Transformative Lehre

Transformative teaching that involves practitioners prepares students for their role in social change processes in a way that is true to life. This guide shows how teachers can successfully shape the collaboration between students and practitioners. It introduces the basics of transformative teaching and the challenges of involving practitioners. At the heart of the guide are 13 building blocks, described in the form of checklists, which can be assembled by teachers as needed. The description of an ideal-typical module rounds off the guide, which is based on the teaching experiences of the four authors within the framework of the Reallabor Wissensdialog Nordschwarzwald.

Measuring the Organizational Change Maturity of Chilean Companies

This research presents the Strategic Change Management index, an indicator measuring the level of maturity of organizations to address processes of organizational change. At present, there is no other available indicator that fulfills this function. The index is built using the information provided from an instrument (questionnaire) specially created for this purpose. The instrument was applied to a sample of 151 companies, mostly Chilean. Studies about reliability (Cronbach’s α, hierarchical ω coefficients, among others), and instrument validity (second-order confirmatory factor analysis and retrospective validity) are presented. These studies show that the instrument has good psychometric properties. The results show that the degree of maturity of the companies comprising the sample to face change processes is low: 87% of the companies have a basic, initial, or amateur level of maturity; 13% have a professional level; and only one company had an expert level. More validity studies are required. However, the absence of a similar available instrument restrains the realization of more in-depth validity studies at this time.

Odporność miast i nowe polityki miejskie

Urban Resilience and New Urban Policies The article analyses new urban policies and the question of urban resilience. The author focus on two case studies: the examples of “superblocks” idea in Barcelona and the idea of “15-minute city” in Paris. Both initiatives are now becoming model solutions, providing inspiration for other cities adapting to the new challenges. Moreover, both cities in the middle of the 19th century, as a result of the revolutionary reconstruction of the urban fabric, have also become model examples for other cities and symbols of the new urban way of life. The analysis, based on such examples, allows the phenomena to be explained in a long-term perspective, indicating the role of the city and urbanity in the process of initiating social change processes.

When and Why Demands Reveal Their Challenging Potential during Change

This study contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of the demands that arise during organisational change. We investigated classic and change-specific demands in relation to emotional exhaustion and work engagement within the challenge–hindrance framework. We focused on workload and individual job impact and tested trust and autonomy as moderators. Data were collected via a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The convenience sample consisted of 388 employees experiencing organisational change at the time of responding. We conducted regression analyses to test for both direct and moderating effects. The results indicate that workload and individual job impact exhibit challenge and hindrance qualities. We also identified the significant moderating effects of trust and autonomy on individual job impact. This study integrates the challenge–hindrance framework into the job demands–resources model and offers a new perspective by applying this framework in the context of organisational change. We examined the specific roles of autonomy and trust regarding demands during change processes, and their potential in channelling challenging qualities is examined, offering new perspectives on the buffering of change demands.

Process-Outcome Relationships and Solution-Based Goal-Setting Interventions With Grandparent Caregivers

The present study examines the impact of change processes on outcomes in a solution-based thinking and goal-setting intervention for grandparents raising their grandchildren. We found that across the 6 program sessions there was stability and/or increases in the salience of hypothesized change processes, i.e., hopefulness about the future, solution-based thinking, positive thoughts about one's grandchild, multiple indicators of decisional personal goal-setting regarding one's own well-being and grandchild relationship quality. Indicators of change processes were for the most part, related to both post-program outcomes as well as to pre-post program outcome difference scores. Regression analyses suggested that change processes in many cases partially mediated pre-post primary program outcome scores. These data suggest that how grandmother caregivers think about themselves and their grandchildren and their approach to setting personal goals are key change processes explaining the impact of a solution-based, goal-setting intervention on them.

Experimental Study of the Behavior of Phase Change Materials during Interrupted Phase Change Processes

This research article explores the behavior of a phase change material (PCM) when it undergoes interrupted melting and freezing, through experimental investigations using a heat flow meter apparatus. A fatty acid-based organic PCM, encapsulated within polyethylene and thin aluminum foil layers, was experimentally tested in this study. Experiments were designed to represent multiple interrupted phase change scenarios that could occur within PCMs applied in buildings. The experimental results were analyzed and compared with previously reported assumptions in numerical models dealing with PCM hysteresis and interrupted phase change processes. These comparisons indicated that the assumptions used in the different numerical models considered can capture the interrupted phase change phenomena with varying degrees of accuracy. The findings also highlighted the need for additional experimental research on different phase change processes that can occur in building applications of PCMs.