems foster connection, building new collective identities that keep groups together while learning. Principle 2—Embrace Context: Organizations working in systems embrace context, equipping primary actors to respond to day-to-day complexity, dynamically adapting as the context requires. Principle 3—Reconfigure Power: Organizations working in systems reconfigure power, putting decision-making and resources in the hands of primary actors, ensuring that social systems fully represent the people who live in them.

EU BORDER SECURITY – THE DRIVERS AND BARRIERS OF BORDER GUARDING AUTHORITIES MOTIVATION IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. CASE OF LATVIA

With the dynamic development of modern society, ensuring the security and control of the state border is the simultaneous goals of both internal and external security of the country. Consequently, it is vitally important to identify and develop tools and ways to address emerging challenges. In the current climate, private and public organizations are required to be up-to date with technological advancements in order to provide competitive, relative and effective solutions and services for inhabitants in all areas. Technological innovation is an important and even compulsory element of the modern organization, which stimulates continuous development and potential growth. There are many innovative ideas within other industries and universities where joint funds could be sort to allow the delivery of innovative solutions that would benefit such law enforcement agencies as border guarding authorities. A significant problem is that there appears to be a lack of interest from the respective law enforcement organizations in participating in consortiums, which is necessary for submission of any proposal. Jon Freemans` Analytical framework for understanding of innovation process used to under pin the main concepts of the research proposed in this thesis. This research involved a series of interviews and questionnaires designed to analyse the perceptions of the drivers and barriers of the State Border Guard of Latvia. From detailed results analysis, a list of general recommendation been established for Border Guarding Authorities in order to improve its motivation for participation in the projects related development of the technological innovation in the field of border security by conducting internal measures and improving network/connection building outside of the organization.

What Is Solidarity About? Views of Transnational Organisations’ Activists in Germany, Poland, and Greece

The notion of solidarity plays an important role in debates about the future of Europe. Yet, it can be used in a diverse or even contradictory manner as contemporary discussions about refugees in Europe or the implementation of social rights at the EU-level well illustrate. While the focus of public attention is often on political leaders, the goal of this article is to deepen our knowledge about the understanding of solidarity by its practitioners at the grassroots-level of solidarity work. Our study is based on 97 individual interviews with representatives of transnational solidarity organisations (TSOs) located in Germany, Poland, and Greece. We show how their understanding of solidarity varies across three basic themes: the rationale of action, the scope of beneficiaries, and relations with and among beneficiaries. Most strikingly, our research reveals that the core understanding of solidarity among the TSOs under review reflects a progressive, transnational type of solidarity that emphasises universalism, connection-building between targets of solidarity and establishing group identities based on collective action and not pre-defined features. At the same time, our study shows how TSOs adapt to complex country- and field-specific contextual conditions.

A Classroom Study on the Role of Prior Knowledge and Retrieval Tool in the Testing Effect

This quasi-experimental study investigated the role of prior psychology knowledge and in-class retrieval activity in the testing effect. Undergraduate introductory psychology students ( N = 53) from two classes at a small liberal arts college practiced retrieving information in class with multiple-choice quizzing and concept mapping. Prior psychology knowledge was measured using a 25-item multiple-choice pretest. Both students with high and low prior psychology knowledge had higher scores on examination material that was practiced in class with retrieval-based concept mapping compared to traditional multiple-choice quizzes and to no organized in-class retrieval activity at all. Only students with high prior psychology knowledge had higher scores on quizzed material compared to no organized in-class retrieval practice, and these scores were lower than those on material that was practiced with in-class concept mapping. In comparison to administering multiple-choice quiz questions, a more useful in-class activity might be to have students, especially those with less prior psychology knowledge, practice retrieving material through free recall and connection building activities such as a concept map.

Promoting the mental and physical wellbeing of people with mental health difficulties through social enterprise

PurposeInterventions that promote both mental and physical wellbeing have been advocated for people with mental health difficulties, as they have been found to engage less in healthy behaviours and have lower levels of physical fitness. However, no optimal approach to facilitate this undertaking has been identified. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of people with psychological distress who accessed a social enterprise that fosters the building of positive social networks in the community, as part of a personalised recovery programme. The intention was to gain an insight into its therapeutic effect in relation to mental and physical health.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory survey design was undertaken with a purposive sample of 50 individuals who had attended the enterprise. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the data from both closed and open-ended questions.FindingsThe wellbeing service appeared to provide a supportive environment that offered people access to social networks through their participation in local services and activities. Fostering participants’ active participation, connection building and the ability to make meaningful contributions helped to facilitate health behaviours that had a positive impact on their health and wellbeing.Originality/valueThis study highlights the potential role of a social enterprise in optimising the social context for promoting the health and wellbeing of people with mental health difficulties.

Talk for collaborative learning in computer-based music production

This article presents a case study exploring the interrelationship between talk and learning in collaborative computer-based music production. Framed by Neil Mercer and Karen Littleton’s Sociocultural perspective on collaborative learning, research on talk and ‘thinking together’ for learning, this study observed two undergraduate composers as they co-produced a contemporary dance film soundtrack across one academic term. The composers recorded their collaboration, providing data for a systematic moment-by-moment micro-analysis focusing on the audio-visual aspects of this project over twelve weeks. Sociocultural discourse analysis methods were used to explore how social, cultural and concrete situations shaped the students’ developing common knowledge. Interaction analysis has been used to code turn functions and display talk characteristics and patterns. This research found that collaborative computer music production is a ‘cumulative conversation’, comprised of many ‘thinking spaces’ that foster ‘post-dialogic’ activity’ and ‘connection building’. In this case the students developed new ‘tools for progressive discourse’ providing them access to the remote and private ‘thinking spaces’ that are characteristic of longer-term co-creating. This research argues for the development of new pedagogies that focus on understanding how talk shapes collaborative learning within music technology.

Scaffolding Learner Puzzling in Exploratory Practice: Perspectives From the Business English Classroom

This study describes a teacher-researcher’s experience of scaffolding his business English learners in identifying, formulating, and exploring language learning puzzles using the principles of exploratory practice. Adopting both qualitative and quantitative methods, the teacher-researcher reflected upon the learner-initiated and learner-centred inquiry as it played out in his UK university setting. Learners’ perspectives revealed an enthusiasm for puzzling, especially when connections were established with their wider world. However, tensions also emerged, including the opaqueness of the scaffolding role and the mind-set shift required from learner-researchers and the teacher-researcher alike. Practical recommendations for teacher-researchers in similar contexts are provided: the need to highlight connection-building between learner puzzles and learners’ wider lives and the importance of recognising distinctions between puzzles and problems.