Future Choices Research Articles

What AI researchers read: the role of literature in artificial intelligence research

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a pilot interview study investigating the leisure reading habits of 20 practising AI researchers based in the United Kingdom. The interview analysis yields six areas in which literature plays a role in the field of AI: research focus, career choice, community formation, science communication, ethical thinking, and modelling of sociotechnical futures. These categories are proposed as the basis of a systematic taxonomy of the role of literature in AI research, evidencing literature’s significance in AI laboratory and professional cultures. The paper presents the results of this preliminary investigation in combination with a synthesis of existing evidence in each category of influence. The aim of this hybrid approach is to cohere research and evidence in this relatively new area of study, and to present new findings contextually, in order to provide the foundations for further qualitative and quantitative research.

Unit consensus cost-based approach for group decision-making with incomplete probabilistic linguistic preference relations

In group decision-making, the incomplete probabilistic linguistic preference relation (InPLPR) has been widely studied because it can flexibly reflect the decision psychology of decision makers (DMs). In addition, to help DMs revise their opinions and reach a consensus, a large number of scholars have conducted research on the consensus reaching process. Therefore, this study proposes a group consensus decision approach based on InPLPR, considering consistency, the social trust network (STN), and unit cost consensus adjustment. First, an InPLPR consistency measure formula is proposed, based on which a multi-stage missing value estimation method based on optimal consistency and STN is offered for the missing information problem in InPLPR. Thereafter, the hesitation index and unit consensus cost measurement formulas are presented for incomplete probabilistic linguistic term set. Subsequently, consensus reaching and ranking selection are performed based on the proposed unit minimum cost consensus model. Finally, a numerical example of the future development choice problem for new energy vehicle enterprises is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the decision process, and the advantages of the method are derived through comparative analysis.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Employment Motivation of Rural Students in Agricultural Vocational Education – The Example of an Agricultural Vocational School in Chifeng

In recent years, Chinese national investment in vocational education has increased, especially in rural areas. However, the large amount of investment has not contributed to the promotion of the quality of vocational education. Moreover, the employment of vocational school students is facing serious challenges. The influence of factors such as backward technology, poor working conditions, and low welfare benefits in rural areas has led to the loss of a large number of talents after they have received vocational education, resulting in a serious lack of agricultural high-tech talents in rural areas. This paper uses research and analysis of questionnaires to study rural students in Chifeng on the issue of rural education, discusses the current employment situation of students in agricultural vocational schools, and analyzes the main motives of rural education values on students’ going to rural areas for employment. The results show that 1) the urban orientation, as well as the utilitarianism of rural education, is not significant; 2) the lack of rural content in rural education affects rural students’ future employment region choice, making rural students more inclined to employment in big cities; 3) the employment difficulty of rural students in the city causes the main influence on rural students’ future employment region choice. At the same time, this paper proposes to change the status quo by combining education with information technology.

В.А. СУХОМЛИНСКИЙ О ВОЗРАСТНОМ СТАНОВЛЕНИИ ЦЕННОСТНЫХ ОРИЕНТИРОВ ШКОЛЬНИКОВ. ЛОГИКА, МЕХАНИЗМЫ, ТЕХНОЛОГИИ

The rich pedagogical heritage of V.A. Sukhomlinsky by virtue of its depth and uniqueness makes it possible to identify the axiological constants of pedagogy, relevant at each stage of society development. The purpose of this article is to reveal the logic of formation of value orientations of schoolchildren in the age aspect on the basis of V.A. Sukhomlinsky’s work experience as a teacher and director of Pavlyshskaya secondary school. To achieve this goal, the article addresses the following tasks: an attempt is made to identify those parts of V.A. Sukhomlinsky’s heritage that reflect the regularities of age and value development of schoolchildren; synthesis on their basis of the age logic of the formation of value orientations; filling the values realized in the pedagogical process by V.A. Sukhomlinsky with the content relevant for modern schoolchildren. In V.A. Sukhomlinsky’s pedagogical system it is possible to distinguish a special line of development of a schoolchild’s personality — age-specific features of the formation of his value orientations, which determine the subsequent life of a person: his future choices, successes and failures. The strength of V.A. Sukhomlinsky’s axiological ideas lies in building a system of school work on basic universal values, including the universal triad: Truth — Goodness — Beauty. Having proclaimed and realized first in the experience of his school and then in the pedagogical theory the cult of Book, Knowledge, Beauty, — he actually created a basic classification of values-objectives in pedagogy. According to the authors, this hierarchy of values of an adult can be relevant today, if we fill these values with actual content within the pedagogical process. The changed realities of the first third of the XXI century require the rejection of formal analysis of Sukhomlinsky’s heritage, since extrapolation of the great pedagogue’s ideas to the realities of the modern school in an unchanged form has become impossible. Gamification, neural networks and avalanche-like flow of information, which modern schoolchildren face, require adaptation of the great teacher’s ideas and change of approach to education, departure from value neutrality.

Basics of sustainable development: the example of environmental education

In order to preserve the resources of our planet, improve social welfare, and build a sustainable future for future generations, sustainable development is a crucial idea. An illustration of this idea is environmental education, which seeks to further these objectives by raising people’s knowledge of the environment. People who get environmental education are better able to adapt to their natural surroundings. Important topics covered in this course include protecting the environment, using natural resources sustainably, and increasing public understanding of environmental concerns. Adults and children of various ages are involved in this process. Numerous initiatives funded by academic institutions, government agencies, non-governmental groups, and schools may provide environmental education. Through these activities, participants may learn how to comprehend and address environmental issues while also getting the chance to experience the natural world. One of the main tenets of sustainable development is this kind of education, since individuals who are more environmentally conscious tend to manage natural resources more effectively, become more aware of environmental issues, and build stronger foundations for a sustainable future. Consequently, attaining sustainable development objectives depends in large part on environmental education. People are better equipped to comprehend and safeguard the environment and make more thoughtful choices for a sustainable future as a result of this education. In order to protect the health of our world and future generations, this is imperative.

Sveobuhvatni pregled potencijala proizvodnje biogasa od biomase u Šri Lanci

Biogas has emerged as a renewable energy option that offers a wide range of advantages. This study assesses the appropriateness of a range of biomass feedstock choices, encompassing energy crops, bio-waste, materials derived from both animals and plants, as well as organic residues produced within the food production sector. The aim is to determine their potential as viable substrates for agricultural biogas plants in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, administrative obstacles and inefficiencies within the existing facilities impede the complete utilization of this potential. In parallel, it is of paramount importance to develop and enhance cost-effective technologies for converting agricultural biomass into energy, all while avoiding conflicts with the food and animal feed industries. Consideration should be given to judiciously utilizing disputed resources like fresh fruits and vegetables as raw materials. When employing biomass for energy generation, factors like economic viability, resource availability, and storage need to be meticulously assessed. Additionally, this review proposes that conducting a life cycle assessment within Sri Lanka's energy sector is both feasible and essential for comparing the energy potential of biomass-based sources with conventional fossil fuels. Such an evaluation can offer invaluable insights into sustainable energy choices for the nation's future.

Gender never defines me: A study on preschool teachers' do and don't about gender

Our society's understanding of gender is deepening. Children born exposed to all kinds of information about gender variety come to school with more diversified gender identities and expressions. This study aims to promote understanding of the role that gender plays in the field of education and generate innovative inspirations for gender-neutral pedagogies in preschool. The current study scanned through previous research in the past 10 years and found that teachers' negative stereotypes about gender transferred to children can limit their potential growth in academic development and future career choices by impacting their self-esteem and enthusiasm in particular fields. Combining former research on school environment and children psychology, we also conclude that bullying, sometimes as a way to express gender identity, thrives in a school culture dominated by the gender-binary view because students become less open-minded towards various values or diversities in interpersonal relationships. Therefore, the present study listed 3 typical scenarios where teacher's gender attitudes can be highly influential to the students' learning quality and gave corresponding pedagogical suggestions on how to avoid stereotype ideas slipping into the classroom.

Large mitigation potential of smoke PM2.5 in the US from human-ignited fires

Increasing fire activity and the associated degradation in air quality in the United States has been indirectly linked to human activity via climate change. In addition, direct attribution of fires to human activities may provide opportunities for near term smoke mitigation by focusing policy, management, and funding efforts on particular ignition sources. We analyze how fires associated with human ignitions (agricultural fires and human-initiated wildfires) impact fire particulate matter under 2.5 µm (PM2.5) concentrations in the contiguous United States (CONUS) from 2003 to 2018. We find that these agricultural and human-initiated wildfires dominate fire PM2.5 in both a high fire and human ignition year (2018) and low fire and human ignition year (2003). Smoke from these human levers also makes meaningful contributions to total PM2.5 (∼5%–10% in 2003 and 2018). Across CONUS, these two human ignition processes account for more than 80% of the population-weighted exposure and premature deaths associated with fire PM2.5. These findings indicate that a large portion of the smoke exposure and impacts in CONUS are from fires ignited by human activities with large mitigation potential that could be the focus of future management choices and policymaking.

Trends and Suggestions for China's "Double First Class" undergraduates in Further education-Grey model analysis based on data from 50 universities

In order to more accurately grasp the trend of future education choices of "double first-class" undergraduates and provide a basis for the future development of China's education, the employment quality report of 50 "double first-class" universities in China from 2014 to 2021 was studied, which describes the characteristics of the proportion of overall further education, domestic further education, and overseas further education, we analyzed the trend of the overall further education, domestic further education and overseas further education in the next 5 years by using the grey model. It is found that the proportion of those who choose to pursue further studies in the next 5 years will increase, and the choice is more inclined to domestic further studies. The development of higher education in China should be promoted by enhancing the quality of postgraduate cultivation and increasing the cooperation of international education.

People-centred design methods in a local decision-making process: masterplan for Lisbon's multimodal mobility hubs

Lisbon's City Council and EMEL (the city's mobility and parking management company) have been working on a concept for Mobility Hubs in Lisbon through a comprehensive participatory process that brings together a broad spectrum of stakeholders. We have adopted a design thinking approach rooted in a thorough user research process aiming at better understanding unmet needs, preferences, and expectations of city users, whilst co-creating alternative value propositions for future mobility hubs. Stakeholder outreach has been pivotal to ensuring active participation of all communities: passengers, former passengers, transport operators, local and regional administration bodies, civil society, among others have been voicing their views and concerns to help transform five bus terminals of Lisbon into inviting places of connectivity. Our goal is to better inform future investment choices.

E-Smoking out the Facts: The Philippines' Vaping Dilemma.

The Commercial Determinants of Health (CDH) have a major impact on the health of a country's population. The marketing and promotion of products and services by corporations, especially multinational businesses, can significantly impact individuals and communities, both positively and negatively. The vaping epidemic in the Philippines is an example of how commercial influences and government policies, in the context of disinformation, can exacerbate public health issues. The Philippines is facing a rising use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among youth. We conducted a literature review in PubMed and Google Scholar to examine the state of vaping in the Philippines and the lack of research on the health implications of the growing e-cigarette industry. We also discussed the vape bill which lapsed into law - Republic Act 11900, which regulates e-cigarettes and transfers the regulatory power from the Department of Health to the Department of Trade and Industry. We outlined a call to action on three fronts: tailoring national policies, funding research, and improving health education in the youth. Policymakers must prioritize public health gains over economic benefits and consider the impact of their decisions on future generations' health choices.

An Analysis of College Counselors' Work Thinking in College Students' Entrepreneurship and Employment Education

Under the background of the new era, the employment situation of college graduates is more and more serious. College graduates' employment and entrepreneurship has become a hot topic of the whole society. Based on this, this paper mainly starts from the basic status quo of entrepreneurship and employment education of college students, expounds the working principles of college counselors guiding entrepreneurship and employment education in accordance with local conditions and aptitude, and puts forward the working ideas that college counselors need to adopt in the education of entrepreneurship and employment of college students, in order to explore more effective guidance methods and strategies, strengthen students' self-cognition and self-management ability, so that students can clearly understand their strengths and weaknesses and future career choices.

Future career aspiration and specialty choices among undergraduate medical students of a medical college in Jammu and Kashmir, India – A cross-sectional study

Background: Medical education requires an undergraduate medical student to study a wide range of medical specialties. The number of postgraduation specialties as well as carrier options after graduation has increased in recent years. Hence, we sought to identify the postgraduation specialty choices, factors influencing these choices, and future carrier aspirations.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. Pretested self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS IBM software version 20.Results: Majority were in the age group of above 20. Nearly 16.6% of the students' fathers and 5.9% of the students' mothers were having professional education. About 47.6% prefer medicine or its allied specialty subjects. About 43.4% wanted a job in the public sector and 30.8% wanted to adopt the private sector.Conclusion: Postgraduate specialty choices are still traditional with the majority preferring clinical subjects and wanted to settle in an urban area with a public sector job.

Assessment of the Adequacy of Neurosurgery Teaching Methods among Medical Students in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Various educational neurosurgery teaching methods are employed across few Nigerian universities, especially Enugu state. To determine the adequacy of current neurosurgery teaching methods, factors influencing eventual choice of neurosurgery amongst final year medical students in Enugu state, Nigeria and suggest improvement methods towards best global standards. This was an online cross-sectional study conducted among final year medical students currently on Neurosurgery rotation in Enugu state, Nigeria using a validated questionnaire. Data was analyzed (inferential and deferential) using SPSS; chi-squares values were calculated. Significance was set at p value <0.05 and measures were put in place to limit bias. 106 students filled and submitted the form with a response rate of 72.60%. Most respondents revealed that their universities had mandatory neurosurgery rotations. Majority affirmed that a general poor learning environment (75%) was the major obstacle to standard teaching. About 49% had interest in specializing in surgery but only 18% have interest in neurosurgery as a future sub-specialty choice. Positively, majority (90.6%) alluded to having qualified teachers, with 43.4% of them advocating for improved training of the teachers. There was a significant correlation between choice of specialty and the students' monthly income (less than N10, 000 had a p: 0.003). Other factors that were positively correlated in eventual choice as their future desired subspecialty include poor exposure to clinical neurosurgery cases (p: 0.020) and little or no exposure of students to neurosurgery research opportunities (p: 0.024). The current neurosurgical teaching methods in Enugu state are not fully optimal yet. There is a need for some improvement in current learning environment and teaching methods to improve the students' understanding of neurosurgery and eventual increased interest in final choice of neurosurgery as their desired subspecialty.

ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF WOMEN IN LAGOS

Lagos, the financial hub of Nigeria is home to an estimated 3 million women above the age of 18 years who do not have bank accounts. The Central Bank of Nigeria notes that there are several barriers faced by women in accessing formal bank accounts. Some of these barriers include insufficient mobile money agency networks; lack of national identity means; inadequate digital financial services; untapped opportunities available in microfinance that can serve women and rural people; lack of tailored financial products to meet the needs of the unbanked population; and finally non-digital payments systems, especially G2P and P2G. In addition, reports highlight that a large share of financially excluded women cite religious reasons for not using banks. This study aims to critically investigate the barriers faced by women without bank accounts in Lagos and suggested Islamic banking, an alternative banking institution as a solution. This study will help evaluate the use of Islamic banking tools as a solution to foster financial inclusion for women in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole. Using a qualitative method, this study surveyed 32 unbanked women in Lagos. The study identified the peculiar barriers to financial inclusion faced by these women who are mainly self-employed and with low levels of education. The barriers to financial inclusion common to women without bank accounts in Lagos are ambiguous account opening documents, lack of acceptable means of identification, long distance of banks and lack of steady source of income. Many of these women also cited religion and marriage as a barrier. This is often reflected in terms of relocation, change of name and switching from formal employment to the cultural home making roles women in this region usually adopt. The findings of this study provided evidence that unbanked Muslim women in Lagos are aware of Islamic bank’s product offerings and are willing to open account with an Islamic Bank. This agrees with the literature evidence that Islamic finance can improve financial inclusion. However, there are few Islamic bank branches available in Lagos that can solve the long-distance barrier to financial inclusion of these women. Interestingly, the study discovered that religion is not a significant barrier to financial inclusion of the unbanked women In Lagos, however, religion will play a role in determining their future choice of financial institution.

Building back better in Latin America: examining the sustainability of COVID-19 recovery and development programs

Non-technical summaryThe significant outlays by countries in the Global South to recover from the COVID-19 crisis could have been an opportunity to build back better, advancing both a green recovery and addressing pressing social problems, thus advancing sustainability. To examine if this was the case, in this paper we analyze the expected impacts of recovery initiatives in five Latin American countries. Our results show that these programs do not support the possibility of building back better, weakly impacting 12 dimensions related to sustainability. We also propose a methodology to improve how sustainability concerns can be included in future choice of projects.Technical summaryIt has been argued that the significant outlays by governments across the world required to recover from the COVID-19 crisis can be an opportunity to build back better, that is, advance toward greener societies. In the Global South, which suffered acute social, economic and environmental problems prior to this health crisis, recovery initiatives would be best suited to focus on sustainable economic recovery which – along with the environmental concerns of a green recovery – could address pressing local problems. To this end, we analyzed the expected impacts of recovery initiatives in five Latin American countries on each of 71 sustainability criteria. These criteria are based on the UN sustainable development goals and other relevant literature related to sustainable development. Using principal component analysis, criteria are grouped into 12 dimensions. Our results show that recovery programs examined do not take advantage of the possibility of building back better, and many relevant dimensions related to a sustainable recovery are only weakly considered. Our methodology provides a step forward toward supporting governments in their efforts to identify better policies and investment projects and consequently put together packages of initiatives that advance on sustainability, green recovery or other long-term goals they may have.Social media summaryMethodology to analyze COVID-19 recovery packages shows small impact on sustainability in five Latin American countries.

Discovering the Customer Insight using Netnography and Photography Methods

Gaining customer insight is the driving force of companies. Today, with the advent of social media platforms, especially Instagram, gaining customer insight has taken on a new form. The purpose of this study is to discover the customer insights of Callista on the Instagram platform, through a combination of netnography and photography methods. The comments and images of the company's Instagram page posts were used to collect data because their sales are based on the web. The results showed that the communication content created by the company, which is in three categories of relational, promotional, and organizational, is simultaneously needed for the company's better and more effective advertising. The analysis of metaphors also showed that by focusing on the three metaphors of transformation, connection, and journey, the company was able to create a good image of its brand in the minds of the audience and attract its customers well. A good insight goes beyond what consumers say and can influence future choices, attitudes, and behaviors; Break the principles of companies, and lead to significant operational improvements by creating the vision to provide new types of customer service and high-quality products.

Towards European Transitions: Indicators for the Development of Marginal Urban Regions

Urban transitions and urban-scape have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely be affected by the current Ukrainian-Russian conflict. These two major events have affected European urban regions and especially marginal regions. Indeed, these regions are mostly struggling with inequality, lack of optionality, interoperability, and resilience due to their energy dependency and digital asymmetries. The continuous demand for a green and digital transition to strengthen social and economic resilience sought and targeted by the European Community has driven the policy of recent years to new European Guidelines. Nevertheless, the digital transition will require sustainability targets in the urban context, changing economic, social, and ecological relationships and balances. In this context, faced with these new transitions, marginal urban regions must plan, design, build, and manage future urban planning choices in a new digital-hybrid space. Therefore, it is crucial to support these transitions with a multi-dimensional sustainability concept through economic, environmental, social, and digital measurements. Urban sustainability indicators (USIs) play an essential role in supporting urban choices and planning. The current study analyzes recent literature and European standards to verify if and how they have changed in embracing the European Policy Pillar under a new and different sustainability profile, which needs to include digital sustainability. As a matter of fact, even if the concept of digitization has been recognized as a pillar of ongoing transitions, the literature and even European indicators struggle to recognize it as a tangible and measurable indicator of sustainability. Seeking to bridge the gap between European requirements and urban practice, the aim of this study is to identify and suggest new key indicators of digitalization to enable the digital sustainability of urban planning to be measured. These indicators can be used to implement a new valuation tool capable of supporting marginal regions by promoting sustainable urban investments in this new hybrid space.

The impact of remembered success experiences on expectancies, values, and perceived costs

The “remembered success effect” (Finn, 2010) refers to the finding that challenging academic tasks that start or end with extra opportunities for success are often preferred to challenging tasks that do not include these opportunities. Research on the remembered success effect has identified some memory processes that are thought to give rise to the effect. To date there has been no research on how experiences of remembered success relate to motivational constructs that may be associated with the effect. Accordingly, we examined how challenging math experiences designed to induce remembered success impacted individuals’ expectancies for success, positive task value and perceived costs, and how these motivational constructs related to two future task choices; expectancy-value theory posits that expectancies and task values are the most direct motivational predictors of choice. In two studies, participants completed two challenging math tasks under two conditions: a short task of all difficult problems and a longer, “extended” task that had the same number of difficult problems plus a set of moderately difficult problems. Results demonstrated that expectancies and subjective task value were higher, and perceived costs lower in the “extended” condition than in the short condition. In both experiments, the between-task difference scores (i.e., extended task minus short task) for positive task values, expectancies, and perceived costs were significantly correlated with both task choices. Notably, the positive task value difference score uniquely predicted at least one of the two choices in both experiments. Costs and expectancies were less consistent unique predictors of choice: the between-task difference in perceived costs predicted one choice in Experiment 1, but neither choice Experiment 2, and the difference in expectancies only predicted the choices in Experiment 2.

Resilience difference between growing and shrinking resource-exhausted cities and its influencing factors

ABSTRACT Resource-exhausted cities have different development paths in terms of urban growth and urban shrinkage in the transformation process. However, existing studies do not sufficiently understand the divergence of development paths. Taking Zaozhuang and Fuxin, a growing resource-exhausted city and a shrinking resource-exhausted city in China as examples, this study reveals the main causes of the divergence of path evolution in these two cities based on the analysis of resilience differences and their influencing factors. First, due to the insufficient management capacity of local governments, coal resource-exhausted cities will rely excessively on provincial or central government policies during a critical period of transformation and will fail to make long-term and realistic considerations about future strategic choices, thus evolving into shrinking cities. Second, in response to the crisis of coal resource exhaustion, the level of innovation is crucial to foster sustainable industries and thereby influence the future development path of resource-exhausted cities. In addition, a Fisher information–adaptive cycle analysis framework is constructed to explore differences in the development paths of resource-exhausted cities. This provides a new approach to comparing and assessing urban resilience and extends the quantitative adaptive cycle theory approach. Our empirical study proved that this analytical framework is reliable and generalizable.