The many becoming the unresolved one: Reconciling the fields of art, research and education through a/r/tography and collage

A study in three secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand explored students’ critical thinking and how that was articulated in visual arts education. The research was motivated by the influence of everyday visual experiences on young people’s lives and the national curriculum’s call for encouraging critical thinking in the context of the students’ cultural milieu. This inquiry entailed multiple methods that included policy analysis, focus group interviews with teachers, interviews with students, classroom observations, photographic documentation and researcher engagement with the art of collage. A/r/tography allowed for the reconciliation of art, research and education and the exploration of liminal spaces through a relational inquiry. The collage process provided insights into how art making can be used as a relational device between researcher and participants that evoked findings in innovative ways. The findings are presented as entanglements of meanings aimed to provoke the imagination and open conversations.

Ledelse mellom sterke ideologier og lillebrorkomplekser – en eksplorerende studie i tverrfaglig spesialisert rusbehandling

Background: Substance use treatment has long traditions in Norway, but it was not until 2004 that it became part of the specialist health service, leading to new leadership requirements. The aim of this study was to understand how the field is perceived from a leadership perspective and how leaders perceive their leadership role. Method: The study is based on three focus group interviews with the mentors of 28 network groups. Data were analysed through systematic text condensation. Results: The analysis resulted in a clustering of four aspects the informants reported to characterise their perceptions of their leadership role: the inferiority complex, values ​​in substance use treatment, pragmatic leadership, and subjective leadership. Implications: The analysis shows that informal hierarchies of power, ideology, and expectations of interdisciplinarity in all decisions provide fertile ground for a flat structure and ambiguity in management. The findings reveal the need for measures to strengthen recognition of the field and develop the leadership role. Keywords: Substance use treatment, leadership, drugs, addiction, health, leadership development

An Evaluation of Arrogance Orientations of Academicians in Higher Education According to Student and Alumni Opinions

Arrogant individuals are individuals who tend to position themselves in the center, both in their daily lives and in organizational life, and their relationships with others. While they exaggerate their importance, they tend to take over success in any case. Arrogance, which has the potential to adversely affect the organizational climate, can turn into an obstacle to the state of collective engagement and have a devastating effect on the science discipline, for example, in the academic community. In this context, this study aims to examine the arrogance orientations of academicians working in universities, which are higher education organizations. For this purpose, phenomenology, which is a qualitative research design, was used, and thirteen participants consisting of undergraduate and graduate students and graduates were reached with the maximum variation sampling method. The data obtained through focus group interviews using semi-structured questions were analyzed in terms of content using the Maxquda qualitative data analysis program. Findings obtained as a result of the analyses reveal that the arrogance orientations of academicians were gathered under the dimensions of individuality, comparison, contempt, and discrediting. Based on these results, it is possible to indicate that it affects the academic organization climate negatively and feeds on individuality. In this context, it can contribute to reducing the potentially destructive effects of arrogance by encouraging collective work in academic organizations.

“The Internal Police Officer Has Not Retired but Has Slowed Down”: Israeli Women Reframe Their Aging Experiences in the Second Half of Life

Compared with gains, losses have received a substantial amount of research and public attention. The present study aims to shed light on the positive gains associated with older age from the perspective of older women. Five focus groups with 19 Israeli women over the age of 54 were conducted. Trailers of three different films were used to stimulate discussion about old age and aging and allow for reflections on societal norms in light of personal experiences. Focus group interviews were analyzed thematically. Respondents identified four contexts, characterized by reframing their experiences against societal norms. These included gender stereotypes, physical appearance, interpersonal relations, and employment. This study represents an opening to a different discourse around old age, which is characterized by gains and possibilities brought about by changes in reframing one’s experiences, while distancing oneself and exerting free will vis à vis social norms.

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Localisation, as it aims to shift power in the humanitarian system, will involve the increased inclusion of local faith actors, those national and local faith-affiliated groups and organisations that are often first, and last, responders in crises and have been responding in humanitarian contexts for many years, but often in parallel to humanitarian coordination mechanisms. In primary research in South Sudan with local faith actors and international humanitarian actors, this article aims to examine the inroads and barriers to local faith actor involvement in the humanitarian system and the realisation of localisation with local actors such as these. The research is based on an ethnographic study in which researchers were imbedded in a humanitarian project that aimed to help bridge divides between local faith actors and the international humanitarian system. The findings are based on one-on-one and group interviews with 89 participants from a range of international and local, and faith and secular, organisations. Findings indicate that local faith actors are active in responding to crises and want to be linked to the humanitarian system, but they feel distanced from it and pigeonholed as local faith actors. Formalisation through the appropriate registration systems and then training and networking with the humanitarian system helped them build legitimacy and feel confident to participate in humanitarian coordination. International humanitarian actors can help bridge barriers by understanding and connecting with the local faith actors and challenging their own assumptions about who local faith actors are.

EXPLORING STUDENTS’ STEM IMAGINATION PROCESS THROUGH AN ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS

This research was conducted to explore the STEM imagination of Grade 10 students from one Malaysian rural secondary school that adopted the integration of the imagination process in an Engineering Design Process (EDP) through an outreach program in STEM. Four stages of the STEM imagination process were examined: initiation, dynamic adjustment, virtual implementation and implementation. A total of 50 students aged 16 participated in a 10-hour program which engaged them in designing and building two different prototypes. Data on students’ STEM imagination were captured through teachers’ field notes based on focus group interviews and observations. The findings reveal that students needed to draw from their lived experiences to brainstorm problems and solutions around a given scenario, and to arrive at a workable solution in order to move from the initiation to the implementation stage. The findings also suggested that the EDP approach is able to create a supportive environment for nurturing STEM imagination among rural secondary school students.

Students’ Perceptions of Video-based Tasks in the “American English File” Series: a Survey at People’s Security University

This study was a survey design conducted with the aim of exploring non-English major students' perceptions of video-based tasks in listening classes. The data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively through two main research tools, namely Likert-scale questionnaires and semi-structured focus group interviews respectively. First, quantitative data was collected through the questionnaires delivered to 86 non-English major students with the use of Google forms to investigate how they perceive video-based tasks in the AEF series in terms of three components, namely Goals, Input, and Procedures. Then, qualitative data, which was gathered from two focus groups of student volunteers, was used to confirm and supplement the findings from the first tool. It was then discovered that the student participants' responses to the video-based tasks in American English File (AEF) series are generally positive. Moreover, students can improve their listening ability, have more motivation in listening lessons as well as better acquire real-life input from the videos.

As Steady as a Rock! Gaining Insight in Recruitment and Retention Among Primary School Children With Behavioural Problems in Sport Mix Club

The number of children dealing with behavioural problems is increasing. A major challenge in many health-supportive programmes is the recruitment and retention of these children. In the current study, Sport Mix Club (SMC), an approach to enhance socioemotional disorders of 4- to 12-year-old children through sport classes in municipality Vaals, the Netherlands, is used as an illustration. Where many studies faced difficulties getting and keeping children in their interventions, SMC overcame this challenge. Therefore, we decided to explore “What factors contribute to enhanced recruitment and retention procedures among children with behavioural problems in Sport Mix Club?” A qualitative case study design using the analysis of the administrative logbook of the SMC coach and trainees, individual interviews with the SMC coach, trainees (n = 2), school teachers (n = 3) and parents of participating children (n = 9), and four focus group interviews with children (n = 13) were carried out. During the recruitment and retention of SMC, the human psychological need of relatedness seemed to be of crucial value. The fact that the SMC coach: (1) made efforts to become a familiar face for children, parents and community partners beforehand; (2) showed enthusiasm; and (3) placed her focus on having fun as opposed to the children's problems, seemed to be decisive in the process of getting children to participate in SMC and retaining their participation.

Predictability of IELTS in a high-stakes context: a mixed methods study of Chinese students’ perspectives on test preparation

High-stakes language tests are used around the world as a gatekeeping tool under the internationalization of higher education. However, the predictable aspect of the high-stakes language tests is seldom discussed, especially from students’ perspectives. This study aims to address this gap by aiming to better understand how certain factors and conditions contribute to the predictability issue of IELTS from students’ perspectives within a high-stakes context. This study used a mixed method approach to investigate the views and experiences of students within a Sino-UK joint college. The data collection was in two concurrent strands: online survey and group interviews. Findings suggested that IELTS can impact students negatively by narrowing their English learning scope, driving them into self-isolated way of study, doing repeated test-taking and buying predicted answers. Implications related to language test preparation are discussed in light of the findings.

A Case Study of English Language Learning Strategies used by Engineering Students in Malaysia

The aim of this paper is to investigate the language learning strategies employed by 22 technical university undergraduates in Malaysia, particularly in oral presentation skills. The study employed focus group interviews and the data gathered were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically based on O'Malley and Chamot's (1990) taxonomy. The findings showed that the participants used more metacognitive and cognitive strategies compared to the social and affective strategies. The study highlights that students' preferred language learning strategies may not always be effective. Hence, educators have to identify effective language learning strategies for their students and scaffold students' learning into using appropriate strategies.