Goal Categories Research Articles

Leveraging the electronic health record to identify delivery of goal-concordant care.

Goal-concordant care (GCC) is recognized as the highest quality of care and most important outcome measure for serious illness research, yet there is no agreed-upon or validated method to measure it. Assess feasibility of measuring GCC using clinical documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). Retrospective chart review study. Adults with ≥50% predicted six-month mortality risk admitted to three urban hospitals in a single health system. All participants had goals-of-care (GOC) discussions documented in the EHR 6 months before and 6 months after admission manually classified into one of four categories of goals: (1) comfort-focused, (2) maintain or improve function, (3) life-extension, or (4) unclear. Pairs of physician-coders independently reviewed EHR notes from 6 months before through 6 months after admission to identify and classify care received between each documented GOC discussion into one of the four goals categories. Epochs between GOC discussions were then coded as goal-concordant if GOC and care received classifications were aligned, goal-discordant if they were misaligned, or uncertain if either classification was unclear or not documented. Coder inter-rater reliability was assessed using kappa statistics. Inter-rater reliability for classifying care received was almost perfect (95% interrater agreement; Cohen's kappa=0.92; 95% CI, 0.86-0.99). Of 398 total epochs across 109 unique patients, 198 (50%) were goal-concordant, 112 (28%) were of uncertain concordance, and 88 (22%) were goal-discordant. Eighty (73%) patients received care of uncertain concordance during at least one epoch. Forty-eight (44%) patients received goal-discordant care during at least one epoch. Clinician chart review was a feasible method for measuring GCC and can inform natural language processing and machine learning methods to improve the clinical and research utility of this method. More work is needed to understand the driving factors underlying the high rate of uncertain concordance and goal-discordant care identified among this seriously ill cohort.

The Use of Natural Language Processing Methods in Reddit to Investigate Opioid Use: Scoping Review.

The growing availability of big data spontaneously generated by social media platforms allows us to leverage natural language processing (NLP) methods as valuable tools to understand the opioid crisis. We aimed to understand how NLP has been applied to Reddit (Reddit Inc) data to study opioid use. We systematically searched for peer-reviewed studies and conference abstracts in PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, ACL Anthology, IEEE Xplore, and Association for Computing Machinery data repositories up to July 19, 2022. Inclusion criteria were studies investigating opioid use, using NLP techniques to analyze the textual corpora, and using Reddit as the social media data source. We were specifically interested in mapping studies' overarching goals and findings, methodologies and software used, and main limitations. In total, 30 studies were included, which were classified into 4 nonmutually exclusive overarching goal categories: methodological (n=6, 20% studies), infodemiology (n=22, 73% studies), infoveillance (n=7, 23% studies), and pharmacovigilance (n=3, 10% studies). NLP methods were used to identify content relevant to opioid use among vast quantities of textual data, to establish potential relationships between opioid use patterns or profiles and contextual factors or comorbidities, and to anticipate individuals' transitions between different opioid-related subreddits, likely revealing progression through opioid use stages. Most studies used an embedding technique (12/30, 40%), prediction or classification approach (12/30, 40%), topic modeling (9/30, 30%), and sentiment analysis (6/30, 20%). The most frequently used programming languages were Python (20/30, 67%) and R (2/30, 7%). Among the studies that reported limitations (20/30, 67%), the most cited was the uncertainty regarding whether redditors participating in these forums were representative of people who use opioids (8/20, 40%). The papers were very recent (28/30, 93%), from 2019 to 2022, with authors from a range of disciplines. This scoping review identified a wide variety of NLP techniques and applications used to support surveillance and social media interventions addressing the opioid crisis. Despite the clear potential of these methods to enable the identification of opioid-relevant content in Reddit and its analysis, there are limits to the degree of interpretive meaning that they can provide. Moreover, we identified the need for standardized ethical guidelines to govern the use of Reddit data to safeguard the anonymity and privacy of people using these forums.

A Comparative Literature Review of Machine Learning and Image Processing Techniques Used for Scaling and Grading of Wood Logs

This literature review assesses the efficacy of image-processing techniques and machine-learning models in computer vision for wood log grading and scaling. Four searches were conducted in four scientific databases, yielding a total of 1288 results, which were narrowed down to 33 relevant studies. The studies were categorized according to their goals, including log end grading, log side grading, individual log scaling, log pile scaling, and log segmentation. The studies were compared based on the input used, choice of model, model performance, and level of autonomy. This review found a preference for images over point cloud representations for logs and an increase in camera use over laser scanners. It identified three primary model types: classical image-processing algorithms, deep learning models, and other machine learning models. However, comparing performance across studies proved challenging due to varying goals and metrics. Deep learning models showed better performance in the log pile scaling and log segmentation goal categories. Cameras were found to have become more popular over time compared to laser scanners, possibly due to stereovision cameras taking over for laser scanners for sampling point cloud datasets. Classical image-processing algorithms were consistently used, deep learning models gained prominence in 2018, and other machine learning models were used in studies published between 2010 and 2018.

Individual Management of Physical Activity of Tourism and Recreation Students Through Mobile Applications

Abstract Introduction. The impact of mobile applications on the physical activity of Tourism and Recreation students in Krakow has not been the subject of in-depth research so far. The aim of this study is to identify the areas of management, scope of use and motivation for using mobile applications during physical activity by students of Tourism and Recreation. The theoretical framework for motivation analysis is the Achievement Goal Theory. Material and methods. A quantitative approach was adopted, surveys were conducted among students of Tourism and Recreation in Krakow. The basic parameters of descriptive statistics, coefficient of variation V, and correlation coefficients were calculated. Results. Students of Tourism and Recreation use mobile applications while running, cycling and aerobics. The most important functionalities for students are those that support processes of controlling the performance of their physical activity. The results show that, with regard to the Achievement Goal Theory, stronger motivation comes from aspects falling into the Goal category. Conclusions. In the theoretical aspect, the results deepened the understanding of the processes of individual management of students’ physical activity; in the methodological aspect, they allowed the researchers to conclude that the Achievement Goal Theory is suitable for analysing the motivation to use mobile applications during physical activity, while in the practical aspect, the results indicated the possibility of improving the quality of students’ physical activity through individual management with the efficient use of mobile applications.

Improvement and analysis of aircraft maintenance flow process using lean manufacturing, PDCA, PICA, and VSM for sustainable operation system

The aircraft maintenance process plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and reliability of air travel. However, this process often encounters inefficiencies and waste, reducing productivity. This study aims to analyze the flow of the aircraft maintenance process and identify areas for improvement using Lean Manufacturing, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Problem Identification and Corrective Action (PICA), and Value Stream Mapping (VSM) methods within a sustainability system. This study demonstrates how non-value-adding (NVA) and necessary but non-value-adding activities (NNVA) contribute to maintenance process delays, waste generation, and decreased process efficiency. It also underscores the impact of waste on process performance and proposes potential time savings through focused improvements. The result revealed that inventory wastage was the most prevalent issue, accounting for 9 out of 26 activities, followed by waiting for wastage with seven activities and defects with 5 activities. These wasteful activities are primarily concentrated in phases 3, 4, and 5, encompassing inspection, repair, and installation phases. Consequently, there is a pressing need to enhance efficiency in all phases, particularly phases 3, 4, and 5, by targeting non-value-added activities. Implementing these improvements can reduce the total process time from 18,229 minutes to 15,170.2 minutes, offering a detailed roadmap for enhancing the aircraft maintenance process. Thus, this study is an alternative consideration for the aircraft maintenance industry to ensure a continuous improvement process in facing the challenges of global industry innovation as the category of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gamification, intrinsic motivation, and task performance of employees: the moderating role of goal difficulty

ABSTRACT Previous gamification research has explored intrinsic motivation, goal setting, and performance separately. This study bridges the gap by investigating how gamification affects intrinsic motivation and task performance, especially with varying goal difficulty levels. To address these research questions, the literature review delves into three key inquiries: (1) Are external interventions capable of affecting intrinsic motivation? (2) Gamification of PMS: Does it matter? (3) Does combining goal setting with gamification make sense? The study employs an experimental framework utilising a between-subjects design of 2 × 3. Participants are drawn from the IT sector, and they are divided into groups exposed to gamification (experimental) and those not exposed to it (control). Additionally, the study investigates the moderating role of goal difficulty by classifying participants into categories of easy, difficult, and impossible goals. The findings of this study emphasize that goals should be challenging but still achievable for gamification to effectively fulfil its intended purpose. These findings integrate the concepts of goal setting and intrinsic motivation to provide a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of gamification. The study’s implications for practical application and potential avenues for future research are also explored and discussed.

Understanding the goals and needs for the use of eco-labels in the European railway sector

With growing concerns around climate change, the railway sector is committed to improving the circularity and reducing the emissions of its products and services. In this exploratory case study, fourteen European railway partners, including suppliers, operators and infrastructure managers, are collectively working on energy and eco-labelling initiatives to continue these improvements and communicate their progress. Such labels can be used to collect and share the most relevant pieces of information related to energy efficiency, material use, and environmental impact, which are often fragmented in the supply chain.The case study includes a literature review combined with interviews to better understand the current state of European railway eco-labels and validate if they are an appropriate tool for the sector. It reveals the need for new or updated eco-labels for the railway sector that better suit their developing goals and requirements. This research outlines a set of recommendations for the development of future European railway eco-labels.Five categories of goals were identified in the relevant literature, (i) the evaluation of the environmental impact of a product, (ii) the behavior-change of customers and (iii) the supply chain, (iv) the push for positive change and (v) the potential marketability of a product.

Better Understanding Procedural Search Tasks: Perceptions, Behaviors, and Challenges

People often search for information to acquire procedural knowledge–“how to” knowledge about step-by-step procedures, methods, algorithms, techniques, heuristics, and skills. A procedural search task might involve implementing a solution to a problem, evaluating different approaches to a problem, and brainstorming on the types of problems that can be solved with a specific resource. We report on a study ( N =36) that aimed to better understand how people search for procedural knowledge. Much research has investigated how search task characteristics impact people’s perceptions and behaviors. Along these lines, we manipulated procedural search tasks along two orthogonal dimensions: product and goal. The product dimension relates to the main outcome of the task and the goal dimension relates to task’s success criteria. We manipulated tasks across three product categories and two goal categories. The study investigated four research questions. First, we examined the effects of the product and goal on participants’ (RQ1) pre-task perceptions, (RQ2) post-task perceptions, and (RQ3) search behaviors. Second, regardless of the task product and goal, by analyzing participants’ think-aloud comments and screen activities we closely examined how people search for procedural knowledge. Specifically, we report on (RQ4) important relevance criteria, types of information sought, and challenges.

Goals of older hospitalized patients with multimorbidity

Background: The increased prevalence of older patients, often presenting with multimorbidity, challenges the traditional disease-focused approach in hospital care. To improve healthcare for older hospitalized patients with multimorbidity, patient-centered healthcare is recognized by experts as essential. An important aspect of patient-centered care is aligning healthcare to personal goals. From literature, we know that older adults rate life enjoyment, social relations, quality of life, mobility and maintenance of autonomy as most important in daily life. In the hospital setting, however, little is known about goals of older patients. Besides, patients with multimorbidity experience more burden of their disease, functional disabilities, and a reduced quality of life which can lead to prioritizing different goals. These potential differences in goals between patients with and without multimorbidity have not been established so far. Therefore, we aimed to explore goals of older hospitalized patients with multimorbidity and compare their goals to those of older hospitalized patients without multimorbidity.
 Method: Older hospitalized patients (aged ≥ 70 years) were included between February 2017 and March 2020 in a prospective mixed-methods cohort study at the University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands. Multimorbidity was defined as presenting with polypharmacy and two or more diseases scored with the Charlson Comorbidity index. Goals were assessed by a standardized interview, whereafter they were categorized into one of the ten predefined categories and analyzed descriptively. Goal categories were ‘wanting to know what the matter is’, ‘controlling disease’, ‘staying alive’, ‘alleviating complaints’, ‘improving condition’ (fitness), ‘improving daily functioning’, ‘improving/maintaining social functioning’, ‘resuming work/hobbies’, ‘regain/maintain autonomy’ and ‘undefinable’
 Results: Four-hundred-ninety-three older hospitalized patients (mean age 76.7 ± 5.5, 64% male) were included, of which 223 patients with multimorbidity (45%). Patients were hospitalized for 7.9 ± 8.5 days on average. Patients with multimorbidity experienced more mobility problems (67% vs 52%), physical impairments (66% vs 50%) and rated their health lower (a score of 60.2 vs 67.5 on the EuroQol - Visual Analogue Scale) compared to patients without multimorbidity. The most often mentioned goals were ‘controlling disease’ (27%) and ‘alleviating complaints’ (22%). No differences were found in goals mentioned by patients with and without multimorbidity. Forty-one percent of both patients with and without multimorbidity mentioned goals that were disease-unrelated.
 Conclusion: Our study shows no major differences in goals of older hospitalized patients with and without multimorbidity. However, the large proportion of patients mentioning disease-unrelated goals emphasizes the importance of goal elicitation by healthcare professionals within hospital care to provide optimally integrated care.

A global analysis of bioeconomy visions in governmental bioeconomy strategies.

Against the background of climate change and scarce non-renewable resources, transforming the fossil-based toward a bio-based economy is considered crucial for sustainable development. Numerous countries have released governmental strategies outlining their bioeconomy visions. This study examines the bioeconomy visions presented in 78 policy documents from 50 countries worldwide, building on earlier vision typologies. Through qualitative content analysis, 227 distinct policy goals were identified and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the salience of specific goals, overarching goal categories, and distinct bioeconomy visions: bioresource, biotechnology, and bioecology visions. The results reveal that goals and visions prioritize economic growth, while environmental considerations are less salient. The bioresource vision emerges as the globally dominant perspective, while the bioecology and biotechnology visions have lower salience. These findings deepen our comprehension of current bioeconomy policies and emphasize the need for critical research on bioeconomy visions and their implications for public policy.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACHIEVE HEARING INTERVENTION

Abstract The ACHIEVE trial required the development of a manualized best-practice hearing intervention designed to meet the needs of older adults with mild-moderate hearing loss. The hearing intervention (HI) was developed using an iterative process including input from a diverse professional panel and a feasibility study to confirm that expected outcomes from a best-practices, evidence-based HI would be obtained. The HI involves use of hearing aids and related technologies along with counselling, coaching and education to support self-management of hearing loss. The HI is delivered in four sessions after the completion of a comprehensive hearing evaluation. Individualized goals are developed using the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI), which guides selection of hearing aids and other technologies to meet prioritized listening needs and assessment of how well those needs are met. The most frequent COSI listening goal categories included: Conversation in Noise (n= 413; 29%), Conversations in Quiet (n= 296; 21%), and TV/Radio at Normal Volume (n= 280; 20%). Three levels of hearing aid technology differing by the number of signal processing approaches included were: Basic (n=223, 20%), Advanced (n=662, 56%), and Premium (n=283, 24%). Additional hearing assistive technologies included streaming devices, TV connectors, and remote microphones were provided. We discuss how the baseline audiological results and individualized goal setting informed delivery of the HI and how the use of manualization allowed us to maintain excellent treatment fidelity throughout the clinical trial.

The future-oriented hopes and goals of adolescent student-athletes in Finnish sport high schools

ABSTRACT As most young athletes do not end up making a living in sport, and professional athletic careers are relatively short, adolescent athletes need to think about and plan their future outside of sport. The present longitudinal study examined the future-oriented hopes and goals of adolescent student-athletes in Finland at the beginning and end of sport high school. Gender differences in these hopes and goals were also examined. The sample consisted of 381 student-athletes (51% females, 49% males) in the autumn of the first year of high school and 351 student-athletes (50% females, 50% males) in the spring of the third year, who filled in a questionnaire at both measurement points. A total of 11 goal categories consisting of 49 subcategories were identified using directed content analysis. Changes across time and gender differences in these hopes and goals were examined using the “N-1” chi-squared test. The results showed that sport-related hopes and goals were the most common at both measurement points. However, only 51% and 27% of the participants mentioned dual careers in their goals for the future at the beginning and end of high school, respectively. The female participants reported statistically significantly more goals related to education and a dual career and statistically significantly fewer goals related to sport than males. Further, male participants reported statistically significantly more often not knowing their future hopes and goals than females.

Therapeutic Goal Types in Young People’s Mental Health Providers and Changes in Anxiety and Mood

Clinical goal setting is an important area of practice within mental health interventions for children and young people (CYP). The present research aimed to explore the type of intervention goals set by CYP during mental health interventions. Further, changes in goal progress from pre- to post-intervention were compared between externally observed behavioural goals and subjective feelings-based goals. The relationship between therapeutic goal achievement and changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety (measured using the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale) was also investigated. Data were collected from 792 participants aged 3 to 18 years (mean age: 13.8, SD: 2.85) across all gender identities and ethnicities, who received low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy interventions from Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners in the Southwest of England. A mixed methods approach involving conceptual content analysis, correlational analysis, and group comparisons was utilised. Eleven categories of child-rated goals were identified. The most commonly developed goals focused on understanding, managing, and expressing emotions and feelings. No significant differences were found between behavioural and feelings-based goals (p = 0.061). Partial correlations demonstrated that improvements in goal progress were significantly associated with reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms (rs > −0.157, p < 0.001), even when controlling for the number of sessions attended (rs > −0.146, p < 0.001). Integrating goal-based outcomes with standardised measures could enhance a comprehensive approach to service delivery and evaluation.

A Systematic Literature Review of Six Sigma Implementation on the Automotive Component Industry

The main purpose of this white paper is to analyze current research on Six Sigma in the auto parts industry and identify opportunities for further research. This study used a systematic literature search of the most recent scientific articles (2013-2022) searched using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. His two main categories of research goals emerged. The development of Six Sigma and the impact of Six Sigma. In recent years, research on the impact of Six Sigma is the most popular and has always been there from year to year, while research on the development of Six Sigma is the least popular. The study can provide insights to researchers, consultants and quality managers in developing and implementing Six Sigma in the automotive components industry sector. This research found that there is a lot of research on the complete Six Sigma methodology in the automotive component industry, especially research on the impact of implementing Six Sigma. From these findings, the main avenue for future research can be identified, namely Six Sigma Digitalization.

Assessing citizens’ views on the importance of animal welfare and other sustainability aspects in livestock farming using best–worst scaling

In recent years, farm animal welfare has become an important issue from both an animal science and a societal perspective. Moreover, livestock production is increasingly associated with negative consequences for human health, the environment, and the climate. Thus, there is clear evidence that a more sustainable focus in animal husbandry is needed. However, this is a complex and challenging task, as different stakeholders and emerging trade-offs regarding sustainability need to be considered. For example, outdoor climate housing systems may be socially valued and bring benefits to animal welfare, but at the same time may be detrimental to the environment, the climate, human health, or even animal health. With regard to a sustainable, future-oriented transformation of animal husbandry, it is crucial to identify potential trade-offs and to evaluate them from not only a scientific perspective, but also a societal perspective. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find out how citizens assess the importance of various aspects of livestock production from different goal categories (e.g., ensuring animal welfare vs. environmental or climate protection), as well as within the category “ensuring animal welfare” (e.g., good housing conditions vs. good health conditions). A total of 2,000 participants were recruited via an online panel provider using quota and split sampling. We used the best–worst scaling (BWS) approach to measure the importance of the different aspects for four different farm animal species (dairy cows: n = 503; fattening pigs: n = 500; broilers: n = 499; and laying hens: n = 498). The results show that, regardless of animal species, in a trade-off situation, citizens prioritize animal welfare and human health over other sustainability aspects and, in particular, over product attributes (i.e., product price and taste). In terms of animal welfare, the provision of good housing conditions was found to be the most important sub-aspect for all animal species, but good feeding and animal health were also ranked highly. We consider our results valuable for the development of policy frameworks aimed at a sustainable and socially accepted transformation of current animal husbandry.

The acoustic structure of spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) calls is related both to caller goal and arousal.

Analyzing the factors related to the acoustic structure of primate calls is fundamental to identifying the potential information these signals convey, and therefore, their potential function. It is well-accepted that caller arousal is an important driver of acoustic variation in call structure. However, evidence suggests that arousal alone cannot explain the production of calls with different acoustic structures. The "caller goal" framework posits that a call type (e.g., bark and chitter) is a signal which evolved to elicit specific changes on receiver behavior, and a caller's goal, not its arousal state, determines the basic acoustic structure of animal calls. To get a better insight into the effects of caller goal and arousal on the acoustic structure of primate calls, we analyzed the acoustic variation of 382 calls produced by 27 free-ranging spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in six call contexts representing three caller goals (establishing contact, engage in aggression, and predator presence) across two arousal states (high and low). Discriminant function analyses and linear mixed models showed a strong effect of caller goal on calls' acoustic structure and supported the effect of arousal state on acoustic variation; misclassified calls mainly occurred between the same caller goal categories (e.g., alarm low arousal and alarm high arousal), and acoustic differences between arousal contexts showed the same pattern across the three caller goals (e.g., low center frequency [kHz] values in high arousal contexts). Our results supported the view that caller goal is the primary driver of acoustic difference and showed the effects of caller arousal on other structural differences.

PENGARUH PENYULUHAN TERHADAP PENINGKATKAN PEMAHAMAN KELOMPOK TANI DAN KADER TUBERCULOSIS TERHADAP PENYAKIT TUBERCULOSIS, PENGOBATAN DAN PENCEGAHANNYA

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which ranks second as the cause of death in the infectious disease class after infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Countries contributing to the largest cases of tuberculosis starting from the highest order are India, Indonesia, and China. East Java is in second place after West Java Province. Sumenep Regency, ranks first in East Java Province in 2019. In mainland Sumenep, the most cases of pulmonary tuberculosis are located in Bluto District, one of the endemic areas. Therefore, community service by a team of lecturers from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya was carried out in Bluto District, Sumenep Regency. This targets four categories of Sustainable Development Goals, namely Good health and well-being; Quality education; Peace, justice and strong institutions; and Partnership for the goals. Besides that, this community service targets achievement on Key Performance Indicators 2, 3, 5 and 7. The community service was carried out for two days, namely on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11 2022 at Kampung Negara, Bungbungan Village, Bluto District, Sumenep Regency. The participants in this first year were farmer groups and health center staff, as well as pharmacists who practice in various health facilities serving TB patients. From the results of the evaluation through a questionnaire with statistical analysis, and the results of the discussion it can be concluded that this counseling is very useful for participants according to their confession and can increase participants' understanding of TB disease, its treatment and prevention.

Self-Determined Goals of Male Participants Attending an Intervention Program for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: A Thematic Analysis.

Treatment adherence and motivation to change are among the main challenges in intervention programs for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) perpetrators. Motivational strategies have shown promising results in increasing the effectiveness of intervention programs for IPV perpetrators. One of these motivational strategies is goal setting. The aim of this study was to analyze and categorize the self-determined goals (n = 204) of 227 male participants attending an intervention program for IPV perpetrators. Findings of the thematic analysis suggested three levels of analysis: 4 core categories, 12 categories, and 35 codes. The four core categories were "interpersonal relationships" (39.7%), "personal resources for daily life" (29.3%), "coping strategies" (27.8%), and "motivation to change" (3.2%). Identifying the main categories of self-determined goals of IPV perpetrators could guide professionals to tailor the intervention to participants' specific needs and implement evidence-based strategies to strengthen goal attainment and improve treatment outcomes.

Instructor perspectives on the use of tag-organised assessment to facilitate formative assessment strategies in STEM courses

ABSTRACT As classroom diversity increases across educational domains, additional stress is placed on instructors to provide effective and personalised learning experiences. Formative assessments can inform instructors of learning differences between student cohorts and individual students, allowing adaptation of learning experiences to individual student needs. This work is motivated by the need for faculty to implement formative assessment strategies, such that instructors can adapt the classroom-assessment environment by identifying learning goals, categorising or tagging assessment questions by learning goal categories, and organising the assessment data by tag. This paper summarises how tag-organised assessment (TOA) may be implemented and visualised to facilitate formative assessment strategies. We validated our TOA approach by interviewing instructors on needs in classroom-assessment environments and the usefulness of TOA visualisations to address assessment needs. Instructors perceived TOA visualisations as beneficial for synchronising learning goals with assessment coverage, improving student feedback, and communicating learning goals and success criteria to students.

A feminist-affordance lens: examining the power outcomes of the actualization of smartphone affordances

PurposeThe authors explore the entanglement of smartphone technology and power in this paper. This paper explores the following question: In what ways does the actualization of smartphone affordances result in empowering outcomes (i.e. increase or reduce oppression) in the daily lives of refugees? Leveraging both affordance and feminist theories, the authors develop a hybrid lens bringing attention to the contextualized relationship between social process goals and affordances for sociality, upon which the authors introduce the notion of “goal-affordance interrelations”. The authors then trace how the actualization of these interrelations increases or reduces oppression.Design/methodology/approachUsing an abductive approach, the authors analyze 32 semi-structured interview transcriptions conducted with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.FindingsThe analysis in this study reveals four categories of social process goals (meet financial needs, satisfy security needs, communicate and learn and maintain pre-existing social ties) that are intimate components of contextually meaningful affordances. When actualized, the goal–affordance interrelations fundamentally shape refugee experiences of power outcomes. The findings suggest forms of empowerment where powerlessness, marginalization, violence and exploitation are perceived to be reduced. Actualization outcomes are also found to increase perceived oppression. Additionally, the findings reveal that not all interrelations are actualized, such that the anticipation of an oppressive power outcome may limit the actualization of affordances for sociality.Originality/valueThis research raises considerations concerning technology and oppression, and that efforts to empower refugees through technology should critically question whether the lived experiences of oppression will be reduced. The findings of this study reveal various forms of less empowering (i.e. oppressive) outcomes for the refugees sampled, they also point to the potential politicization of the actualization of goal–affordance interrelations.