Academic Rigor Research Articles

‘Show, don't tell!’ – Popular films for discussion of individual values in construction project management

The purpose of this study was to consider the possibility of using a transdisciplinary pedagogical intervention for sensitizing construction project management students about the forms of corruption in the construction industry and the importance of value-based decision-making. In this regard, this paper proposes a strategy using a popular film to examine the connections between a project manager's individual values and his/her value-based decision making during a construction project is proposed. For this purpose, this paper conceptualizes the phenomenon of corruption in the construction domain, formulates key criteria on the basis of which films can be selected for such discussion and proposes the theoretical lenses through which learning outcomes can be enabled at both the cognitive and affective levels of learning. The major observation of this paper is that proper frameworks which do not compromise on academic rigour must be designed while using such transdisciplinary learning interventions.

A study of the usage of business library resources by the finance faculty from B-schools in India

India is home to more than 6,000 Business Schools. Finance specialization is considered to be one requiring a relatively higher academic rigor. Business libraries support the knowledge requirements of the finance faculty. This research studied the usage of business library resources by the finance faculty from B-schools across India and its impact on their academic performance. A survey was conducted through a questionnaire involving more than 400 finance faculty. Two constructs, namely, usage of business library resources and academic performance, were comprehensively defined. A weighted scale evaluation was done. The finance faculty from the B-schools is lagging way behind in academic performance on high-weighted parameters like Scopus indexed journal publications. The faculty showed a relatively low usage of the business library resources. Irrationality is seen in the emphasis placed on the usage of library resources and the importance given to areas of performance. Business library resource rated with lower importance has higher usage, and those rated with higher importance show lower usage. Similarly, performance areas that were perceived to be of relatively lower importance reflect a better performance, but those which are perceived to be of much higher importance show a very low performance. It was interesting to note the low usage despite reasonable availability of quality business and finance material in the B-schools library. Suggestions are given to increase the utilization of business library resources through provisions like a compulsory library hour every day.

The perceived experience of students becoming positive change agents: A case of the Honors Living-Learning community program at Rutgers University - Newark

Studies have found that in higher education institutions in the United States of America, a variety of resources, student engagement, institutional practices, and other stakeholders contribute to students’ perceptions of becoming positive change agents. This project explores how the Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) program at Rutgers University-Newark (RUN), New Jersey capitalizes on resources, leadership, curriculum, and other strategies to promote students' perception to become positive change agents. Secondary research from a survey completed by the HLLC graduates was utilized for this project. As a descriptive study, survey responses were coded and evaluated to determine the HLLC’s impact on students’ perception on becoming positive change agents. The study found that the HLLC program at RUN successfully promotes students' perception to become positive change agents. The HLLC program achieves this through its curricular structure, which integrates academic rigor with community engagement, and a strong emphasis on leadership development. The HLLC’s success in developing positive change agents has practical implications for institutions of higher education. Other universities could consider replicating the HLLC 's unique curricular structure and community engagement strategies to promote leadership development and cultivate positive change agents among their graduates.

Introduction

After months of intense collaborative work, it’s a privilege to proudly present the first Number of the Mexican Yearbook of Global Affairs (el Anuario Mexicano de Asuntos Globales or AMAG); a publication of the Isidro Fabela Institute for International Studies at la Universidad del Mar (UMAR), Campus Huatulco, Oaxaca, on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico. In general, as an academic work, this yearbook has aimed to offer a concise analysis of the events, dynamics and international processes that we consider most significant on the world stage (due to the impact they have on current national and local realities). In particular, perhaps the yearbook’s most essential principle is inclusion. Given the world’s complexity, characterized by different languages, visions, philosophies and positions on the reality that we observe and experience, we also aimed to create a social-scientific forum where (without compromising on academic rigor) we include plural perspectives of interpretation and analysis from International Studies and other related disciplines. Our aim is to publish contributions from different latitudes that offer the added value of coming from direct observations of multiple environments. This explains and gives meaning to the fact that works from any country and in any language are welcome.

Assessing attitudes towards evidence-based software engineering in a government agency

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has allowed several disciplines to become more mature by emphasizing the use of evidence from well-designed and well-conducted research in decision-making. Its application in SE, Evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) can help to bridge the gap between academia and industry by bringing together academic rigor and research of practical relevance. To achieve this, it seems necessary to improve its adoption. We sought both to study the attitudes towards EBSE of stakeholders working in a government agency (GA) and to assess whether knowledge of EBSE would impact their working practices. We conducted a multi-stage field investigation in an Uruguayan national GA that is responsible for digital policies. First, we organized an EBSE awareness lecture and we collected and analyzed participants’ perceptions of the value and limitations of EBSE. Sixteen months later, in a second stage, we contacted the agency and asked participants whether they had made use of the information about EBSE we presented to them. Initially, participants reported that EBSE seemed useful for tackling challenging problems and, in particular, considered its use appropriate given the agency’s responsibilities. Perceived barriers to EBSE adoption were the need for institutional support, the lack of government practice reports, inadequate skills or motivation, the cost of conducting systematic reviews, and the lack of evidence about emerging issues. In the follow-up survey, although the participants were not undertaking systematic reviews themselves, many reported improvements in how they searched for and evaluated information to support their work. Our study presents some insights to better understand EBSE adoption. With the exception of GA-specific issues, perceived value and barriers to adoption were consistent with those reported in software engineering and other disciplines. Our follow-up study confirms the potential value of evidence in the context of IT regulatory and government bodies.

Co-producing a physical activity intervention with and for people with severe mental ill health – the spaces story

ABSTRACT SPACES (Supporting Physical Activity through Co-production in people with Severe Mental Illness) is a study which aims to develop an intervention to increase physical activity created with and for people with severe mental ill health (SMI), their carers and professionals involved in physical activity and/or severe mental ill health. People with SMI are less physically active than the general population and have an increased likelihood of experiencing long-term physical health conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes and obesity. The SPACES team employed a comprehensive process of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) work embedded within a co-production strategy. Researchers worked together from the point of inception with people with lived experience, two of whom became co-applicants, to design and carry out the intervention development stage of the study. This included PPIE work and an iterative process of focus groups and interviews with various stakeholders and a consensus group made up of multiple stakeholders with lived, caring and professional experience. Here, we describe the co-production model we used, the benefits, challenges, achievements and areas for learning and improvement. We offer co-production principles and practical strategy, which we hope will be used, modified, personalised and built on by others. We also offer the idea that laying out the co-production strategy to be employed prior to a study commencing and then comparing how that strategy was or was not met could be a step towards creating more accountability and academic rigour in co-production.

The Science of Literature Reviews: Searching, Identifying, Selecting, and Synthesising

The ability to conduct an explicit and robust literature review by students, scholars or scientists is critical in producing excellent journal articles, academic theses, academic dissertations or working papers. A literature review is an evaluation of existing research works on a specific academic topic, theme or subject to identify gaps and propose future research agenda. Many postgraduate students in higher education institutions lack the necessary skills and understanding to conduct in-depth literature reviews. This may lead to the presentation of incorrect, false or biased inferences in their theses or dissertations. This study offers scientific knowledge on how literature reviews in different fields of study could be conducted to mitigate against biased inferences such as unscientific analogies and baseless recommendations. The literature review is presented as a process that involves several activities including searching, identifying, reading, summarising, compiling, analysing, interpreting and referencing. We hope this article serves as reference material to improve the academic rigour in the literature review chapters of postgraduate students’ theses or dissertations. This article prompts established scholars to explore more innovative ways through which scientific literature reviews can be conducted to identify gaps (empirical, knowledge, theoretical, methodological, application and population gap) and propose a future research agenda.

Retraction Note: LINC01296 promotes the proliferation and invasion by regulating microRNA-760 expression and predicts poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The article "LINC01296 promotes the proliferation and invasion by regulating microRNA-760 expression and predicts poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma", by Z.-C. Wang, S. Yang, M.-Q. Chen, S.-S. Wu, H.-H. Lv, W.-X. Jin, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (22): 9848-9856-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201911_19548- PMID: 31799652 has been retracted by the author for the following reasons: After the publication of this article, the authors reviewed the process of the experiment and found there were mistakes in the methodology search. Not all the carcinoma specimens used in the experiment were from hepatocellular carcinoma. The prognosis and clinical features the rate of lymph node metastasis and the treatment and prognosis between these types of cancers are different. For example, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma tends to involve a high frequency of lymph node metastasis, and the prognosis is worse than hepatocellular carcinoma; hepatocellular carcinoma seldom involves lymph node metastasis but often involves intrahepatic metastasis; colorectal cancer liver metastasis is far more sensitive to chemotherapy and has a relatively long survival, and neuroendocrine carcinoma is sometimes sensitive to hormone therapy and generally has better survival than hepatocellular carcinoma. As a result, the clinical results and gene test results mentioned in this article were incorrect. After that the authors found that there was a mistake, they subsequently carried out supplementary experiments and found that they could not confirm that there was an increase in the expression of the LICO01296 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma, so they could not link some clinical results with the results of the basic research results mentioned in this article. Therefore, from the perspective of academic rigor, they requested to withdraw the article. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/19548.

Buddhist Studies in Russia: “Eastern Project” by Stcherbatsky in the light of the 21st Century

Almost two hundred years ago Buddhist studies were began by Russian missionaries (Iakinf Bichurin (1777–1853), Palladiy Kafarov (1817–1868) and academic scientists (J.I. Schmidt (1779–1847), V.P. Vasiliev (1818–1900), I.P. Minaev (1840–1890). At the beginning of the 20th century, in the Silver Age of Russian culture, the intellectual elite was so embraced by Buddhist ideas and charmed by East that it’s able to convince the government to build a Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg, to plan the rapprochement of the Russian Empire with Tibet, which was claimed by England, and to negotiate with the Dalai Lama XIII, who was forced to hide in Mongolia at that time. Methodology by Stcherbatsky at the Institute of Buddhist Culture consisted in combining the academic rigor of publications with the study of the living tradition of Buddhism in the regions of Russia. In total, there were three institutions of Buddhist Studies in Russian history. Their activity was emphasized on a fundamental approach to Buddhism as a world teaching. In 1967, the Sector of Buddhology was created by Gerasimova in Buryatia, and in the 80s – a group of Buddhist studies by Rudoy in Leningrad. Now we are again on an epochal break crest, searching the best world order’s paradigms. In recent decades, Buddhist studies have overflowed from academic community to the general public, and the East again became more relevant for Russia. So, the problems posed by Stcherbatsky are regaining their sharpness and require a modern approach.

Dr. Chelsea Gabel

Dr. Chelsea Gabel is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Well-being, Community Engagement, and Innovation, Director of the Indigenous Studies program at McMaster University, and former Director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute. As an Indigenous scholar, her work integrates community-based participatory and arts-based research methods in studying Indigenous health and well-being. Dr. Gabel’s interests include understanding how digital technology can be used for healing and empowerment of elders and youth. She also examines the pressures facing Arctic communities as they prepare for resource development. Dr. Gabel combines community- and arts-based research methods with academic rigour to create positive social change for Indigenous communities through public policy.

Review of Secret Feminist Agenda, Season 4

Review of Secret Feminist Agenda, Season 4

Facilitating technology-enhanced external examination moderation during the Covid-19 pandemic

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, the physical presence of international external examiners was a challenge when assessing the exit level outcomes of the MSc (Dent) in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of the Western Cape. External moderation of final examinations ensure an acceptable standard, coverage of content as specified by the programme outcomes and eliminates bias during assessment. Internationalization of the moderation andexamination process allows countries to compare and maintain international standards and graduate attributes expected for professional qualifications.Qualifications requiring assessment of skills often rely on ObjectiveStructured Clinical Examinations, Objective Structured Practical Examinations and simulated cases in combination with an oral examination, which requires the presence of all examiners to assess the student. This paper describes how the final examination in this MSc (Dent) degree was adapted and conducted in order to overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, to maintain the academic integrity and rigour of the programme. A narrative essay-style approach was adopted, which reflects on the challenges and opportunities created by Covid-19. The adapted assessment method proved to be an effective alternative to the more traditional assessment approaches employed pre-Covid.

Effect of using songs to teach junior secondary mathematics

Singing songs is part of human everyday lifestyle, they can easily be recalled and thereafter affect other aspects of human life. The studyexamined the effect of songs application in teaching junior secondary mathematics. The junior secondary level being the intermediateand upper basic level of education where learners are prepared for the serious academic rigour of the post-basic or senior secondary levelin Nigeria require the introduction of more learner-centred, learner-friendly and activity-based methods. Teaching Mathematics with useof songs will be one of such methods. The study employed the pre- test, post-test, quasi experimental design. Using purposive samplingtechnique, one hundred and twenty (120) junior secondary students from two public secondary schools were selected for the sample.Three hypotheses were formulated and tested. Two instruments, procedural and main instrument, were used. The data collected were analyzedusing analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The result of the study revealed that there was a significant effect of songs on the academicachievement of students in Mathematics and it was recommended that teachers should be encouraged to adopt songs composed duringteaching since their use sustains students’ interest and retention.

A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Mastery Goal Support in 7th-Grade Science Classrooms

Mastery goal structures, which communicate value for developing deeper understanding, are an important classroom support for student motivation and engagement, especially in the context of science learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Prior research has identified key dimensions of goal structures, but a more nuanced examination of the variability of teacher-enacted and student-perceived goal structures within and across classrooms is needed. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, we developed case studies of how three 7th-grade science teachers enacted different goal structures while teaching the same chemistry unit and how their students perceived these goal structures. Student perceptions were largely consistent with our observational analysis and suggested that a positive social climate and autonomy support are important elements of mastery goal structure. However, balancing socio-emotional support with sufficient academic rigor may be especially important for students with high levels of mastery goal orientation and self-efficacy in science. Implications for research include the need for further research linking classroom stimuli to variability in perceived goal structure, especially across students with different motivational characteristics. Implications for practice include strategies for science teachers to promote perceptions of a mastery goal focus in students, particularly through feedback and recognition practices.

Historicizing Hindutva Ideology

Historicizing Hindutva Ideology

Changes in diet and physical activity after a pilot intervention to tackle childhood obesity in a deprived inner-London community: an observational cohort study

BackgroundLocal authorities in England are uniquely positioned to modify obesogenic local environments contributing to childhood obesity. Evaluating the effects of local authority-led, community-wide approaches is challenging. This study examines changes in diet and physical activity in children aged 6–11 years after a 4-year, complex, community-based, pilot intervention in Golborne, one of the most deprived areas in London. MethodsThe Go-Golborne intervention aimed to shape the local environment by building on local assets, connecting stakeholders in local government and the community, and synchronising existing activities. Activities focused on six themes to make changes to local environments and reduce the consumption of sugary snacks and beverages, increase fruit and vegetable intake, promote healthy snacks, increase active play and travel, and reduce screen time. We analysed changes in self-reported diet and physical activity, collected annually in 2016–19, from children from six local schools. Results were compared with the data collected at baseline. We used multilevel, linear (for dietary outcomes), and logistic (for physical activity) random-slope regression models to examine changes in diet and physical activity by time on study, adjusting for baseline age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation quintile, school, and baseline weight status. Dietary outcomes were calculated by summing the total occasions a participant indicated they ate or drank a certain food or drink (reported as portions per day, expressed as a β coefficient). The physical activity outcomes were developed by creating six binary variables to distinguish those who were most active from those who were least active. Findings1650 children (mean age 7·9 years [SD:1·6]; 808 [49%] girls and 842 [51%] boys) were included. After 3 years of follow-up, we noted reductions in sugary beverage consumption (adjusted β –0·43 portions [95% CI –0·55 to –0·32]; p<0·0001) and car travel to and from school (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0·19 [95% CI 0·06 to 0·66]; p<0·0001), whereas screen time increased (high vs moderate or low; 2·30 [1·36 to 3·90]; p=0·0021). For other dietary and physical activity outcomes, no evidence of changes and no variation by subgroups were noted. InterpretationLocal authorities can make changes to the obesogenic environment, and mixed results from the Go-Golborne intervention show that collaboration is possible between academics, local authorities, and the community, highlighting the need for robust intervention design in real-world settings, where the need for practical community interventions are met alongside academic rigour. FundingRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. CB is funded by the School for Public Health Research of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (grant reference PD-SPH-2015). CJ is partly funded by Public Health at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborative. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health and Care Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Dodo dilemmas: Conflicting ethical loyalties in conservation social science research

AbstractIn a time of deepening social and ecological crises, the question of research ethics is more pertinent than ever. Our intervention grapples with the specific personal, ethical, and methodological challenges that arise at the interface of conservation and social science. We expose these challenges through the figure of Chris, a fictional anonymised composite of our fraught diverse fieldwork experiences in Australia, Burma, Indonesian Borneo, Namibia, and Vanuatu. Fundamentally, we explore fieldwork as a series of contested loyalties: loyalties to our different human and non‐human research participants, to our commitments to academic rigour, and to the project of wildlife conservation itself, while reckoning with conservation's spotted (neo)colonial past. Our struggles and reflections illustrate, first, that practical research ethics do not predetermine forms of reciprocity. Second, while we need to choose our concealments carefully and follow the principle of not doing harm, we also have the responsibility to reveal social and environmental injustices. Third, we must acknowledge that as researchers we are complicit in the practices of human and non‐human violence and exclusion that suffuse conservation. Finally, given how these responsibilities move the researcher beyond a position of innocence or neutrality, academic institutions should adjust their ethics support. This intervention highlights the need for greater openness about research challenges emerging from conflicting personal, ethical, and disciplinary loyalties, in order to facilitate greater cross‐disciplinary understanding. Active engagement with these ethical questions through collaborative dialogue‐based fora, both before and after fieldwork, would enable learning and consequently transform research practices.

Mentoring diverse graduate students in agriculture, geoscience, and related disciplines: Are you a mentor?

Mentoring diverse graduate students in agriculture, geoscience, and related disciplines: Are you a mentor? Candice M. Duncan, an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland explains how a mentor guides a student from situation to solution using their lived experiences and expertise, and a good mentor can provide beneficial interactions to and for their current or past students while maintaining professional boundaries, and sustaining academic rigour. While explaining the need for advisors who mentor, and mentoring underrepresented minority (URM) students, she insists that a good mentor will empathize with the situations brought to them by diverse students while guiding them to their goal of success, problem solution, or major life decision.

How does software fit into the FDO landscape?

In academic research virtually every field has increased its use of digital and computational technology, leading to new scientific discoveries, and this trend is likely to continue. Reliable and efficient scholarly research requires researchers to be able to validate and extend previously generated research results. In the digital era, this implies that digital objectsKahn and Wilensky 2006 used in research should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR). These objects include (but are not limited to) data, software, models (for example, machine learning), representations of physical objects, virtual research environments, workflows, etc. Leaving any of these digital objects out of the FAIR process may result in a loss of academic rigor and may have severe consequences in the long term for the field, such as a reproducibility crisis. In this extended abstract, we focus on research software as a FAIR digital object (FDO). The FDO framework De Smedt et al. 2020 describes FDOs as being actionable units of knowledge, which can be aggregated, analyzed, and processed by different types of algorithms. Such algorithms must be implemented by software in one form or another. The framework also describes large software stacks supporting FDOs enabling responsible data science and increasing reproducibility. This implies that software is a key ingredient of the FDO framework, and should adhere to the FAIR principles. Software plays multiple roles: it is a DO itself, it is responsible for creating new FDOs (e.g., data) and it helps to make them available to the public (e.g., via repositories and registries). However there is a need to specify in more detail how non-data DOs, in particular software, fit in this framework. Different classes of digital objects have different intrinsic properties and ways to relate to other DOs. This means that while they, in principle, are subject to the high-level FAIR principles, there are also differences depending on their type and properties, requiring an adaptation so FAIR implementations are more aligned to the digital object itself. This holds true in particular to software. Software has intrinsic properties (executability, composite nature, development practices, continuous evolution and versioning, and packaging and distribution) and specific needs that must be considered by the FDO framework. For example, open source software is typically developed in the open on social coding platforms, where releases are distributed through package management systems, unlike data that is typically published in archival repositories. These social coding platforms do not provide long term archiving, permanent identifiers, or metadata, and package management systems, while somewhat better, similarly do not make a commitment to long term archiving, do not use identifiers that fit the scholarly publication system well, and provide metadata that may be missing key elements. The FAIR for research software (FAIR4RS, Chue Hong et al. 2021) working group has dedicated significant effort in building a community consensus around developing FAIR principles that are customized for research software, providing methods for researchers to understand and address these gaps. In this presentation we will highlight the importance of software for the FAIR landscape and why different (but related) FAIR principles are needed for software (vs those originally developed for data). Our goal here is to contribute to building an FDO landscape together, where we consider all different types of digital objects that are essential in today's research, and we are enthusiastic about contributing our expertise on research software in helping shape this landscape.

Familiar and unfamiliar

This batch of recordings consists of albums almost entirely devoted to frequently performed and well-known works by the most beloved composers of the Western canon. The success of any new album featuring classical ‘masterworks’ depends to a large degree on whether the performers have something new or unusual to say about the repertory. This will ultimately determine whether the recording will be of interest to music lovers whose access to these works includes recordings both historical and contemporary by the most lionized performers of the past 100 years. The album Johannes Brahms: Viola sonatas op.120, Violin sonata op.108 (Pennine Records, issued 2020) featuring violinist/violist David Milsom and pianist Jonathan Gooing represents a valuable addition to the recorded catalogue. Milsom, an important scholar in the field of 19th-century performance practice, proposes in his liner notes that the album is ‘a creative interface between [the] relatively new research and performance field of “romantic” practices, and the use of modern instruments’. In recent years the combined study of historical texts and early recordings has led to new insights into the performance practices of the 19th century, specifically regarding the use of tempo modification, portamento and arpeggiation. Milsom’s scholarship—alongside that of Clive Brown, Anna Scott and others—has been instrumental in developing these ideas in the context of performing Brahms’s music. Putting such scholarship into practice involves not just academic rigour but also adventurous and creative music-making of the kind which was pervasive in Brahms’s own musical circles.