Gathering pre-purchase information for a cruise vacation with virtual reality: the effects of media technology and gender

Purpose This study aims to apply theory on consumer learning in virtual experiences to compare how media technologies (i.e. virtual reality [VR] and standard websites) and users’ gender influence the ways in which tourists gather pre-purchase information. Design/methodology/approach A laboratory experiment with fully immersive VR was conducted to examine consumers’ behavior in gathering pre-purchase information. The sample comprised 128 consumers who had taken a cruise vacation or who were considering purchasing a cruise package in the near future. Findings The results generally reveal the central role of the feeling of presence, which, in turn, positively impacts users’ enjoyment and aspects of consumer learning (i.e. brand attitude, product knowledge and purchase intent). In particular, the results suggest that compared with standard websites, VR facilitated the tourists’ learning as consumers, especially among women, who tend to dominate the information-gathering stage of planning family vacations. Practical implications The results imply that travel agencies and tourism centers working with cruise vacation companies should incorporate VR to make their offers more attractive, especially to women. Originality/value The study was the first to apply theory on consumer learning in the cruise tourism industry, specifically to compare fully immersive VR devices versus standard websites and gauge the effect of gender.

Keutuhan Wacana dalam Infografik Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia Berhubung Pandemik Covid-19 Menerusi Instagram Berita Harian

This study aims to discover the discourse elements contained in the Ministry of Health's (KKM) infographic of the Covid-19 pandemic via Berita Harian’s Instagram account. This indirectly proves the language's ability to help deal with the outbreak. It is undeniable that language is very important in the dissemination of information, more so as new technology and advancements such as the various applications online allows information to be directly shared, making information easier and faster to be disseminated. However, information from public institutions often goes through an editing process before being uploaded to any social media account. This is because, since the information will be seen by society, there is a need to ensure that the infographic is easy to be understood and meaningful so that the value of togetherness in addressing this outbreak can be inculcated. For the purpose of analyzing the graphic info from the KKM via Berita Harian Instagram, this study will apply Theory of Discourse Analysis by Normaliza Abd Rahim. The application of this theory will be discussed through three elements of the discourse, namely content, context and assumption. The results showed all three elements were reflected in the COVID-19 infographic created by the KKM and consequently published in Berita Harian’s Instagram account. Keywords: Instagram, infographic, discourse, Covid-19, meaning.

Rethinking health policy student practicums through the application of the multiple streams framework: A case study

Many university and college programs offer co-op placements or practicums as part of their curriculum, with the aim of providing real-world experience and opportunity for students to apply theory to practice. These practicums are not always grounded in the underlying management or policy theories the program teaches, instead they often focus on universal attributes such as task performance or general leadership. This case study describes how a University of Toronto Health Policy and Management student and an Executive from Ontario’s Ministry of Health redesigned the student’s practicum to be grounded in Kingdon’s Multiple Stream Policy Framework. The case demonstrates how the theoretical framework was applied to enhance their weekly mentorship discussions, and organize the student’s learnings relating to the Ministry’s policy on hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic by viewing the work through the framework’s five streams.

Are you mentoring or coaching? Definitions matter

© The Author(s) 2020. New library and information science professionals, without previous experience in information organizations, are often left adrift, unsure how to apply theory or best practice to a new work environment. To bridge this gap, mentoring and coaching opportunities are often employed (or mandated) to provide new practitioners with required skills, knowledge, or networking. There are opportunities to harness implicit and explicit learning through experiences and interactions through mentoring and coaching. Definitions of mentoring and coaching in the profession are often used interchangeably when discussing the growth and development of an individual. This leads to the following questions: How do librarians define both mentoring and coaching? How do mentoring and coaching relate to professional development? To address the research question, 47 semi-structured interviews were conducted with librarians in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States between 2015 and 2016. Participants were asked about their mentoring and coaching experiences. During the interviews, participants were asked questions about their experiences as a mentor or mentee. In addition, participants were asked to define both “mentoring” and “coaching.” The authors used an inductive approach to data analysis, and interviews were coded by category.

Are you mentoring or coaching? Definitions matter

© The Author(s) 2020. New library and information science professionals, without previous experience in information organizations, are often left adrift, unsure how to apply theory or best practice to a new work environment. To bridge this gap, mentoring and coaching opportunities are often employed (or mandated) to provide new practitioners with required skills, knowledge, or networking. There are opportunities to harness implicit and explicit learning through experiences and interactions through mentoring and coaching. Definitions of mentoring and coaching in the profession are often used interchangeably when discussing the growth and development of an individual. This leads to the following questions: How do librarians define both mentoring and coaching? How do mentoring and coaching relate to professional development? To address the research question, 47 semi-structured interviews were conducted with librarians in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States between 2015 and 2016. Participants were asked about their mentoring and coaching experiences. During the interviews, participants were asked questions about their experiences as a mentor or mentee. In addition, participants were asked to define both “mentoring” and “coaching.” The authors used an inductive approach to data analysis, and interviews were coded by category.

Are you mentoring or coaching? Definitions matter

© The Author(s) 2020. New library and information science professionals, without previous experience in information organizations, are often left adrift, unsure how to apply theory or best practice to a new work environment. To bridge this gap, mentoring and coaching opportunities are often employed (or mandated) to provide new practitioners with required skills, knowledge, or networking. There are opportunities to harness implicit and explicit learning through experiences and interactions through mentoring and coaching. Definitions of mentoring and coaching in the profession are often used interchangeably when discussing the growth and development of an individual. This leads to the following questions: How do librarians define both mentoring and coaching? How do mentoring and coaching relate to professional development? To address the research question, 47 semi-structured interviews were conducted with librarians in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States between 2015 and 2016. Participants were asked about their mentoring and coaching experiences. During the interviews, participants were asked questions about their experiences as a mentor or mentee. In addition, participants were asked to define both “mentoring” and “coaching.” The authors used an inductive approach to data analysis, and interviews were coded by category.

Complex Inferential Processes Are Needed for Implicature Comprehension, but Not for Implicature Production

Upon hearing “Some of Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome,” adults can easily generate a scalar implicature and infer that the intended meaning of the utterance corresponds to “Some but not all Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome.” Comprehension experiments show that preschoolers struggle with this kind of inference until at least 5 years of age. Surprisingly, the few studies having investigated children’s production of scalar expressions like some and all suggest that production is adult-like already in their third year of life. Thus, children’s production of implicatures seems to develop at least 2 years before their comprehension of implicatures. In this paper, we present a novel account of scalar implicature generation in the framework of Bidirectional Optimality Theory: the Asymmetry Account. We show that the production–comprehension asymmetry is predicted to emerge because the comprehension of some requires the hearer to consider the speaker’s perspective, but the production of some does not require the speaker to consider the hearer’s perspective. Hence, children’s comprehension of scalar expressions, but not their production of scalar expressions, is predicted to be related to their theory of mind development. Not possessing fully developed theory of mind abilities yet, children thus have difficulty in comprehending scalar expressions such as some in an adult-like way. Our account also explains why variable performance is found in experimental studies testing children’s ability to generate scalar implicatures; moreover, it describes the differences between children’s and adults’ implicature generation in terms of their ability to recursively apply theory of mind; finally, it sheds new light on the question why the interpretation of numerals does not require implicature generation.

Practices and Perspectives of First-Year WIL Activities

Work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences are in demand as higher education (HE) institutions endeavour to develop profession-ready graduates. However, Generation Z has reported a lack of preparedness and uncertainty entering the workforce. Designing WIL experiences across a degree engages these students in meaningful opportunities to apply theory to practice. Despite the support of degree-wide approaches, little is known about the prevalence of WIL opportunities within the first year of tertiary study. This chapter reports the findings from 10 interviews with first-year subject coordinators in the Bachelor of Primary Education (BPrimEd) degree, gaining insight into subject coordinators' roles and their perceived purpose of WIL in the first year of HE. Findings suggest subject coordinators recognise the value of and use WIL activities, yet a number of internal and external constraints also limit embedding WIL within first-year curricula. The research in this chapter is student-led and includes reflective insights from the lead student author.

Extraction of lesson design principles to deepen mathematics learning

In the teaching of mathematics in classrooms there is usually a definitive answer to the question or problem being posed, normally with a specific means of arriving at the solution. The problem is that this sometimes leads to teaching methods that simply state things that students are expected to absorb, with no room for discussion. A researcher based at Kagawa University in Japan with a keen interest in mathematics teaching is challenging the notion that in mathematics there are definitive answers, believing that it creates a teaching environment that is not always conducive to effective learning. Associate Professor Mitsuru Matsushima is a former mathematics teacher with a passion for addressing this issue. Matsushima is collaborating with maths teachers. He wants teachers to observe how children are able to deeply learn maths through dialogue in lessons. Matsushima continues to progress research and development that connects theory and practice, and he aims to apply theory-themed practice techniques to young teachers, thereby enabling equity mathematics education for all children.

Understanding congruence in person-centred counselling practice: A trainee counsellor’s perspective

Congruence is a condition in therapeutic relationship that refers to accurate matching of a person’s experience with awareness. In person-centred counselling, counsellor’s congruence is believed as one of helpful and significant aspects that facilitates clients’ growth in counselling. However, this term is quite difficult to understand as a single condition as it interrelated to the other conditions such as empathy and unconditional positive regard. Understanding congruence theoretically and practically is intriguing as well as challenging especially for a trainee counsellor that is still learning to apply theory on practice. This paper aims to critically explore congruence from person-centred counselling theory and to demonstrate some evidences of the development of congruence in practice based on the author’s counselling practice as a trainee counsellor. There are three main discussions in this paper that is to explain congruence from the theoretical point of view, to understand the relation between congruence and acceptance and to explore congruence in person-centred practice. The exploration found that trainee counsellor’s cultural background including condition of worth and language barrier is one of challenges in experiencing congruence within person-centred counselling practice.Keywords: congruence, person-centred counselling, unconditional positive regard, ontological standpoint