Academic Sense Research Articles

From mass marketing to personalized digital marketing in tourism: a 2050 horizon paper

Purpose The academic background of tourism marketing dates back to the 1960s. There had been a slight increase in its capacity until the early 1990s. However, since then, it has boomed, reaching thousands of scientific journal articles and tens of scientific books published only in English each year. Therefore, this study aims to present how tourism marketing has progressed academically within the past 60 years over four waves and how this progress may move forward as the next wave. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric analysis grounds this study, which characterizes the past and present of tourism marketing research and anticipates the future. Content analysis, such as word clouds and social network analysis, was adopted to identify topic clusters and their connections. A total of 9,239 articles published between 1969 and 2024 were extracted from Scopus. Software packages such as VOSviewer were used to determine connections within topics. Findings The authors have assessed the findings broadly. Four waves were from the late 1960s to the first quarter of 2000. In spite of the limited size of papers at the early stage, the last wave saw a boom and a diversified number and category of subjects studied. In each wave, new subjects were added to broaden the picture. Research limitations/implications The discussion of findings is based only on those scientific papers published in English since 1969 but excludes the whole list of textbooks. Subsequent research should also consider all papers and textbooks released in different languages to have the broadest picture assessment worldwide. Practical implications The study conveys various suggestions for industry practitioners and policymakers to focus on carefully assessing trends in marketing tourism services and how these may be shaped shortly. This may help practitioners and policymakers redesign their services and marketing strategies in light of future developments. Originality/value This study continues a recent study published by Kozak (2023) that has been elaborated, particularly from the industry perspective. The current study examines the academic profile of all subjects investigated in the case of tourism marketing, but mainly in an academic sense. Accordingly, this paper outlines the facts and trends researchers may follow throughout the research frame published in the past six decades.

The promises and expectations of ILSAs regarding policymaking: lessons from Latin America

ABSTRACT Standardised International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) have gained prominence in global and national educational discussions. ILSAs claim to offer valuable insights for improving education systems, but their impact on educational policy varies and has become a contested arena. This article analyses how these assessments fed educational policymaking in six Latin American countries based on a review of policy documents; the article advances three theses on how ILSAs are used by policymakers: First, there is a tokenistic usage of ILSAs; second, ILSAs must be considered more as political devices bolstering national reputation rather than studies in the academic sense; third, ILSAs can serve as leverage tools that can be mobilised for broader political ends. The study shows that the promises, designs and reporting of ILSAs are not necessarily aligned, that participation in ILSAs has become a symbolic gesture, and that ILSAs’ data are often cherry-picked to support pre-existing diagnoses and policy agendas.

Rethinking risk management in times of crisis: the effect of COVID-19 on small and medium-sized enterprises in Scotland

PurposeThe Scottish economy was experiencing steady growth prior the hit of the COVID-19, with the pandemic causing the government to announce extreme lockdown measures with unprecedented impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Whilst some of the industry sectors in Scotland took a lighter hit, a large part of the organizations had to either adapt or completely disrupt their business. An essential aspect of their survival, risk management (RM) was among the areas requiring the most significant acceleration. This study compared the RM practices implemented by Scottish SMEs prior and after the outbreak as well as examined the attitudes of key decision-makers in the SMEs in relation to risk, including their perceived readiness for another crisis of similar significance.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey based on ISO 31000 RM guidelines was distributed to 232 Scottish SMEs. Based on the official government reports and existing knowledge on how SMEs around the world have handled crisis events within the past 20 years, the authors developed the hypothesis that crisis events significantly accelerate SMEs' RM implementation. Around 13 items were tested in relation to the hypothesis and responses were tested via two-tailed T-test to establish significant statistical difference.FindingsThe research provides insight into the current state of risk management practices implemented by Scottish SMEs. As expected, SMEs showed significant difference in their RM implementation prior and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Whilst this has been viewed as a positive, motivations, priorities and approaches in managing risk demonstrated by the SMEs is questionable with views to their sustainable long-term recovery. The study highlights the lack of confidence instilled within the SMEs that they can handle another crisis of similar significance and provides directions for further investigation and improvements with the aim of helping the SMEs prepare better to mitigate the consequences of future crisis events.Originality/valueIn academic sense, the study offers a tested universal framework and a detailed questionnaire for assessment of RM strategy, applicable to organisations of various type, size and geography. Several implications with regards to managerial practices have been highlighted, including the neglect of the SMEs’ own internal environments and its significance in their risk strategies, the predominantly reactive approach to RM displayed by most Scottish SMEs as well as the neglect of compliance risk leading to potential quality and customer satisfaction issues preventing SMEs from full post-crisis recovery.

Bilişim Destekli Hibrit Eğitim Modellemesinin Açık ve Uzaktan Öğrenme Sistemlerinde Kullanımı

Hybrid education (hybrid education) is the name given to distance education by using the possibilities of technology to eliminate time-and space-related obstacles to traditional face-to-face education. The history of this education, more commonly known as distance education, dates back to the 1700s. Due to the inadequacy and slowness of the postal services of that day, he could not be healthy and orderly. the curative studies carried out in 1892 began to make academic sense in 1943 when the American army took over distance education for individuals. The term distance education, which was first mentioned in the University of Wisconsin's catalog in 1892, was also used for the first time in an article written by William Lighty in 1906. Later, this term was introduced by the German educator Otto Peters in the 1960s and 1970s in Germany using the concept of fernunterricht and applied in France under the name of distance education. Distance education is an environment in which someone who is away from the learner in terms of time and space performs systematic learning in order to communicate bilaterally using different types of media. When they compared distance education technologies with traditional face-to-face learning, there was no difference in achievement between broadcasting the courses on television and taking them face-to-face. Dec. Similarly, the success of students taking courses in interactive classes was similar to that of students in traditional classes. Off-campus students have been more successful than on-campus students because the course materials have been prepared better and more regularly and clearly. Secondly, students who received off-campus education showed shorter learning because they learned in sequential parts, from simple to complex, in a more sequential manner. However, students on campus were able to receive more direct and face-to-face support. Key Words: Informatics, Hybrid Education, Open and Distance Learning

Examination of the Relationship Between the Virtual Bullying Awareness Levels and Communication Skills of Primary School Teachers

Cyberbullying is by an individual or a group by using resources such as e-mail, smart phone, pagers, short message services (SMS) and websites, Information and Communication technologies in order to harm a person; intentional, repetitive hostile behavior. When the literature is examined; it is seen that cyberbullying behaviors are carried out with the aim of intentionally harming, peer pressure, negative family-friendship relations, aggression, taking revenge for harming, and making the target person do an action that they do not want to do. According to the results of a study in which the percentage of performing cyberbullying behaviors was determined; According to the results of the study conducted with 160 adolescents between the ages of 14-18 in Türkiye; it has been determined that the rate of exposure to cyberbullying of young people is 83% and the severity of this rate is emphasized. When the negative effects of cyberbullying on the psychology of individuals, especially young people, are examined in the long term, depression and depression, fear and/or embarrassment of people, a constantly warned state, avoiding virtual environments and technology, avoiding responsibility, use of addictive harmful substances, negative behaviors such as being away from school draw attention. Communicating with other stakeholders in education (such as school administrators, class-branch teachers, guidance teachers, families) in order to prevent children and/or young people from being exposed to the stated negative effects of cyberbullying and in this context, it is foreseen that the collaborative work to be carried out between the stakeholders can be important and effective in terms of problem solving. Awareness behaviors such as supporting students to receive safe education in an academic sense, encouraging children and young people to use the internet safely, controlling the sites and shares that children visit, and drawing attention to abnormal and aggressive behaviors they display while using technology will support the prevention of cyberbullying. In this context, determining the cyberbullying awareness levels of the specified stakeholders and organizing trainings by the relevant institutions and organizations within the scope of the findings will contribute to raising the awareness of the stakeholders on this issue. In the light of all these, the aim of this study is to determine the cyberbullying awareness levels of primary school teachers and to associate it with the dependent variable of communication skills proficiency levels. In order to serve this purpose, research was conducted with a total of 154 teachers working in primary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Kars Türkiye. As a method in the research, mix method was used and the findings related to various statistical tests were revealed. It is predicted that the findings obtained in the study will contribute to the literature and researchers in order to raise awareness of cyberbullying to education stakeholders.

A commentary on the New Urban Agenda

The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted at Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, which was held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. This paper is informed in large measure by the resulting documentation on the so-called ‘Quito Declaration’ and accompanying ‘Implementation Plan’ set out in the official NUA publications prepared by UN Habitat, as well as drawing on various supporting documents prepared by other UN agencies in the wake of the Declaration. The Implementation Plan lists 175 commitments and principles that respond to the vision and ambitions in the Declaration in which the building of more resilient urban settlements and supporting infrastructure is implicitly seen as the pathway to sustainability, and the adoption of more climate-friendly urban planning and development protocols is therefore a priority. While such ambition is clearly laudable, the paper questions the efficacy of the Agenda’s key principles and associated development guidelines, and asks if these are sufficiently detailed to inform policy makers in pursuit of its aspirations, as well as questioning their flexibility as implementation tools to accommodate geographically specific contextual differences in disparate urban settings. It is not therefore a research paper in the normally accepted academic sense, but is simply an essay-cum-commentary on the Agenda’s progress as it seeks to promote good practice in urban planning, and whether this is likely to deliver on more sustainable development that is also responsive to climate change imperatives.

Marketing Strategy of New Energy Vehicles: A Case Study of Ford and Audi Sports based on Marketing 4p Theory

The background of this paper is based on the worldwide improvement of the traditional automotive industry in response to the environmental degradation and energy crisis. The research question is since new energy vehicles are entering the market with a new concept, how traditional car companies will pre-empt the market share through marketing strategies, and how they will face the challenges of new energy companies. The research significance of this paper is based on marketing guidelines and two new energy vehicle case studies, hoping to give market reference to some traditional car companies in the market that have to transform due to global environmental policies or car companies that have been working on new energy vehicle development. Also, to improve the efficiency of the use of new energy vehicle enterprise marketing resources so that the use of enterprise resources maximizes efficiency. Based on the marketing strategies of different car companies, it is hoped to give them and the car companies some ways to grab market share. It is also hoped that this paper will provide some ideas and references in an academic sense to companies and individuals studying marketing programs for new energy vehicles. This thesis uses a case study research method to explore the marketing strategy of the automotive industry for new energy vehicles to give the rest of the market car companies for market reference and competitive product analysis. The study concludes that the 4P marketing theory can still help both traditional and new car companies' new energy vehicles to earn the purchasing power of users in the market.

Faith of Our Fathers: A Brief History of Catholic Traditionalism in the United States, From Triumph to Traditionis Custodes by Stuart Chessman

Reviewed by: Faith of Our Fathers: A Brief History of Catholic Traditionalism in the United States, From Triumph to Traditionis Custodes by Stuart Chessman William Dinges Faith of Our Fathers: A Brief History of Catholic Traditionalism in the United States, From Triumph to Traditionis Custodes. By Stuart Chessman. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2022. 138pp. $17.95. In July of 2021 Pope Francis released Traditionis Custodes (TC), a motu proprio that, while not a complete suppression of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (Latin Tridentine Mass [LTM]), nevertheless restored the status quo ante. The document abrogated the earlier norms, instructions, and permissions of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI and made usage of the LTM much more difficult. Owing to pastoral concerns along with pressure from the traditionalist consecration threats of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Pope John Paul II re-instated the LTM in 1984, although under strictly controlled conditions. In 2007, Pope Benedict gave what amounted to carte blanche approval for the LTM by way of his apostolic letter, Summorum Pontificum (SP). Pope Francis’s 2021 directive followed a survey of the world’s bishops indicating that use of the LTM had been “exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences and encourage disagreements,” all of which exposed the church to the “peril of division.” Are Catholicism’s neuralgic “liturgical wars” now at an end? Think again. Stuart Chessman’s short-order history echoes other traditionalist publications promoting restoration of the LTM to its “full integral expression,” while deprecating the Second Vatican Council, pillaring Pope Francis, and bemoaning the post conciliar church’s alleged “path of destruction.” Although clearly written, Faith of Our Fathers hardly passes as a history of traditionalism in any academic sense of the term. The coverage is a grab-bag of personal reflections on the blog of the [End Page 87] Society of St. Hugh of Cluny of which the author is a “leader.” The narrative consists of ten short chapters (blogs) and an appendix with several select documents expressing previous episcopal concerns surrounding use of the LTM, requirements for meeting the 1984 indult Mass stipulations, along with a short bibliography of traditionalist sources. Footnotes are sparse, unsubstantiated generalizations abound, and the author’s focus is confined to East Coast traditionalist activities, although peppered with occasional references to similar efforts abroad. Overall, Chessman gets things right regarding the enduring—and growing—interest in the LTM, especially among some younger laity and clergy alike. He correctly observes SP’s role in vindicating the LTM restorationist cause and correctly notes how social media and the blogosphere have amplified these efforts. Chessman also acknowledges Archbishop Lefebvre’s early role in pressuring the Vatican’s reinstating the LTM. He also attests to the way Pope Francis’s papacy has alienated conservative Catholics whose earlier initiatives weighed heavily toward upholding papal authority. Chessman acknowledges traditionalism’s aspirations beyond “saving the Mass,” notably the movement’s push for a full and “integral” expression of Catholicism. He notes the negative impact of the corona virus on the spread of traditionalism, infighting among traditionalists themselves, and the fact that TC will likely further intensify liturgical conflict. As with other traditionalist literature, Faith of Our Fathers draws no attention to the historical location of traditionalist Catholic dissent within America’s contemporary polarized environment, especially regarding the affinities between right-wing religion in general and the attendant concerns over globalist agendas, the woke establishment, the Great Reset, conspiracy theories, and an array of tropes surrounding what has allegedly been lost or stolen from our cultural, social, and political past—in this case, the LTM. Nor is there any serious discussion of the theological and ecclesial implications of a movement claiming the high ground of Catholic orthodoxy while simultaneously rejecting in one manner or another what the church understands as the reform imperative of a Holy Spirit-inspired ecumenical council. Faith of our Fathers would be of limited help in classroom settings with students who had little or no background knowledge of the traditionalist phenomenon and its various mutations since Vatican II. The book should, however, be on the radar of those tracking Catholicism’s liturgical wars, or of anyone doubting Pope Francis’s concern...

A Network Analysis-Driven Sequential Mediation Analysis of Students' Perceived Classroom Comfort and Perceived Faculty Support on the Relationship between Teachers' Cognitive Presence and Students' Grit-A Holistic Learning Approach.

The interaction between teachers and students is critical to the learning process. Student success and learner satisfaction have consistently improved in educational situations where instructors and students connect frequently and meaningfully. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, as well as the sense of belonging concept, have received a significant amount of attention from researchers investigating online learning since its debut. The current study focuses on the CoI framework in general, and in particular on studies on teaching, social, and cognitive presences in connection to students' feeling of belonging and grit enhancement. This research investigated the opinion of 310 students at the Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad regarding their satisfaction with their teachers' presences, their academic sense of belonging, and their grit. Our methodology followed an innovative approach. First, we employed a network analysis on all subscales' mean scores, and then we performed a sequential mediation analysis based on both the network analysis results and the conclusions from the literature review. We tested whether students' perceived classroom comfort and perceived faculty support sequentially mediated the relationship between teacher's cognitive presence and students' grit. According to the scientific literature, teacher's cognitive presence consists of four fundamental categories: triggering events, exploration, integration, and resolution, which specifically the validation of knowledge by cooperation and reflection in a community of inquiry. We further tested if sense of belonging might mediate the relationship between teachers' cognitive presence and students' grit. The results show that students' perceived classroom comfort and perceived faculty support partially and significantly sequentially mediate the relationship between teachers' cognitive presence triggering events and students' grit. The results are then further used to suggest possible recommendations for designing holistic learning environments in Romanian higher education institutions.

English-major students’ construction of academic sense of belonging: A metaphoric exploration

Academic belongingness plays a pivotal role in students' academic and career success, as well as their overall well-being. Nonetheless, the construction of academic belongingness by English-major university students has largely remained under-explored. In this qualitative study, we attempted to explore the formation of the academic sense of belonging by senior English-major students by focusing on their lived experiences. The participants of the study were 24 Iranian females studying English Literature at three accredited state universities in Tehran, Iran. The analysis of the data collected through in-depth interviews and reflective writings highlighted four key components as contributors to the formation of these English-senior students’ academic sense of belonging. They were categorized as “strings of social relationships,” “self-concept,” “curricular content,” and “societal perspectives.” Each component will be expounded upon using an orchestral metaphor. We hope the findings would have implications for policy and practice in higher education, particularly in supporting the academic belongingness of English-major students. Understanding the experiences and challenges of English-major students' academic belongingness can help curriculum developers and instructors to design more inclusive institutional curricula as well as supportive environments that promote their hope, success, and overall well-being.

LITERATURE OF EMIGRATION. EXPERIENCE OF HISTORICAL PROSE IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN CULTURE

Historical novel, as a special genre formation born of Romanticism, has become an artistic tool for the reproduction of the past, its discovery and invention. Historical prose is the literary space where two worldview narrative strategies intersect, overlap, and sometimes collide: these are history that (in its academic sense) seeks to recreate the ‘true past’, and literature, which is a particular representation and development of the world. Historical prose of Ukrainian emigration appears as a fairly integral literary and aesthetic phenomenon during two interwar decades of the 20th century and ends at the border of the 1990s — aft er Ukraine gained its independence. For nations that lost their statehood, the return of the past, its glorification is an important means of forming national identity and self-consciousness. The historical novel of the Ukrainian emigration is a relentless attempt to root its next generations in the national tradition of collective memory.
 In general, for societies in which the state tradition has been interrupted, historical prose can be an essential factor in restoring / maintaining national memory, as well as a means of creating national myths, projecting the past into modern problems of a stateless nation, and preserving national traditions. The historical prose of the Ukrainian emigration was actually focused on these aims, taking responsibility for the nationalist and philosophic perspective rooted in the past in order to preserve and increase it in the future. The aspiration and experience of Ukrainian emigration in other countries carries a number of tasks that it set for itself. Th ese were, in particular, the preservation of the native language, culture, and creative activity, including historical prose on the themes prohibited in the mainland literature, the formation of the strategy of collective memory through historical prose.

Creating Belonging in a Changing World: Moves to Refashion the Higher Education Context by Making Space Online for Inclusion, Care, and Connectedness

During the lockdown, while the online delivery of the curriculum was prioritised in ‘saving’ the academic year within higher education, little published literature reported on how lecturers can connect with students emotionally within the virtual space. The online environment can be developed to establish a connection between the students and the lecturer, thereby creating a space of belonging for undergraduates. The affective domain is linked to academic success. This study shows how the online space can establish a sense of trust between the lecturer and students, and how this space supports students to express any vulnerabilities, in the emotional and academic sense. Activities designed by the lecturer were provided weekly, online, over six weeks for a class of 522 first-year biology students. Students voluntarily responded and the lecturer provided follow-up and feedback each week to connect with students in a social space and provide support for their cognitive development. When lecturers create a space for belonging in first years, students are more open to the communication of their cognitive needs.

MOPSO TABANLI LQG SERVO KONTROL YAKLAŞIMI İLE ARAÇ ÜZERİNDE KONUMLU TERS SARKACIN KONTROLÜ

The Inverted Pendulum, located on the vehicle, is widely used in the academic sense for the application of various control methods and comparison of their performance. An unstable and non-linear Inverted Pendulum is sensitive and fragile to system disturbances and measurement noises. Exposure to disturbances and sensor measurement noise adversely affects the performance of control systems and causes a decrease in control quality. One of the methods used as a solution to the mentioned problem is the control design method known as Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG), which is a combination of Kalman Filter and LQR control.
 
 In this study, for the Inverted Pendulum located on the vehicle, which is exposed to system disturbances and sensor noise, while the vehicle carrying the pendulum follows a given reference, the pendulum is required to maintain its unstable vertical equilibrium position. System disturbances and sensor noises are chosen as Gaussian White Noise. LQG servo control approach is adopted to provide reference tracking and maintain stability around the balance point. It is necessary to optimize the performance of the controller to be used in order to best meet the control requirements. For this purpose, the performance criterion weight matrices for the LQI block within the LQG servo controller have been optimized with the help of the Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (MOPSO).

Translingual English discrimination: loss of academic sense of belonging, the hiring order of things, and students from the Global South

Abstract Global North settings such as Australia are an attractive option for prospective students from the Global South to undertake tertiary studies. Using Linguistic Ethnography, we investigate the experiences that postgraduate students from the Global South have when studying in Australian university settings, to understand how translingual English discrimination affects them. We find that many students from the Global South encounter situations of translingual English discrimination, which affect their academic sense of belonging and the hiring order of things. Being penalised for their linguistic practises in their assignment work, or being provided with unclear and insufficient information during the early stages of their studies can both result in a loss of sense of academic belonging. These students may also be affected by the hiring order of things through additional barriers in gaining university employment due to perceptions that they have linguistic, work experience and qualification shortcomings, despite strong evidence to the contrary. We outline the implications of these forms of translingual English discrimination and recommend institutional changes to address these discriminatory actions.

Multi-Tone Piano Transcription Based on Visualization and Knowledge Recognition Algorithm

Scientific computing visualization is also known as visualization. In an academic sense, visualization is a way of computing. It can convert data into intuitive geometric images, making it easier to understand. Visualization is the use of computer graphics and image processing techniques. It is a technical means to convert piles of seemingly disorganized data into graphics or images through special computer methods. Recording is the process of recording sound signals on a medium. Specifically, it is the process of converting sound into electrical signals through microphones and amplifiers and recording them with different materials and techniques. Piano tuning is the adjustment of the strings so that they reach a certain high pitch. This paper aims to study the analysis and evaluation of multi-tone piano transcriptions based on scientific computing visualization and knowledge recognition algorithms. It expects to improve the quality of piano recording with the support of scientific visualization technology and knowledge recognition algorithm. This paper briefly explains the big data, and on this basis, the visual data mining technology is mentioned, and the current situation in the visual data mining is explained. A matrix calculation of the characteristic matrix of piano timbres was carried out to achieve the resynthesis of the 25th harmony in piano timbres electronically. The results of the trials in this article demonstrate that when the Gaussian number changes to 5 during the recording process, the difference that exists of the acoustic voltage intensity and the noise level phase is clearly diminished. When the Gauss figure is 10, there is an inversion of the value of the sound pressure phase.

“I Just Didn’t Feel like a Student Anymore:” Student Responses to Emergency Distance Learning

ABSTRACT This paper describes the results of surveys and interviews from over 1800 students in five large STEM classes at a research university when classes abruptly moved online for spring quarter 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine how students’ expectations compared to their realities at the end of the quarter; what factors impacted their spring 2020 quarter; and students’ academic sense of belonging, self-efficacy, cost of engagement, and effort regulation in spring 2020. We contextualize students’ experiences of emergency distance learning (EDL) through quantitative comparisons to previous quarters, open survey responses, and interviews. We also examine heterogeneity with respect to race/ethnicity, gender, first-generation college students, and students from low-income families. We find that there are reasons to expect increased achievement gaps post-EDL, but we also find examples of resiliency and improved self-regulated learning that will be life-long assets for students. Our goal in this paper is to use exploratory findings from one particular context to help identify potential ways to disrupt the reproduction and deepening of educational inequality exacerbated by the crisis, and educational opportunities in these unconventional times.

Reconceptualizing Empowerment and Autonomy: Ethnographic Narratives from a Self Help Group in South India

The paper revisits academics’ conceptualisations of women empowerment as stopping short of autonomy. It departs from the general observation that women empowerment movements by and large have failed to translate the new agency of women outside the domains of socio-economy; that women empowerment movements’ capacity to re-engage with patriarchal structures and ideologies is seriously contained. Through an ethnography of Kudumbashree, an SHG in the South Indian state of Keralam, we question the neat distinctions between empowerment and autonomy that prevail in the academic common sense. The transition of agency from the economic to the political domain is a subtle enterprise and is mediated by a number of factors, including the awareness, economic independence, personal freedom, mobility, decision making capability, and political participation. Socio-economic and political implications of women empowerment could be the first step in challenging and overcoming the relations of oppression in any society. The stereotypical assumptions can be negotiated by solely apportioning responsibilities and re-engaging with the system through everyday practices. The ethnography rearticulates the subversive potentials of socio-economic forms of women empowerment. The nuances of empowered women’s re-engagement with local gender/power regimes lead to changes at the conceptual level that cuts beyond the individual and group level material transformations.

Debunking the myth of high achievers in Finnish primary teacher education: first-year preservice teachers’ learning strategies and study success

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore the admitted students of Finnish primary teacher education programmes from the viewpoint of learning strategies, and academic success. An overall view was derived from national register data, which were supplemented with questionnaire data gathered from three teacher education units (N = 216). Primary teacher programmes currently seem to attract and select mediocre secondary school graduates from academic perspective, contrary to previous studies. Furthermore, women enter the programmes with higher exam scores than men and have more success in their studies. Based on their learning strategies, students were divided into subgroups of deep and independent learners, and reproductive and support-dependent learners. Previous study success was positively associated with first-year study success. It is important for teacher educators to acknowledge that the students are rather mediocre in the academic sense, even reproductive and lacking regulation skills, and thus might need support in developing into professional learners.

“Critique is not a verb”: is peer review stifling the dialogue in disaster scholarship?

PurposeIn this position piece, the authors will reflect on some of their recent experiences with the peer-review process in disaster studies and show how debate can so easily be stifled. The authors write it as a plea for healthy academic argumentative discussion and intellectual dialogue that would help all of us to refine our ideas, respect others’ ideas and learn from each other.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide reflection on our own experiences. All the examples here are based on the anonymous (double-blinded) peer reviews that the authors have received in the past two years in response to papers submitted to disaster-related journals.FindingsThe authors show that the grounds for rejection often have nothing to do with the rigour of the research but are instead based on someone's philosophy, beliefs, values or opinions that differ from that of the authors, and which undermine the peer-review process.Research limitations/implicationsThere is so much potential in amicable and productive disagreements, which means that we can talk together – and through this, we can learn. Yet, the debate in its purest academic sense is a rare beast in disaster scholarship – largely because opposing views do not get published.Originality/valueThe authors call for ideological judgement and self-interest to be put aside when peers' work is reviewed – and for intellectual critique to be used in a productive way that would enhance rather than stifle scholarship.

COMO FORMADORES DE PROFESSORES DE MATEMÁTICA SE TORNAM INVESTIGADORES DA DOCÊNCIA

ABSTRACT: This study is part of a set of investigations that focus on professionals who work in the education of teachers in order to understand their need to acquire new types of experience and knowledge when they assume the position of teacher educators. In this paper, we present an interpretation of how Mathematics teacher educators become researchers of teaching through the trajectories of their lives and education. The study was developed according to the principles of narrative inquiry. Data were produced from dialogical in-depth interviews, with a biographical-narrative aspect, carried out individually with six participants, Higher Education professors who, in their work, are committed to the education of Mathematics teachers and to teaching, from which they carry out their investigations and produce knowledge-of-practice. The analytic-interpretative process, through proper narrative analysis, sought to establish an understanding of the participants' professional development experiences. The results indicate that the teacher educators have established expertise concerning research, which is not limited to investigation in the traditional academic sense, since it takes place in their dialogue with teaching—their own and that of other teachers—both in Mathematics teaching and in the education of teachers who work in the teaching of this subject. The teachers have become researchers of teaching, producing knowledge of the practices of teaching Mathematics and training teachers.