Coordination in Planning and Implementing Professional Development Programs for Teachers: A Much-needed Component in Rural Areas

Coordination among stakeholders has been considered as a significant influential factor in providing teachers with quality Professional Development (PD) opportunities. The importance of coordination intensifies when a variety of PD providers work on the capacity building of teachers in the same region such as in some rural areas of Pakistan. The current research explored the nature of coordination among various stakeholders while designing and implementing PD programs for teachers in rural Pakistan. To achieve this aim, qualitative case study approach was used and data were generated through focused group interviews from PD providers, education managers, school leaders, and teachers. The results indicated a limited coordination among the stakeholders leading to a variety of issues such as overlapping programs, conflicting expectations from teachers, and selection of irrelevant teachers for PD. Drawing on the experience of the stakeholders who participated in this research, the paper suggests a model of coordination which the educational reformers, especially the PD providers and education managers, should consider while designing and implementing the capacity building programs for teachers.

Improvement of Students’ Autonomous Learning Behavior by Optimizing Foreign Language Blended Learning Mode

Given the significance of cultivating students’ autonomous learning ability, there is a need to develop an instructional model that can improve students’ awareness and behavior of autonomous learning, as well as to explore the effectiveness and optimization of this model effectively. Taking college English course as a case study, this paper constructs a blended learning mode based on SPOC, which combines advantages of online and offline teaching. 15 types of nonredundant sets resulting from 500 questionnaires has been explored, and the optimal factor combinations have been found out from 15 types with the technology of data mining to optimize the mode constructed previously. Optimized blended learning mode, emphasizing the optimal factors more, has been applied to College English curriculum design and teaching practice in China. Surveys of students’ achievement and autonomous learning behavior have been conducted after experiment. The results of the research indicate that the optimized blended learning mode will stimulate foreign language learners’ learning motivation, cultivate their autonomous learning ability, so as to construct and improve their autonomous learning behavior further.

Exploring the Effects of Product Knowledge, Trust, and Distrust in the Health Belief Model to Predict Attitude Toward Dietary Supplements

Although the health belief model (HBM) has been widely applied in health behavior research, it cannot fully account for dietary supplement (DS) consumption. This study proposed a second-stage moderation model to empirically examine the mediating role of product knowledge and the moderating effects of trust and distrust in the HBM. Surveys were conducted both online and offline in first-tier Chinese cities; 768 effective samples were collected. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings indicated that perceived susceptibility was a better predictor of attitude toward DS products. Second, perceived susceptibility’s effect on product attitude occurred through product knowledge. Third, trust in manufacturers positively affected product knowledge’s effect on product attitude. Based on these findings, to promote DS consumption, marketers can leverage consumers’ perceived susceptibility to illness, associate the benefits and efficacy of DSs with consumers’ health knowledge, and emphasize their production of high-quality DSs.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Slovakia: Results of a National Population Survey

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Europe has intensely increased in recent decades. To acquire information about the patterns and trends of CAM use in Slovakia, a nationwide representative survey was conducted on Slovakian adult population. A nationally representative cross-sectional survey was administered to the general population of Slovakian residents aged 18 years and over. The respondents were interviewed face-to-face by professional interviewers. Data were collected during September 2019 as a part of an omnibus survey on a variety of subjects. Altogether, 82.4% of the respondents reported either regular CAM method use or the lifetime prevalence of such use. The most frequently reported group of methods were biologically based treatments (78.9%), followed by manipulative and body-based methods (54.4%), mind-body interventions (31.9%), whole medical systems (18.2%), and energy therapies (4.2%). Vitamins (71.1%), herbal teas (68.1%), massages (53.6%), religious healing (20.3%), and special diets (18.8%) were the five most commonly preferred CAM modalities. Female gender, higher income and higher education are significant predictors of CAM use. The study highlights the association between satisfaction with healthcare systems, health situations, and the use of CAM.

How Reliable and Valid are the Evaluations of Digital Competence in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

Evaluating digital competencies has become a topic of growing interest in recent years. Although several reviews and studies have summarized the main elements of progress and shortcomings in this area, some issues are yet to be explored. Very little information is available about the ways of ensuring the validity and reliability of the instrument used. This study addresses this issue through systematic mapping covering the period from January 2015 to July 2020. Based on 88 primary studies, we conclude that a growing number of studies have emerged over the years; most of them are based on European university students in social science programs; the quality of the journals where they were published is low; and the instruments used are mostly questionnaires and ad-hoc surveys that measure the various dimensions of digital competence based on participants’ perceptions. Out of the eight possible types of quality assessment, studies commonly report only four (one in the case of reliability and three in the case of validity). More than 50% of the studies do not provide evidence of having assessed the reliability and validity at the same time. Although participant discipline resulted in a significantly association with the practice of reporting reliability and validity assessments, no specific dimension explained such association. A non-parametric multivariate analysis reveals, among other interesting patterns, that the practice of not reporting quality assessments is more present in studies where participants belong to the fields of Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, and Humanities.

Attributes Influencing Overall Tourist Satisfaction and Its Consequences for Muslim-Majority Destination

In the context of Muslim-friendly tourism, marketers have to pay attention to the needs of their main target, Muslim tourists. This study aimed to examine the influence of destination attributes, including both generic and Islamic attributes, on overall tourist satisfaction to get a more comprehensive view. Likewise, this study investigated the effect of overall tourist satisfaction on its consequences. The moderation effect of Islamic religiosity on the relationship between Islamic attributes and overall tourist satisfaction was also considered. An online survey was conducted, with a sample of 231 Muslims who traveled to Muslim-majority cities, and the data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that both generic and Islamic attributes positively influence overall tourist satisfaction, while its consequences affected their behavioral, attitudinal loyalty, and churn intention. Overall tourist satisfaction was not found to affect complaint intention. Likewise, the moderation effect of Islamic religiosity was insignificant.

Foreign Language Anxiety and Individualism-Collectivism Culture: A Top-Down Approach for a Country/Regional-Level Analysis

This study explored how foreign language anxiety in class relates to individualism-collectivism culture. Additionally, to serve as a guideline for foreign language anxiety assessment, the study determined a normative score of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), which is well known and frequently applied for foreign language anxiety examination. After conducting a literature search identifying 106 studies in 35 countries/regions, a top-down approach was used to analyze aggregate FLCAS mean scores by country/region and examine relationships between the FLCAS score and the rating of individualism-collectivism cultural dimension from Hofstede’s cultural index. This relationship was significant for higher education institutions but insignificant for all institutions and for elementary to high schools. The FLCAS normative score was 94.82, slightly lower than the theoretical midpoint of 99. The findings have implications for educators, since university/college/graduate students in countries/regions with stronger collectivism had higher foreign language anxiety.

How Internal IT Capability Affects Open Innovation Performance: From Dynamic Capability Perspective

Information technology (IT) and open innovation has been one of hot topic in existing research respectively. However, there are lack empirical research on inner mechanism of internal IT capability affecting open innovation performance. According to dynamic capability theory, this paper puts internal IT capability, internal knowledge integration, firm social capital, and open innovation performance into a theoretical model. Through 232 surveys, the results indicate that internal knowledge integration plays a mediator role in the effect of internal IT capability on open innovation performance. Meanwhile, the relationship between internal IT capability and internal knowledge integration can be positively moderated by firm social capital. This study extends the research on open innovation and IT business value, and provides theoretical direction for practice.

Evaluation of and Policy Measures for the Sustainable Development of National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Centers in Chinese Universities and Colleges

The establishment of national experimental teaching demonstration centers (NETDCs) in China has played an important role in improving the experimental teaching level in universities and colleges, promoting scientific research, and cultivating innovative talents for national- and region-level innovations. However, how to promote the sustainable development of NETDCs in China is becoming a critical issue. This paper constructs a new theoretical model for evaluating the sustainable development of NETDCs in China. This model consists of 5 dimensions (i.e., environmental, structural, human, teaching, and output entropies), 11 primary indicators, and 34 secondary indicators. A multidimensional scale for evaluating the sustainable development of NETDCs was developed and validated based on 24,483 questionnaires from 895 NETDCs in China. The results show that the development level and overall level of NETDCs in China for all 11 primary indicators are uneven. Policy measures for promoting the sustainable development of NETDCs are proposed and discussed.

Shaping Organizational Citizenship Behavior of New Employees: Effects of Mentoring Functions and Supervisor Need for Achievement

In this study, we explored the relationship among mentoring functions (MFs), direct supervisor need for achievement (DSNFA), and employee organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) from the perspective of conservation of resources (COR) theory. A sample of 242 dyads was selected from new employees and direct supervisors employed in four- and five-star hotels in Taiwan. The results revealed that MFs and DSNFA were positively related to new-employee OCB. However, DSNFA negatively moderated the relationship between MFs and new-employee OCB. That is, low DSNFA positively moderated the relationship between MFs and OCB more than high DSNFA did. The results were explained using COR theory, which states that the development of positive personality traits is limited to in specific circumstances. Organizations in the hospitality industry that emphasize on OCB should examine their human resource activities to optimize performance.