Critical Incident Research Articles

Thinking outside the ‘deficit box’: promoting the equal valuing of all children through teacher professional development

ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a study that focused on areas that should be considered in order that teacher professional development promotes the equal valuing of children in schools to promote inclusion. The paper draws on the findings of case studies in two schools in Cyprus, over a period of six months. The participants of the study were all the school staff in two schools (i.e. two head teachers, forty-five teachers, three special teachers, two speech therapists, two school escorts). Qualitative methods were used: i.e. participant observations, critical incidents, informal conversational interviews and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that in order to encourage the equal valuing of all children, teachers’ professional development should address two areas: (1) the dominant value system, which represents a set of values about children; and (2) pedagogical strategies to address student diversity. It is argued that these areas are intertwined in ways that influence and interact with each other. Conceptualising teachers’ professional development through this spectrum of interactions has implications for understanding and developing teacher professional development opportunities as a means of promoting inclusive education in schools.

“Blood on their Hands” vs. “A Foolish Prank”: The British Press’s Response to a Deadly Hoax on the Royal Family

ABSTRACT This study builds upon historical scholarship of the royal family and the British press to examine a critical incident in 2012 involving future queen Kate Middleton. After radio deejays hoaxed a hospital where Middleton was a patient, a nurse inadvertently involved with the prank died by suicide, creating a global sensation. This study examines how the British press and public reacted to this breach of media ethics. Although some in the press condemned the incident, victim-blaming illustrated an evasion of responsibility when it comes to media and the royal family. The public, via letters to the editor, tended to take a firmer stance and were more apt to contextualize the hoax against a history of invasive media coverage. Overall, this study suggests the British press remains wedded to historical strategies of distancing and victim-blaming, providing little optimism about how the relationship between the press and the royal family might change.

Critical incident technique and action learning to enable organizational learning

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on a two-year program with a Norwegian public sector project-based construction company, where action learning groups and critical incident technique were combined to enhance organizational learning. Project-based organizations typically face difficulties of ‘project amnesia’, as they fail to integrate learning from experience into organizational memory. In drawing lessons from experience, employees often focus on solving short-term problems with individual projects rather than contributing to medium- and longer-term organizational learning. The program that is the focus of this paper engaged newly-appointed engineers in action learning groups and trained them to use critical incident technique to gather and analyze information about recent projects undertaken by the company. The groups reported back their findings to colleagues in the program and to managers and senior executives in the company. Originally designed as an alternative to the traditional induction training for new employees, the program generated useful practical learning across the whole organization about project success factors. This paper explains how action learning and critical incident technique combined in this program to enhance individual, team and organizational learning, and argues that the synergies between these three processes should be explored in other contexts.

Social sustainability of aged care public-private partnership projects in China: Critical practices and realisation paths

The profound changes in China's population, economy and social structure have significantly impacted traditional home-based aged care and social welfare, leading to the emergence of Aged Care Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects for institutional care. Social sustainability is crucial for these projects as it greatly improves stakeholders' quality of life and well-being. Adoption of social sustainability practices enhances elderly and employee satisfaction, offers competitive advantages, and fosters community development. This study aimed to establish a socially sustainable development process for aged care PPP projects. A multiple case study was conducted, and an improved critical incident technique was adopted. Forty-two first-level critical practices that should be adopted by government departments, private investors and Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at different stages in the lifecycle were identified from three main cases and seventeen parallel reference cases. Twenty-one realisation paths and a consolidated realisation path were established based on analysing the enabling relationships between critical practices. The preparation phase is pivotal, with ten of the 21 more important critical practices (i.e., critical practices that appear in all realisation paths) adopted at this phase. The behaviours and decisions of government departments played a key and decisive role, with eighteen more important critical practices adopted by them alone. This study contributes to enhancing knowledge of social sustainability in aged care. The critical practices and the realisation paths provide a complete picture of realising social sustainability of aged care PPP projects. The public and private sectors can adopt corresponding behaviours and decisions at different project stages to deliver projects successfully. The empirical data shows the applicability of stakeholder theory in social sustainability research on aged care. In addition, the results provide insights into the achievement of social sustainability of aged care projects in other countries and the understanding of social sustainability of other public service projects. However, potential biases exist in the study, arising from considering aged care PPP projects as a whole, neglecting lessons from failure cases, and subjective judgments in qualitative research.

Emergent Properties of Organizational Sensemaking Systems: A Grounded Theory Assessment of The HITEC Project

The process of organizational sensemaking initially attracted empirical attention as a tool for retrospectively assessing organizational decision-making during critical incidents (Weick, 1988, 1993). However, recent advancements in multilevel theory design have created an opportunity to re-envision organizational sensemaking not only as an individual and retrospective process but as a broader macro-cognitive and multilevel organizational system. The identification and intentional design of organizational sensemaking systems can potentially facilitate present and future decision-making processes and organizational change management. Using the organizational sensemaking systems paradigm proposed by Hughes, et al. (2022), this study builds on the inductive assessment of a significant organizational change effort to extract novel theoretical propositions of the emergent properties of organizational sensemaking systems. Results include the identification of properties of organizational sensemaking systems and a series of theoretical propositions about the nature of sensemaking emergence. The potential implications for change management practice and future empirical work are discussed.

Using Knowledge Graphs to Explore Perspective Taking in Multi-Person Discussion

Human Factors has long been involved in knowledge engineering, for example to better understand how humans make decisions or to inform the designs of systems that support or emulate human decision making. In this paper, we explore a relatively new technology (Knowledge Graphs) to investigate perspective taking in organizations. The paper demonstrates a process through which Knowledge Graphs can be constructed from Critical Incident Interviews, via Concept Maps, and uploaded to Neo4j. The Knowledge Graphs are constructed from different domain experts and the subsequent analysis shows where similarity and differences between these. It is argued that this can be used to capture the perspective taking of each domain.

Doing Home by Using Digital Assistive Technologies

Cordula Endter, Florian Fischer and Tobias Wörle provide a conceptual paper which explicitly focusses on the material-spa¬tial configuration of home in the use of digital assistive technologies by older people. The authors draw on praxeological approaches and the concept of domesticity to understand how »home« as a materi¬alised space of belonging and security is constituted in affective, mate¬rial, and spatial practices of technology use. They discuss these practices by describing critical incidents in the use of digital assistive technologies to provide further theoretical as well as methodological insights into the construction and acquisition of (smart) homes among older people.

Navigating theory and practice in intercultural language teaching: Challenges faced by a pre-service language teacher in enacting an interpretive perspective in classroom interaction

This paper investigates the author’s classroom practice of implementing an interpretive perspective on intercultural language teaching and learning in two online intercultural workshops on the topic of face masks designed and delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reflexively examines two critical incidents in classroom practice in terms of what these incidents reveal about the challenges faced by pre-service teachers in operationalizing an interpretive stance towards intercultural language teaching and learning in practice. Based on the epistemology of reflective practice, this self-study seeks to produce knowledge-of-practice by framing the author’s practical knowledge as language teacher in relation to theories of intercultural language teaching. Classroom discourse analysis of teaching and learning sequencies provides an emic lens on the enactment of an interpretive perspective on intercultural language teaching at the micro level in terms of two basic aspects of pedagogical practice: 1) Embedding interpretation in learning design and 2) Mediating learners’ interpretations in classroom interaction. The findings reveal that this author’s attempts to personalise intercultural language learning and elicit meaningful reflections from students were constrained by the limited semiotic richness of the material presented and the difficulty of going beyond a superficial interactional format to provide effective scaffolding and successfully realize a dialogic stance towards knowledge building. The paper considers the implications of these challenges for pre-service teacher education and offers suggestions for supporting teachers hoping to teach interculturally.

The Development of Retinal Function and Refractive Error in Children With Retinopathy of Prematurity.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) prolongs development of rod-mediated thresholds for detection of stimuli at 10degrees but not 30degrees eccentricity. In addition, to evaluate the thresholds at each site for an association with visual acuity (VA) and spherical equivalent (SE). We estimated rod-mediated dark-adapted thresholds (DATs) for the detection of 2degree diameter, 50ms, blue (λ < 510nm) flashes at 10degrees and 30degrees eccentric in former preterm subjects (n = 111), stratified by ROP severity: None (n = 32), Mild (n = 66), and Severe (n = 13). We also tested Term-born (n = 28) controls. To determine the age at half-maximal sensitivity (Agehalf) for each group and eccentricity, we fit DATs to logistic growth curves. We obtained VA and SE for Preterm subjects and evaluated the course of threshold development at 10degrees and 30degrees for significant association with VA and SE predicted at age 10 years. DAT development at 10degrees was significantly delayed in ROP (Mild and Severe); ROP did not significantly alter DAT development at 30degrees. At age 10years, among Preterm subjects, both VA and SE were significantly associated with group (None,Mild, and Severe). SE was predicted by the course of DAT development at 30degrees. VA was not associated with the course of DAT development at 10degrees. At 10degrees, ROP-whether mild or severe-is associated with significant delays in DAT development, evidence that the late-maturing central retina is vulnerable to ROP. The association of 30degree threshold and myopia are evidence that more peripheral retina is important to refractive development.

Constructing the Life Skills Education Experiences of Maldivian Adolescents: Exploring Personal Narratives of Transition, Challenge, and Becoming

Life skills have been shown to help young people cope with challenges and facilitate their transition into adulthood. Few studies have explored life skills programs from the lived experiences of youth themselves. Using a retrospective narrative analysis approach, this study uses social construction and social learning theories to investigate how young people construct their experiences of life skills education in the context of their embedded social environments, including their relationships with family, school, and peers. The study incorporates a series of in-depth, face-to-face, and social media-based interviews with two young adults from the Maldives who had very different experiences in life skills programs. Capturing the participants’ subjective experiences of life skills over time, and in the context of their transition to adulthood, allowed us to make situated connections between program experiences and the participants’ everyday lives. The findings point to the importance of program duration and directly link program content to adolescents’ real-world experiences including critical life incidents, the need to provide more structure in the delivery of programs, and the importance of ensuring that program experiences align with relevant skills and competencies. Potential implications for life skills education programs are outlined.

Intelligent Driver Sleep Detection and Alerting System

Transportation has already become a vital part of the daily routine of people all around the world. With the increasing demand for transportation, road traffic accidents have also been increasing exponentially. Further, road traffic accidents are found to be one of the critical causes of annual deaths, injuries, and damages worldwide. Among the minor and fatal crashes, distracted driving has been identified as one of the leading causes. Sleepiness/drowsiness or fatigue in drivers can be stated as the most common reasons, and as an unavoidable and unintentional cause for distraction, because most of the time the driver would not be aware of the condition until facing a critical incident. Therefore, identifying sleepiness/drowsiness at the initial stages, and alerting the driver, would contribute to minimizing the risk of such road traffic accidents. The paper presents an automated system that is capable of identifying sleepiness/drowsiness in drivers in the initial stages and immediately alerting the driver. Furthermore, given the criticality of the situation, the system also operates a new feature of simultaneously sharing the current location of the vehicle to a pre-defined close contact of the driver to further minimize the risks and as a prevention mechanism.

Delayed pay and employee turnover: The buffering role of pay‐for‐performance

AbstractIn response to a financial crisis, many organizations adjust their pay systems to reduce labor costs. In this research, we focus on the use of delayed pay (the postponement of employees' contractual compensation) and examine its effect on employee voluntary turnover outcomes. In a field study (Study 1) with data collected from the executive managers of 129 Chinese hotels experiencing a financial crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), we find a positive relationship between delayed pay and the voluntary turnover rate at the organizational level. In addition, this relationship becomes weaker when delayed pay consists of a larger proportion of pay‐for‐performance (PFP). We then conduct an experiment (Study 2) to extend our theoretical framework to the individual level, establish causality, and examine the underlying mechanism. The results show that the perceived negative instrumentality of stay (i.e., expected economic losses associated with staying in an organization) explains why individuals intend to leave organizations adopting delayed base pay but not delayed PFP. We further replicate these findings in a critical incident technique study (Study 3). We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Pre-hospital and retrieval medicine in Scotland: a retrospective cohort study of the workload and outcomes of the emergency medical retrieval service in the first decade of national coverage

BackgroundThe Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS) has provided national pre-hospital critical care and aeromedical retrieval in Scotland since 2010. This study investigates trends in the service and patients attended over the last decade; and factors associated with clinical deterioration and pre-hospital death.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted of all service taskings over ten years (2011–2020 inclusive). The EMRS electronic database provided data on location, sociodemographic factors, diagnoses, physiological measurements, clinical management, and pre-hospital deaths. Binary logistic regression models were used to determine change in physiology in pre-hospital care, and factors associated with pre-hospital death. Geospatial modelling, using road and air travel time models, was used to explore transfer times.ResultsEMRS received 8,069 taskings over the study period, of which 2,748 retrieval and 3,633 pre-hospital critical care missions resulted in patient contact. EMRS was more commonly dispatched to socioeconomically deprived areas for pre-hospital critical care incidents (Spearman’s rank correlation, r(8)=-0.75, p = 0.01). In multivariate analysis, systolic blood pressure < 90mmHg, respiratory rate < 6/min or > 30/min, and Glasgow Coma Score ≤ 14 were associated with pre-hospital mortality independent of demographic factors. Geospatial modelling suggested that aeromedical retrieval reduced the mean time to a critical care unit by 1 h 46 min compared with road/ferry transportation.ConclusionEMRS continues to develop, delivering Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine across Scotland and may have a role in addressing health inequalities, including socioeconomic deprivation and geographic isolation. Age, specific distances from care, and abnormal physiology are associated with death in pre-hospital critical care.

Pengaruh Strategi Critical Incident terhadap Hasil Belajar Menulis Karangan Narasi Siswa Kelas V SDN 19 Malela Kecamatan Suli

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the critical incident strategy on learning outcomes in writing narrative essays. This research is a descriptive type. The population of this study were fifth grade students at SDN 19 Malela for the 2022/2023 academic year, consisting of one class. The sample in this study were all Class V students at SDN 19 Malela, Suli District, totaling 27 students. Sampling used a total sampling technique. Data collection techniques used in this study were tests (pre-test and post-test), observation and documentation. Learning outcomes after applying active learning strategies based on calculations with 26 degrees of freedom, produce t-count = 5.0144 and t-table = 2.056. The results of these calculations show that t count ≥ t table (5.0144 ≥ 2.056). It can be concluded that the use of active learning strategies in critical incidents has an impact on the learning outcomes of fifth grade students at SDN 19 Malela, Suli District, Luwu Regency.

Analysis of Cyber-Intelligence Frameworks for AI Data Processing

This paper deals with the concept of cyber intelligence and its components as a fundamental tool for the protection of information today. After that, the main cyber-intelligence frameworks that are currently applied worldwide (Diamond Model, Cyberkill Chain, and Mitre Att&amp;ck) are described to subsequently analyse them through their practical application in a real critical cyber incident, as well as analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each one of them according to the comparison of seventeen variables of interest. From this analysis and considering the two actions mentioned, it is concluded that Mitre Att&amp;ck is the most suitable framework due to its flexibility, permanent updating, and the existence of a powerful database. Finally, an explanation is given for how Mitre Att&amp;ck can be integrated with the research and application of artificial intelligence in the achievement of the objectives set and the development of tools that can serve as support for the detection of the patterns and authorship of cyberattacks.

Exploring barriers that prevent employees from experiencing flow in the software industry

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers that prevent workers in the software industry from experiencing flow in their work.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted by using a qualitative critical incident technique-inspired questionnaire.FindingsThe findings suggest that workers in the software industry perceive that the most obvious obstacles to experiencing flow are related to work not presenting enough cognitive challenges and situational barriers related to the characteristics of the job (e.g. workdays having too many interruptions and distractions, timetables often being considered too tight for creative exploration and problem solving and having negative user experiences with development tools).Originality/valueThe findings provide insights into flow barriers, specifically barriers that prevent workers in the software industry from experiencing flow.

Analyzing the Influence of COVID-19 on the E-Commerce Customer’s Retail Experience in the Supermarket Industry: Insights from Brazil

Background: E-commerce’s convenience, speed, and ability to overcome geographical barriers have made it increasingly popular across industries. This study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer experience and satisfaction in supermarket retail e-commerce in the Brazilian market. The objective was to understand how the pandemic influenced satisfaction in this sector. Methods: A survey research method was employed, utilizing the Critical Incident Technique to identify key quality dimensions important to customers. A total of 133 valid responses underwent exploratory factor analysis. Results: Data analysis identified three dimensions significantly affecting overall customer satisfaction. “Presentation of Products in the Application (app)” had the highest correlation, while “Delivery Logistics” had the lowest. However, when considering the COVID-19 factor, “Delivery Logistics” showed the highest correlation. This indicates that the dimension most affected by the pandemic has the least impact on overall satisfaction in supermarket e-commerce. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the significance of understanding customer satisfaction in supermarket e-commerce, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic but also its post-pandemic consequences. Retailers should prioritize improving product presentation in apps, as it greatly influences overall satisfaction. Addressing the pandemic’s impact on delivery logistics is also crucial to ensure competitiveness in the e-commerce market.

Living with Experience in the Academy: Pressures to Disclose in Routine Research Activities

ABSTRACT Lived-experience perspectives have gained increasing traction in social work research, presenting valuable opportunities for novel insights to inform policy, practice, and research. Yet these developments have perhaps outpaced our capacity as producers and consumers of research to consider their broader ethical implications for social work researchers with lived experience (particularly those with undisclosed experiences). Through a series of critical incident analyses, this article highlights ethical dilemmas researchers may face concerning disclosure of their lived experience, and how application of trauma-informed and ethical principles may assist in responding to these dilemmas. IMPLICATIONS Social work researchers may face increased pressures to disclose their lived experience in the course of typical research activities. Trauma-informed and ethical research principles can be drawn upon to navigate these dilemmas. Academic and research institutions and bodies should consider the impact on researchers of processes which impel disclosure of lived experience.

Primary Professionalization of Foreign Students: Barriers, Stigmatization, Adaptation

Introduction. In the context of the export of educational services, it is of particular importance to design an efficient system of foreign students’ psychological adaptation. Owing to the ethnocultural background, foreign students feel that they are stigmatized minorities in the host society. Negative images and stereotypes are often internalized, resulting in stable low self-esteem in the stigmatized. Since self-esteem acts as a key parameter of the professional self-concept, social stigma and the experience of social identity threat activate the stigmatization of primary professionalization, thereby drastically reducing the efficiency of the received vocational education at the university. The purpose of the study is: to outline the phenomenon of primary professionalization, to reveal the nature of the relationship between the social stigma of foreign students and their self-esteem, and to describe the levels of primary professionalization.Materials and Methods. The study involved 124 foreign students. Participants were asked to answer questions of the Short Form of the Stigmatization Scale and Rosenbergʼs Self-Esteem Scale in order to track the relationship between social stigma and self-esteem. Further, in order to identify the basic barriers to primary professionalization and the participants’ perception of their stigmatized status, the respondents answered the questions of a semi-structured interview supported with the critical incident technique in a focus group format.Results. There is a correlation between the degree of obviousness of social stigma and self-esteem of foreign students. The categorization of the data obtained allowed the authors to substantiate the phenomenon of stigma of primary professionalization, to systematize the determining factors, and to describe its levels.Discussion and Conclusion. Despite the fact that social stigma has attracted active attention of world science for decades, we have not been able to find focused studies into primary professionalization in the format of education export. Studying the factors that lead to the development of stigma of primary professionalization, understanding its levels will help to design a system for its prevention, optimize the system of adaptation of foreign students to the realities of the educational system of the host university.

How expert surgeons review robotic videos: A grounded theory study

BackgroundSurgical video review has been shown to improve technical skill in novice surgeons; however, to date, there are no studies examining the use of video review by experts. This study sought to understand the process expert robotic surgeons use when they review their surgical videos. MethodsIn this qualitative pilot study, eight expert robotic colorectal surgeons individually participated in semi-structured interviews and video elicitation sessions. Grounded theory was used to develop a process model on how expert surgeons review their robotic videos. ResultsThe participants identified four categories of video review: critical incidents, unique cases, new techniques/procedures, and routine cases. They ask themselves questions with the primary goal of improving surgical technical skills. Surgeons compare their performance to benchmark videos and share videos for teaching and collaboration. ConclusionsExpert robotic surgeons use video review for self-reflection and self-assessment. They recognize that improving surgical skills requires a growth mindset. These findings may contribute to the surgical education of novices.