Search results for: Academic projects

Authors: Koo Ja-Choon, Seok Hyun-Deok, Park So-Hee

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Even though developed countries have supported aid projects for restoring degraded and deforested mountain, recent North Korean authorities announced that North Korean forest is still very serious. Last 12 years, more than 16 thousand ha of forest were destroyed. Most of previous researches concluded that food and fuel problems should be solved for preventing people from deforesting and degrading forest in North Korea. It means that mountain restoration projects such as A/R(afforestation/reforestation) and REDD(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project should be implemented with the agroforestry and the forest tending project. Because agroforestry and the forest tending can provide people in the project area with foods and fuels, respectively. Especially, Agroforestry has been operated well with the support of Swiss agency of Development and cooperation since 2003. This paper aims to find the priority sites for mountain restoration project where all types of projects including agroforesty can be implemented simultaneously. We tried to find the primary counties where the areas of these activities were distributed widely and evenly. Recent spatial data of 186 counties representing altitude, gradient and crown density were collected from World Forest Watch. These 3 attributes were used to determine the type of activities; A/R, REDD, Agroforestry and forest tending project. Finally, we calculated the size of 4 activities in 186 counties by using GIS technique. Result shows that Chongjin in Hamgyeongbuk-do, Hoeryong in Hamgyeongbuk-do and Tongchang in Pyeonganbuk-do are on the highest priority of counties. Most of feasible counties whose value of richness and uniformity were greater than the average were located near the eastern coast of North Korea. South Korean government has not supported any aid projects in North Korea since 2010. Recently, South Korea is trying to continue the aid projects for North Korea. Forest project which is not affected by the political situation between North- and South- Korea can be considered as a priority activities. This result can be used when South Korean government determine the priority sites for North Korean mountain restoration project in near future.

Keywords: agroforestry, forest restoration project, GIS, North Korea, priority

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Authors: Munir Majdalawieh, Adam Marks

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In today’s very competitive higher education industry (HEI), HEIs are faced with the primary concern of developing, deploying, and sustaining high quality academic programs. Today, the HEI has well-established accreditation systems endorsed by a country’s legislation and institutions. The accreditation system is an educational pathway focused on the criteria and processes for evaluating educational programs. Although many aspects of the accreditation process highlight both the past and the present (prove), the “program review” assessment is "forward-looking assessment" (improve) and thus transforms the process into a continuing assessment activity rather than a periodic event. The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual measurement framework for program review to be used by HEIs to undertake a robust and targeted approach to proactively and continuously review their academic programs to evaluate its practicality and effectiveness as well as to improve the education of the students. The proposed framework consists of two main components: program review principles and the program review measurement matrix.

Keywords: academic program, program review principles, curriculum development, accreditation, evaluation, assessment, review measurement matrix, program review process, information technologies supporting learning, learning/teaching methodologies and assessment

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Authors: Mary Okonkwo Ekwy

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The problem of the growing disillusionment of College of Education teachers with academic life vis-à-vis their job satisfaction and commitment was investigated in this study with a view to finding out if both their job satisfaction and commitment have suffered, and to find out if there was a relationship between job satisfaction and commitment among these College of Education teachers. Due consideration was also given in the study to the possible effects of demographic variables on attitudes to their job. To carry out a study of job satisfaction and commitment among the College of Education teachers and to explore the relationship between them, research instruments were used for measuring the levels of job satisfaction and commitment among them. A sample of 200 Colleges of Education teachers, comprising 15 Professors, 9 Principal Lecturers, 70 Senior Lecturer and 106 Lecturers was used for the study. Five major hypothesis were tested with regard to the relationship between job satisfaction and commitment among the teachers. The Pearson correlation, the F-ratio, and regression analysis were used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The result of this investigation suggests that, perhaps the best way to secure the commitment of teachers is to ensure their job satisfaction. Future investigations will further enrich our knowledge about these very important themes.

Keywords: job satisfaction, commitment, academic staff, college of education

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Authors: Huda Al-Shuaily, E. M. Lacap

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Higher Education is one of the most essential fundamentals for the advancement and progress of a country. It demands to be as accessible as possible and as comprehensive as it can be reached. In this paper, we succeeded to expand the accessibility and delivery of higher education using an Open Educational Resources (OER), a freely accessible, openly licensed documents, and media for teaching and learning. This study creates a comparative design of student’s academic performance on the course Introduction to Database and student engagement to the virtual learning environment (VLE). The study was done in two successive semesters - one without using the OER and the other is using OER. In the study, we established that there is a significant increase in student’s engagement in VLE in the latter semester compared to the former. By using the latter semester’s data, we manage to show that the student’s engagement has a positive impact on students’ academic performance. Moreso, after clustering their academic performance, the impact is seen higher for students who are low performing. The results show that these engagements can be used to potentially predict the learning styles of the student with a high degree of precision.

Keywords: EDM, learning analytics, moodle, OER, student-engagement

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Authors: Thassanant Unnanantn, Suttipong Boonphadung

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This research study aimed to survey and analyze the attitudes of pre-service teachers’ the analytical thinking development based on Miller’s Model. The informants of this study were 22 third year teacher students majoring in Thai. The course where the instruction was conducted was English for Academic Purposes in Thai Language 2. The instrument of this research was an open-ended questionnaire with two dimensions of questions: academic and satisfaction dimensions. The investigation revealed the positive attitudes. In the academic dimension, the majority of 12 (54.54%), the highest percentage, reflected that the method of teaching analytical thinking and language simultaneously was their new knowledge and the similar percentage also belonged to text cohesion in writing. For the satisfaction, the highest frequency count was from 17 of them (77.27%) and this majority favored the openness or friendliness of the teacher.

Keywords: analytical thinking development, Miller’s Model, attitudes, pre-service teachers

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Authors: Qiuwen Ma, Sai On Cheung

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Incentive contracting has been developed to push the agent team for extra effort. Generally, there are three types of incentive arrangement, namely incentive/penalty for super performance/underperformance, risk/reward sharing and future business opportunities. It is found that there are significant differences in the use of incentive arrangement in private and public projects. In Hong Kong, very few public projects have used future business as incentivizer whereas private developers often signal repeated business coupled with heavy penalty. This study was conducted to identify various attributes affecting the use of I/D in both private and public engineering sectors of Hong Kong. The diverging preferences were unveiled with reference to a literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry experts. The findings reveal the public/private sectors would consider the implementation issues regarding the various performance targets. The most deterministic factor for the public sector is about accountability. The private sector is in general skeptical about the need to provide extra for the contractors for what they have already contracted to perform.

Keywords: construction incentive, public/private projects, semi-structured interview, hong kong

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Authors: Nael Y. Zabel, Maged E. Georgy, Moheeb E. Ibrahim

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A knowledge-based expert system with the acronym RASPE is developed as an application tool to help decision makers in construction companies make informed decisions about managing risks in pipeline construction projects. Choosing to use expert systems from all available artificial intelligence techniques is due to the fact that an expert system is more suited to representing a domain’s knowledge and the reasoning behind domain-specific decisions. The knowledge-based expert system can capture the knowledge in the form of conditional rules which represent various project scenarios and potential risk mitigation/response actions. The built knowledge in RASPE is utilized through the underlying inference engine that allows the firing of rules relevant to a project scenario into consideration. This paper provides an overview of the knowledge acquisition process and goes about describing the knowledge structure which is divided up into four major modules. The paper shows one module in full detail for illustration purposes and concludes with insightful remarks.

Keywords: expert system, knowledge management, pipeline projects, risk mismanagement

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Authors: Dominic Winston Kaku

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The academic performance of students is an area of great concern in education to the various stakeholders of education. This is because the academic performance of students is widely used as a measure of the success of the educational process. There are several factors, such as school-related factors, teachers related factors, pupils or students’ factors, and many others determining their academic performance. It appears that the management role of head teachers as a determining factor of pupils’ academic achievement is not much investigated. The management role of head teachers is an essential element in the educational process that has a huge influence on students’ academic performance. The aim of the research was to examine the management role of head teachers in improving the academic performance of students. The study employed a descriptive survey and was conducted among Junior High Schools in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region of Ghana. The respondents for the study were mainly all the head teachers, teachers, and some selected basic school pupils (JHS) in four-selected public basic schools in the Ellembelle district in the Western part of Ghana. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a sampling size of 252 persons, including 226 JHS pupils, all JHS teachers, and head teachers of all four selected schools. Descriptive statistics, specifically frequencies, percentages, pie charts, bar charts, means, and standard deviation, were used to analyse the data, and that formed the basis of the presentation of findings. The study discovered that planning academic activities, fostering relationships between the school and the community, supervising lessons, staff motivation, and punishing students who go wrong are some of the activities the head teachers participate in to help improve students’ academic performance. The academic performance of students is an area of great concern in education to the various stakeholders of education. This is because the academic performance of students is widely used as a measure of the success of the educational process. There are several factors, such as school-related factors, teachers related factors, pupils or students’ factors, and many others determining their academic performance. It appears that the management role of head teachers as a determining factor of pupils’ academic achievement is not much investigated. The management role of head teachers is an essential element in the educational process that has a huge influence on students’ academic performance. The aim of the research was to examine the management role of head teachers in improving the academic performance of students. The study employed a descriptive survey and was conducted among Junior High Schools in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region of Ghana. The respondents for the study were mainly all the head teachers, teachers, and some selected basic school pupils (JHS) in four-selected public basic schools in the Ellembelle district in the Western part of Ghana. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a sampling size of 252 persons, including 226 JHS pupils, all JHS teachers, and head teachers of all four selected schools. Descriptive statistics, specifically frequencies, percentages, pie charts, bar charts, means, and standard deviation, were used to analyse the data, and that formed the basis of the presentation of findings. The study discovered that planning academic activities, fostering relationships between the school and the community, supervising lessons, staff motivation, and punishing students who go wrong are some of the activities the head teachers participate in to help improve students’ academic performance.

Keywords: supervision, head teacher, academic performance, planning, motivation, relationships

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Authors: Ayedh Alqahtani, Andrew Whyte

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Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is one of the goals and key pillars of the construction management science because it comprises many of the functions and processes necessary, which assist organisations and agencies to achieve their goals. It has therefore become important to design and control assets during their whole life cycle, from the design and planning phase through to disposal phase. LCCA is aimed to improve the decision making system in the ownership of assets by taking into account all the cost elements including to the asset throughout its life. Current application of LCC approach is impractical during misunderstanding of the advantages of LCC. This main objective of this research is to show a different relationship between capital cost and long-term running costs. One hundred and thirty eight actual building projects in United Kingdom (UK) were used in order to achieve and measure the above-mentioned objective of the study. The result shown that LCC is one of the most significant tools should be considered on the decision making process.

Keywords: building projects, capital cost, life cycle cost, maintenance costs, operation costs

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Authors: L. Almulla

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Native plants are better adapted to the local environment providing a more natural effect on landscape projects; their use will both conserve natural resources and produce sustainable greenery. Continuation of evaluation of additional native plants is essential to increase diversity of plant resources for greenery projects. Therefore, in this project an effort was made to study the mass multiplication of further native plants for greenery applications. Standardization of vegetative propagation methods is essential for conservation and sustainable utilization of native plants in restoration projects. Moreover, these simple propagation methods can be readily adapted by the local nursery sector in Kuwait. In the present study, various treatments were used to mass multiply selected plants using vegetative parts to secure maximum rooting and initial growth. Soft or semi-hardwood cuttings of selected native plants were collected from mother plants and subjected to different treatments. Pennisetum divisum can be vegetatively propagated by cuttings/off-shoots. However, Tamarix aucheriana showed maximum number of rooted cuttings and stronger vigor seedlings with the lowest growth hormone concentration. Standardizing the propagation techniques for the native plant species will add to the rehabilitation and landscape revegetation projects in Kuwait.

Keywords: Kuwait desert, landscape, rooting percentage, vegetative propagation

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Authors: Àidan Higgins

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Higher education will be crucial in the coming decades in helping to make Ireland a nation is known for innovation, competitive enterprise, and ongoing academic success, as well as a desirable location to live and work with a high quality of life, vibrant culture, and inclusive social structures. Higher education institutions will actively connect with each student community, society, and business; they will help students develop a sense of place and identity in Ireland and provide the tools they need to contribute significantly to the global community. It will also serve as a catalyst for novel ideas through research, many of which will become the foundation for long-lasting inventive businesses in the future as part of the 2030 National Strategy on Education focuses on change and developing our education system with a focus on how we carry out Research. The emphasis is central to knowledge transfer and a consistent research framework with exploiting opportunities and having the necessary expertise. The newly formed Technological Universities (TU) in Ireland are based on a government initiative to create a new type of higher education institution that focuses on applied and industry-focused research and education. The basis of the TU is to bring together two or more existing institutes of technology to create a larger and more comprehensive institution that offers a wider range of programs and services to students and industry partners. The TU model aims to promote collaboration between academia, industry, and community organizations to foster innovation, research, and economic development. The TU model also aims to enhance the student experience by providing a more seamless pathway from undergraduate to postgraduate studies, as well as greater opportunities for work placements and engagement with industry partners. Additionally, the TUs are designed to provide a greater emphasis on applied research, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship, with the goal of fostering innovation and contributing to economic growth. A project is a collection of organised tasks carried out precisely to produce a singular output (product or service) within a given time frame. Project management is a set of activities that facilitates the successful implementation of a project. The significant differences between research and development projects are the (lack of) precise requirements and (the inability to) plan an outcome from the beginning of the project. The evaluation criteria for a research project must consider these and other "particularities" in works; for instance, proving something cannot be done may be a successful outcome. This study intends to explore how a newly established multi-campus technological university manages research projects effectively. The study will identify the potential and difficulties of managing research projects, the tools, resources and processes available in a multi-campus Technological University context and the methods and approaches employed to deal with these difficulties. Key stakeholders like project managers, academics, and administrators will be surveyed as part of the study, which will also involve an explorative investigation of current literature and data. The findings of this study will contribute significantly to creating best practices for project management in this setting and offer insightful information about the efficient management of research projects within a multi-campus technological university.

Keywords: project management, research and research-related projects, multi-campus technology university, processes

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Authors: Salem Alajmi, Bader Altaweel

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Kuwait, like many parts of the world, has started facing the dangerous growth of electrical and electronic wastes. This growth has been noted last two decades, coming along with the development of mobile phones, computers, TVs, as well as other electronic devices and electrical equipment. Kuwait is already among the highest global producers of electronic waste (E-waste) in kg per capita. Furthermore, Kuwait is among the global countries that set high-level future targets in renewable energy projects. Accumulation of this electronic waste, as well as accelerated renewable energy projects, will lead to the increase of future threats to the country. In this research, factors that lead to the increase the e-waste in Kuwait are presented. Also, the current situations of dealing with e-waste in the country as well as current challenges are examined. The impact of renewable energy projects on future E-wastes accumulation is considered. Moreover, this research proposes the best strategies and practices toward successfully dealing with the waste of electronic devices and renewable energy technologies.

Keywords: Kuwait, e-waste, extended producer responsibility, environment, recycle, recovery

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Authors: Nipun Agarwal, David Paul, Fareed Un Din

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Strategy development and implementation is the key to an organization’s success in today’s competitive marketplace. Many organizations develop excellent strategy but are unable to implement this strategy in order to succeed. The difference between strategic goals and its implementation is called strategic error. Strategic error occurs when an organization does not have structures in place to implement their strategy. Strategy implementation happens through projects and having a project management method that provides certainty and agility will help an organization become more competitive in implementing strategy. Numerous project management methods exist in theory and practice. However, projects mainly used the Waterfall method in the past that provides certainty in terms of budget, delivery date and resourcing. It is common practice now to utilise Agile based methods. However, Agile based methods do not provide specific deadlines and budgets. But provide agility in product design and project delivery, which is useful to companies. Both Waterfall and Agile methods in some forms are the opposites of each other. Executive management prefer agility in delivery projects as the competitive landscape changes frequently. However, they also appreciate certainty in the projects being able to quantify budgets, deadlines and resources that is harder for an Agile based method to provide. This paper attempts to develop a hybrid project management method that attempts to merge these Waterfall and Agile methods to provide the positives from both these approaches.

Keywords: strategy, project management, strategy implementation, agile

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Authors: John Zanetich

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Designing an educational activity that encourages inquiry and collaboration is key to engaging students in meaningful learning. Educational Information and Communications Technology (EICT) plays an important role in facilitating cooperative and collaborative learning in the classroom. The EICT also facilitates students’ learning and development of the critical thinking skills needed to solve real world problems. Projects and activities based on constructivism encourage students to embrace complexity as well as find relevance and joy in their learning. It also enhances the students’ capacity for creative and responsible real-world problem solving. Classroom activities based on constructivism offer students an opportunity to develop the higher–order-thinking skills of defining problems and identifying solutions. Participating in a classroom project is an activity for both acquiring experiential knowledge and applying new knowledge to practical situations. It also provides an opportunity for students to integrate new knowledge into a skill set using reflection. Classroom projects can be developed around a variety of learning objects including social media, knowledge management and learning communities. The construction of meaning through project-based learning is an approach that encourages interaction and problem-solving activities. Projects require active participation, collaboration and interaction to reach the agreed upon outcomes. Projects also serve to externalize the invisible cognitive and social processes taking place in the activity itself and in the student experience. This paper describes a classroom project designed to elicit interactions by helping students to unfreeze existing knowledge, to create new learning experiences, and then refreeze the new knowledge. Since constructivists believe that students construct their own meaning through active engagement and participation as well as interactions with others. knowledge management can be used to guide the exchange of both tacit and explicit knowledge in interpersonal interactions between students and guide the construction of meaning. This paper uses an action research approach to the development of a classroom project and describes the use of technology, social media and the active use of tacit knowledge in the college classroom. In this project, a closed group Facebook page becomes the virtual classroom where interaction is captured and measured using engagement analytics. In the virtual learning community, the principles of knowledge management are used to identify the process and components of the infrastructure of the learning process. The project identifies class member interests and measures student engagement in a learning community by analyzing regular posting on the Facebook page. These posts are used to foster and encourage interactions, reflect a student’s interest and serve as reaction points from which viewers of the post convert the explicit information in the post to implicit knowledge. The data was collected over an academic year and was provided, in part, by the Google analytic reports on Facebook and self-reports of posts by members. The results support the use of active tacit knowledge activities, knowledge management and social media to enhance the student learning experience and help create the knowledge that will be used by students to construct meaning.

Keywords: constructivism, knowledge management, tacit knowledge, social media

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Authors: S. Abdulkadir, I. Y. Moh’d, S. U. Kunya, U. Nuruddeen

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The basis of any contract formation between the client and contractor is the budgeted cost and the estimated duration of projects. These variables are paramount important to project's sponsor in a construction projects and in assessing the success or viability of construction projects. Despite the availability of various techniques of cost and time control, many projects failed to achieve their initial estimated cost and time. The paper evaluate the inhibiting factors of cost and time control in Nigerian construction practice and comparing the result with the United Kingdom practice as identified by one researcher. The populations of the study are construction professionals within Bauchi and Gombe state, Nigeria, a judgmental sampling employed in determining the size of respondents. Descriptive statistics used in analyzing the data in SPSS. Design change, project fraud and corruption, financing and payment of completed work found to be common among the top five inhibiting factors of cost and time control in the study area. Furthermore, the result had shown some comprising with slight contrast as in the case of United Kingdom practice. Study recommend the adaptation of mitigation measures developed in the UK prior to assessing its effectiveness and so also developing a mitigating measure for other top factors that are not within the one developed in United Kingdom practice. Also, it recommends a wider assessing comparison on the modify inhibiting factors of cost and time control as revealed by the study to cover almost all part of Nigeria.

Keywords: comparison, cost, inhibiting factor, United Kingdom, time

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Authors: Kassem Saleh

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An alarming number of software projects fail to deliver the required functionalities within the provided budget and timeframe and with the required qualities. Some of the main reasons for this problem include bad stakeholder management, poor communications and informal change management. Informal processes to identify, engage and control stakeholders lead to these reasons. Recently, to emphasize its importance, the Project Management Institute (PMI) updated the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) to explicitly include the stakeholder management knowledge area. This knowledge area consists of four processes to identify stakeholders, plan stakeholder management, and manage and control stakeholder engagement. The use of appropriate techniques for stakeholder management in software projects will definitely lead to higher quality and successful software. In this paper, we describe some of the proven techniques that can be used during the execution of the four processes for stakeholder management. Development of collaboration tools for automating these processes are recommended and need to be integrated in available software project management tools.

Keywords: project management, stakeholder management, software development, project management body of knowledge

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Authors: Akhmylovskaia Larisa, Barysh Andriana

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The present paper is introducing the translation score developing methodology and methods in the cross-cultural communication. The ideas and examples presented by the authors illustrate the universal character of translation score developing methods under analysis. Personal experience in the international theatre-making projects, opera laboratories, cross-cultural master-classes, movie and theatre festivals give more opportunities to single out the conditions, forms, means and principles of translation score developing as well as the translator/interpreter’s functions as cultural liaison for multiethnic collaboration.

Keywords: methodology of translation score developing, pre-production, analysis, production, post-production, ethnic scene theory, theatre anthropology, laboratory, master-class, educational project, academic project, Stanislavski terminology meta-language, super-objective, participant observation

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Authors: Harshit Vallecha, Prabha Bhola

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‘Energy for all’, is a global issue of concern for the past many years. Despite the number of technological advancements and innovations, significant numbers of people are living without access to electricity around the world. India, an emerging economy, tops the list of nations having the maximum number of residents living off the grid, thus raising global attention in past few years to provide clean and sustainable energy access solutions to all of its residents. It is evident from developed economies that centralized planning and electrification alone is not sufficient for meeting energy security. Implementation of off-grid and consumer-driven energy models like Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) systems have played a significant role in meeting the national energy demand in developed nations. Cases of DRE systems have been reported in developing countries like India for the past few years. This paper attempts to profile the status of DRE projects in the Indian context with their scope and relevance to ensure universal electrification. Diversified cases of DRE projects, particularly solar, biomass and micro hydro are identified in different Indian states. Critical factors affecting the sustainability of DRE projects are extracted with their interlinkages in the context of developers, beneficiaries and promoters involved in such projects. Socio-techno-economic indicators are identified through similar cases in the context of DRE projects. Exploratory factor analysis is performed to evaluate the critical sustainability factors followed by regression analysis to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent factors. The generated EFA-Regression model provides a basis to develop the sustainability and replicability framework for broader coverage of DRE projects in developing nations in order to attain the goal of universal electrification with least carbon emissions.

Keywords: climate change, decentralized generation, electricity access, renewable energy

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Authors: Camille Aouinaït, Danilo Christen, Christoph Carlen

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Introduction: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are facing different challenges such as pressures on environmental resources, the rise of downstream power, and trade liberalization. Remaining competitive by implementing innovations and engaging in collaborations could be a strategic solution. In Switzerland, the Federal Institute for Research in Agriculture (Agroscope), the Federal schools of technology (EPFL and ETHZ), Cantonal universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) can provide substantial inputs. UAS were developed with specific missions to match the labor markets and society needs. Research projects produce patents, publications and improved networks of scientific expertise. The study’s goal is to measure the contribution of UAS and research organization to innovation and the impact of collaborations with partners in the non-academic environment in Swiss traditional fruit production. Materials and methods: The European projects Traditional Food Network to improve the transfer of knowledge for innovation (TRAFOON) and Social Impact Assessment of Productive Interactions between science and society (SIAMPI) frame the present study. The former aims to fill the gap between the needs of traditional food producing SMEs and innovations implemented following European projects. The latter developed a method to assess the impacts of scientific research. On one side, interviews with market players have been performed to make an inventory of needs of Swiss SMEs producing apricots and berries. The participative method allowed matching the current needs and the existing innovations coming from past European projects. Swiss stakeholders (e.g. producers, retailers, an inter-branch organization of fruits and vegetables) directly rated the needs on a five-Likert scale. To transfer the knowledge to SMEs, training workshops have been organized for apricot and berries actors separately, on specific topics. On the other hand, a mapping of a social network is drawn to characterize the links between actors, with a focus on the Swiss canton of Valais and UAS Valais Wallis. Type and frequency of interactions among actors have identified thanks to interviews. Preliminary results: A list of 369 SMEs needs grouped in 22 categories was produced with 37 fulfilled questionnaires. Swiss stakeholders rated 31 needs very important. Training workshops on apricot are focusing on varietal innovations, storage, disease (bacterial blight), pest (Drosophila suzukii), sorting and rootstocks. Entrepreneurship was targeted through trademark discussions in berry production. The UAS Valais Wallis collaborated on a few projects with Agroscope along with industries, at European and national levels. Political and public bodies interfere with the central area of agricultural vulgarization that induces close relationships between the research and the practical side. Conclusions: The needs identified by Swiss stakeholders are becoming part of training workshops to incentivize innovations. The UAS Valais Wallis takes part in collaboration projects with the research environment and market players that bring innovations helping SMEs in their contextual environment. Then, a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda will be created in order to pursue research and answer the issues facing by SMEs.

Keywords: agriculture, innovation, knowledge transfer, university and research collaboration

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Authors: Afaf Alhusayni, Elizabeth Sheppard, Asiyya Jaffrani, Peter Mitchell, Lauren Marsh

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Introduction: Previous research has found that people make systematic judgments about others based on small glimpses of their behavior. Furthermore, autistic people are consistently judged more negatively than non-autistic people in terms of favourability and approachability. Objectives: This project focuses on a hitherto unstudied type of judgment that is highly relevant within a university context, judgments about academic performance. This is particularly important as autistic university students are less likely to complete their degrees than neurotypical students. Methods: Twenty-five neurotypical perceivers (21 females - 4 males) viewed a series of 4s video clips featuring an individual ‘target’ displaying natural behavior. Nine of these targets were autistic and nine were neurotypical. Perceivers were asked to rate each target on four aspects related to university life (motivation, success, grades, and happiness). Results: Autistic targets were judged more negatively on all aspects compared to neurotypical targets. Conclusions: This study concludes that neurotypical perceivers negatively judge the academic performance of autistic students. This suggests that autistic university students face unfavorable scrutiny and judgment, which may negatively impact their academic success. Implications: These initial findings provide important evidence that autistic people are negatively stigmatized within education environments. Further work is needed to ascertain the extent to which these negative judgments may feed into attainment gaps for autistic students. This information is useful for the education department, government, and social care organizations, enabling change in the provision of support for autistic students.

Keywords: autistic person perception, academic performance, stigma and judgment, higher education

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Authors: Hilary Joseph Watsilla

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Research work is a vital part of the university system; in Nigeria public universities, research is used in measuring the development of individuals and departments within the academic system. Information technology has impacted the way research is carried out by providing easy access to information and improved collaboration between research and other instruments necessary for research activities. However, access to some of these IT facilities is not readily available in most of the public institutions in Nigeria. Research activities are usually tedious and rigorous and any inadequacy in research resources might affect the quality of research outcome. This study aims to identify the IT capability and knowledge management capabilities necessary for academic researchers in public universities in Nigeria, as it will provide more incite to the knowledge creation processes of research. The research will be conducted using an interpretive lens, which will provide a more qualitative understanding of the subject matter. The outcome of the research will provide an empirical understanding of the IT capabilities, which help in the optimization of the knowledge management capabilities of the university.

Keywords: IT capabilities, KM capabilities, universities, academic research

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Authors: Roman Knizek, Denisa Knizkova, Ludmila Fridrichova

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The academic environment in Central Europe has recently been transforming itself and is trying to link its research and development with the private sector. However, compared to Western countries, there is a lack of history and continuity because of the centrally controlled economy from the end of the Second World War until the early 1990s. There are two basic models of how to carry out technology transfer between the academic and the business world. The first is to develop something new and then find a suitable private sector partner; the second is to find a partner who has the basic idea and then develop something new in collaboration. This study, unlike some other ones, describes two specific cases that took place in cooperation with the Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Textiles. As was said before, in one case, a product was first developed, and after that, an investor was sought, and in the other case, there was an investor who wanted a specific product and wanted to help with its development. The study describes the various advantages and disadvantages, including a practical example of the creation of a subsequent start-up.

Keywords: start-up, state university, academic environment, licensing agreement

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Authors: L. N. P. Wedikandage, Mohamed Razmi Zahir

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Technology is a global imperative because of its contributions to human existence and because it has improved global socioeconomic relations. As a result, the mobile phone has become the most important mode of communication today. Smartphones, Internet-enabled devices with built-in computer software and applications, are one of the most significant inventions of the twenty-first century. Technology is advantageous to many people, especially those involved in education. It is an important learning tool for today's schoolchildren. It enables students to access online learning platforms and course resources and interact digitally. Senior secondary students, in particular, have some of the most expensive and sophisticated mobile phones, tablets, and iPads capable of connecting to the internet and various social media platforms, other websites, and so on. At present, the use of mobile phones' potential for effective teaching and learning is growing. This is due to the benefits of mobile learning, including the ability to share knowledge without any limits in space or Time and the capacity to facilitate the development of critical thinking, participatory learning, problem-solving, and the development of lifelong communication skills. However, it is yet unclear how mobile devices may affect education and how they may affect opportunities for learning. As a result, the purpose of this research was to ascertain the relationship between mobile phone usage and the academic Performance of secondary-level students at an international school in Sri Lanka. The study's sample consisted of 523 secondary-level students from an international school, ranging from Form 1 to Upper 6. For the study, a survey research design and questionnaires were used. Google Forms was used to create the students' survey. There were three hypotheses tested to find out the relationship between mobile phone usage and academic preference. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between mobile phone usage and academic performance among secondary school students (the number of students obtaining simple passes is significantly higher when mobile phones are being used for more than 7 hours), no relationship between mobile phone usage and academic performance among secondary school students of different parents' occupations, and a relationship between the frequency of mobile phone usage and academic performance among secondary school students.

Keywords: mobile phone, academic performance, secondary level, international schools

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Authors: Atefeh Saljooghi Khoshkar, Jafar Hassanpour

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One of the main problems of the design stage relating to many tunneling projects is the lack of an appropriate standard for the provision of engineering geological data in a predefined format. In particular, this is more reflected in highway and railroad tunnel projects in which there is a number of tunnels and different professional teams involved. In this regard, comprehensive software needs to be designed using the accepted methods in order to help engineering geologists to prepare standard reports, which contain sufficient input data for the design stage. Regarding this necessity, applied software has been designed using macro capabilities and Visual Basic programming language (VBA) through Microsoft Excel. In this software, all of the engineering geological input data, which are required for designing different parts of tunnels, such as discontinuities properties, rock mass strength parameters, rock mass classification systems, boreability classification, the penetration rate, and so forth, can be calculated and reported in a standard format.

Keywords: engineering geology, rock mass classification, rock mechanic, tunnel

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Authors: Laetitia Dari

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The brand constitutes a source of differentiation between competitors. It highlights specific characteristics that create value for the enterprise. Today the concept of a brand is not just about the product but can concern territories. The competition between territories, due to tourism, research, jobs, etc., leads territories to develop territorial brands to bring out their identity and specificity. Some territorial brands are based on natural resources or products characteristic of a territory. In the French wood sector, we can observe the emergence of many territorial brands. Supported by the inter-professional organization, these brands have the main objective of showcasing wood as a source of solutions at the local level in terms of construction and energy. The implementation of these collective projects raises the question of the way in which relations between companies are structured and animated. The central question of our work is to understand how the territorial brand promotes the structuring of a sector and the construction of collective relations between actors. In other words, we are interested in the conditions for the emergence of the territorial brand and the way in which it will be a means of mobilizing the actors around a common project. The objectives of the research are (1) to understand in which context a territorial brand emerges, (2) to analyze the way in which the territorial brand structures the collective relations between actors, (3) to give entry keys to the actors to successfully develop this type of project. Thus, our research is based on a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews conducted with the main territorial brands in France. The research will answer various academic and empirical questions. From an academic point of view, it brings elements of understanding to the construction of a collective project and to the way in which governance operates. From an empirical point of view, the interest of our work is to bring out the key success factors in the development of a territorial brand and how the brand can become an element of valuation for a territory.

Keywords: brand, marketing, strategy, territory, third party stakeholder, wood

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Authors: Saniye Çeşmecioğlu

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The importance of project sustainability and success has become increasingly significant due to the proliferation of external environmental factors that have decreased project resistance in contemporary times. The primary approach to forestall the failure of projects is to ensure their long-term viability through the strategic selection of projects as creating judicious project selection framework within the organization. Decision-makers require precise decision contexts (models) that conform to the company's business objectives and sustainability expectations during the project selection process. The establishment of a rational model for project selection enables organizations to create a distinctive and objective framework for the selection process. Additionally, for the optimal implementation of this decision-making model, it is crucial to establish a Project Management Office (PMO) team and Project Steering Committee within the organizational structure to oversee the framework. These teams enable updating project selection criteria and weights in response to changing conditions, ensuring alignment with the company's business goals, and facilitating the selection of potentially viable projects. This paper presents a multi-criteria decision model for selecting project sustainability and project success criteria that ensures timely project completion and retention. The model was developed using MACBETH (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique) and was based on broadcaster companies’ expectations. The ultimate results of this study provide a model that endorses the process of selecting the appropriate project objectively by utilizing project selection and sustainability criteria along with their respective weights for organizations. Additionally, the study offers suggestions that may ascertain helpful in future endeavors.

Keywords: project portfolio management, project selection, multi-criteria decision making, project sustainability and success criteria, MACBETH

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Authors: Chatelier Charlene, Oyegoke Adekunle, Ajayi Saheed, Jeffries Andrew

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This study seeks to understand Schedule Risk Assessments as a priori for better performance whilst exploring the strategies employed to deliver complex projects like the New Polar research ship. This high-profile vessel was offered to Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders. The Research Ship was designed to support science in extreme environments, with the expectancy to provide a wide range of specialist scientific facilities, instruments, and laboratories to conduct research over multiple disciplines. Aim: The focus is to understand the allocation and management of schedule risk on such a Major Project. Hypothesising that "effective management of schedule risk management" could be the most critical factor in determining whether the intended benefits mentioned are delivered within time and cost constraints. Objective 1: Firstly, the study seeks to understand the allocation and management of schedule risk in Major Projects. Objective 2: Secondly, it explores "effective management of schedule risk management" as the most critical factor determining the delivery of intended benefits. Methodology: This study takes a retrospective review of schedule risk management and how it influences project performance using a case study approach for the RRS (Royal Research Ship) Sir David Attenborough. Research Contribution: The outcomes of this study will contribute to a better understanding of project performance whilst building on its under-researched relationship to schedule risk management for complex projects. The outcomes of this paper will guide further research on project performance and enable the understanding of how risk-based estimates over time impact the overall risk management of the project.

Keywords: complexity, major projects, performance management, schedule risk management, uncertainty

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Authors: Mustafa Var, Yasin Kültiğin Yaman, Elif Berna Var, Müberra Pulatkan

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This study deals with real application of an urban transformation project in Trabzon, Turkey. It aims to highlight the significance of using native species in terms of planting design of transformation projects which will also promote sustainability of urban identity. Urban identity is a phenomenon shaped not only by physical, but also by natural, spatial, social, historical and cultural factors. Urban areas face with continuous change which can be whether positive or negative way. If it occurs in a negative way that may have some destructive effects on urban identity. To solve this problematic issue, urban renewal movements initally started after 1840s around the world especially in the cities with ports. This process later followed by the places where people suffered a lot from fires and has expanded to all over the world. In Turkey, those processes have been experienced mostly after 1980s as country experienced the worst effects of unplanned urbanization especially in 1950-1990 period. Also old squares, streets, meeting points, green areas, Ottoman bazaars have changed slowly. This change was resulted in alienation of inhabitants to their environments. As a solution, several actions were taken like Mass Housing Laws which was enacted in 1981 and 1984 or urban transformation projects. Although projects between 1990-2000 were tried to satisfy the expectations of local inhabitants by the help of several design solutions to promote cultural identity; unfortunately those modern projects has also been resulted in alienation of urban environments to the inhabitants. Those projects were initially done by TOKI (Housing Development Administration of Turkey) and later followed by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization after 2011. Although they had significant potentials to create healthy urban environments, they could not use this opportunity in an effective way. The reason for their failure is that their architectural styles and planting designs are unrespectful to local identity and environments. Generally, it can be said that the most of the urban transformation projects implementing in Turkey nearly have no concerns about the locality. However, those projects can be used as a positive tool for enhanching the urban identity of cities by means of local planting material. For instance, Kyoto can be identified by Japanese Maple trees or Seattle can be specified by Dahlia. In the same way, in Turkey, Istanbul city can be identified by Judas and Stone Pine trees or Giresun city can be identified by Cherry trees. Thus, in this paper, the importance of conserving urban identity is discussed specificly with the help of using local planting elements. After revealing the mistakes that are made during urban transformation projects, the techniques and design criterias for preserving and promoting urban identity are examined. In the end, it is emphasized that every city should have their own original, local character and specific planting design which can be used for highlighting its identity as well as architectural elements.

Keywords: urban identity, urban transformation, planting design, landscape architecture

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Authors: Peter Boyes, Sarah Sharples, Paul Tennent, Gary Priestnall, Jeremy Morley

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Significant long-term investment projects can involve complex decisions. These are often described as capital projects, and the factors that contribute to their complexity include budgets, motivating reasons for investment, stakeholder involvement, interdependent projects, and the delivery phases required. The complexity of these projects often requires management groups to be established involving stakeholder representatives; these teams are inherently multidisciplinary. This study uses two university campus capital projects as case studies for this type of management group. Due to the interaction of projects with wider campus infrastructure and users, decisions are made at varying spatial granularity throughout the project lifespan. This spatial-related context brings complexity to the group decisions. Sensemaking is the process used to achieve group situational awareness of a complex situation, enabling the team to arrive at a consensus and make a decision. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of people and data in the complex spatial related long-term decision and sensemaking processes. The paper aims to identify and present issues experienced in practical settings of these types of decision. A series of exploratory semi-structured interviews with members of the two projects elicit an understanding of their operation. From two stages of thematic analysis, inductive and deductive, emergent themes are identified around the group structure, the data usage, and the decision making within these groups. When data were made available to the group, there were commonly issues with the perception of veracity and validity of the data presented; this impacted the ability of group to reach consensus and, therefore, for decisions to be made. Similarly, there were different responses to forecasted or modelled data, shaped by the experience and occupation of the individuals within the multidisciplinary management group. This paper provides an understanding of further support required for team sensemaking and decision making in complex capital projects. The paper also discusses the barriers found to effective decision making in this setting and suggests opportunities to develop decision support systems in this team strategic decision-making process. Recommendations are made for further research into the sensemaking and decision-making process of this complex spatial-related setting.

Keywords: decision making, decisions under uncertainty, real decisions, sensemaking, spatial, team decision making

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Authors: Elham Shahrjooi Haghighi

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This research explores how lexical bundles are utilized in writing in the field of linguistics by comparing professional Persian writers with native English writers using corpus-based studies and advanced computational techniques to examine the occurrence and characteristics of lexical bundles in academic writings. The review of literature emphasizes how important lexical bundles are, in organizing discussions and conveying opinions in both spoken and written language contexts across genres and proficiency levels in fields of study. Previous research has indicated that native English writers tend to employ an array and diversity of bundles than non-native writers do; these bundles are essential elements in academic writing. In this study’s methodology section, the research utilizes a corpus-based method to analyze a collection of writings such as research papers and advanced theses at the doctoral and masters’ levels. The examination uncovers variances in the utilization of groupings between writers who are native speakers of Persian and those who are native English speakers with the latter group displaying a greater occurrence and variety, in types of groupings. Furthermore, the research delves into how these groupings contribute to aspects classifying them into categories based on their relevance to research text structure and individuals as outlined in Hyland’s framework. The results show that Persian authors employ phrases and demonstrate distinct structural and functional tendencies in comparison to native English writers. This variation is linked to differing language skills, levels, disciplinary norms and cultural factors. The study also highlights the pedagogical implications of these findings, suggesting that targeted instruction on the use of lexical bundles could enhance the academic writing skills of non-native speakers. In conclusion, this research contributes to the understanding of lexical bundles in academic writing by providing a detailed comparative analysis of their use by Persian and native English writers. The insights from this study have important implications for language education and the development of effective writing strategies for non-native English speakers in academic contexts.

Keywords: lexical bundles, academic writing, comparative analysis, computational techniques

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