Case Study Lessons Research Articles

Variable Support and Opposition to Fuels Treatments for Wildfire Risk Reduction: Melding Frameworks for Local Context and Collaborative Potential

AbstractFuels reduction projects are an increasing focus of policy, funding, and management actions aimed at reducing wildfire risk to human populations while improving landscape health. This research used in-depth interviews to explore variable support or opposition to three fuels-reduction projects occurring in the same region of north central Washington State, USA. Results indicate that differential support or opposition to each project stemmed from a unique combination of social factors operating in each locality (e.g., past history with fuels treatments, values for public land, environmental advocacy networks), the relationships that local populations had with agency members conducting each treatment, and the ways that managers engaged populations in the design of each treatment. We used existing frameworks for understanding collaborative potential/environmental conflict and for documenting the influence of local social context on adaptive wildfire actions to help explain emergent lessons about support or opposition to each project.

Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Federalism

Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Federalism

Animal Behaviour Case Study Lessons in Communication, Migration, and Parental Care Using the Jigsaw Approach

Animal behaviour courses integrate concepts across biological disciplines and are particularly well suited for collaborative, student-focused teaching strategies. Case Studies can positively impact students by placing their learning in context while providing an opportunity to do quick research and have rich discussions with both their peers and instructional team. Case Studies can also enrich the learning environment and help to produce a safe, collaborative space for asking questions and developing critical thinking skills. Here we describe three Case Study lesson plans using the Jigsaw approach that allows students to explore animal communication, migration, and parental care. Each Case Study includes 16 primary literature summaries on four different animal groups. In the Jigsaw approach, students are first sorted into four “expert groups” where they receive primary literature summaries exploring proximate and ultimate approaches to a specific animal’s behaviour (e.g., neurobiology, physiology, genetics, and evolution). One student from each “expert group” (e.g., ants, birds, etc.) then joins and shares their group’s knowledge in a “jigsaw group.” By the end of each lesson, students will have read one primary literature article summary, prepared and delivered an oral brief, and summarized and then presented their expert group’s findings to the new Jigsaw group members. Through this collaborative peer-to-peer learning activity, students gain skills in interpreting, analyzing and synthesizing scientific literature. They also have the opportunity to practice communicating scientific findings effectively and concisely, sharing how animal behaviour is studied, and explaining how behaviour is influenced by both proximate and ultimate factors.

Application of Systems-Approach in Modelling Complex City-Scale Transdisciplinary Knowledge Co-Production Process and Learning Patterns for Climate Resilience

Literature shows that much research has been conducted on the co-production of climate knowledge, but it has neither established a standardized and replicable model for the co-production process nor the emergent learning patterns as collaborators transition from the disciplinary comfort-zone (disciplinary and practice biases) to the transdisciplinary third-space. This study combines algorithmic simulation modelling and case study lessons from Learning Labs under a 4-year (2016–2019) climate change management project called Future Resilience of African CiTies and Lands in the City of Blantyre in Malawi. The study fills the research gap outlined above by applying a systems-approach to replicate the research process, and a Markov process to simulate the learning patterns. Results of the study make a number of contributions to knowledge. First, there are four distinct evolutionally stages when transitioning from the disciplinary comfort-zone to the transdisciplinary third-space, namely: Shock and resistance to change; experimenting and exploring; acceptance; and integration into the third-space. These stages are marked by state probabilities of the subsequent stages relative to the initial (disciplinary comfort-zone) state. A complete transition to the third-space is marked by probabilities greater than one, which is a system amplification, and it signifies that there has been a significant increase in learning among collaborating partners during the learning process. Second, a four-step decision support tool has been developed to rank the plausibility of decisions, which is very hard to achieve in practice. The tool characterizes decision determinants (policy actors, evidence and knowledge, and context), expands the determinants, checks what supports the decision, and then rates decisions on an ordinal scale of ten in terms of how knowledge producers and users support them. Third, for a successful transdisciplinary knowledge co-production, researchers should elucidate three system-archetypes (leverage points), namely: Salient features for successful co-production, determinant of support from collaborators, and knowledge co-production challenges. It is envisioned that academics, researchers, and policy makers will find the results useful in modelling and replicating the co-production process in a methodical and systemic way while solving complex climate resilience development problems in dynamic, socio-technical systems, as well as in sustainably mainstreaming the knowledge co-produced in policies and plans.

Using perceptions to examine human responses to blanket bans: The case of the thresher shark landing-ban in Sri Lanka

Species-specific bans are increasingly being implemented to stem loss of vulnerable marine species, but there is a paucity of evaluative research into resulting socio-economic and ecological consequences. In 2012, a blanket ban on landing Alopiidae (thresher) sharks was introduced in Sri Lanka. We used fisher perceptions, shown to influence support and compliance with conservation policies, to examine human responses. Data, gathered over a ten-month period in 2019 from focus groups and informal engagement during site visits, suggest support for the ban was lowest amongst fishers who perceived negative social consequences to be higher. Perceptions were also undermined by feelings of poor engagement from institutions and a lack of ecological necessity. The ban appears effective in halting targeted fisheries; however, persistent bycatch was reported by fishers. Further, bycatch appears to be widely unrecorded partly owing to mistrust and confusion amongst fishers. Occasional illegal landings were reported, seemingly motivated by interlinked factors such as good economic returns for thresher meat and high vessel running costs. The potential severity and inequity in social consequences stemming from blanket bans was highlighted, particularly when bycatch and targeted fisheries co-exist. Case study lessons are translated into a checklist containing key questions, designed to aid policy-makers to assess data provision and needs prior to introducing bans. Increasing data provision could enhance the capability of policies to predict and adapt to human behavioural responses, a key requirement considering continuing global declines in sharks despite increasing conservation effort.

9.G. Workshop: Evaluation of scale-up of health systems interventions: what and how? Lessons for scale-up projects

Abstract Objectives Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are a major challenge for health systems across the globe. Although effective interventions for prevention, detection and control exist, these do not reach all people in need, especially the poor and most vulnerable. Scale-up strategies are developed to increase universal access to those interventions, addressing demand-side and supply-side barriers and to facilitate integration in the health system. While there are useful frameworks to conceptualise and operationalise scale-up of NCD interventions, there is a knowledge gap on what and how to evaluate. This session addresses that knowledge gap, presenting evaluation methods for scale-up from four large multi-country research projects. The objectives are: To increase knowledge on four dimensions of scale-up evaluation: 1) contextualisation of methods; 2) implementation evaluation; 3) cost-evaluation and 4) use of health information systemsTo present methods and results of implementation research on NCDs as an example for other chronic diseasesTo illustrate how contextualisation, implementation and evaluation varies across different stages of scale-upTo stimulate learning by experience through small-group discussion with session participants This workshop provides added value through the four coherent presentations combined with small group interactions on the same topics. It allows the audience to link the case study lessons to their own research and wider application. Format Four different elements of scale-up evaluation are addressed: 1) Contextualisation of evaluation methods from a common framework; 2) Implementation evaluation at operational level; 3) Cost-evaluation of NCD interventions; and 4) Large-scale evaluation through routine health information systems (HIS). Case studies from four large-scale Horizon2020 funded research projects in 14 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia will be presented, each case focusing on one dimension. Cross-cutting themes of adaptation and transferability of methods will also be addressed. After the presentations, there will be an interactive session to promote experience-based learning in small-group discussions. Presentations Self-Management Approach and Reciprocal Learning for Type 2 Diabetes (SMART2D)Scaling-up Packages of Interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (SPICES)Scaling-Up NCD Interventions in South-East Asia (SUNI-SEA)The Scale-Up of Diabetes and Hypertension Care (SCUBY) The presentations will provide the introduction to subsequent small-table discussions, around the following questions: How to measure and monitor implementation and outcome of intervention scale-up?How to generate transferrable lessons from cross-country studies?How to conduct cross-setting evaluation of the effect and cost of NCD interventions? Key messages The global scale-up of NCD interventions calls for robust evaluation methods of effect, implementation and cost. Evaluation methods need to be fit to the country context and health information systems.

Flexible Approaches to Using Online Case Data When Coupled with Textbook Based Case Studies in Medical Sciences Teaching and Learning

Case studies are commonly used to anchor important theoretical concepts with carefully guided use of practical experience. This session explored approaches and methodologies for effective and creative use of coupling online case study resources with text book case studies in order to enhance learning. An illustrative example referred to use of a textbook of case studies in One Health (i.e., the factors and health outcomes related to the interaction of animals, humans, and their environment) to be published in 2016 that is coupled with online data, visual resources, and testimonials. Coupling textbooks of medical case studies in particular with online additional data is not new, although there was no record found of a learning situation using medical case studies in which prescriptive step-by-step instructional guidance for using online data is deliberately avoided and instead students are encouraged to rely on their own creativity. Benefits of avoiding a prescriptive approach include a more realistic learning experience for clinicians, latitude for use of personally preferred learning styles, and more opportunities for creativity in the teaching and learning process. Participants in the session reflected on their own teaching and learning style preferences to contribute to discussion of how required use of online case study data might stimulate or suppress their creativity, both for teachers and students. Barriers included lack of consistency in audience demographic making it more challenging to provide a consistent learning experience and poor attention to context of application of case study lessons; catalysts included some degree of guided process for stimulating use of case study materials, supervision of discussion to facilitate sufficient interaction for learning, and adequate funding for preparing and hosting case study materials.

Integrated working and intergenerational projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote discussion about, and the development of the evidence-base underpinning integrated working for intergenerational working. It discusses perspectives on intergenerational work in general and specifically draws on case experiences of the use of intergenerational reminiscence based on sporting memories to highlight issues pertaining to integrated working. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a general discussion of issues of intergenerational projects and integrated working, with case discussions of the use of sporting memories as an intervention for focusing intergenerational contact. Findings It is concluded that intergenerational work has much to offer but that it is far from clear how best to organise integrated working for this type of work. There are interesting lessons to be drawn for intergenerational interventions and integrated working from the case study discussions. Research limitations/implications Although case studies can provide crucial in-depth knowledge they can be limited in developing evidence we can be sure is more generalisable across contexts. Hence, further research is required into the impact of intergenerational projects, and how best to maximise this through effective integrated working. Practical implications The discussion and case study materials suggest there is much potential in using intergenerational projects to achieve a range of possible outcomes but it is not clear how integrated working is best operationalised in such work. Care is required about clarity concerning the aims of specific projects, but practitioners and others should be encouraged to carefully explore this area of work. Social implications The challenges of an ageing society are significant, as is the need to maintain intergenerational contact, mutuality and the implicit social contract across generations. Specifically developing opportunities for such contact may help achieve this and a range of other positive outcomes. Originality/value This paper brings together a discussion of intergenerational projects with consideration of the challenges of integrated working, and adds specific case study lessons from the use of sports-based reminiscence.

Quantifying and managing urban water-related energy use systemically: case study lessons from Australia

In this paper, three Australian case studies contribute to improved understanding of water-related energy quantification and management. A systems analysis of urban water in South East Queensland (Case Study 1) demonstrates the energy impact of water end use. In Melbourne (Case Study 2), water–energy interlinkages are explored within households. Finally, Case Study 3 in Sydney shows how abatement curves can help guide management action. Collectively, the case studies provide new information for least-cost solutions and simultaneous water and energy efficiency. The work highlights the need for frameworks to characterize and evaluate both the direct and indirect energy influences of urban water.

A Case Study Approach for Teaching Students Sustainability From a Global Perspective

Engineers have the responsibility to identify and develop sustainable, culturally relevant solutions to global problems. Consequently, an engineering education must develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to find viable, desirable, and feasible sustainable solutions. One of the main challenges in engineering education, however, is the identification of an appropriate model to educate students in the area of sustainability. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology based on the case study approach that effectively exposes students to knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for decision making attuned to the multi-dimensional contexts (environmental, social, and economic) of sustainability challenges. There are two key pedagogy-based deliverables: 1) an active learning approach that requires students to work on virtual teams comprised of students throughout the Americas to solve the case study modules and 2) the case study lessons that can be applied longitudinally throughout an engineering curriculum. The work is an international collaboration built for identifying sustainability perspectives based on geographical, educational, and cultural differences. This paper describes progress to date toward completing these deliverables.

Developing a virtual engineering management community

The paper reviews the lessons of planning and running an Engineering Management practitioner development programme in a partnership between BP and the University of Manchester. This distance-learning programme is for professional engineers in mid-career experienced in the engineering and support activities for delivering safe, compliant and reliable projects and operations worldwide. The programme concentrates on the why and how of leadership and judgement in managing the engineering of large and small projects and operational support. Two intensive residential weeks are combined with a virtual learning environment over one year. Assessed assignments between and after the residential weeks provide opportunities for individual reflective learning for each delegate through applying concepts and the lessons of case studies to their experience, current challenges and expected responsibilities. This successful partnership between a major global company and a university rich in research and teaching required a significant dedication of intellectual and leadership effort by all concerned. The rewards for both parties and most importantly for the engineers themselves are extensive.

Improving Product Development Processes to Manage Development Risk

To create new products, firms employ a product development process (PDP) to generate new product concepts, to translate the best of these concepts into quality products, and to manage the risks inherent in bringing such new products to the market. A well-designed PDP is necessary to reduce development time, create better products, increase market share, and generate profit. This paper investigates the relationship between product development risk and PDP management and seeks to help companies improve their processes. We begin by discussing product development risks and describing a spectrum of different PDPs. We compare the traditional, rigid, staged PDP with the alternative, flexible, spiral PDP and other variants. We then propose several iteration- and review-based metrics by which PDPs can be effectively identified and compared. Data from ten company case studies exemplify a wide variety of actual PDPs, demonstrate the utility of iteration and review metrics in distinguishing PDPs, and illustrate how different processes manage different risks. Case study findings indicate that software companies face rapidly changing markets, generally perform quick iterations and tests, and are likely to employ flexible PDPs. In contrast, manufacturing companies that face greater integration difficulties and technical risks are likely to employ more rigid PDPs. We find that a company's risk profile is instrumental in determining the applicability of different PDPs. We employ the case study lessons to propose a method for improved PDP design based on risk management. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to redesign one company's PDP. We conclude that PDPs vary more than previously documented; that the proposed metrics are useful in distinguishing PDPs; and that companies facing different risk scenarios can effectively tailor their PDP designs to suit their own unique circumstances.

Evaluating the Acceptance of Wetland Easement Conservation Offers

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easement offers to North Dakota landowners from 1989 to 1998 had a 56% acceptance rate. Logit regression indicates that payment values, farm program certainty, participation history, and the quantity of deep wetlands all positively influenced acceptance. Payments were not sensitive to the use of published county land value data in lieu of appraisals. To increase acceptances, more transparency regarding easement offers and the updating of chart values accounting for the impact of easements on land values are suggested. These case study lessons have implications for other conservation easement programs that rely on private landowner participation.

Event-Based Entreprenuership: Atlanta Centennial Olympics Case Study Lessons Learned and its Impact on Special Event Business Planning

This paper presents a number of case study lessons learned by successful and unsuccessful small businesses during the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia; and constructs a descriptive model from which implications and recommendations are drawn for small businesses interested in the likely impact of large scale special events such as the forthcoming 2000 Summer Olympic games in Sydney, Australia.There were two major reasons for undertaking Olympic businesses case studies. The first was to develop a theoretical framework of factors critical to businesses specifically catering for the significant increase in perceived demand for goods and services that arise when staging a large scale special event.The second’ major purpose was to apply the lessons learned from the descriptive model in constructing a normative model for businesses gearing up for a future Olympiad, or a similar large-scale special event.Businesses expecting to make a quick fortune out of the Sydney Olympics are likely to be disappointed; the experiences of entrepreneurs in Atlanta indicate that it will not be an easy task. The study found that the businesses most likely to be successful are those that are already established with surplus funds to deploy into new ventures in which they can afford to take a risk.

The Reform of Schools Funding: Some Case-Study Lessons

Since the Education Reform Act of 1988 there has been substantial change in the funding of schools in Britain. Individual schools now have their own budgets which are determined by formula, and they have substantial freedom to spend their budgets as they wish. They are also entitled to keep any savings which they make, and these are rolled forward to the next financial year. The funding formula for a school is designed by its local education authority, subject to constraints imposed by central government. More recently a class of self-governing, or grant-maintained, schools has developed with a parallel funding system which is also formula based. A new institution, the Funding Agency for Schools, has been created to oversee the financing of these schools. In this paper, which is based on interviews with officers in six local education authorities and on documentation from several others, the author assesses these recent changes in the education ‘market’. It is concluded that the market is not working well due to the complexity of the funding arrangements, the institutional arrangements, the inappropriate incentives offered, and the change in the ‘atmosphere’ of the education market.

Lessons front a residential special school enquiry: Reflections on the castle hill report

Child Abuse ReviewVolume 2, Issue 4 p. 271-275 Case Study Lessons front a residential special school enquiry: Reflections on the castle hill report C. Brannan, Corresponding Author C. Brannan Social Work Manager 14 Kirkland Avenue, Kingswood Oak, Shelton, Shrewsbury, SY3 5LF, UK14 Kirkland Avenue, Kingswood Oak, Shelton, Shrewsbury, SY3 5LF, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ. R. Jones, J. R. Jones Social Work ManagerSearch for more papers by this authorJ. D. Murch, J. D. Murch Social Work PractitionerSearch for more papers by this author C. Brannan, Corresponding Author C. Brannan Social Work Manager 14 Kirkland Avenue, Kingswood Oak, Shelton, Shrewsbury, SY3 5LF, UK14 Kirkland Avenue, Kingswood Oak, Shelton, Shrewsbury, SY3 5LF, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ. R. Jones, J. R. Jones Social Work ManagerSearch for more papers by this authorJ. D. Murch, J. D. Murch Social Work PractitionerSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1993 https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2380020409Citations: 9AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume2, Issue4December 1993Pages 271-275 RelatedInformation