Hard Things Research Articles

‘Making it Easy to Do Hard Things’: How experts help novices perceive craft as accessible

Craft offers a path to enchantment and meaningful engagement with creation in an increasingly rationalized society. Yet, entering skilled domains where craft is practiced can be challenging for novices, particularly for those less familiar with these domains. While a growing body of research suggests that craft can be made more accessible through nontraditional pathways, the process whereby novices come to perceive craft as accessible remains undertheorized. We explore these ideas through the case of the makers, a diverse DIY movement that embraces all who build, modify, and invent across a variety of skilled domains. Using interview and observational data from Maker Faires—events wherein makers exhibit their projects and engage attendees in making activities—we induce a model of how experts enable novices to perceive craft as accessible. Our findings reveal how experts convey knowledge and skills using a creative craft approach, detailing how experts engage in scaffolding to facilitate novice creation, relax hierarchy, and cultivate fun and whimsy. In turn, this engenders the experience of enchanted engagement for novices who are able to experience how engaging in craft feels without the requisite skills or knowledge. Ultimately, this experience shapes and reinforces novices’ perception that craft is accessible. Our study contributes to the growing scholarship on craft in terms of alternative pathways for entering skilled domains, the role of craft in re-enchanting organizational life, and the emotional rewards of craft.

The Hard Things about Hard Choices? A Reply to Chang

The Hard Things about Hard Choices? A Reply to Chang

On being entirely ordinary

On being entirely ordinary

A Study on Death Education in Preparation for Old Age Grief and Death from the Perspective of Thanatology (The Study of Death and Dying)

The purpose of this study is to suggest death education in preparation for grief and death in old age from the perspective of Thanatology (the study of death and dying). In our rapidly aging society, the increase in the number and proportion of the elderly population means that the end of life that the elderly population will soon face, that is, the preparation for death, is urgently needed. The need for education to prepare the elderly for grief and death of the is increasing. A research problem was set. 1) How do participants perceive grief and death in old age? 2) What changes did the participants who received death education prepare for grief and death in old age experience in terms of cognitive and emotional aspects? 3) How do participants who received death education to prepare for grief and death? in old age perceive grief and death?For this study, in-depth interviews were conducted to find out the perceptions of the participants, to observe them both before and after death education. The participants were two people, a 78-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman, and the necessity of death education was suggested by analyzing the cases of the two people through the experiment. When asked what good things and hard things happened in their lives and what they thought of their lives, the two participants answered that they were anxious, regretful, and lamented over some things before death. Through interactive education using the Hoy model, cognitive understanding and emotional attitude changes were observed. Cognitive and emotional changes were clear, while a better understanding of the topic led to positive attitudinal changes. The in-depth interview question was the same: “What good and bad things happened in your life, how do you view your life?” The answer was to look at oneself positively and acknowledge oneself by reconstructing the past rather than regretting it. In addition, the subject changed from denying and despairing of about the given reality and gave an answer reflecting an attitude of acceptance of reality as it is.As a result of the study, after education, the feelings of grief were alleviated and the participants began to see themselves and their environment from a new perspective. In addition, they let go of guilt and became more aware of themselves, their cognitive and emotional attitudes changed to positive ones, and they began to show an attitude of accepting reality. In conclusion, it is suggested that such interactive education is necessary to relieve the grief and despair of the elderly and for the establishment of a social support system, as well as personal support, considering the psychological and emotional situation of the elderly.

A path towards progress: lessons from the hard things about digital mental health.

A path towards progress: lessons from the hard things about digital mental health.

Soft Magneto‐Responsive Shape Memory Foam Composite Actuators

AbstractSoft magnetic composites are exceptional because they can be controlled remotely, move quickly, conform to hard things, and interact with people safely. However, even with all these features, magnetic elastomers suffer a lack of stability due to the high softness of the elastomer. This issue affects their controllability and repeatability. This article introduces a novel conceptual design of magneto‐responsive shape memory polyurethane (SMP) foam composites with high stability and reversibility. The fabrication technique is based on the silicone resins filled with strontium ferrite magnetic particles and a thin SMP foam placed onto one side. Material properties, room‐temperature shape recovery features, and magnetization conditions necessary for the process are determined by experimental studies of composite actuators. As a result, a workable, light, stable, soft composite gripper with programmable magnetic patterns is created, which can carry out activities like grabbing, holding, and moving objects in horizontal and vertical directions when a low magnetic field is applied. The SMP foam increases the contact surface and decreases the weight by up to three times providing better stability compared to the magnetic elastomer without SMP foam. The shape‐recoverable gripper with a small contract area can lift objects eight times heavier than its weight.

Controls of Digital Transformation in The Prophet’s Sunnah and Its Impact on Contemporary Reality

The honorable biography of the Prophet presented the texts of revelation in an applied and practical way, explained by explanation, statement and detail, and by behavior and representation, in every framework and in any field and situation. their biographies; In order for people to feel in that biography the places of emulation and benefit, the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ? is the first to walk by study, and there is no doubt that scholars - ancient and modern - paid attention to the biography of the Prophet ? because with his guidance ? life is straightened and the path becomes clear, and one of the reasons for interest in studying the Prophet’s biography: strengthening faith and certainty in the hearts of Muslims, and that no matter how hard things are against them, and no matter how strong Satan and his soldiers are, they have a good example in the Messenger of God, and they have a practical example among the honorable Companions.

Don't Take It Lying Down-Vocation as an Antidote to Weltschmerz.

Don't Take It Lying Down-Vocation as an Antidote to Weltschmerz.

LEADERSHIP AND THE ATTRACTION OF BUSYNESS

AbstractThe authors explain why leaders are attracted to busyness, why it can be detrimental, and what can be done about it. The article is adapted from their new book Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way. They describe the research as “data collected from qualitative interviews with 350 executives (mainly Chief Executive Officers/CEOs and Chief Human Resource Officers/CHROs), and quantitative data from more than 5,000 companies in nearly 100 countries.” They note that busyness is seductive because it feels productive, yet is addictive. They believe that “busyness kills our compassion by cluttering our mind and closing ourselves to the wisdom and insight that comes when we have more mental space.” In overcoming this state, they provide insights, which in their words are: Busyness is a choice, manage time and priorities, put people first, and value busylessness. “If we focus on what we can and should do in this moment,” they write, “we can focus on the task at hand or the person we are with.”

Toward a theory of conscious–nonconscious processing and getting hard (and easy) things done in everyday life.

Toward a theory of conscious–nonconscious processing and getting hard (and easy) things done in everyday life.

Application of Classroom Management Principles and Their Effect on Student Motivation in Elementary School

<p><em>This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The aim is to describe the application of classroom management principles and explain its effect on the learning motivation of grade 1 students at SDN Mangunlegi 01 Batangan. The participants of this study were 14 students and 1 teacher. The data analysis technique used in this research is interactive data analysis. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that classroom management at SDN Mangunlegi 01 Batangan was carried out properly in accordance with the principles of classroom management, namely: teacher attitudes such as enthusiasm, warmth, and intimacy. Challenging learning. Various learning activities. The flexibility of the teacher in every action. Positive instruction to students. Cultivate discipline in students. Through the implementation of classroom management, students become motivated and exhibit behaviors such as: Active in class. Willing to try hard things. Desire to study successfully. I want to start with myself. Persevere in the face of learning difficulties. Pay attention to the teacher. So it can be concluded that the principle of classroom management has an effect on students' learning motivation.</em></p>

Inequalities and Institutions that Benefit Good Apples

I describe three types of inequalities that benefit “good apples” and harm women in Academe: inequality of recognition, inequality of effort required, and inequality in societal institutions around home and career. I then describe three hard things that “good apples” can do, focusing on the institutional level: building awareness, changing structures and adapting social norms.

Cultivating Confidence

Where does the conviction that I can do this if I try come from? In 1977, the psychologist Albert Bandura asserted that the most important determinant of self-efficacy is what he calls mastery experiences. After a lifetime of study, he hasn't changed his mind. The main idea is simple: if you attempt hard things, again and again, and eventually succeed, you come to believe in your capabilities. In contrast, if you fail repeatedly, you come to believe that you can't succeed, even if you try. The logic of mastery leading to confidence is undeniable. But it's easy to forget. When my daughter Amanda was in seventh grade, she opted into an accelerated math class. That fall, our little house shook with her weeping and wailing as she struggled to keep up. I'm the psychologist in the family, but in this instance, everything I knew about motivation and emotion went out the window as I, like Amanda, began to believe that this math class was just too hard for her. Instead, it was my husband, the real estate developer, who would sit next to Amanda, take out the umpteenth sheet of scrap paper, and help her. They would work through the easiest problems in the homework set, then the next easiest ones, and finally—sometimes after I'd gone to bed—the trickiest and most complex problems at the very end.

World Economy. Resilience or Great Reset?

The COVID-19 pandemic, like other previous health crises, was a severe and unlikely predictable event that will certainly leave lasting economic and social scars around the world in the years to come, but hopefully, it will also probably become the catalyst of a brighter and more sustainable future, thanks to the acceleration of new priorities, values, and lifestyle habits in society and to the rapid changes in industries’ transformation, digitalization, automation, consolidation, reconfiguration of supply chains, productivity enhancements, and the invention of exciting new business models. The fact that the global communities have been hit by this pandemic crisis almost simultaneously will certainly become a powerful driver of change, adaptation, and resilience for economies, and the enabler of a more rapid and coordinated global crisis resolution strategy. Dramatic health and social crises often can become the catalyst of unexpected innovations; of new waves of ideas, and the inspiration for reimagining and rebuilding a new and more inclusive, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly economic model and a more socially-responsible social contract. In fact, history teaches us that human kind has always found a way forward, no matter how hard things have been. Creativity, disruptive innovations, and some of the most unimaginable new discoveries have often come to life after prolonged periods of suffering and hardship. This crisis is opening up or accelerating new exciting growth and job creation opportunities in new areas of business and, in particular, in new emerging industries related to sustainability; clean and renewable energy sources; mobility and transportation; digitalization, social entrepreneurship, and space exploration, as consumer and firms learn to adapt to the “New Normal” and to reinvent themselves. The article aims to explore, through data-dependent analyses, some of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing the world economy in the post-COVID-19 era and the major casualties and potential risks related to the dramatic externality.The article also aims to highlight unique and specific fragilities at the onset of this pandemic crisis and the urgent need for a globally-coordinated policy response to address them in order to make the world economy more resilient. the article also recalls in his conclusion the unique and unparalleled abilities of human kind, and its highly interdependent and interconnected communities in a globalized world, to overcome the most difficult challenges and to find the inspiration to turn severe and dramatic health, economic and social crises, like COVID-19, into the seeds for a new, bold and brighter rebirth; a robust new recovery trajectory towards a more resilient, inclusive, fair, and socially-responsible economic model.

A Study of Hot and Cold Metaphors in Iraqi Arabic

The present study is an attempt to explore the ways of an Iraqi Arabic speaker conceptualises his/her understanding of various abstract domains of emotions or feeling and attitudes through his/her experiences of concrete domains of Cold and Hot metaphors. Lakoff & Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is adopted to analyse the collected data. Idiomatic expressions and proverbs are chosen specifically from the southern dialect where they are widely used in daily interaction. The data analysis classified the results according to their abstract and concrete domains of the sampled data. The findings of this study showed different conceptualisations of the Hot and Cold metaphor in Iraqi Arabic. The study concluded that these metaphors are used to conceive more of the abstract concepts of emotions, feelings, and attitudes. Cold domain is used to conceptualise the bad habits of people, and it is also used to conceptualise some good habits, on the other hand. Whereas Hot domain is used to conceptualise the more intensive of emotions and attitudes. The study concluded that the sharp emotions, feelings and attitudes that are understood from the conceptualisation of Hot and Cold conceptual metaphors, are experienced from the more concrete domains of hard things.

Now: We Can Do Hard Things

This article looks back at NCTM's leadership efforts with respect to equity, access, and empowerment and offers suggestions for moving the work forward.

Imagem e poder

Esse artigo analisa a simbologia por trás da imagem do vereador Carlos Bolsonaro (PSC-RJ), filho do presidente Jair Bolsonaro, na posse de seu pai como presidente da República em 1 de janeiro de 2019. O vereador desfilou no rolls-royce numa explicitação do complexo jogo de relações que define seu sentido, muito além da mera imagem do dia da posse. Analisamos a imagem fotográfica do dia da posse em comparação com todas as posses dos presidentes eleitos desde a redemocratização do país, em 1985. Entendemos que o filho do presidente cumpre um papel importante nessa lógica de guerra cultural, típica das redes sociais. Há coisas duras que um presidente não pode dizer. É útil ter quem diga por ele. Assim, o presidente se preserva (ou deveria), adotando tom mais moderado (deveria), como pede o cargo, mas tem um aliado estratégico.Como referencial teórico utilizamos Jacques Rancière e Maria Helena Weber.

It Was a Compliment, Jeez

It Was a Compliment, Jeez Nicole Higgins (bio) and now I must think I'm really somethingto sigh after your long day on the busor Saturday bright as a J. Crew coatstunning in a parade. Thanklessin the market. Look at me. Who would dreamchance hands touching over avocados whenI could be your number one lady forever?She is beautiful—get your vowel's worth.I get it. Still, here I go again, beingmy own kind. Has anyone ever told yousometimes it bes like that? Sometimesyou have a dark face and becomea child star of the 1980s. Sometimesyou work hard, are brilliant and sayingright things with hair laid and a mancalls you an animal. How dare I make ita thing (coming from where I come from)screaming in the heartland with some namemy mother gave me. Has anyone evertold you she said what she said?I mean sometimes you just get tired and dipand it's their hunger growling.Sometimes all you can do is sighand look out over the vegetable gardenfeeling your Wheaties. [End Page 247] Nicole Higgins Nicole Higgins is a PhD candidate in English at Duke University. She has received fellowships from Callaloo and Cave Canem. Her work has appeared in Storyscape, Bear Review, Sink Review, and elsewhere. Copyright © 2020 Pleiades and Pleiades Press

‘Soft ways of doing hard things’: women mediators and the question of gender in mediation

ABSTRACT Arguments in favour of increasing the number of women mediators rest on existing research in the field of Women Peace and Security that suggests that where women are included in peace processes that they create more sustainable agreements. It is often suggested that women mediators will bring different- ‘soft’- skills to mediation and that they will be catalysts to women’s empowerment. Drawing on a series of interviews with women mediators in Northern Ireland the article does two things. First, it explores the skills that women felt they brought to their work, and second, it draws out the relationship between mediation and gender as perceived by the participants. What the results demonstrate is that while participants did not consider it the role of a mediator to advance a particular normative agenda through their work, this did not translate into a gender blind approach in practice.

You can't change your basic ability, but you work at things, and that's how we get hard things done: Testing the role of growth mindset on response to setbacks, educational attainment, and cognitive ability.

Mindset theory predicts that a growth mindset can substantially improve children's resilience to failure and enhance important outcomes such as school grades. We tested these predictions in a series of studies of 9-13-year-old Chinese children (n = 624). Study 1 closely replicated Mueller and Dweck (1998). Growth mindset manipulation was associated with performance on a moderate difficulty postfailure test (p = .049), but not with any of the 8 motivation and attribution measures used by Mueller and Dweck (1998): mean p = .48. Studies 2 and 3 included an active control to distinguish effects of mindset from other aspects of the manipulation, and included a challenging test. No effect of the classic growth mindset manipulation was found for either moderate or more difficult material in either Study 2 or Study 3 (ps = .189 to .974). Compatible with these null results, children's mindsets were unrelated to resilience to failure for either outcome measure (ps = .673 to .888). The sole exception was a significant effect in the reverse direction to prediction found in Study 2 for resilience on more difficult material (p = .007). Finally, in 2 studies relating mindset to grades across a semester in school, the predicted association of growth mindset with improved grades was not supported. Neither was there any association of children's mindsets with their grades at the start of the semester. Beliefs about the malleability of basic ability may not be related to resilience to failure or progress in school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).