Academic Rigor Research Articles

Development of Organisational Resilience within SMEs through Implementation of Strategic Thinking

The focus of entrepreneurial, strategic and managerial concerns regarding the ensuring of survivability and achievement of successful competitive leverage within, primarily, the turbulent international commercial and business environments, has become concentrated on the development of organisational resilience to withstand the pernicious implications imparted by business discourses by situational complications. The recurrent global financial crises, trigger by divergent and multiplicity of factors, have impinged upon the survivability of business organisations of differential demeanours. The corresponding research endeavour has been oriented towards evaluation of development of constructive response based strategic policies of such SMEs from the organisational resilience angle through determination of the implications of strategic planning and thinking processes which could be employed by such business entities to foment crisis management capacities at the functional and operational domains. Specific research effort has been utilised to demonstrate the characteristics and constituents of the concept of organisational resilience and the influence of strategic management doctrines on such conceptual disciplines. The focal point of the research has been to assessment the empirical evidence regarding achievement of required degrees of organisational resilience, especially by the SMEs. The research undertaking has been cognisant equitably about the inherent deficiencies of SMEs and has involved considerable academic rigour regarding analysis of the prospects of latent opportunities within crisis situations which could be achieved through proficiencies of strategic planning and implementation of the same. The utility of the conducted research has been envisioned as outlining strategic features through which SMEs could ensure organisational resilience-based survivability.

Validation Proposal for Qualitative Research Scripts (Vali-Quali)

Through the “garbage in, garbage out” dynamics, it is assumed that a protocol of reliable research tools is a key component for obtaining high-quality data. The lack of transparency, the methodological inconsistency, and the absence of validity criteria in qualitative studies point to a gap that has yet to be overcome. The purpose of the paper is to propose a new guideline for the validation of qualitative research: Validation for Qualitative Research Scripts (Vali-Quali), which can be applied in structured interviews, semi-structured interviews, and scripts for focal groups. The proposal comprises two dimensions, content and semantics, with four attributes: alignment among objectives, adherence to constructs, explicitness, and qualitative expectancy. Between rigor and flexibility, six steps are outlined: design of the initial script, validation by judges, results overview, pretest, validated script and theoretical-empirical script. This paper proposes that the validation process goes beyond the method itself, and stimulates researchers to reflect, exercise their autonomy, and support their choices with the academic rigor that all scientific research must present.

Immersive Photography: a review of the contextual knowledge of a PhD practice-led research project

Despite its 35 years of academic presence, practice-led research is still in the process of building its status regarding definitions and its discourse. One of the fundamentals of this type of research is that practice-led expands the study to encompass questions that emerge from practice. Practice-led maintain the scientific, academic protocols and observing academic rigour, following structures and themes with the characteristics of rigour: the study goals, the methods for specific media and processes, the substantiation of the process of discovery, and nevertheless, its historical and theoretical context. This article presents the contextual and historical review of knowledge of the practice-led project developed for my PhD project: ‘The process of immersive photography: beyond the cognitive and the physical’ and considers a process methodologically and conceptually, demonstrating its nature and the manner in which it occurs in a photographer’s practice. This process enables a deeply internal yet communicative interaction between the photographer and the land. The aim is to contextualise the main notions and concepts that informed the inquiry, and this article focuses on two of these concepts: immersion, and embodiment while contributes to clarity about the contextual and historical background that informed the research.

Designing and Facilitating Optimal LMS Student Learning Experiences

Higher education institutions seek to provide instructional opportunities that challenge students with a high level of academic rigor founded in a robust curriculum. Recognizing that learners are more diverse than ever before, and instructional formats are shifting away from traditional inperson learning experiences and toward online learning, it is clear that new technologies, delivery platforms, and pedagogies are required. Further, for online learning to be successful, both courses and the platforms on which they are hosted must not only meet institutional goals, but also serve the unique needs of students by providing online learning that is accessible and navigable as well as providing learners with relevant and personalized experiences. The authors aim to provide research-based practices to support stakeholders who are interested in techniques that translate to a more beneficial and accessible student experience in online learning and help instructors engineer their course design with artful, targeted purpose.

The motivations and criteria behind China's list of questionable journals

AbstractOn 31st December 2020, The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released a list of 65 international scientific journals, all of them indexed by the Web of Science, that were said to be potentially in conflict with academic rigour. The list immediately influenced the publication patterns of Chinese researchers. A year later, on 31st December 2021, CAS released a revised and reduced list of 35 questionable journals and said the publishers in the meantime had reacted constructively and improved the procedures of their journals. This study aims to provide an understanding of the motivations and criteria behind the list, partly by reviewing Chinese policy documents and public debates, partly with a quantitative analysis to detect the relative importance of the criteria used to select the journals for the list.

Producing Maka: Hybridisation and Dialogue in Academic Filmmaking

ABSTRACT Academic filmmaking has become a rich area of practice and inquiry, driving debates about academic rigour, affect, social impact, and knowledge production. While scholars have increasingly sought to expand their practice beyond strict, ‘academic' modes of filmmaking, little attention has been paid to the ways diverse approaches to film production may also offer opportunities for creative practice that extends beyond the academy. This article explores the production model underpinning Maka, a documentary biopic of Geneviéve Makaping and product of intensive collaboration between academic and industry-based filmmakers. Drawing on interviews with the film's producers, Graziano Chiscuzzu and Ermanno Guida, I explore Maka's status as a hybrid film, a dialogic project in which multiple positions and voices intersect. I trace the filmmakers’ negotiation of funding and prestige – from university grants to legitimation at film festivals – as well as their use of techniques such as retroscripting to cultivate a dialogic filmmaking process. I also discuss the ethos of social commitment that appears to unite both academic and documentary filmmaking, and explore avenues for expanding and measuring social impact through film distribution. I conclude that Maka offers an important case study of academic-industry hybridization, permitting further interrogation of the boundaries between the two spheres.

Using Controlled Environment Agriculture as a Platform for STEM‐Training

The purpose of this summer STEM Bridge initiative was to provide incoming first‐year university students with interdisciplinary STEM training using a Controlled Environment Agriculture hydroponic container farming tech platform coupled with soft skills and increased early access to the campus facilities. A pilot was conducted during the summer of 2021 on the La Sierra University campus. The two‐week collaborative experience included faculty from eight academic units including from Science, Humanities, and Business. We offered students experiments and projects from hydroponic basics, use of sensors and computer control systems, to developing sales presentations and business models. This approach introduced students to career pathways– many within STEM, centered around a tech platform capable of contributing to real‐world solutions to long‐standing community problems. We also emphasized the importance of inclusive representation in STEM, the importance of access, and of including all voices. Students developed a meaningful peer and faculty support system and as an additional benefit became familiar with how to navigate the campus culture. Preliminary results indicate the students felt their foundational understanding of the sciences improved after attending STEM Bridge. A portion of the students indicated a newly acquired desire to obtain a terminal STEM degree after attending STEM Bridge. Most of the students felt an increase in awareness of resources on campus to support them academically and knowledge of their way around campus. All students felt an increase in preparedness for the academic rigors of college life while most students reported feeling an increase in their ability to manage their time well after the program.

Prioritizing Black Language: Teacher Reflection Plus Action

Black Language in students’ lives can inform teacher practices for linguistic justice and affirmation while amplifying academic rigor.

Research performance of Australian and New Zealand marketing academics: Achieving rigor and relevance

Assessing academic performance is challenging and assessing academic performance that makes a contribution to society is especially challenging. Evaluations need to take into account academic rigor and the relevance of the work. We suggest relying on whether an article is published in an elite journal does not necessarily lead to a significant scientific contribution or practical relevance. Rather, to gain insight into a scientific contribution, academic rigor and relevance judgments have to be made as to the work’s contribution to discovering and verifying knowledge in the discipline and across disciplines. While qualitative judgments can be made, indicator-driven metrics play an important role in objective assessment and several citation metrics are readily available to assist in assessments. We suggest there is a need for a portfolio of performance indicators, as there is no one best measure of success. Different indicators highlight different aspects of performance, hence the portfolio approach. We conclude by outlining eight key areas that should be considered when making academic performance assessments.

Co-creating curricula with industry partners: A case study

The case study explores how a mid-sized business school in Australia co-created the curriculum in its Master of Human Resource Management program with industry partners in a bid to cope with tensions between academic rigor and industry relevance. Using a tensions theory lens, we identify other inherent tensions that the curriculum co-creation processes must cope with - tension between individuals and groups, between various stakeholders that inform curriculum design, and between the needs of experienced older versus less experienced younger students. Our analysis suggests that the rigor versus relevance debate is a false debate. We contribute to the management education literature by analyzing a curriculum development process with industry partners that produces learning outcomes that are both relevant and rigorous. The following factors were found necessary for effective curricula co-creation: support from senior management; capability to recruit suitable industry partners; effective leadership that manages emergent tensions; preparatory work to identify the level of industry involvement; processes that make it easier for industry partners to contribute; and importantly, strong relationships with executive champions from partner organizations. Finally, we propose a matrix that plots curriculum content along ‘organizational relevance’ and ‘theoretical abstraction’ axes to demonstrate the nature and effectiveness of industry involvement.

Health literacy and fear among Iranian medical students due to COVID-19: An observational study.

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease of the 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has created a sense of fear due to uncertainties in medical students’ personal and professional lives. Medical education is challenging and poses a more significant academic and emotional rigor when compared with other professional programs. With the COVID‐19 having limited treatment options, health literacy (HL) is crucial for managing and responding to the pandemic. This research aims to examine the impact of HL on COVID‐19‐associated fear among Iranian medical students.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was conducted measuring the HL and fear of COVID‐19 using validated scales. Two hundred and seventy‐eight survey responses were received and analyzed descriptively by using SPSS software inferential statistics.ResultsMean age of participants was 22.93 ± 5.427 years. The correlation between students’ total health literacy (HELIA) scores and their fear of COVID‐19 (FCV‐19S) scores was −0.279 (p value = .019). The FCV‐19S has a negative correlation with total HELIA in the group of females and males, single and married people, bachelor and MD students, and students living in rural areas and urban areas. The negative correlation of FCV‐19S with total HELIA in males and students who reside in rural areas was the only one that was not significant. In associate degree students, the correlation between FCV‐19S and total HELIA was positive but not significant. Education grades had a significant impact on FCV‐19S. Furthermore, the place of residence also had a significant impact on FCV‐19S. However, the gender and marital status did not significantly impact FCV‐19S.ConclusionsThe present study showed that students with higher HL scores had lesser fear of COVID‐19. The key stakeholders require several positive strategies to reduce fear and improve health, and such vital policies will assist in improving the students’ health and achieving the sustainable developmental goals.

Special issue editorial on emerging trends in internet of things for e‐health and medical supply chain systems

Special issue editorial on emerging trends in internet of things for e‐health and medical supply chain systems

Lot Smith: Mormon Pioneer and American Frontiersman

When I saw this book was by a mother-daughter team of relatives, I feared a biased, boring family narrative lacking academic rigor. But I learned, “you cannot judge a book by its cover.” This intricate work is carefully documented with scores of primary sources. To her credit, when Carmen Smith's husband passed away, she continued his research of Lot's life. When her health failed, her daughter Talana Hooper stepped in, noting, “I resolved to not allow all the love, sacrifice, and labor of my mother, father, and grandfather . . . to be wasted” (xi). This is a family affair, but to their credit, a gifted mother and daughter team tell a riveting story of the good, bad, and ugly in the life of Lot Smith.This work is laid out in a sequential manner moving from Smith's 1830 birth in a log cabin in Oswego County, New York, to his calculated death by Native Americans who coveted his Arizona land. But it does not read like a mundane chronological listing (though it does have a useful timeline in the appendices). From a fearless sixteen-year-old who enrolls in the Mormon Battalion to a sixty-two-year-old wounded warrior, Smith did not recoil. He is portrayed as brave and loyal at all times to church leaders who called him to the British Isles and the Arizona desert. Brigham Young viewed Smith as a courageous minuteman. Smith did not flinch when facing the U.S. military during the Utah War and rallied his men who were astonished by his nerve.Though quick to hoist a sword, these attributes proved to also be stumbling blocks. Where he had victories in battle, he sometimes failed in the home. At times his plural wives were dismayed by his behavior and two of his eight left him. Vignettes portray Smith's hot temper on several occasions. Once, two of his seven-year-old daughters had their heads “knocked together” for making noise during a family prayer (115). Smith had high expectations, and though loved and respected by his wives and children, at times it appears he was feared. Wilford Woodruff advised him, “And the woman righteously demands at your hands love, affection, and kind treatment, and it is not a weakness in a good man to manifest these principles to his wives & children” (172).Though the book's intention is to bring honor to Smith, I found it difficult to not be biased to some degree due to his flaws on how he treated his family. The authors left me with the thought that if I was drafted, I would have selected Smith as my companion. The writers provide a portrait of a nineteenth-century “son of thunder” who had the guts of Porter Rockwell and the courage of a modern-day David who did not fear any Goliath. Yet, because he was quick on the trigger and had a hot temper, I do not think I would have wanted to be his son.The book concludes with a contemporary's comment, “A mighty man was Brother Lot, a brave, daring pioneer and soldier” (237). Though he was loyal, dutiful, and showed compassion to the poor and the downtrodden, at times he was erratic and unpredictable. Like the mighty Little Colorado, his impetuous temper could not be stayed and at times flooded those around him. Neither Smith nor the river could be tamed though he left a course and a tale worth telling.

Washington View: Is education reform dead?

For the last 40 years, business leaders, philanthropists, and a host of nonprofit advocacy groups have pushed for higher standards, academic rigor, standardized testing, and newer models of educating children. But, today, some of these reformers are feeling disillusioned and believe that the investments intended to transform education and provide equity and excellence for all students have fallen short. Maria Ferguson speaks to representatives of the movement to get their impressions of the current state of education reform.

Developing a Technology-Based Classroom Assessment of Academic Reading Skills for English Language Learners and Teachers: Validity Evidence for Formative Use

In U.S. K-12 schools, adequate education of English language learner (EL) students, particularly to support their attainment of English language and literacy skills, has attracted heightened attention. The increased academic rigor as well as sophisticated disciplinary language demands embodied in current academic content standards have posed considerable challenges to EL students. To address students’ needs, the present study utilized formative assessment as a means to support the teaching and learning of academic reading skills for EL students. We also endeavored to test our underlying assumption that sound assessment tools would facilitate effective formative assessment processes. In this study, we devised a technology-based assessment tool considering the increasing use of technology in K-12 schools. As a small-scale, exploratory study, we examined the usability and validity of the tool for formative purposes with three ESL teachers and their students (62 EL students) from secondary schools. The results indicated that the tool had the potential to extend teachers’ and students’ formative assessment practices in principled ways. However, we also found some teachers’ misconceptions about the tool’s purpose and their limited implementation skills to utilize the tool for formative assessment purposes. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

RaGA and Tala of Research Productivity: A Study of Leading Business School in India

Research productivity at business schools is of interest to academicians, policy-makers, and other stakeholders. This study attempts to understand stratification in research productivity in a business school and explores the individual (rank, gender) and departmental (area of discipline) characteristics (RaGA), covering a dataset of 4,013 research outputs spanning the research themes (themes) of academic, practice-oriented, and pedagogic and (a la carte) (Tala) from 2011 to 2020. Theme-wise, the quantum and direction of research indicated that academic research > practice-oriented research > pedagogic development during 2010–2015 and 2015–2020. The major findings include: professors had higher per-capita productivity (PCP) across the themes, followed by assistant professors. In terms of a la carte, professors had higher PCP in scientific presentations/invited talks, books, chapters in books, articles in periodicals/dailies, and teaching cases. Assistant professors participated more in working papers and research projects. Associate professors had higher PCP in articles in academic journals and doctoral students advising. Female faculty fared well in academic research and male faculty in pedagogic development. Mixed trend was seen in practice-oriented research. Economic and social sciences outperformed other disciplinary areas in academic (working papers and scientific presentations) and practice-oriented research (research projects, books, chapters in books, and articles in dailies). Marketing, decision sciences, strategy, production, and operations management were better in pedagogic development. The higher production in articles in academic journals came from organization behavior, public policy, and production and operations management. This study has takeaways for policy-makers and emphasizes having a clear research agenda that can combine academic rigor with practice.

Differences between pre-k and kindergarten contexts and achievement across the kindergarten transition

Experiencing large differences between pre-k and kindergarten classroom contexts may affect children's academic development as they start school. This study examined differences between classroom contexts in pre-k and kindergarten (teacher-child interactions, time on academic content, and academic rigor) and associations with literacy, language, and math achievement in kindergarten fall and spring. 1498 children were followed from public pre-k through kindergarten (mean age = 52.8 months old at the start of pre-k, SD = 3.5). Children were ethnically and linguistically diverse (White = 7%, Black = 20%, Hispanic = 61%, Other = 12%; English at home = 21%, Spanish at home = 55%; other language at home = 24%). Piecewise growth modeling showed that experiencing a decrease in the quality of interactions or an increase in time on content or academic rigor was associated with lower than expected achievement in the fall of kindergarten but greater gains across the kindergarten year.

Chinese Poets Since 1949 ed. by Christopher Lupke and Thomas Moran

Reviewed by: Chinese Poets Since 1949 ed. by Christopher Lupke and Thomas Moran Frederik Green Christopher Lupke and Thomas Moran, eds. Chinese Poets Since 1949. Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 387. Detroit: Gale Cengage / Columbia, SC: Bruccoli Clark Layman, 2021. 461 p. Few reference works have accompanied me as reliably throughout my career—first as a student, then as a scholar and teacher—as Gale's Dictionary of Literary Biographies (DLB) series. With the publication in 2007 of Chinese Fiction Writers from 1900-1949 and in 2013 of Chinese Fiction Writers from 1950-2000, the DLB series finally paid tribute to the rich legacy of twentieth-century Chinese literature. These are still the most comprehensive and authoritative bibliographical reference works on modern Chinese-language novelists, and Editor Thomas E. Moran must have known that he had set the bar high for any subsequent volume dedicated to modern Chinese literature. With the publication of DLB # 387 Chinese Poets Since 1949, Co-editors Christopher Lupke and Thomas E. Moran have clearly risen to the challenge. Encompassing some forty-five poets who have all contributed in significant ways to the flowering of Chinese-language poetry in the second half of the twentieth- and the first two decades of the twenty-first centuries, [End Page 147] the tome under review impresses with its sheer breadth as well as its academic rigor. Clocking in at 461 pages, Chinese Poets Since 1949 is a behemoth that, at first sight, displays all the usual characteristics of the DLB series. Besides the elegantly written and thoroughly researched bibliographical essays by forty international scholars, it features a general introduction by the two co-editors, a comprehensive checklist of Further Readings, and a cumulative index to the entire DLB series. In addition to the conventional qualities of such a reference work, Chinese Poets Since 1949, upon closer inspection, reveals a host of unexpected treasures. Accompanied by a photograph of the poet discussed, each entry further includes reproductions of a wide variety of documents, ranging from select book covers and dust jackets to handwritten manuscripts, such as pages from poems by Aku Wuwu (11) or Ling Yu (92). The entry for poet-painter Yan Li reproduces a painting by the artist (229), while the one for Lü De'an includes a photo of the mountain dwelling that the poet painstakingly built himself and which, according to Paul Manfredi, is "a kind of sweeping analogy for Lü's writing process writ large" (99). The general introduction further replicates covers from key literary journals such as Lanxing Shikan (Blue Star Poetry Journal) and Jintian (Today). These documents, painstakingly assembled from various archives across the world or made available courtesy of the authors or contributors, thus provide valuable additional clues to understanding the production, dissemination, consumption, and reception of Chinese-language poetry since the mid-twentieth century. Most users will probably treat Chinese Poets Since 1949 as a reference work to be consulted when researching one or more modern Chinese-language poets, and it excels beautifully at this function. Each essay begins with a complete list of the featured author's Chinese-language poetry books, editions and translations in English, and other relevant publications and concludes with a reference section. Sometimes in collections that incorporate a large number of contributors, the quality of entries varies greatly, but not in this case. All forty-five essays are solidly researched, well written, and complete in their presentation of bibliographical information. This consistently high academic quality throughout is the result of the two co-editors' feat of assembling a veritable who's who in the field of English-language [End Page 148] scholarship on modern Chinese language poetry. Based at universities in the US, Europe, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia, all are established scholars (and in most cases translators) of modern Chinese poetry, and many have been instrumental in introducing one or more of the authors discussed to readers in the West. While each entry exhibits great academic rigor and attention to detail, the approach contributors have taken in presenting their respective poets' biographies varies somewhat. All include at least some examples of poetry in translation to complement the theoretical and socio-historical contextualization of the given...

Evaluating School Profiles to Determine Risk for Teen Suicide

Objective: In this study, we examined characteristics and school contexts to identify profiles of schools at highest risk for suicide in Cincinnati, Ohio and the surrounding geographic area. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study supplemented by context analysis. Adolescent data included total psychiatric-related pediatric emergency department encounters, psychiatricrelated inpatient admissions, and suicide encounters/admissions aggregated to school level. School factors included type, size, geographic location, academic rigor, existence of a mental health partner, and culture of suicide prevention efforts at the school. Results: Using a k-means cluster analysis, 173 schools were sorted into 4 distinct clusters based on based on patient data linked to schools. A context analysis of the 25 highest risk schools revealed general patterns of low academic achievement measures, limited mental health partnership, and poor suicide prevention ratings. Conclusions: These findings suggest that schools which already reflect limited access to resources are the same ones disparately at higher risk for suicide in our geographic area. The variation of atrisk suicidality factors across schools suggests the need for tailored suicide prevention interventions specific to school characteristics and context.

Editors’ Note and Prologue

Editors’ Note and Prologue