Experiential Backgrounds Research Articles

Determining Need: Opportunities for Connecticut Invasive Plant Programming

The University of Connecticut Extension Sustainable Landscapes program seeks to develop an invasive plant training program to equip stakeholder groups of varied experiential backgrounds with the information needed to evaluate, manage, and mitigate populations of invasive species in Connecticut. A mixed methods needs assessment was conducted to explore diverse viewpoints about invasive plant education. Data were collected from 233 survey respondents and three focus group interviews. Landscape professional/contractors and municipal employees totaled 41.1% of respondents when combined, and home gardeners totaled 27.9%. The greatest programmatic need identified by survey respondents was invasive plant management options and strategies, with Japanese knotweed considered the most problematic invasive plant from a list of 16 species. Focus group participants expressed enthusiasm about targeted educational programming, such as efforts focused on land management principles, species identification, state regulatory agencies, and pesticide application. Many shared the need for enhanced public education efforts and resource availability. A hybrid approach, including virtual and in-person components, was recommended as the ideal delivery modality for an invasive plant training program.

Development of an Introductory Course in Design Phase Management for Constructors

Collaborative construction delivery methods such as Design-Build (DB), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and Construction Management at Risk (CMR) have a need for a person that manages the design phase of a project made up of many different stakeholders. A course was recently developed for a construction-based Design and Construction Integration (DCI) program that focuses on the unique role of managing the construction project during the design phase. The course covers a number of issues including: 1) effectively building and managing a team that is made up of owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and sub-contractors that have diverse educational and experiential backgrounds, 2) building team expertise by bringing in key subcontractors and specialty designers under various contract methods, 3) risk management of the different types of delivery methods are explored along with the legal issues associated with the delivery methods, and finally 4) managing the design phase costs and how stakeholders are compensated during the design phase to ensure a quality designed project that will be on budget and has a feasible construction schedule. The course introduces many of these topics with the underlying concepts of lean design and construction best practices. This paper details the development of the course, class activities associated with the course, and lessons learned from implementing the course in a DCI program.

Upper echelons and firm internationalization: A critical review and future directions

International business literature has long acknowledged the powerful influence of the upper echelons of firms, leading to an impressive volume of research delving into the impacts of managers’ demographic, psychographic, and experiential backgrounds on firms’ actions and strategies. We draw on this stream of literature to analyze and synthesize empirical findings related to the influence of upper echelons on firm internationalization. The review is organized along two dimensions:ex antedecisions andex postoutcomes of firms’ internationalization trajectories, and then the influence of managers’ demographic and psychological attributes. As it shows, we lack research on the influences of (1) executive attributes onex postoutcomes, (2) executives’ risk perceptions onex ante decisions, and (3) executive attributes on firm internationalization processes. Accordingly, we develop an integrative framework that maps and organizes various facets of this literature. We also propose four new themes to stimulate further research in this area.

Successful Implementation of Peer Support for People with Severe Mental Illness in Germany: a Theory of Change Approach

Peer support is an established intervention in which people with mental illness receive support by trained peer support workers who have already overcome a mental health crisis. The implementation of peer support is complex due to interacting factors and can be achieved through the participatory Theory of Change method. Aim of this study is to develop a cross-site Theory of Change for the sustainable implementation of UPSIDES peer support in Germany. Based on site-specific Theories of Change workshops from Ulm and Hamburg in which 47 participants took part, a cross-site Theory of Change was designed and verified in three follow-up workshops with 12 participants. Participants' professional and experiential backgrounds were diverse, including peer support workers, hospital directors and managers, mental health professionals (psychiatrists, psychotherapists, nurses), and researchers. The first pathway of the cross-site Theory of Change focuses on the training of peer support workers, whereas the second pathway emphasizes recognition and integration by mental health institutions and professionals. The third pathway specifies the building of a cross-professional care network to integrate various peer support services. Procedures to approach prospective peer clients are depicted in the fourth pathway. The fifth path addresses the clarification of the role description of peer support workers and the implementation in other institutions through cooperation. Many of the identified implementation steps have been validated in comparable studies. The development of this Theory of Change by bringing together multiple perspectives of key stakeholders is an important basis for the sustainable implementation of UPSIDES peer support. Furthermore, it may serve as a blueprint for the implementation of similar interventions to advance scaling-up of evidence-based user-led and recovery-oriented interventions. The Theory of Change approach is a well-accepted and feasible method, which can be recommended for the implementation of complex interventions such as UPSIDES peer support.

Deprivation of Children in the Indian Modern Society

The traditional Indian society is hierarchically organised. Each stratum of this hierarchy is defined by the caste of people that constitute it. The caste system is fraught with economic implications and cultural diversities. It is evident from some sociological and anthropological studies (Mandelbaum, 1990; Dube, 1994) that in India there are wide gaps and variations along sociocultural experiences in different social segments. High order of disparities is apparent in economic, social, physical and affiliation conditions. Individuals of various social segments of the population grow with varied experiences due to their varied environments. In facts, Indian socio-economic setup provides a psychedelic array of hues with vast differences in experiential backgrounds. A large segment of rural and urban people in India still lives at the barest subsistence level, suffering from under and mal nutrition, socio-cultural inequality and other serious handicaps such as lack of elementary medical, sanitary and educational facilities.

Madeleine Thien's Chinese Encyclopedia: Facts, Musics, Sympathies

This article explores the “encyclopedic” properties of Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing (2016), seeking to define the novel as inherently comparative—that is, providing, in Edward Said's words, “a comparative or, better, a contrapuntal perspective” on the world with no need for a second counterpart text to draw cross-literary parallels. Written from a transpacific narratorial stance of a millennial Vancouver-based daughter of Chinese immigrants, the narrative communicates her secondhand knowledge about the traumatic twentieth-century history of the People's Republic of China, accumulated in multiple alternating substories of ordinary individuals’ “practical past” as opposed to official historiography. The article likens Thien's patchwork storytelling to Jorge Luis Borges's apocryphal “Chinese” encyclopedia and novel, to the premodern equation between language and reality discussed in Michel Foucault's “archaeology of knowledge,” to classical Chinese novels as described by Goethe and Franco Moretti, and to J. S. Bach's polyphonic layout of the Goldberg Variations. Constructing sympathetic networks of music and literature, Do Not Say We Have Nothing facilitates readerly immersion, yet its fictional storyworld may not feel universally plausible. Sharing its writer's experience of teaching Thien in Hong Kong, the article suggests that a critique of the novel's Western, nearly Orientalist standpoint with respect to sensitive issues of recent Chinese history does not dismiss the contrapuntal outlook Thien's readers are invited to adopt beyond their experiential backgrounds. Reading Thien, one learns to hear the world's polyphony. That, and not a comprehensive multitude of facts summarizing a national mentality and coherent knowledge about the world, makes Do Not Say We Have Nothing encyclopedic.

How individual experiential backgrounds are related to the development of employability among university students

University students have different backgrounds and varied experiences. This diversity has frequently been examined with regard to performance in Higher Education. However, much less attention has been paid to its significance concerning employability. The investigation of this potential relationship is the focus of this study. In this research, 429 students at a German university were assessed on the strength of their employability, which here is defined as a multi-factorial construct. The Career Resources Questionnaire (CRQ) was used (Hirschi et al., 2019) which is a comprehensive instrument that analyses the self-assessed strength of twelve essential career resources amongst respondents. The results were then related to several individual preconditions: existing or non-existing commitment to voluntary work, sporting activity or sporting inactivity and being a first-generation student (FGS) or a continuing-generation student (CGS). These characteristics were chosen, because they are commonly represented in the student population. In addition, some socio-economic implications are discussed. Significant differences were found between the participant groups. Some results correspond with the findings of existing studies, others lead to new explanatory approaches. Based on the overall findings, recommendations for career counselling as well as for seminars in career orientation are given. For example, students' experiences outside the university environment can be used in career counselling to strengthen perceived employability or a supportive approach to first-generation students can lead to the development of career-related strengths.

Hands and gloves: The relationship between CEOs and organizational context in U.S. hospitals

ABSTRACT The upper echelons perspective states that the backgrounds and experiences of strategic managers, especially CEOs, influence organization performance. This study seeks to determine if there is a corresponding variety in the demographic and experiential backgrounds of hospital CEOs relates to hospital profit status, rurality, and competition. Multivariable logistic regression is used to examine a sample of 407 hospital-CEO dyads, created by merging a nationally representative random sample of hospital CEOs (2009–2011), the American Hospital Association database (2013), and Medicare Cost Report Database (2009–2011). The results show significant differences between For-profit (FP) and Not-for-profit (NFP) hospital CEOs, as NFP CEOs are more likely to be older and to have longer tenures within their organizations than their FP counterparts. These results hold even as hospital’s organizational and environmental contexts become similar in terms of rurality and levels of competition. Given the finding that there are differences between hospital CEO backgrounds based on organizational and environmental contexts, future scholarship should examine the degree to which these differences influence hospital performance and care quality outcomes so that hospital governing boards might consider the degree to which executives’ demographic backgrounds and professional experiences align with the hospital’s strategic mission, vision, and goals.

Prompting migrants’ experiential processes of deconstructing and authenticating a host community’s literary text through ELF

This chapter introduces an ELF-mediated on-going research project aimed at involving communities of migrants and refugees hosted in Southern Italy who are encouraged to access and ‘authenticate’ (Widdowson 1979) the Italian theatrical culture according to their own linguacultural and experiential backgrounds. Such an appropriation is assumed to occur by having migrants improvising on the plays (Checkhov 1953; Johnstone 1981), translating and re-writing them (Slembrouck 1999) into their own ELF variations, thus creating parallel texts to the original ones, and then embodying them on an actual stage (Guido 1999). This study specifically presents a case study on migrants’ appropriation and embodiment of Luigi Pirandello’s play Six characters in search of an author , where the original characters’ experiences of displacement and identity loss are filtered, reinterpreted and re-contextualized through the subjects’ different schemata, and then rendered into their own ELF variations at the semantic, syntactic, pragmatic and metaphorical levels (Guido 2008). The objective is to make migrants appreciate the original text by re-textualizing it into a new parallel one where their own personal experience of existential displacement and of being uprooted from their own native countries can find an artistic expression.

From dyad to network: the evolution of a mentoring relationship

ABSTRACT In this narrative account, the authors share how a mentoring relationship between a doctoral student and educational leadership professor experienced the mentoring stage of redefinition when the student transitioned into a faculty position. The authors describe an ever-changing experience as the partnership has evolved, with mentoring activities diminishing and the relationship solidifying into a research partnership and friendship. Drawing upon shared commitments to mentoring and high-quality education, the authors have been intentional in expanding the dyad into a network, including their doctoral students in collaborative research activities. Students have experienced benefits (as they have informally reported, and as evidenced by their academic records); the two faculty members, at different institutions and with differing research expertise and experiential backgrounds, could provide differentiated feedback and perspectives to these students. The network has also provided benefits for the mentors, who experienced increased productivity, new research insights, and deeper understandings of quality mentoring relationships.

Individual experience and associated perceptions: how crime victimization influences the construction of safety

Individuals perceive and navigate space differently based upon their personal experience, where a single built environment may produce multiple different perceptions. The combination of built environmental factors and personal experience allows individuals to attach meaning to their surroundings. This affects how surroundings are used and navigated. To understand how spaces may be perceived as “safe”, understanding the factors associated with safety across differing experiential backgrounds is key. This research explores how factors associated with safe surroundings vary based on criminal victimization. An online survey (n = 392) based loosely on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) was conducted with individuals across the United States, where participants rated built environmental factors considered when assessing the safety of their surroundings. Victimization factors served as key grouping variables to assess the impact of personal experience on the construction and perception of safety. Results confirm that individual life experiences influence the way space and safety are perceived. Across experiential groupings, surveillance was the one factor deemed consistently important. Other environmental factors were considered unevenly across groups. While victimization did influence perceptions of safety, it was subject to the type of victimization experience.

Searching for Paralympians: Characteristics of Participants Attending "Search" Events.

Initiatives have been designed to attract novice athletes and to enable transfer for experienced athletes. However, the authors have very little knowledge of the effectiveness of these programs. To further improve our understanding, this study explored the demographic and sporting careers of 225 participants attending one of the 10 Paralympian Search events held between 2016 and 2018. The sample consisted of participants with a wide range of impairments and sport experiential backgrounds. The majority of the participants reported having some experience in sports, suggesting that either the promotions reached athletes involved in sports already or the advertising appealed especially to this cohort. Athletes with impairments acquired at various stages of their lives (congenital, before adolescence, adolescence, early adulthood, and adulthood) displayed differences in their sporting trajectories, suggesting considerations for current developmental models. Furthermore, it should be considered to vary the testing locations of future events to increase the reach to rural areas and implement new methods to attract novice participants.

Prioritizing Physical Activity in Schools: Educational Leaders’ Perspectives

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the perspectives of diverse school leaders relative to feasible physical activity (PA) policies and practices. Objectives Our main objective was to identify barriers to school PA and find creative solutions for overcoming them. A secondary objective was to assess school leaders’ perspectives on the integration of health and education as a function of ASCD’s (the largest professional organization for education leaders in the United States) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model. Methods We held three focus groups from a convenience sample of ASCD school leaders (n = 20) from Washington, Oregon, and California. They were stratified by their experiential backgrounds (i.e., school, district, and varied-context levels), and we used a standardized protocol and script. Audio records were transcribed, and data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results Time requirements for other subject areas were identified as the primary barrier to school PA, and the absence of clear physical education (PE) outcomes was cited as cause for the marginalization of PE. Developing clear PE outcomes, especially focusing on physical fitness and PA, was posited as a solution. Participants agreed that numerous school opportunities for PA were needed, but legal liability was a concern. Although they supported subject matter content integration, leaders at all levels lacked familiarity with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model. Conclusions Limited time during the day is the greatest barrier to PA in schools, and programs without specific outcomes are allocated less time. Leaders recognize the importance of having multiple PA program opportunities and PE having clear outcomes. Implications for Policy School leaders from diverse levels should be enlisted when designing PA policy and practice. Policies that include measurable outcomes for PE may serve as a catalyst for improving programs.

INVITING NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR DIVERSITY BEYOND LIP SERVICE

INVITING NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR DIVERSITY BEYOND LIP SERVICE

Collaboration in Teaching-Learning: Honoring the Wisdom of Diverse Perspectives.

As complexity challenges healthcare providers across disciplines, calls arise for greater collaboration across settings and disciplines. In this column, the importance of honoring the wisdom of the diverse perspectives of collaborators with varying educational and experiential backgrounds is explored. For authentic collaboration to be possible, collaborators must have a solid theoretical, scientific, and experiential foundation within their particular discipline. The challenge for nurse faculty is to prepare students for collaboration by providing teaching-learning opportunities for building a solid foundation in the discipline, being clear about the distinctions across disciplines as well as the distinctions among the many degree levels within nursing.

Argumentation in participant-driven photo interviews: A case in ICT for development in Mozambique

Abstract Argumentation is essentially dialogical, hence based on verbal disputation. Nonetheless, other semiotic resources than language may play a substantial role in argumentative circumstances. In this article, different argumentative functions played by photographs are explored, based on an unusual corpus for the field. People working in Mozambican Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs) were interviewed, in order to reconstruct the social meaning they confer to such places. To facilitate the exchange of meanings between interviewees and interviewers, who had different cultural and experiential backgrounds, interviewees were requested to take pictures of something they liked, something they didn’t like, and something they perceived as particularly representative of their CMC. Pictures were then presented and commented by participants during their interview. By means of analytical reconstructions, the major argumentative roles played by photographs in the interviews were identified, as well as their semiotic function in respect to interviewees’ words. Argumentative analysis also broadened and enriched the method of photo-driven interviews, and added a further interpretative access to analysis of social representations.

We Can, but Should We?

We Can, but Should We?

Designing for Children

Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) research, projects, expert witness cases, and product designs that target children and their caretakers require a unique set of knowledge and skills. Panelists will describe some of their professional child-focused practices and explain how their education and experiential backgrounds prepared them for this work. In cases where traditional HF/E training was not sufficient, panelists will describe how they met this challenge. The discussion between panelists and attendees will focus on suggestions for preparing HF/E professionals for working with this target market.

Educational studies in mathematics book review: editor’s comment

I have recently received, in close succession, two reviews of the same book Mathematics and the Body: Material Entanglements in the Classroom, by Elizabeth de Freitas and Nathalie Sinclair. Judging from the reviews, this is a book which challenges many of the orthodoxies of mathematics education as it is currently constituted for many academics and practising teachers. It is clear that the book also demanded a great deal of effort on the part of the reviewers to convey their own developing understandings as well as how it might be of interest to the diversity of readers of this journal. One review was submitted by a single author, Francesca Ferrara, who prepared a very careful and thoughtful review of the book, relating it to her research interests and recent readings. Comprising about 3000 words, her submission was of typical length for such reviews. The second review was submitted by a team of doctoral students who worked with Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, their supervisor, to prepare a much longer review essay which also incorporated reflections and questions based on lengthy discussions which were enriched by their diverse theoretical and experiential backgrounds. Both reviews are to be commended, and I encourage readers to submit both single author and collaborative reviews and feel welcome to contact me as the book review editor, particularly if they are contemplating a longer review essay. Educ Stud Math (2015) 90:213 DOI 10.1007/s10649-015-9622-2

Examining the Career Paths of Athletic Administrators in NCAA-Member Institutions

Very little is known about the educational and experiential backgrounds of athletic administrators. The purpose ofthis study was to investigate these backgrounds in collegiate athletic departments. Results indicated significantdifferences across the three National Collegiate Athletic Association divisions and between males and femalesrelated to the educational and experiential backgrounds of athletic administrators, exclusive of athletic directors.Division I administrators were significantly more likely to have a doctorate, more years of experience working inintercollegiate athletics, and no coaching experience. Males were more likely to hold positions in facilities and media;females were more likely to work in academics and compliance. Overall, female administrators were significantlymore likely than males to have a master’s degree, prior experience working in intercollegiate athletics, and headcoaching experience.