Collaborative Experience Research Articles

Integrating Simulation in Pediatric Health Care: Collaboration of Primary and Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners Across Settings

Pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) education continues to evolve. Clinical placement availability significantly impacts student’s exposure to complex pediatric patients. The intricacy of pediatric health care demands innovative educational approaches, especially in managing high-risk, low-frequency emergencies. Simulation-based education is a vital tool to bridge learning gaps and enhance core competencies, particularly in diagnosing and managing pediatric patients across diverse health care settings. Here we explore a collaborative formative simulation experience for primary care PNPs and acute care PNPs, focusing on a single patient transitioning through primary care, emergency, and acute care settings. Results demonstrate enhanced student satisfaction and self-confidence, underscoring the efficacy of such simulations in preparing future pediatric health care providers. Opportunities for improvement and future directions are discussed, highlighting the significance of interprofessional collaboration and continuous innovation in PNP education.

Creating Optimal Clinical Learning Environments Through Interprofessional Bedside Rounding Models: Lessons From the iPACE Story.

The Interprofessional Partnership to Advance Care and Education (iPACE) model was developed and implemented at Maine Medical Center in 2016 as part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Pursuing Excellence in Clinical Learning Environments (CLE) demonstration project. The model is based on the belief that, in optimal CLEs, residents are trained in team-based, interprofessional collaborative care and use clinical care experiences to innovate in the areas of patient safety and quality of care. The model's inclusion of systems engineering principles, such as design thinking, allows teams to design, customize, and iteratively improve their own iPACE model.The iPACE model was further developed and disseminated with support from an American Medical Association Reimagining Residency grant and from the MaineHealth health system's medical education and clinical leadership. iPACE started as a small pilot project on a single inpatient unit and has evolved to become the standard for inpatient team rounds at the bedside. iPACE has received positive feedback from patients, demonstrated benefits to care team members and resident education, and proven its value to the health system through sustained reductions in length of stay and cost of care metrics. The iPACE project has fulfilled MMC's original goal of intentionally redesigning its CLEs to expose residents to high-functioning interprofessional teams with the goal of improving patient care and safety. The model has shown direct learner benefits through increased faculty observation and improved quality of feedback. Interprofessional bedside rounding models like iPACE have the potential to imprint learners with the skills and behaviors essential to provide collaborative patient-centered care. Strategies exist that improve resident and faculty engagement in bedside rounding models like iPACE and should be employed to encourage teaching and learning at the bedside.

Adapting Education: Navigating Hybrid Classrooms in The Post-Pandemic Era

Hybrid classrooms are designed to support collaborative learning experiences. This concept encourages students to actively engage within learning communities. This study investigates the applicability of hybrid classrooms in a university. Researchers utilized a CoI questionnaire adapted from Swan et al., (2008). It contains 36 items, all measured on a 4-point Likert scale. The questionnaires measure the three components of the CoI model. The participants consisted of accounting students who enrolled in Taxation courses in 2023, totaling 140 individuals. This result finds that students have effective social interaction, active engagement, and critical inquiry in the hybrid classroom. Students expressed a positive sentiment towards the hybrid classroom. The hybrid classroom undeniably has great potential for a flexible learning model for both students and educators in the future. While this study offers valuable insights into the perceptions of students regarding the hybrid classroom, the limitations, lack of demographic data, reliance on self-report measures, and absence of qualitative data, must be acknowledged when interpreting the findings.

Digital Competence among Araling Panlipunan Teachers in the Division of El Salvador City

Araling Panlipunan teachers' digital competence theorizes that transformative teaching practices and ongoing professional growth as the driving force behind enables educators to flourish in the digital era. This study aimed to determine the level of teachers' digital competence in teaching and professional development. Specifically, it accomplished three primary objectives on characterizing the respondents; examining teachers' digital competence in terms of teaching and professional development; and determining correlations between the respondents' profiles and their digital competence. The study involved one hundred sixty-four (164) Araling Panlipunan teachers, using a universal sampling method. A correlational-descriptive research design was employed, utilizing a patterned and modified questionnaire. Statistical tools such as means, frequency, standard deviation, and Pearson-r were employed to analyze the collected data, allowing for a comprehensive examination of the teachers' digital competence in teaching and professional development. Findings showed that majority of the respondents are handling Grade 1-3 with units in Master’s degree and have a teaching experience of 10 years or more. They have personal ownership of digital tools with daily internet and duration of ICT usage of 4-8 hours. The respondents have a high level of digital competence in teaching and professional development. There is a significant relationship between daily internet and duration of ICT usage and the respondents’ digital competence. It is important for teachers to be good at using digital tools. Teachers who actively engage in collaborative learning experiences using digital platforms and tools are more likely to enhance their digital competence and improve their teaching practices. It is recommended that teachers who have accrued credits in Master’s degree continue their pursuit of completing the program. Additionally, it is imperative for teachers to employ plagiarism detection software to thoroughly examine students’ work for any signs of plagiarism.

A Literature Review on Coaching Methods for Tutoring Students in Undergraduate Education

Recently, the integration of coaching methodologies within educational environments has garnered significant attention due to their potential to enhance student learning outcomes and overall academic performance. While the literature extensively examines the effectiveness of coaching in a plethora of scenarios (e.g., sports, business, and entrepreneurship), there remains a notable research gap regarding its application within undergraduate educational environments, where coachees have unique characteristics in terms of background, age/maturity, resources availability, and population size. This literature review aims to address this gap by synthesizing existing research on the implementation of coaching strategies in educational settings and how they can cope with a large number of students. Through a comprehensive analysis, this study elucidates the current state of knowledge, identifies prevailing methodologies, and evaluates the outcomes associated with employing coaching techniques in group contexts. Moreover, this work explores the potential benefits and challenges of utilizing coaching strategies in group sessions, offering insights into their scalability and applicability within diverse educational settings. The findings of this review underscore the importance of further research in this domain to advance our understanding of how coaching methodologies can be effectively adapted to facilitate collaborative learning experiences and promote student success on a broader scale. Ultimately, this study advocates for the integration of group coaching approaches as a promising avenue for enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of traditional tutoring and mentoring practices in education.

Impact of a game-based interprofessional education program on medical students’ perceptions: a text network analysis using essays

BackgroundThe increasing complexity of the healthcare environment and the necessity of multidisciplinary teamwork have highlighted the importance of interprofessional education (IPE). IPE aims to enhance the quality of patient care through collaborative education involving various healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. This study sought to analyze how game-based IPE activities influence students’ perceptions and reflective thinking. It also aimed to identify the shifts in perception and effectiveness caused by this educational approach.MethodsThe study is based on a game-based IPE program conducted at University A, involving medical and nursing students in structured learning and team-based activities. Data were collected using essays written by the students after they had participated in IPE activities. Text network analysis was conducted by extracting key terms, performing centrality analysis, and visualizing topic modeling to identify changes in students’ perceptions and reflective thinking.ResultsKeywords such as “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” played a crucial role in the network, indicating that students prioritized enhancing their communication and problem-solving skills within the educational environment. The topic modeling results identified three main topics, each demonstrating the positive influence of game-based collaborative activities, interprofessional perspectives, and interdisciplinary educational experiences on students. Topic 3 (interdisciplinary educational experience) acted as a significant mediator connecting Topic 1 (game-based collaborative activity experience) and Topic 2 (interprofessional perspectives).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that game-based IPE activities are an effective educational approach for enhancing students’ team building skills, particularly communication and interprofessional perspectives. Based on these findings, future IPE programs should focus on creating collaborative learning environments, strengthening communication skills, and promoting interdisciplinary education. The findings provide essential insights for educational designers and medical educators to enhance the effectiveness of IPE programs. Future research should assess the long-term impacts of game-based IPE on clinical practice, patient outcomes, and participants’ professional development.

Augmented Bodily Self in Performing a Button-Touching Task with Soft Supernumerary Robotic Arms

Extra or supernumerary robotic limbs are actively exploited in the field of body augmentation. The science of self-recognition of additional body parts is an interesting subject. Although the field is primarily led by psychological studies in virtual reality, which facilitate flexible experimental designs, we believe that assessments employing real robots are also essential. In this study, we investigated the sense of body ownership and agency of a dual-arm wearable robotic arm using an inexpensive and safe inflatable structure. We report the results of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) analysis of brain activity during the use of the robotic arm. The questionnaire results from the experiment, which involved a button-touching task, revealed that both the sense of ownership and sense of agency were significantly higher in the goal-oriented collaborative experience compared to the non-goal-oriented condition. This indicates that humans feel ownership of and agency toward an autonomous robot or a remote-controlled robotic arm operated by another person. The analysis of the fNIRS data included a two-factor analysis of variance for the learning and trial phases. While there was no main effect for the conditions within each phase, a significant interaction was observed between the two brain regions of the right angular gyrus and right postcentral gyrus.

The work behind an interdisciplinary team: Creating a postpartum hemorrhage virtual reality training platform

BackgroundThis article examines an interdisciplinary team's collaboration experience in the development of a virtual reality (VR) training platform for postpartum hemorrhage management. The project started during the COVID-19 pandemic to support remote training in nursing. Methods & ProcessesComprised of multidisciplinary specialists, the team collaborated through virtual meetings and digital tools such as an online whiteboard. The project went through three processes: (a) initial process, in which the team established the mutual goal, determined the targeted training, understood the subject matter, and created the framework; (b) VR development process, in which members contributed their expertise to map the task flow, create 3D objects, and develop the VR prototype; and (c) evaluation process, in which tests were performed among team members, subject matter experts, and undergraduate nursing students, to gain insights and fix problems. ConclusionLessons learned from this interdisciplinary collaboration include the accommodation of different objectives, workload expectations and distribution, changes of team members, and evaluation implementation.

Scale to measure student perception in collaborative online international learning experiences: design and validation

Scale to measure student perception in collaborative online international learning experiences: design and validation

Human-AI collaboration: Unraveling the effects of user proficiency and AI agent capability in intelligent decision support systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are integral components of modern intelligent decision support systems (IDSS), providing their capability to assist in decision-making processes. Understanding the influence of AI involvement on human responses within these systems is crucial for fostering appropriate reliance on AI advice and ensuring a comfortable user experience. This study delves into the impact of AI agents on decision change, correct rate change, confidence rate change and pleasure rating among users. It explores the main and interactive effects of user proficiency and AI agent capability on user responses. A block-factorial experiment involving 45 participants was conducted. The results indicated that high-capability AI agents were associated with substantial decision change, correct rate change and confidence rate change. Participants with higher proficiency, both subjectively and objectively, exhibited reduced reliance on AI agents for task execution. Notably, the involvement of AI agents led to a slight decline in correct rates for participants of high competence (i.e., participants' independent correct rate exceeds AI agent capability), while still enhancing their confidence levels. Additionally, agents lacking human-like embodiment tended to enhance participants’ pleasure ratings. Individual differences in gender, collaboration experience with AI agent, and stereotype on AI agent capability also shaped the decision changes and pleasure ratings of participants. These findings underscore the presence of complementary competence interaction between user and AI agent within IDSS, and can be applied in designing capability of advisory AI agents with consideration of user proficiency and individual characteristics. Relevance to industryThe findings can be used as guidelines for designing AI agents and specifying their application strategies to integrate the assistance of AI agents effectively in intelligent decision support systems.

Evaluation of the McGill-Tongji Blended Education Program for Teacher Leaders in General Practice: The importance of partnership and contextualization in International Primary Care Training Initiatives.

Strong primary health care (PHC) systems require well-established PHC education systems to enhance the skills of general practitioners (GPs). However, the literature on the experiences of international collaboration in primary care education in low- and middle-income countries remains limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation and perceived impact of the McGill-Tongji Blended Education Program for Teacher Leaders in General Practice (referred to as the "Tongji Program"). In 2020-2021, the McGill Department of Family Medicine (Montreal, Canada) and Tongji University School of Medicine (TUSM,Shanghai, China) jointly implemented the Tongji Program in Shanghai, China to improve the teaching capacity of PHC teachers. We conducted an exploratory longitudinal case study with a mixed methods design for the evaluation. Quantitative (QUAN) data was collected through questionnaire surveys and qualitative (QUAL) data was collected through focus group discussions. The evaluation showed that learners in Tongji Program were primarily female GPs (21/22，95%) with less than 4 years of experience in teaching (16/22，73%). This program was considered a successful learning experience by most participants (19/22, 86%) with higher order learning tasks such as critical thinking and problem-solving. They also agreed that this program helped them feel more prepared to teach (21/22，95%), and developed a positive attitude toward primary care (21/22，95%). The QUAL interview revealed that both the Tongji and McGill organizers noted that TUSM showed strong leadership in organization, education, and coordination. Both students and teachers agreed that by adapting training content into contextualized delivery formats and settings, the Tongji Program successfully overcame language and technology barriers. Committed partnerships and contextualization were key to the success of the Tongji Program. Future research should focus on how international primary care education programs affect learners' behavior in their practice settings, and explore barriers and facilitators to change.

Augmented Reality for Supporting Student’s Engagement in Mathematics Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Augmented reality (AR) has gained considerable attention in academic research as a primary instructional tool to enhance learning across various educational levels, including mathematics education. AR enables the overlaying of three-dimensional images onto real-world environments within an academic setting. While AR has demonstrated its potential to improve learning outcomes in academic contexts, there is a need for a comprehensive review to identify, assess, and summarize empirical findings related to student engagement, particularly in mathematics education. Consequently, a systematic review was conducted to examine the uses of AR in student engagement in mathematics education. A thorough electronic search was performed on the Scopus database to retrieve pertinent journal articles. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 studies were selected for analysis. The results reveal that AR can facilitate student engagement in three key aspects: interactive, collaborative, and immersive experiences. Although AR offers several advantages for promoting student engagement in mathematics education, its practical implementation in educational settings requires careful consideration of AR application and content design and close collaboration between educators and technology. Furthermore, the successful integration of AR technology relies on the well-planned implementation of learning programs that effectively incorporate AR elements for mathematics education.

Do Surgeons Experience Moral Dissonance When There Is Misalignment Between Evidence and Action? A Survey and Scenario-based Study.

Moral dissonance is the psychological discomfort associated with a mismatch between our moral values and potentially immoral actions. For instance, to limit moral dissonance, surgeons must develop a rationale that the potential for benefit from performing surgery is meaningfully greater than the inherent harm of surgery. Moral dissonance can also occur when a patient or one's surgeon peers encourage surgery for a given problem, even when the evidence suggests limited or no benefit over other options. Clinicians may not realize the degree to which moral dissonance can be a source of diminished joy in practice. Uncovering potential sources of moral dissonance can help inform efforts to help clinicians enjoy their work. In a scenario-based experiment performed in an online survey format, we exposed musculoskeletal specialists to various types of patient and practice stressors to measure their association with moral dissonance and asked: (1) What factors are associated with the level of pressure surgeons feel to act contrary to the best evidence? (2) What factors are associated with the likelihood of offering surgery? We performed a scenario-based experiment by inviting members of the Science of Variation Group (SOVG; an international collaborative of musculoskeletal surgeons that studies variation in care) to complete an online survey with randomized elements. The use of experimental techniques such as randomization to measure factors associated with specific ratings makes participation rate less important than diversity of opinion within the sample. A total of 114 SOVG musculoskeletal surgeons participated, which represents the typical number of participants from a total of about 200 who tend to participate in at least one experiment per year. Among the 114 participants, 94% (107) were men, 49% (56) practiced in the United States, and 82% (94) supervised trainees. Participants viewed 12 scenarios of upper extremity fractures for which surgery is optional (discretionary) based on consensus and current best evidence. In addition to a representative age, the scenario included randomized patient and practice factors that we posit could be sources of moral distress based on author consensus. Patient factors included potential sources of pressure (such as "The patient is convinced they want a specific treatment and will go to a different surgeon if they don't get it") or experiences of collaboration (such as "The patient is collaborative and involved in decisions"). Practice factors included circumstances of financial or reputational pressure (such as "The practice is putting pressure on you to generate more revenue") and factors of limited pressure (such as "Your income is not tied to revenue"). For each scenario, the participant was asked to rate both of the following statements on a scale from 0 to 100 anchored with "I don't feel it at all" at 0, "I feel it moderately" at 50, and "I feel it strongly" at 100: (1) pressure to act contrary to best evidence and (2) likelihood of offering surgery. Additional explanatory variables included surgeon factors: gender, years in practice, region, subspecialty, supervision of trainees, and practice setting (academic/nonacademic). We sought factors associated with pressure to act contrary to evidence and likelihood of offering surgery, accounting for potential confounding variables in multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models. Accounting for potential confounding variables, greater pressure to act contrary to best evidence was moderately associated with greater patient despair (regression coefficient [RC] 6 [95% confidence interval 2 to 9]; p = 0.001) and stronger patient preference (RC 4 [95% CI 0 to 8]; p = 0.03). Lower pressure to act contrary to evidence was moderately associated with surgeon income independent of revenue (RC -6 [95% CI -9 to -4]; p < 0.001) and no financial benefit to operative treatment (RC -6 [95% CI -8 to -3]; p < 0.001). Marketing concerns were the only factor associated with greater likelihood of offering surgery (RC 6 [95% CI 0 to 11]; p = 0.04). In this scenario-based survey experiment, patient distress and strong preferences and surgeon financial incentives were associated with greater surgeon feelings of moral dissonance when considering discretionary fracture surgery. To support enjoyment of the practice of musculoskeletal surgery, we recommend that surgeons, surgery practices, and surgery professional associations be intentional in both anticipating and developing strategies to ameliorate potential sources of moral dissonance in daily practice.

Physics XP: Integration of ChatGPT and Gamification to Improve Academic Performance and Motivation in Physics 1 Course

The understanding of the physics course (PC) at the university level faces many challenges, highlighting the gap in mathematical knowledge and conceptual phenomenological analysis that affect the assimilation of more advanced physical concepts. The synergistic integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and gamification into the teaching and learning process transforms this process into an engaging and collaborative experience, improving interaction and personalization of learning and incorporating game elements to increase student participation and motivation. The objective of this research was to measure the influence of the integration of ChatGPT, AI, and gamification on the academic results and motivation of students in the physics 1 course. A total of 188 students participated in this study: 98 students in the experimental group and 90 students in the control group. The grades obtained in the standardized evaluations were compared in both the partial exam and the final exam of the physics 1 course, and a Likert-type questionnaire was used for motivation. The results show a better academic performance (AP) of the students in the experimental group than the control group, which is statistically evidenced (p &lt; 0.01). It also shows that students who developed the course using ChatGPT AI and gamification developed a more positive attitude towards interest, usefulness, self-efficacy, active participation, and personal satisfaction in the physics 1 course.

Decolonizing Knowledge and Academic Practices through collaborative methodology: Reflections on Collaborative filmmaking with Indigenous Students in the Peruvian Amazon

This article reflects on a recent collaborative filmmaking experience in the Peruvian Amazon with indigenous students at the intercultural University of Nopoki. It draws on the theoretical notions of decoloniality of knowledge and knowledge production (Mignolo &amp; Walsh, 2018), functional and critical interculturality (Tubino &amp; Flores, 2020), participatory visual methodologies (Mitchell, De Lange, &amp; Moletsane, 2017), and the crucial input of indigenous knowledge (Rose, 2018). It focuses on the moments of intersection where collaboration provided new insights into the design and methodology of the research, the use of technology, and the distance between the theoretical framework and the experiential (vivencial) knowledge of the participants. Thus, underscoring that research and knowledge production should incorporate local knowledge from the Global South to continue its adaptable line (Finck Carrales, 2021).

Opportunities for achieving landscape scale conservation in England

The English countryside is set to undergo significant changes in the way it will be managed in the coming year. The incoming Environmental Land Management schemes represents a shift in scale and focus of public goods provisioning, with the Landscape Recovery scheme in particular now geared more in favour of a coordinated landscape scale delivery of these public goods. This also comes at a time when the countryside has been experiencing a diversification within the land management community, which are moving towards an increasingly heterogenous mix of values and motivations for occupying and managing land. This will have implication as to how effective these public goods can be delivered on a landscape scale. Further complicating this is that while the idea of landscape scale collaboration to deliver more meaningful outcomes towards conservation has been widely accepted in scientific circles, uncertainty about how to achieve this in practice remains. This prompts a growing need to better understand how willing these increasingly diverse range of landholders are in collaborating together.To address this, this paper explores how collaborations consisting of a heterogenous mix of stakeholders might function, and the drivers and interventions required for such collaboration to be sustained in the long term. Utilising Q-methodology, we establish various models of collaboration based around the range perspectives of different stakeholders. Our findings yield five models of collaboration: the “Traditional Farmer”, “Social Farmer”, “Hybrid Collaboration”, “Modern Collaborators” and “Pragmatic Collaborators”. While distinction between the groups are reflected by the aspects of collaboration they placed most importance to, several commonalities in views have emerged as well. This includes the trust required between conservation groups and landholders for effective conservation outcomes, and the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience in collaborations. Ultimately, the models of collaboration suggest a need for future policies to think more directly about how different landholders might be grouped according to their perspective on collaboration and how they can be incentivised. This will facilitate more effective, and sustained, landholder collaborations that fulfils landscape scale ambitions of upcoming policies.

Participating together in CP-ACHIEVE: Experiences, opportunities and reflections from a collaborative research team of people with lived experience of cerebral palsy and health care professionals

The Australian Centre for Health, Independence, Economic participation and Value Enhanced care for adolescents and young adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP-ACHIEVE) is a Centre of Research Excellence (CRE), funded for 5-year by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. The vision of CP-ACHIEVE is an Australia where people with cerebral palsy receive excellent healthcare throughout their lives and live in, and contribute to, supportive communities that welcome and enable their participation. CP-ACHIEVE began with the ethical commitment to bring together people with lived experience of cerebral palsy, researchers, and health professionals to develop and conduct research informed by, and relevant to, people with cerebral palsy and their allies. From inception, co-research and collaboration with (not ‘to’ or ‘about’) young people with cerebral palsy (10 to 30 years of age) and their families has been central to our work. In this paper, we describe the CP-ACHIEVE values, structure and strategy for this approach, and its implementation at each stage of the research process. We then provide an example of the strategy in action, using a qualitative exploration of CP-ACHIEVE’s Participation Theme team’s experiences of collaboration and involvement as co-researchers. Active participation in research for young people with lived experience of cerebral palsy and their families is a fundamental human right, based on their right to be active agents in decisions that affect them. In this paper we explore how our collaborative approach, and the integration of diverse views, has enhanced the relevance, quality, usefulness, and translation of our research. We also describe (i) the structural elements of our research group that have facilitated our work together, (ii) our challenges, and (iii) how the ownership of our research by people with cerebral palsy is driving future research directions and empowering involvement of people with lived experience beyond CP-ACHIEVE. We offer this knowledge and our experiences to assist other research teams in their journeys towards collaborative research alongside people with lived experience of disability.

Exploring Collaboration and Individual Research Experience among Ghanaian Academics: A Qualitative Research

Background: This study seeks to understand collaborative and individual research among academics in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ghana, what that means to them, and the challenges they face. Internal and external research collaboration is seen as the driving force behind teaching and learning in HEIs. In Ghana, both collaborative and individual research comes with power dynamics among academics, yet they also present unique opportunities to enhance their well-being and professional careers. Methods: This study employed a qualitative research approach to gather the experiences, views, and stories of 10 academics from Ghanaian HEIs. The data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenology approach (IPA). This method focused on understanding the lived experiences of the academics to interpret their stories and experiences regarding their involvement in collaborative and individual research, as well as the meanings and challenges. Results: The results positioned individual research ahead of collaborative research. Monetary rewards were the primary motivation for collaborative research regarding grant applications. In contrast, for most academics in Ghana's HEIs, collaboration for research publications was driven by the quest for promotion, recognition, self-actualisation, and respect among colleagues. Conclusion: This study is the first to explore the impacts of collaborative and individual research among Ghanaian academics in HEIs. The results suggest that individual and collaborative research exists among Ghanaian academics in HEIs. However, individual research is driven by monetary gain. In contrast, collaborative research is driven by publications and citation rates, the pursuit of promotion, recognition, self-actualisation, and respect among most academics in Ghana's HEIs. The study highlights the importance of individual and collaborative research in the context of Ghanaian academic workplace well-being. The study recommends a mindset change regarding collaborative research among academics in HEIs in Ghana. This way, the most experienced and elite researchers could share and guide early researchers to bridge the research knowledge gap. Also, leadership roles could be established to ensure effective research collaboration through mentorship and training programs that align with academic career growth. This initiative could foster relationship-building and increase collaboration to reduce the monetary-driven and individualistic mindset.

Enhancing Collaborative Shopping Experience Through Interactive Personalized Avatars and Shared Gaze in a Multi-User Augmented Reality Environment

Augmented Reality (AR) has been used to enhance the shopping experience. However, existing AR shopping systems mainly focus on the solo user’s experience, while lacking multi-user experience. To address the gap, we propose a novel approach to collaborative shopping in a multi-user AR environment. By integrating the interactive personalized avatars of customers and shared gaze cues between shopping companions, we aim to understand how these technologies can enhance the collaborative shopping experience. We recruited thirty participants to conduct a 2 (personalized avatar: static vs. interactive) times 2 (shared gaze: without vs. with) within-subject repeat user study. The quantitative results from questionnaires showed that both interactive personalized avatars and shared gaze cues had positive effects on participants’ perceptions of enjoyment, usefulness, communication, co-presence, and future use. The combination of two features further enhanced the communication and perceived co-presence between shoppers and was preferred by participants. The qualitative results showed that interactive personalized avatars and shared gaze cues can enhance the shopping experience and promote efficiency which is consistent with quantitative results.

Intelligent Learning Platform with Deep Neural Network for Korean Language Teaching in Universities

Intelligent learning represents a dynamic approach to education that provides innovative technologies and personalized methodologies to enhance learning outcomes. Intelligent teaching adapts instruction to the individual needs, preferences, and progress of each student. This approach enables educators to tailor curriculum delivery, identify areas for improvement, and provide timely feedback, fostering a more engaging and effective learning environment. Moreover, intelligent teaching promotes collaborative learning experiences and encourages critical thinking skills, preparing students for success in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. This paper proposed a framework of Generative Platform-Oriented Intelligent Deep Neural Network (GPoIDNN) for Korean language teaching in Universities. The proposed GPoIDNN network comprises a social media platform for the promotion of Korean language teaching among students. With the GPoIDNN platform, a Generative network is implemented for the analysis of the factors involved in Language teaching in universities. The platform considered for the proposed model is Weibo for acquiring in-depth information about the language learning process. Upon the estimated features GPoIDNN uses the Generative Deep Neural Network platform for the classification and examination of the student performance. With the Weibo platform in social media, the Generative network constructs the intelligent teaching system for the Korean language teaching process in University students. The examination of student performance demonstrated that the proposed GPoIDNN model improves the student learning of Korean language with improved by 73% through the intelligent model. Further, the keywords and opinions classified with the GPoIDNN model exhibits a higher classification rate of 0.98 based on the opinion of the students in the universities.