Search results for: indigenous knowledge management

Authors: Ammar Said Ahmed, M. Reissmann, R. Bortfeldt, G. A. Brockmann

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Milk protein genetic variants are of interest for characterizing domesticated mammalian species and breeds, and for studying associations with economic traits. The aim of this work was to analyze milk protein genetic variation in the Sudanese native cattle breeds, which have been gradually declining in numbers over the last years due to the breed substitution, and indiscriminate crossbreeding. The genetic variation at three milk protein genes αS1-casein (CSN1S1), αS2-casein (CSN1S2) and ƙ-casein (CSN3) was investigated in 250 animals belonging to five Bos indicus cattle breeds of Sudan (Butana, Kenana, White-nile, Erashy and Elgash). Allele specific primers were designed for five SNPs determine the CSN1S1 variants B and C, the CSN1S2 variants A and B, the CSN3 variants A, B and H. Allele, haplotype frequencies and genetic distances (D) were calculated and the phylogenetic tree was constructed. All breeds were found to be polymorphic for the studied genes. The CSN1S1*C variant was found very frequently (>0.63) in all analyzed breeds with highest frequency (0.82) in White-nile cattle. The CSN1S2*A variant (0.77) and CSN3*A variant (0.79) had highest frequency in Kenana cattle. Eleven haplotypes in casein gene cluster were inferred. Six of all haplotypes occurred in all breeds with remarkably deferent frequencies. The estimated D ranged from 0.004 to 0.049. The most distant breeds were White-nile and Kenana (D 0.0479). The results presented contribute to the genetic knowledge of indigenous cattle and can be used for proper definition and classification of the Sudanese cattle breeds as well as breeding, utilization, and potential development of conservation strategies for local breeds.

Keywords: milk protein, genetic variation, casein haplotype, Bos indicus

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Authors: Tosin Samson Olagunju

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This study is a contrastive study of affixation in Ipe and Yoruba Languages with the aim of looking at the implications for English pedagogy. This study, with the use of Hocket's Theory of Item and Arrangement and Word and Paradigm (as expatiated by Crystal), examines the aspect of affixation in Ipe and Yoruba Languages with the help of contrastive analysis which provides a basis for contrasting the morphological patterns of two different indigenous languages. It examines four affixes: prefix, infix, interfix, and suffix with numerous examples in the languages under investigation. The study is corpus based as it depends primarily on the words available in the lexicon of the languages under examination. Data were elicited from both monolingual and bilingual native-speakers of Ipe Language and Yoruba Language in Ipe-Akoko and Oyo respectively. Ibadan 400-wordlist was utilised as a tool for collecting data from informants who are between age fifty and seventy through audio recording as it is believed that they are the custodians of culture and tradition. Consequently, the study reveals that Ipe and Yoruba morphology have affixation such as prefix, interfix, and suffix. It also finds out that 'infix' is an unproductive aspect in English, Ipe, and Yoruba; although a few examples are in English. Interfix is very productive in Ipe and Yoruba but not in English at all. Phonologically, it is discovered that Ipe language has the two dental fricative consonants just like the English language, i.e., /Ɵ/ and /ð/. This is rare among the indigenous languages in Nigeria. This research believes that in the teaching of English consonants to the people of Ipe-Akoko, such areas will be taught with ease. The study concludes that morphological processes of Nigerian indigenous languages are studied the more so that they will not face endangerment which can lead to extinction.

Keywords: affixation, contrastive study, Ipe, morphology, pedagogy, Yoruba

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Authors: Shana Malio-Satele, Lemalu Silao Vaisola Sefo

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Introductory Statement: South Seas Healthcare is Ōtara’s largest Pacific health provider in South Auckland, New Zealand. Our vision is excellent health and well-being for Pacific people and all communities through strong Pacific values. During the DELTA and Omicron outbreak of COVID-19, our Pacific people, indigenous Māori, and the community of South Auckland were disproportionately affected and faced significant hardship with existing inequities magnified. This study highlights the community-based learnings of harnessing community-based strengths such as indigenous resilience, family-informed experiences and stories that provide critical insights that inform health reform changes that will be sustainable and equitable for all indigenous populations. This study is based on critical learnings acquired during COVID-19 that challenge the deficit narrative common in healthcare about indigenous populations. This study shares case studies of marginalised groups and religious groups and the successful application of indigenous cultural strengths, such as collectivism, positive protective factors, and using trusted relationships to create meaningful change in the way healthcare is delivered. The significance of this study highlights the critical conditions needed to adopt a community-informed way of creating integrated healthcare that works and the role that the community can play in being part of the solution. Methodologies: Key methodologies utilised are indigenous and Pacific-informed. To achieve critical learnings from the community, Pacific research methodologies, heavily informed by the Polynesian practice, were applied. Specifically, this includes; Teu Le Va (Understanding the importance of trusted relationships as a way of creating positive health solutions); The Fonofale Methodology (A way of understanding how health incorporates culture, family, the physical, spiritual, mental and other dimensions of health, as well as time, context and environment; The Fonua Methodology – Understanding the overall wellbeing and health of communities, families and individuals and their holistic needs and environmental factors and the Talanoa methodology (Researching through conversation, where understanding the individual and community is through understanding their history and future through stories). Major Findings: Key findings in the study included: 1. The collectivist approach in the community is a strengths-based response specific to populations, which highlights the importance of trusted relationships and cultural values to achieve meaningful outcomes. 2. The development of a “village model” which identified critical components to achieving health reform change; system navigation, a sense of service that was culturally responsive, critical leadership roles, culturally appropriate support, and the ability to influence the system enablers to support an alternative way of working. Concluding Statement: There is a strong connection between community-based strengths being implemented into healthcare strategies and reforms and the sustainable success of indigenous populations and marginalised communities accessing services that are cohesive, equitably resourced, accessible and meaningful for families. This study highlights the successful community-informed approaches and practices used during the COVID-19 response in New Zealand that are now being implemented in the current health reform.

Keywords: indigenous voice, community voice, health reform, New Zealand

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Authors: Maria Giovanna Pacifico

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Maintenance, in Italy, is not yet a consolidated practice despite the benefits that could come from. Among the main reasons, there are the lack of financial resources and personnel in the public administration and a general lack of knowledge about how to activate and to manage a prevented and programmed maintenance. The experimentation suggests that users and tourists could be involved in the maintenance process from the knowledge phase to the monitoring ones by using mobile devices. The goal is to increase the quality of Facility Management for cultural heritage, prioritizing usage needs, and limiting interference between the key stakeholders. The method simplifies the consolidated procedures for the Information Systems, avoiding a loss in terms of quality and amount of information by focusing on the users' requirements: management economy, user safety, accessibility, and by receiving feedback information to define a framework that will lead to predictive maintenance. This proposal was designed to be tested in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii on the state property asset.

Keywords: asset maintenance, key stakeholders, Pompeii, user requirement

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Authors: Mohammad Hossein Panahi

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Modern social sciences developed in Western Europe, and from there, it disseminated to the rest of the world, including Muslim World. Within the hierarchical world social science system that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries, the West occupied the center, and the Third and Muslim Worlds fell into its periphery. Many social scientists, especially sociologists, in the Third and Muslim World since the 1970s have criticized this worldwide unequal division of scientific labor and have called for the development of independent/indigenous social sciences relevant to their own social conditions. Based on the conceptual framework of the World Social Science System, this paper studied the encounter of Muslim social scientists/sociologists with the Western social sciences. Using inductive thematic content analysis as the method of research, the author analyzed 32 purposefully selected articles from among over 500 collected articles from the 1970s to 2018 and categorized the obtained themes. The findings revealed three main types of encounters: reception, indigenization, and Islamization. ‘Reception’ refers to the encounter of those Muslim social scientists who embrace the positivist approach and believe that Western social sciences are valid and applicable worldwide, including the Muslim World. ‘Indigenization’ refers to the approach of those Muslim social scientists who, along with many critical Third World social scientists, reject the universality of Western social sciences and call for the development of indigenous social sciences. ‘Islamization’ refers to the position of those religious Muslim social scientists who believe that Muslim nations should Islamize social sciences based on the Islamic value and knowledge systems, in order to attain viable social sciences and free themselves from Western domination. Discussing these encounters, their supporters and opponents, the paper concludes that despite various efforts, none of the two alternatives to the Western social sciences have been able to replace it so far.

Keywords: indigenization, Islamization, Muslim world, social sciences, world social science system

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Authors: Raed Hanandeh

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This empirical study examines how knowledge sharing behaviors mediate the effect Technology-driven strategy on virtual organization success in Jordanian tourism sector firms. The results reveal that Social network ties are positively related to web knowledge seeking, web knowledge contributing and interactive system, but negatively related to accidental knowledge leakage. Furthermore, all types of knowledge sharing behavior are positively related to virtual organization success. Data collected from 23 firms. The total number of questionnaires mailed, 250 questionnaires were delivered. 214 were considered valid out of 241 Responses were received. The findings provide evidence that knowledge sharing behavior play a mediating role between Social network ties and virtual organization success and show that, web knowledge seeking, web knowledge contributing and interactive system playing an important impact on virtual organization success through knowledge sharing behaviors.

Keywords: social network ties, virtual organization success, knowledge sharing behaviors, web knowledge

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Authors: Eng Rima Al-Awadhi, Abdul Jaleel Tharayil

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In a project-centric organization like KOC, managing the knowledge of the project is of critical importance to the success of the project and the organization. However, due to the very nature and complexity involved, each project engagement generates a lot of 'learnings' that need to be factored into while new projects are initiated and thus avoid repeating the same mistake. But, many a time these learnings are localized and remains as ‘tacit knowledge’ leading to scope re-work, schedule overrun, adjustment orders, concession requests and claims. While KOC follows an asset based organization structure, with a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic workforce and larger chunk of the work is carried out through complex, long term project engagement, diffusion of ‘learnings’ across assets while dealing with the natural entropy of the organization is of great significance. Considering the relatively higher number of mega projects, it's important that the issues raised during the project life cycle are centrally harvested, analyzed and the ‘learnings’ from these issues are shared, absorbed and are in-turn utilized to enhance and refine the existing process and practices, leading to improve the project performance. One of the many factors contributing to the successful completion of a project on time is the reduction in the number of variations or concessions triggered during the project life cycle. The project process integrated knowledge sharing framework discusses the knowledge harvesting methodology adopted, the challenges faced, learnings acquired and its impact on project performance. The framework facilitates the proactive identification of issues that may have an impact on the overall quality of the project and improve performance.

Keywords: knowledge harvesting, project integrated knowledge sharing, performance improvement, knowledge management, lessons learn

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Authors: Renee Monchalin

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Métis peoples, while comprising over a third of the total Indigenous population in Canada, experience major gaps in health services that accommodate their cultural identities. This is problematic given Métis peoples experience severe disparities in health determinants and outcomes compared to the non-Indigenous Canadian population. At the same time, Métis are unlikely to engage in health services that do not value their cultural identities, often utilizing mainstream options. Given these contexts, this research aims to fill the culturally-safe health care gap for Métis peoples in Canada. It does this by engaging 56 urban Métis women who participated in a longitudinal cohort study, Our Health Counts (OHC) Toronto. Traditionally, Métis women were central to the health and well-being of their communities. However, due to decades of colonial legislation and forced land displacement, female narratives have been silenced, and Métis identities have been fractured. This has resulted in having direct implications on Métis people’s current health and access to health services. Solutions to filling the Métis health service gap may lie in the all too often unacknowledged or missing voices of Métis women. Through a conversational method, this research will explore urban Métis women’s perspectives on identity and their experiences with health services in Toronto. The goal of this research is to learn from urban Métis women on steps towards filling the health service gap. This research is currently in the data collection stage. Preliminary findings from the conversations will be disseminated. Policy recommendations for health service providers will be provided to better accommodate Métis people.

Keywords: indigenous health, Metis health, urban, health service access, identity

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Authors: Nyasha Agnes Gurira, Petronella Katekwe

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Traditional management systems (TMS) are a vital source of knowledge for conserving cultural and natural heritage. TMS’s are renowned for their ability to preserve both tangible and intangible manifestations of heritage. They are a construct of the intricate relationship that exists between heritage and host communities, where communities are recognized as owners of heritage and so, set up management mechanisms to ensure its adequate conservation. Multiple heritage condition surveys were conducted to assess the effectiveness of using TMS in the conservation of both natural and cultural heritage. Surveys were done at Nharira Hills, Mahwemasimike, Dzimbahwe, Manjowe Rock art sites and Norumedzo forest which are heritage places in Zimbabwe. It assessed the state of conservation of the five case studies and assessed the role that host communities play in the management of these heritage places. It was revealed that TMS’s are effective in the conservation of natural heritage, however in relation to heritage forms with cultural manifestations, there are major disparities. These range from differences in appreciation and perception of value within communities leading to vandalism, over emphasis in the conservation of the intangible element as opposed to the tangible. This leaves the tangible element at risk. Despite these issues, TMS are a reliable knowledge base which enables more holistic conservation approaches for cultural and natural heritage.

Keywords: communities, cultural intangible, tangible heritage, traditional management systems, natural

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Authors: Mohamed El Fares Djellatou, Fracoise Filion

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The Ashukin program that means bridge in Naskapi or Atikamekw language, has been designed to offer a partnership between nursing students and an indigenous community. The students design a health promotion project tailored to the needs of the community. The issues of intimidation in primary school and cyber-dependence in high school were some concerns in a rural Atikamekw community. The goal of the project was to have a conversation with indigenous youths, aged 10-16 years old, on the challenges presented by intimidation and cyber dependence as well as promoting healthy relationships online and within the community. Methods: Multiple progressive inquiry questions (PIQs) were used to assess the feasibility and importance of this project for the Atikamekw nation, and to determine a plan to follow. The theoretical foundations to guide the conception of the project were the Population Health Promotion Model (PHPM), the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model, and the Medicine Wheel. A broad array of social determinants of health were addressed, including healthy childhood development, personal health practices, and coping skills, and education. The youths were encouraged to participate in interactive educational sessions, using PowerPoint presentations and pamphlets as the main effective strategies. Additional tools such as cultural artworks and physical activities were introduced to strengthen the inter-relational and team spirit within the Indigenous population. A quality assurance tool (QAT) was developed specifically to determine the appropriateness of these health promotion tools. Improvements were guided by the feedback issued by the indigenous schools’ teachers and social workers who filled the QATs. Post educational sessions, quantitative results have shown that 93.48% of primary school students were able to identify the different types of intimidation, 72.65% recognized more than two strategies, and 52.1% were able to list at least four resources to diffuse intimidation. On the other hand, around 75% of the adolescents were able to name at least three negative effects, and 50% listed three strategies to reduce cyber-dependence. This project was meant to create a bridge with the First Nation through health promotion, a population that is known to be disadvantaged due to systemic health inequity and disparities. Culturally safe care was proposed to deal with the two identified priority issues, and an educational toolkit was given to both schools to ensure the sustainability of the project. The project was self-financed through fundraising activities, and it yielded better results than expected.

Keywords: indigenous, first nation, bullying, cyber-dependence, internet addiction, intimidation, youth, adolescents, school, community nursing, health promotion

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Authors: Luisa Villani

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The proposal aims to express concerns about the connection between mind, body, society, and environment in the Flyers’ dance, a very well-known rotatory dance in Mexico, to create meanings and to make the apprehension of the world possible. The interaction among the brain, mind, body, and environment, and the intersubjective relation among them, means the world creates and recreates a social interaction. The purpose of this methodology, based on the embodied cognition theory, which was named “A Performance-Embodied Theory” is to find the principles and patterns that organize the culture and the rules of the apprehension of the environment by Totonac people while the dance is being performed. The analysis started by questioning how anthropologists can interpret how Totonacs transform their unconscious knowledge into conscious knowledge and how the scheme formation of imagination and their collective imagery is understood in the context of public-facing rituals, such as Flyers’ dance. The problem is that most of the time, researchers interpret elements in a separate way and not as a complex ritual dancing whole, which is the original contribution of this study. This theory, which accepts the fact that people are body-mind agents, wants to interpret the dance as a whole, where the different elements are joined to an integral interpretation. To understand incorporation, data was recollected in prolonged periods of fieldwork, with participant observation and linguistic and extralinguistic data analysis. Laban’s notation for the description and analysis of gestures and movements in the space was first used, but it was later transformed and gone beyond this method, which is still a linear and compositional one. Performance in a ritual is the actualization of a potential complex of meanings or cognitive domains among many others in a culture: one potential dimension becomes probable and then real because of the activation of specific meanings in a context. It can only be thought what language permits thinking, and the lexicon that is used depends on the individual culture. Only some parts of this knowledge can be activated at once, and these parts of knowledge are connected. Only in this way, the world can be understood. It can be recognized that as languages geometrize the physical world thanks to the body, also ritual does. In conclusion, the ritual behaves as an embodied grammar or a text in movement, which, depending on the ritual phases and the words and sentences pronounced in the ritual, activates bits of encyclopedic knowledge that people have about the world. Gestures are not given by the performer but emerge from the intentional perception in which gestures are “understood” by the audio-spectator in an inter-corporeal way. The impact of this study regards the possibility not only to disseminate knowledge effectively but also to generate a balance between different parts of the world where knowledge is shared, rather than being received by academic institutions alone. This knowledge can be exchanged, so indigenous communities and academies could be together as part of the activation and the sharing of this knowledge with the world.

Keywords: dance, flyers, performance, embodied, cognition

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Authors: Seema Singh, Puja Anand, Alok Bhasin

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The interior design profession aims to create aesthetically pleasing design solutions for human habitats but of late, growing awareness about depleting environmental resources, both tangible and intangible, and damages to the eco-system led to the quest for creating healthy and sustainable interior environments. The paper proposes adapting traditionally produced organic wool textiles for the mainstream interior design industry. This can create sustainable livelihoods whereby eco-friendly bridges can be built between Interior designers and consumers and pastoral communities. This study focuses on traditional textiles produced by two pastoral communities from India that use organic wool from indigenous sheep varieties. The Gaddi communities of Himachal Pradesh use wool from the Gaddi sheep breed to create Pattu (a multi-purpose textile). The Kurumas of Telangana weave a blanket called the Gongadi, using wool from the Black Deccani variety of sheep. These communities have traditionally reared indigenous sheep breeds for their wool and produce hand-spun and hand-woven textiles for their own consumption, using traditional processes that are chemical free. Based on data collected personally from field visits and documentation of traditional crafts of these pastoral communities, and using traditionally produced indigenous organic wool, the authors have developed innovative textile samples by including design interventions and exploring dyeing and weaving techniques. As part of the secondary research, the role of pastoralism in sustaining the eco-systems of Himachal Pradesh and Telangana was studied, and also the role of organic wool in creating healthy interior environments. The authors found that natural wool from indigenous sheep breeds can be used to create interior textiles that have the potential to be marketed to an urban audience, and this will help create earnings for pastoral communities. Literature studies have shown that organic & sustainable wool can reduce indoor pollution & toxicity levels in interiors and further help in creating healthier interior environments. Revival of indigenous breeds of sheep can further help in rejuvenating dying crafts, and promotion of these indigenous textiles can help in sustaining traditional eco-systems and the pastoral communities whose way of life is endangered today. Based on research and findings, the authors propose that adapting traditional textiles can have potential for application in Interiors, creating eco-friendly spaces. Interior textiles produced through such sustainable processes can help reduce indoor pollution, give livelihood opportunities to traditional economies, and leave almost zero carbon foot-print while being in sync with available natural resources, hence ultimately benefiting the society. The win-win situation for all the stakeholders in this eco-friendly model makes it pertinent to re-think how we design lifestyle textiles for interiors. This study illustrates a specific example from the two pastoral communities and can be used as a model that can work equally well in any community, regardless of geography.

Keywords: design intervention, eco- friendly, healthy interiors, indigenous, organic wool, pastoralism, sustainability

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Authors: Sinead Impey, Gaye Stephens, Declan O’Sullivan

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Mitigating organisational knowledge loss presents challenges for knowledge managers. Expert knowledge is embodied in people and captured in ‘routines, processes, practices and norms’ as well as in the paper system. These knowledge stores have limitations in so far as they make knowledge diffusion beyond geography or over time difficult. However, technology could present a potential solution by facilitating the capture and management of expert knowledge in a codified and sharable format. Before it can be digitised, however, the knowledge of healthcare experts must be captured. Methods: As a first step in a larger project on this topic, a scoping review was conducted to identify how expert healthcare knowledge is captured digitally. The aim of the review was to identify current healthcare knowledge capture practices, identify gaps in the literature, and justify future research. The review followed a scoping review framework. From an initial 3,430 papers retrieved, 22 were deemed relevant and included in the review. Findings: Two broad approaches –direct and indirect- with themes and subthemes emerged. ‘Direct’ describes a process whereby knowledge is taken directly from subject experts. The themes identified were: ‘Researcher mediated capture’ and ‘Digital mediated capture’. The latter was further distilled into two sub-themes: ‘Captured in specified purpose platforms (SPP)’ and ‘Captured in a virtual community of practice (vCoP)’. ‘Indirect’ processes rely on extracting new knowledge using artificial intelligence techniques from previously captured data. Using this approach, the theme ‘Generated using artificial intelligence methods’ was identified. Although presented as distinct themes, some papers retrieved discuss combining more than one approach to capture knowledge. While no approach emerged as superior, two points arose from the literature. Firstly, human input was evident across themes, even with indirect approaches. Secondly, a range of challenges common among approaches was highlighted. These were (i) ‘Capturing an expert’s knowledge’- Difficulties surrounding capturing an expert’s knowledge related to identifying the ‘expert’ say from the very experienced and how to capture their tacit or difficult to articulate knowledge. (ii) ‘Confirming quality of knowledge’- Once captured, challenges noted surrounded how to validate knowledge captured and, therefore, quality. (iii) ‘Continual knowledge capture’- Once knowledge is captured, validated, and used in a system; however, the process is not complete. Healthcare is a knowledge-rich environment with new evidence emerging frequently. As such, knowledge needs to be reviewed, updated, or removed (redundancy) as appropriate. Although some methods were proposed to address this, such as plausible reasoning or case-based reasoning, conclusions could not be drawn from the papers retrieved. It was, therefore, highlighted as an area for future research. Conclusion: The results described two broad approaches – direct and indirect. Three themes were identified: ‘Researcher mediated capture (Direct)’; ‘Digital mediated capture (Direct)’ and ‘Generated using artificial intelligence methods (Indirect)’. While no single approach was deemed superior, common challenges noted among approaches were: ‘capturing an expert’s knowledge’, ‘confirming quality of knowledge’, and ‘continual knowledge capture’. However, continual knowledge capture was not fully explored in the papers retrieved and was highlighted as an important area for future research. Acknowledgments: This research is partially funded by the ADAPT Centre under the SFI Research Centres Programme (Grant 13/RC/2106) and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund.

Keywords: expert knowledge, healthcare, knowledge capture and knowledge management

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Authors: Lynda C. Mbadugha, Bankole Awuzie, Kwanda Khumalo, Lindokuhle Matsebula, Masenoke Kgaditsi

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Inadequate waste management remains a fundamental issue in the majority of cities around the globe, but it becomes a threat when it concerns informal settlements. Although studies have evaluated the performance of waste management measures, only a few have addressed that with a focus on South African informal settlements and the reasons for their apparent ineffectiveness in such locations. However, there may be evidence of variations in the extant problems due to the uniqueness of each location and the factors influencing the performance. Thus, there is a knowledge deficit regarding implementing waste management measures in South African informal settlements. This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of waste management measures in the Alaska informal settlement in South Africa to assess the previously collected data of other areas using the degree of correlation. The research investigated a real-world scenario in the specified location using a case study approach and multiple data sources. The findings described various waste management practices used in Alaska's informal settlements; however, a correlation was found between the performance of these measures and those already used. The observed differences are primarily attributable to the physical characteristics of the locations, the lack of understanding of the environmental and health consequences of careless waste disposal, and the negative attitudes of the residents toward waste management practices. This study elucidates waste management implementation in informal settlements. It contributes to the relevant bodies of knowledge by describing these practices in South Africa. This paper's practical value emphasizes the general waste management characteristics of South Africa's informal settlements to facilitate the planning and provision of necessary interventions. The study concludes that the enablers and inhibitors are mainly political, behavioral, and environmental concerns.

Keywords: factors, informal settlement, performance, waste management

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Authors: Albert Gyamfi

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Cocoa plays critical role in the socio-economic development of Ghana. Meanwhile, smallholder farmers most of whom are illiterate dominate the industry. According to the cocoa-based agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS) model knowledge is created and transferred to the industry between three key actors: cocoa researchers, extension experts, and cocoa farmers. Dwelling on the SECI model, the media richness theory (MRT), and the AKIS model, a conceptual model of web 2.0-based AKIS model (AKIS 2.0) is developed and used to assess the possible effects of social media usage for knowledge creation in the Ghanaian cocoa industry. A mixed method approach with a survey questionnaire was employed, and a second-order multi-group structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The study concludes that the use of web 2.0 applications for knowledge creation would lead to sustainable interactions among the key knowledge actors for effective knowledge creation in the cocoa industry in Ghana.

Keywords: agriculture, cocoa, knowledge, media, web 2.0

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Authors: Hamid Alalwany, Nabeel A. Koshak, Mohammad K. Ibrahim

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Both knowledge economy and sustainable development are considered key dimensions in the policy action lines of many developed and developing countries. In this context, universities and other higher education institutes have a vital role in developing and sustaining wellbeing communities. In this paper, the authors’ aim is to address the links between the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurial capacity and knowledge economy, and to utilize the approach of intellectual capital development in building a sustainable knowledge economy. The paper will contribute to two discourses: (1) Developing a common understanding of the intersection aspects between the three concepts: Knowledge economy, Innovation and entrepreneurial system, and sustainable development; (2) Paving the road towards developing an integrated multidimensional framework for sustainable knowledge economy.

Keywords: innovation and entrepreneurial capacity, intellectual capital development, sustainable development, sustainable knowledge economy.

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Authors: Karen Trimmer, Raelene Ward, Linda Wondunna-Foley

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Within Australian tertiary institutions, the subject of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education has been a major concern for many years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are significantly under-represented in Australian schools and universities. High attrition rates in teacher education and in the teaching industry have contributed to a minimal growth rate in the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers in previous years. There was an increase of 500 Indigenous teachers between 2001 and 2008 but these numbers still only account for one percent of teaching staff in government schools who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs 2010). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are paramount in fostering student engagement and improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Increasing the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers is also a key factor in enabling all students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and language. An ambitious reform agenda to improve the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers will be effective only through national collaborative action and co-investment by schools and school authorities, university schools of education, professional associations, and Indigenous leaders and community networks. Whilst the University of Southern Queensland currently attracts Indigenous students to its teacher education programs (61 students in 2013 with an average of 48 enrollments each year since 2010) there is significant attrition during pre-service training. The annual rate of exiting before graduation remains high at 22% in 2012 and was 39% for the previous two years. These participation and retention rates are consistent with other universities across Australia. Whilst aspirations for a growing number of Indigenous people to be trained as teachers is present, there is a significant loss of students during their pre-service training and within the first five years of employment as a teacher. These trends also reflect the situation where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are significantly under-represented, making up less than 1% of teachers in schools across Australia. Through a project conducted as part the nationally funded More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative (MATSITI) we aim to gain an insight into the reasons that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student’s decisions to exit their program. Through the conduct of focus groups and interviews with two graduating cohorts of self-identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, rich data has been gathered to gain an understanding of the barriers and enhancers to the completion of pre-service qualification and transition to teaching. Having a greater understanding of these reasons then allows the development of collaborative processes and procedures to increase retention and completion rates of new Indigenous teachers. Analysis of factors impacting on exit decisions and transitions has provided evidence to support change of practice, redesign and enhancement of relevant courses and development of policy/procedures to address identified issues.

Keywords: graduation, indigenous, pre-service teacher education, retention

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Authors: Genevieve Jorolan Quintero

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In Mindanao, the southern island of the Philippines, two provinces, Davao Oriental and Tboli of South Cotabato, respectively, are homes to indigenous communities known for their dream weavers. Davao Oriental is home to the Mandaya, while Lake Sebu is home to the Tboli. The dream weavers are mostly women who have continued the tradition of weaving, a spiritual practice of handicraft embodying the beliefs of the community. It is believed that a weaver is guided by the Tagamaling, or the nature spirit in Mandaya mythology, and Fu Dalu, or the spirit of the abaca among the Tboli. In the dream, the Tagamaling or Fu Dalu reveals to the weaver the design or the pattern of the dagmay as the abaca woven cloth is called among the Mandaya and the tnalak among the Tboli. The weaver then undertakes the production of this nature-spirit-inspired fabric based on her memory of the dream. This interaction between the spirit world and the human world inspired the theme of the short story with the title Loom of Dreams, published in 2015 by Kritika Kultura, an international peer-reviewed journal of language and literary/cultural studies of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. In Lake Sebu, a collection of the legendary tnalak with various designs is preserved by the cultural advocate and tnalak collector Reden S. Ulo. About a hundred tnalak designs are housed in a mini museum. The paper discusses how the dagmay and the tnalak of the two Philippine indigenous communities, the Mandaya and the Tboli, embody their folklore and cultural heritage. The specific objectives are: 1. To describe the role of the dreamweavers among the Mandaya and Tboli communities in the Philippines; 2. To analyse how folklore influences the designs on the woven fabric, the dagmay, and the tnalak, and 3. To discuss how dream-weaving helps preserve culture legacy. Ethnography was used in the conduct of this research. Specifically, the following data collection methods were done: 1. a series of visits to the Mandaya and Tboli communities; 2. face-to-face interviews with the respondents from the communities, and 3. the recording of the interviews with the knowledge-bearers and material culture keepers from both communities, the narratives of which were used as a basis for the data analysis. The influence of folklore in the culture and the arts of the indigenous communities is significantly evident in the designs of the dagmay and the tnalak. As the dream weavers continue to weave the dagmay and the tnalak, this cultural legacy will continue to prosper and be preserved for posterity.

Keywords: dreamweaver's, Mandaya, mindanao, Philippine folklore, Tboli

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Authors: Denisa Mackova, Andrea Pokorna

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The management of postoperative pain is a meaningful part of quality care. The experience and knowledge of registered nurses in postoperative pain management can be influenced by local know-how. Therefore, the research helps to understand the cultural differences between two countries with the aim of evaluating the management of postoperative pain management among the nurses from the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both countries have different procedures on managing postoperative pain and the research will provide an understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages of the procedures and also highlight the knowledge and experience of registered nurses in both countries. Between the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the expectation is for differing results in the usage of opioid analgesia for the patients postoperatively and in the experience of registered nurses with Patient Controlled Analgesia. The aim is to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of registered nurses and to merge the data with the postoperative pain management in the early postoperative period in the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also, the aim is to assess the knowledge and experience of registered nurses by using Patient Controlled Analgesia and epidural analgesia treatment in the early postoperative period. The criteria for those providing input into the study, are registered nurses, working in surgical settings (standard departments, post-anesthesia care unit, day care surgery or ICU’s) caring for patients in the postoperative period. Method: Research is being conducted by questionnaires. It is a quantitative research, a comparative study of registered nurses in the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Questionnaire surveys were distributed through an electronic Bristol online survey. Results: The collection of the data in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been completed successfully, with 550 respondents, 77 were excluded and 473 respondents were included for statistical data analysis. The outcome of the research is expected to highlight the differences in treatment through Patient Controlled Analgesia, with more frequent use in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A similar assumption is expected for treatment conducted by analgesia. We predict that opioids will be used more regularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whilst therapy through NSAID’s being the most common approach in the Czech Republic. Discussion/Conclusion: The majority of respondents from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were female registered nurses from a multitude of nations. We are expecting a similar split in gender between the Czech Republic respondents; however, there will be a smaller number of nationalities. Relevance for research and practice: Output from the research will assess the knowledge, experience and practice of patient controlled analgesia and epidural analgesia treatment. Acknowledgement: This research was accepted and affiliated to the project: Postoperative pain management, knowledge and experience registered nurses (Czech Republic and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) – SGS05/2019-2020.

Keywords: acute postoperative pain, epidural analgesia, nursing care, patient controlled analgesia

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Authors: Tamirat Solomon, Tadesse Faltamo, Belete Limani

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This study was conducted on the mountain Damota of Wolaita to assess the abundance and spatial distribution of two locally important indigenous medicinal plants on the mountain landscape. A total of 130 plots measuring 20x20m were established along eight systematically laid transect lines. In each plot, the abundance and distribution of Hagenia abyssinica (tree) and Pentas schiperiana Vatke (shrub) were evaluated. The abundance and distribution of H. abyssinica were evaluated by measuring height and DBH for mature trees and counting seedlings and saplings, whereas the P. schiperiana Vatke was assessed for its abundance and distribution by counting in each plot. In the entire study plots, a total of 485 H. abyssinica and 760 P. schiperiana vatake were recorded. It was observed that the distribution of the species increased while the altitude increased and the highest abundance of the species was recorded at an altitude range between 2332 and 2661m.a.s.l. However, at the altitudes below 2320 m.a.s.l., the species distributions and abundance was decreased, indicating either the ecological preference of the species or the extraction of the local community surrounding the mountain influenced the species. On average, only 28 seedlings/ha of H. abyssinica and 146/ha of P. schiperiana vatke were recorded in the study areas showing the tendency of decline in the abundance and distribution of both species. Finally, we recommend management intervention for the socially important species which are under threat on the mountain landscape.

Keywords: indigenous medicinal plants, H.abyssinic, P. schiperiana, distribution, abundance, socio-economic importance

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Authors: Misganaw Chere Siferih

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This study assessed the impact of crossbreed dairy cows on household income and food security. The study area is found in Dejen Woreda, East Gojam Zone, and Amhara region of Ethiopia. Random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 80 crossbreed dairy cow owners and 176 indigenous dairy cow owners. The study employed food consumption score analytical framework to measure food security status of the household. No Statistical significant mean difference is found between crossbreed owners and indigenous owners. Logistic regression was employed to investigate crossbreed dairy cow adoption determinants , the result indicates that gender, education, labor number, land size cultivated, dairy cooperatives membership, net income and food security status of the household are statistically significant independent variables, which explained the binary dependent variable, crossbreed dairy cow adoption. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to analyze the impact of crossbreed dairy cow owners on farmers’ income and food security. The average net income of crossbreed dairy cow owners was found to be significantly higher than indigenous dairy cow owners. Estimates of average treatment effect of the treated (ATT) indicated that crossbreed dairy cow is able to impact households’ net income by 42%, 38.5%, 30.8% and 44.5% higher in kernel, radius, nearest neighborhood and stratification matching algorithms respectively as compared to indigenous dairy cow owners. However, estimates of average treatment of the treated (ATT) suggest that being an owner of crossbreed dairy cow is not able to affect food security significantly. Thus, crossbreed dairy cow enables farmers to increase income but not their food security in the study area. Finally, the study recommended establishing dairy cooperatives and advice farmers to become a member of them, attention to promoting the impact of crossbreed dairy cows and promotion of nutrition focus projects.

Keywords: crossbreed dairy cow, net income, food security, propensity score matching

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Authors: Adam Marks, Munir Majdalawieh, Maytha Al Ali

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While research is rich with what criteria could be included in the academic program review processes, there is rarely any mention of how this significant and complex process should be managed. This paper proposes using project management methodology in alignment with the program review criteria of the Dickeson’s Prioritizing Academic Programs model. Project management and academic program review share two distinct characteristics; one is their life cycle, and the second is the core knowledge areas they use. This aligned and structured approach offers academic administrators a step-by-step guide that can help them manage this process and effectively assess academic programs.

Keywords: project management, academic program, program review, education, higher education institution, strategic management

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Authors: Chuanphit Chumkhong

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This research aimed 1) to study the effects of the management of Active Learning among 3rd year students enrolled in teacher’s profession courses and 2) to assess the satisfaction of the students with courses using the Active Learning approach. The population for the study consisted of 442 3rd year undergraduate students enrolled in two teacher education courses in 2015: Curriculum Development and Learning Process Management. They were 442 from 11 education programs. Respondents for evaluation of satisfaction with Active Learning management comprised 432 students. The instruments used in research included a detailed course description and rating scale questionnaire on Active Learning. The data were analyzed using arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The results of the study reveal the following: 1. Overall, students gain a better understanding of the Active Learning due to their actual practice on the activity of course. Students have the opportunity to exchange learning knowledge and skills. The AL teaching activities make students interested in the contents and they seek to search for knowledge on their own. 2. Overall, 3rd year students are satisfied with the Active Learning management at a ‘high’ level with a mean score (μ) of 4.12 and standard deviation (σ) of. 51. By individual items, students are satisfied with the 10 elements in the two courses at a ‘high’ level with the mean score (μ) between 3.79 to 4.41 and a standard deviation (σ) between to 68. 79.

Keywords: active learning teaching model, teacher’s professional courses, professional courses, curriculum and instruction teacher's

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Authors: Penn P. Wu, Jeannie Jo

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Blockchain technology has rapidly gained popularity in industry. This paper attempts to assist academia to answer four questions. First, should community colleges begin offering education to nurture blockchain-literate students for the job market? Second, what are the appropriate topical areas to cover? Third, should it be an individual course? And forth, should it be a technical or management course? This paper starts with identifying the knowledge domains of blockchain technology and the topical areas each domain has, and continues with placing them in appropriate academic territories (Computer Sciences vs. Business) and subjects (programming, management, marketing, and laws), and then develops an evaluation model to determine the appropriate topical area for community colleges to teach. The evaluation is based on seven factors: maturity of technology, impacts on management, real-world applications, subject classification, knowledge prerequisites, textbook readiness, and recommended pedagogies. The evaluation results point to an interesting direction that offering an introductory course is an ideal option to guide students through the learning journey of what blockchain is and how it applies to business. Such an introductory course does not need to engage students in the discussions of mathematics and sciences that make blockchain technologies possible. While it is inevitable to brief technical topics to help students build a solid knowledge foundation of blockchain technologies, community colleges should avoid offering students a course centered on the discussion of developing blockchain applications.

Keywords: blockchain, pedagogies, blockchain technologies, blockchain course, blockchain pedagogies

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Authors: Robin C. Ladwig

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Diversity Management, as a substantial element of Human Resource Management, aims to secure the economic benefit that assumingly comes with a diverse workforce. Consequently, diversity managers focus on the protection of employees and securing equality measurements to assure organisational gender diversity. Gender diversity as one aspect of Diversity Management seems to adhere to gender binarism and cis-normativity. Workplaces are gendered spaces which are echoing the binary gender-normativity presented in Diversity Management, sold under the label of gender diversity. While the expectation of Diversity Management implies the inclusion of a multiplicity of marginalised groups, such as trans and gender diverse people, in current literature and practice, the reality is curated by gender binarism and cis-normativity. The qualitative multi-method research showed a lack of knowledge about trans and gender diverse matters within the profession of Diversity Management and Human Resources. The semi-structured interviews with trans and gender diverse individuals from various backgrounds and occupations in Australia exposed missing considerations of trans and gender diverse experiences in the inclusivity and gender equity of various workplaces. Even if practitioners consider trans and gender diverse matters under gender diversity, the practical execution is limited to gender binary structures and cis-normative actions as the photo-elicit questionnaire with diversity managers, human resource officers, and personnel management demonstrates. Diversity Management should approach a broader source of informed practice by extending their business focus to the knowledge of humanity studies. Humanity studies could include diversity, queer, or gender studies to increase the inclusivity of marginalised groups such as trans and gender diverse employees and people. Furthermore, the definition of gender diversity should be extended beyond the gender binary and cis-normative experience. People may lose trust in Diversity Management as a supportive ally of marginalised employees if the understanding of inclusivity is limited to a gender binary and cis-normativity value system that misrepresents the richness of gender diversity.

Keywords: cis-normativity, diversity management, gender binarism, trans and gender diversity

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Authors: Eulalia Torras, Andreu Bellot

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To know whether students’ achievements are the result of online interaction and not just a consequence of individual differences themselves, it seems essential to link the teaching presence and social presence to the types of knowledge built. The research aim is to analyze the social presence in relation to two types of knowledge, declarative and procedural. Qualitative methodology has been used. The analysis of the contents was based on an observation protocol that included community of enquiry indicators and procedural and declarative knowledge indicators. The research has been conducted in three phases that focused on an observational protocol and indicators, results and conclusions. Results show that the teaching-learning processes have been characterized by the patterns of presence and types of knowledge. Results also show the importance of social presence support provided by the teacher and the students, not only in regard to the nature of the instructional support but also concerning how it is presented to the student and the importance that is attributed to it in the teaching-learning process, that is, what it is that assistance is offered on. In this study, we find that the presence based on procedural guidelines and declarative reflection, the management of shared meaning on the basis of the skills and the evidence of these skills entail patterns of learning. Nevertheless, the importance that the teacher attributes to each support aspect has a bearing on the extent to which the students reflect more on the given task.

Keywords: education, online, teaching and learning processes, knowledge

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Authors: Davoud Ansari Kejal, Meysam Sabour

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For long, there has been a belief that a reader can easily comprehend a text if he is strong enough in vocabulary and grammatical knowledge but there was no account for the ability of understanding different subjects based on readers’ understanding of the surrounding world which is called world background knowledge. This paper attempts to investigate the reading comprehension process applying the schema theory as an influential factor in comprehending texts, in order to prove the important role of background knowledge in reading comprehension. Based on the discussion, some teaching methods are suggested for employing world background knowledge for an elaborated teaching of reading comprehension in an active learning environment in EFL classes.

Keywords: background knowledge, reading comprehension, schema theory, ELT classes

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Authors: Shen Jian, Hu Jie, Ma Jin, Peng Ying Hong, Fang Yi, Liu Wen Hai

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Biologically inspired design inspires inventions and new technologies in the field of engineering by mimicking functions, principles, and structures in the biological domain. To deal with the obstacles of cross-domain knowledge acquisition in the existing biologically inspired design process, functional semantic clustering based on functional feature semantic correlation and environmental constraint clustering composition based on environmental characteristic constraining adaptability are proposed. A knowledge cell clustering algorithm and the corresponding prototype system is developed. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is verified by the visual prosthetic device design.

Keywords: knowledge clustering, knowledge acquisition, knowledge based engineering, knowledge cell, biologically inspired design

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Authors: Mehraj Udin Ganaie, Mohammad Israrul Haque

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The purpose of this paper is to enhance the theoretical and conceptual understanding of human talent management (HTM). With the help of extensive review of existing literature, we proposed a conceptual framework and few propositions to elucidate the influential relationship of competency focus, talent pooling, talent investment, and talenting orientation with value creation of a firm. It is believed that human talent management model will enhance the understanding of talent management orientation among practitioners and academicians. Practitioners will be able to align HTM orientation with business strategy wisely to yield better value for business (Shareholders, Employees, Owners, Customers, agents, and other stakeholders). Future research directions will explain how human talent management researchers will work on the integration of relationship and contribute towards the maturity of talent management by further exploring and validating the model empirically to enhance the body of knowledge.

Keywords: talent management orientation, competency focus, talent pooling, talent investment, talenting orientation

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Authors: Sophia Ming Lee Wen, Chao-Ching Kuo, Yu-Line Hu, Yu-Lung Ho, Chih-Cheng Huang, Yi-Hwa Lee

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Teaching and learning should involve social issues by which effectiveness and humanity is due consideration as a guideline for sharing and co-creating knowledge. A qualitative method was used after a pioneer study to confirm pre-service teachers’ awareness of open knowledge. There are 17 in-service teacher candidates sampling from 181 schools in Taiwan. Two questions are to resolve: a) How did teachers change their educational ideas, in particular, their attitudes to meet the needs of knowledge sharing and co-creativity; and b) How did they acknowledge the necessity of working out an appropriate way between the educational efficiency and the nature of education for high performance management. This interview investigated teachers’ attitude of sharing and co-creating knowledge. The results show two facts in Taiwan: A) Individuals who must be able to express themselves will be capable of taking part in an open learning environment; and B) Teachers must lead the direction to inspire high performance and improve students’ capacity via knowledge sharing and co-creating knowledge, according to the student-centered philosophy. Collected data from interviewing showed that the teachers were well aware of changing their teaching methods and make some improvements to balance the educational efficiency and the nature of education. Almost all teachers acknowledge that ICT is helpful to motivate learning enthusiasm. Further, teaching integrated with ICT saves teachers’ time and energy on teaching preparation and promoting effectiveness. Teachers are willing to co-create knowledge with students, though using information is not easy due to the lack of operating skills of the website and ICT. Some teachers are against to co-create knowledge in the informational background since they hold that is not feasible for there being a knowledge gap between teachers and students. Technology would easily mislead teachers and students to the goal of instrumental rationality, which makes pedagogy dysfunctional and inhumane; however, any high quality of teaching should take a dialectical balance between effectiveness and humanity.

Keywords: critical thinking, dialectic between effectiveness and humanity, open knowledge, pedagogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 335