Search results for: trust game

Authors: Daniel Gidey, Kunwar Siddarth Dadhwal, Tagel Wondimu

Abstract:

There are numerous ways for ending conflict; hitherto, most conflicts are resolved either through negotiated or victor's peace, this article is about the former. Negotiations entail concessions, consensus-building, and mutual trust in order to transform a belligerent situation into a settlement. In such a context, regional and sub-regional organizations play a critical role in mediating conflicting parties so as to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts between and among conflicting parties. This article is about the AU-led negotiated peace deal on the bloody conflict between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) by undertaking the Pretoria Peace Accord as a case study. In terms of research method, the article is based on a critical evaluation of the literature and content analysis on the very research topic. Findings of the study revealed that the AU, through Olusegun Obasanjo and other dignitaries, played a critical role in nurturing compromise and mutual trust between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government so as to take along the Pretoria peace deal. Through critical literature review and content analysis of the Peace deal, the article has concluded that negotiated peace is likely, at least, to achieve negative peace.

Keywords: regional organizations, peace promotion, African Union, negotiating conflicts, Northern Ethiopia, conflict resolution

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Claude Alavoine, Ferkan Kaplanseren

Abstract:

Negotiation is a specific form of interaction based on communication in which the parties enter into deliberately, each with clear but different interests or goals and a mutual dependency towards a decision due to be taken at the end of the confrontation. Consequently, negotiation is a complex activity involving many different disciplines from the strategic aspects and the decision making process to the evaluation of alternatives or outcomes and the exchange of information. While gender differences can be considered as one of the most researched topic within negotiation studies, empirical works and theory present many conflicting evidences and results about the role of gender in the process or the outcome. Furthermore, little interest has been shown over gender differences in the definition of what is negotiation, its essence or fundamental elements. Or, as differences exist in practices, it might be essential to study if the starting point of these discrepancies does not come from different considerations about what is negotiation and what will encourage the participants in their strategic decisions. Some recent and promising experiments made with diverse groups show that male and female participants in a common and shared situation barely consider the same way the concepts of power, trust or stakes which are largely considered as the usual driving forces of any negotiation. Furthermore, results from Human Resource self-assessment tests display and confirm considerable differences between individuals regarding essential behavioral dimensions like capacity to improvise and to achieve, aptitude to conciliate or to compete and orientation towards power and group domination which are also part of negotiation skills. Our intention in this paper is to confront these dimensions with negotiation’s usual driving forces in order to build up new paths for further research.

Keywords: negotiation, gender, trust, power, stakes, strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: E. Sahar

Abstract:

Civic political knowledge is crucial for the stability of democratic countries. In the USA, Americans have poor knowledge about their constitution and their political systems. Some states such as Florida State suffers from a huge decline in civics comparing to the National Average. This study concerns with using new technologies such as augmented reality to engage students in learning civics in classrooms. This is a participatory study, which engage teachers in the process of designing augmented reality civic games. The researcher used survey to find out the materials that teachers struggle with while teaching civics. Four lessons were found the most difficult to teach for middle school students: SS7C1.1 Enlightenment thinkers, SS7C1.2 influencing documents, SS7C1.7-Weakness of the Articles of Confederation, and Forms and systems of governments. For the limited scope of this study, we focused on “Forms and Systems of governments’ as the main project. Augmented Reality is used to help students to engage in learning civics through building a game that is based on the pedagogy constructivism theory. The resulted project meets the educational requirements for civics, provide students with more knowledge in at stake issues such as migration and citizenship, and help them to build leadership skills while playing in groups. The augmented reality game is also designed to test the students learning for each stage. This study helps to generate insightful implications for the use of augmented reality by educators, researchers, instructional designers, and developers who are interested in integrating technology in teaching civics for students in middle school classrooms.

Keywords: augmented reality, games, civics teaching, Florida middle school

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Carin Chuang, Kuan-Chou Chen

Abstract:

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an integrated information system that supports the seamless integration of all the business processes of a company. Implementing an ERP system can increase efficiencies and decrease the costs while helping improve productivity. Many organizations including large, medium and small-sized companies have already adopted an ERP system for decades. Although ERP system can bring competitive advantages to organizations, the lack of proper training approach in ERP implementation is still a major concern. Organizations understand the importance of ERP training to adequately prepare managers and users. The low return on investment, however, for the ERP training makes the training difficult for knowledgeable workers to transfer what is learned in training to the jobs at workplace. Inadequate and inefficient ERP training limits the value realization and success of an ERP system. That is the need to call for a profound change and innovation for ERP training in both workplace at industry and the Information Systems (IS) education in academia. The innovated ERP training approach can improve the users’ knowledge in business processes and hands-on skills in mastering ERP system. It also can be instructed as educational material for IS students in universities. The purpose of the study is to examine the use of ERP simulation games via the ERPsim system to train the IS students in learning ERP implementation. The ERPsim is the business simulation game developed by ERPsim Lab at HEC Montréal, and the game is a real-life SAP (Systems Applications and Products) ERP system. The training uses the ERPsim system as the tool for the Internet-based simulation games and is designed as online student competitions during the class. The competitions involve student teams with the facilitation of instructor and put the students’ business skills to the test via intensive simulation games on a real-world SAP ERP system. The teams run the full business cycle of a manufacturing company while interacting with suppliers, vendors, and customers through sending and receiving orders, delivering products and completing the entire cash-to-cash cycle. To learn a range of business skills, student needs to adopt individual business role and make business decisions around the products and business processes. Based on the training experiences learned from rounds of business simulations, the findings show that learners have reduced risk in making mistakes that help learners build self-confidence in problem-solving. In addition, the learners’ reflections from their mistakes can speculate the root causes of the problems and further improve the efficiency of the training. ERP instructors teaching with the innovative approach report significant improvements in student evaluation, learner motivation, attendance, engagement as well as increased learner technology competency. The findings of the study can provide ERP instructors with guidelines to create an effective learning environment and can be transferred to a variety of other educational fields in which trainers are migrating towards a more active learning approach.

Keywords: business simulations, ERP implementation training, ERPsim, game-based learning, instructional strategy, training innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Sujay Bisht

Abstract:

The purpose of the study was to assess and examines the pattern of injury among the field hockey players at different field position during practice & game. It was hypothesized that the backfield might have the height rate of injury, followed by midfield. Methods: university level and national level male field hockey (N=60) are selected as a subject and requested to respond an anon questionnaire. Personal characteristics of each and individual players were also collected like (age, height, weight); field hockey professional information (level of play, year of experience, playing surface); players injury history (site, types, cause etc). The rates of injury per athlete per year were also calculated. Result: Around half of the injury occurred were to the lower limbs (49%) followed by head and face (30%), upper limbs (19%) and torso region (2%). Injuries included concussion, wounds, broken nose, ligament sprain, dislocation, fracture, and muscles strain and knee injury. The ligament sprain is the highest rate (40%) among the other types of injuries. After investigation and evaluation backfield players had the highest rate of risk of injury (1.10 injury/athletes-year) followed by midfield players (0.70 injury/athlete-year), forward players (0.45 injury/athlete-year) & goalkeeper was (0.37 injury/athlete-year). Conclusion: Due to the different field position the pattern & rate of injury were different. After evaluation, lower limbs had the highest rate of injury followed by head and face, upper limbs and torso respectively. It also revealed that not only there is a difference in the rate of injury between playing the position, but also in the types of injury sustain at a different position.

Keywords: trauma, sprain, strain, astroturf, acute injury

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: Tatia Kekelia

Abstract:

This paper is part of an ongoing research addressing gender discrimination in the Court of Georgia. The research suggests that gender stereotypes influence the processes at the Court in contemporary Georgia, which causes uneven fights for women and men, not to mention other gender identities. The sub-hypothesis proposes that the gender stereotypes derive from feudal representations, which persisted during the Soviet rule. It is precisely those stereotypes that feed gender-based discrimination today. However, this paper’s main focus is on the main hypothesis, describing the revealed stereotypes, and identifying the Court as a place where their presence is most hindering societal development. First of all, this happens by demotivating people, causing loss of trust in the Court, and therefore potentially encouraging crime. Secondly, it becomes harder to adequately mobilize human resources, since more than a half of the population is female, and under the influence of rigid or more subtle forms of discrimination, they lose not only equal rights, but also the motivation to work or fight for them. Consequently, this paper falls under democracy studies as well – considering that an unbiased Court is one of the most important criteria for assessing the democratic character of a state. As the research crosses the disciplines of sociology, law, and history, a complex of qualitative research methods is applied, among which this paper relies mainly on expert interviews, interviews with attorneys, and desk research. By showcasing and undermining the gender stereotypes that work at the Court of Georgia, this research might assist in rising trust towards it in the long-term. As for the broader relevance, the study of the Georgian case opens the possibility to conduct comparative analyses in the region and the continent, and, presumably, carve the lines of cultural influences.

Keywords: gender, stereotypes, bias, democratization, judiciary

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Panasbodee Thachaopas, Duangdorm Gamnerdsap, Waraporn Inthip, Arissara Pungpa

Abstract:

LDD’s IM Farm or Land Development Department’s Integrated Management Farm is the agricultural simulation application developed by Land Development Department relies on actual data in simulation game to grow 12 cash crops which are rice, corn, cassava, sugarcane, soybean, rubber tree, oil palm, pineapple, longan, rambutan, durian, and mangosteen. Launching in simulation game, players could select preferable areas for cropping from base map or Orthophoto map scale 1:4,000. Farm management is simulated from field preparation to harvesting. The system uses soil group, and present land use database to facilitate player to know whether what kind of crop is suitable to grow in each soil groups and integrate LDD’s data with other agencies which are soil types, soil properties, soil problems, climate, cultivation cost, fertilizer use, fertilizer price, socio-economic data, plant diseases, weed, pest, interest rate for taking on loan from Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), labor cost, market prices. These mentioned data affect the cost and yield differently to each crop. After completing, the player will know the yield, income and expense, profit/loss. The player could change to other crops that are more suitable to soil groups for optimal yields and profits.

Keywords: agricultural simulation, smart farmer, web application, factors of agricultural production

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Iman Shawky

Abstract:

Hotel websites frequently aim at encouraging visitors to become potential guests by completing their booking procedures, and accordingly, they have been proved to be attractive and appealing. That might be due to the consideration of them as one of the direct efficacious tools to promote and sell hotels' facilities, besides building strong communication with guests to create unforgettable brand images. This study tried to find out a step for five-star and four-star hotels to develop their websites to meet their visitors' or guests' requirements for an effective site. In addition, it aimed at exploring to what extent hotels' official websites compared with their pages on hotel booking sites still influence visitors' or guests' desires to book. Besides, it also aimed at investigating to what extent visitors or guests widely trust and use those sites to accomplish their booking. Furthermore, it tried to explore to what extent visitors' or guests' preferences of those sites can influence on hotels' financial performance. To achieve these objectives, the researcher conducted an exploratory study by surfing both hotels' official websites and their pages on booking sites of such hotels in Alexandria city in Egypt to make a comparison between them. Moreover, another separate comparison was made on Arab and foreign guests' views conducted by using a questionnaire during the past seven months to investigate the effectiveness of hotels' official websites against their pages on booking sites to trust and motive them to book. The results indicated that hotels' pages on booking sites represented widely trusted and used sites compared with their official websites for achieving visitors' or guests' booking process, while a few other visitors or guests still trusted official hotel websites for completing their booking.

Keywords: five-star and four-star hotels, hotel booking sites, hotels' financial performance, hotels' official websites

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Belbaly Nassim

Abstract:

Virtual teams (VT) initiatives, in which teams are geographically dispersed and communicate via modern computer-driven technologies, have attracted increasing attention from researchers and professionals. The growing need to examine how to balance and optimize VT is particularly important given the exposure experienced by companies when their employees encounter globalization and decentralization pressures to monitor VT performance. Hence, organization is regularly limited due to misalignment between the behavioral capabilities of the team’s dispersed competences and knowledge capabilities and how trust issues interplay and influence these VT dimensions and the effects of such exchanges. In fact, the future success of business depends on the extent to which VTs are managing efficiently their dispersed expertise, skills and knowledge to stimulate VT creativity. Transactive memory system (TMS) may enhance VT creativity using its three dimensons: knowledge specialization, credibility and knowledge coordination. TMS can be understood as a composition of both a structural component residing of individual knowledge and a set of communication processes among individuals. The individual knowledge is shared while being retrieved, applied and the learning is coordinated. TMS is driven by the central concept that the system is built on the distinction between internal and external memory encoding. A VT learns something new and catalogs it in memory for future retrieval and use. TMS uses the role of information technology to explain VT behaviors by offering VT members the possibility to encode, store, and retrieve information. TMS considers the members of a team as a processing system in which the location of expertise both enhances knowledge coordination and builds trust among members over time. We build on TMS dimensions to hypothesize the effects of specialization, coordination, and credibility on VT creativity. In fact, VTs consist of dispersed expertise, skills and knowledge that can positively enhance coordination and collaboration. Ultimately, this team composition may lead to recognition of both who has expertise and where that expertise is located; over time, the team composition may also build trust among VT members over time developing the ability to coordinate their knowledge which can stimulate creativity. We also assess the reciprocal relationship between TMS dimensions and VT creativity. We wish to use TMS to provide researchers with a theoretically driven model that is empirically validated through survey evidence. We propose that TMS provides a new way to enhance and balance VT creativity. This study also provides researchers insight into the use of TMS to influence positively VT creativity. In addition to our research contributions, we provide several managerial insights into how TMS components can be used to increase performance within dispersed VTs.

Keywords: virtual team creativity, transactive memory systems, specialization, credibility, coordination

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Manuela Gamba, Niki Mandolesi

Abstract:

Teenagers today have little knowledge about how to move or play together. The adults who are part of sports culture must find an effective way to foster this essential ability. Our research in Italy uses a 'holistic model' based on fantasy literature to explore the relationships between the game identities and self-identities of young people and the achievement of psycho-motor, emotional and social well-being in the realms of sport and education. Physical activity projects were carried out in schools and extra-curricular associations in Rome, combining outdoor activities and distance learning. This holistic and malleable game model is inspired by fantasy accounts of the journeys taken in The Lord of Rings and Harry Potter books. We know that many have a lot of resistance to the idea of using fantasy and play as a pedagogical tool, but the results obtained in this experience are surprising. Our interventions and investigations focused on promoting self-esteem, awareness, a sense of belonging, social integration, cooperation, well-being, and informed decision making: a basis for healthy and effective citizenship. For teenagers, creative thinking is the right stimulus to involve and compare the story of characters to their own journey through social and self-reflective identity analysis. We observed how important it is to engage students emotionally as well as cognitively and that enabling them to play with identity through relationships with peers. There is a need today for a multidisciplinary synthesis of analog and digital values, especially in response to recent distance-living experiences. There is a need for a global reconceptualization of free time and nature in the human experience.

Keywords: awareness, creativity, identity, play

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: A. Sewell

Abstract:

The paper reports a research project which investigated the social interactions of nine to ten-year-olds in a mainstream primary school. The project implemented an adaption of a whole class, behavioural intervention known as 'The Good Behaviour Game (TGBG)'. TGBG is an evidence-based intervention traditionally used to reduce low-level disruptive behaviours in a classroom setting. TGBG was adapted to encourage pupil’s engagement in pro-social behaviour during lessons. A mixed methods research design was employed to evaluate intervention effects and pupil’s perceptions of their social interactions and relationships with others. Single-case research design was used to evaluate behaviour change, and Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) repertory grids were used to explore pupil’s perceptions. The findings demonstrated that TGBG could be successfully adapted to positively influence pupil’s engagement in pro-social behaviours. The findings from the PCP repertory grid interviews revealed the complexities of how children construct their social interactions and relationships with others, and how an understanding of these could be used to design better social skills interventions. It is concluded that TGBG is a cost-effective, simple to implement intervention for promoting positive social interactions and relationships at the whole class level. The paper presents the aims, design, findings, and conclusions of the study in further detail and relates limitations and potential future extensions of the research. The outcomes have direct application and relevance for practitioners interested in children’s social development and how to promote positive outcomes in this critical aspect of childhood.

Keywords: social skills, social development, social competency, the good behaviour game

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Broccolo Cinzia, Grigaliunaite Ruta, Saint-Nom Cloé, Savasta Guido

Abstract:

The present article analyses the root causes of under-reporting and under-recording of hate crimes against Muslim women in Italy. The main findings emerged from the survey conducted between May and September 2022 within the framework of the TRUST project (co-funded by the CERV programme (CERV-2021-EQUAL) of the European Union) with relevant practitioners and members of the Muslim community, including first-generation and second-generation Muslim women residing in Italy. The findings reveal that multiple factors contribute to the low reporting rate as well as to the flaws in recording episodes of intolerance and hatred against the above-mentioned group. Lack of trust in the judiciary or the police may represent one of the main causes of under-reporting; however, the phenomenon is not limited to such aspects, and additional factors and sources of discrimination paving the way to under-recording have been identified during the survey. The significant “tendency” to not report a case of intolerance as the difficulties in identifying the discriminatory nature of the crime are two faces of the same coin and are particularly intertwined; despite this, at first, both issues need to be assessed and analysed separately in order to take their own specificities into duly consideration. By contrast, the potential solution to low recording and reporting trends should be found collectively, namely by involving all the relevant parties and bodies facing the above-mentioned issues. In this regard, a participatory and multi-agency approach may curb the root causes leading Muslim women not to report and, besides this, support law enforcement officials as well as public authorities in providing a more effective service to the victims of hatred, whether offline or online.

Keywords: hate crime, under-reporting, under-recording, Islamophobia, Muslim women

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Yoshifumi Hino

Abstract:

An infinitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma is a typical model that represents teamwork situation. If both players choose costly actions and contribute to the team, then both players are better off. However, each player has an incentive to choose a selfish action. We analyze the game under costly observation. Each player can observe the action of the opponent only when he pays an observation cost in that period. In reality, teamwork situations are often costly observation. Members of some teams sometimes work in distinct rooms, areas, or countries. In those cases, they have to spend their time and money to see other team members if they want to observe it. The costly observation assumption makes the cooperation difficult substantially because the equilibrium must satisfy the incentives not only on the action but also on the observational decision. Especially, it is the most difficult to cooperate each other when the stage-game is prisoner's dilemma because players have to communicate through only two actions. We examine whether or not players can cooperate each other in prisoner’s dilemma under costly observation. Specifically, we check whether symmetric Pareto efficient payoff vectors in repeated prisoner’s dilemma can be approximated by sequential equilibria or not (efficiency result). We show the efficiency result without any randomization device under certain circumstances. It means that players can cooperate with each other without any randomization device even if the observation is costly. Next, we assume that public randomization device is available, and then we show that any feasible and individual rational payoffs in prisoner’s dilemma can be approximated by sequential equilibria under a specific situation (folk theorem). It implies that players can achieve asymmetric teamwork like leadership situation when public randomization device is available.

Keywords: cost observation, efficiency, folk theorem, prisoner's dilemma, private monitoring, repeated games.

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Joan Casas-Roma

Abstract:

Technology has become one of the main channels through which people engage in most of their everyday activities; from working to learning, or even when socializing, technology often acts as both an enabler and a mediator of such activities. Moreover, the affordances and interactions created by those technological tools determine the way in which the users interact with one another, as well as how they relate to the relevant environment, thus favoring certain kinds of actions and behaviors while discouraging others. In this regard, virtue ethics theories place a strong focus on a person's daily practice (understood as their decisions, actions, and behaviors) as the means to develop and enhance their habits and ethical competences --such as their awareness and sensitivity towards certain ethically-desirable principles. Under this understanding of ethics, this set of technologically-enabled affordances and interactions can be seen as the possibility space where the daily practice of their users takes place in a wide plethora of contexts and situations. At this point, the following question pops into mind: could these affordances and interactions be shaped in a way that would promote behaviors and habits basedonethically-desirable principles into their users? In the field of game design, the MDA framework (which stands for Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) explores how the interactions enabled within the possibility space of a game can lead to creating certain experiences and provoking specific reactions to the players. In this sense, these interactions can be shaped in ways thatcreate experiences to raise the players' awareness and sensitivity towards certain topics or principles. This research brings together the notions of technological affordances, the notions of practice and practical wisdom from virtue ethics, and the MDA framework from game design in order to explore how the possibility space created by technological interactions can be shaped in ways that enable and promote actions and behaviors supporting certain ethically-desirable principles. When shaped accordingly, interactions supporting certain ethically-desirable principlescould allow their users to carry out the kind of practice that, according to virtue ethics theories, provides the grounds to develop and enhance their awareness, sensitivity, and ethical reasoning capabilities. Moreover, and because ethical practice can happen collaterally in almost every context, decision, and action, this additional layer could potentially be applied in a wide variety of technological tools, contexts, and functionalities. This work explores the theoretical background, as well as the initial considerations and steps that would be needed in order to harness the potential ethically-desirable benefits that technology can bring, once it is understood as the space where most of their users' daily practice takes place.

Keywords: ethics, design methodology, human-computer interaction, philosophy of technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Faiza Babur Khan, Sohail Asghar

Abstract:

With an emergence of distributed environment, cloud computing is proving to be the most stimulating computing paradigm shift in computer technology, resulting in spectacular expansion in IT industry. Many companies have augmented their technical infrastructure by adopting cloud resource sharing architecture. Cloud computing has opened doors to unlimited opportunities from application to platform availability, expandable storage and provision of computing environment. However, from a security viewpoint, an added risk level is introduced from clouds, weakening the protection mechanisms, and hardening the availability of privacy, data security and on demand service. Issues of trust, confidentiality, and integrity are elevated due to multitenant resource sharing architecture of cloud. Trust or reliability of cloud refers to its capability of providing the needed services precisely and unfailingly. Confidentiality is the ability of the architecture to ensure authorization of the relevant party to access its private data. It also guarantees integrity to protect the data from being fabricated by an unauthorized user. So in order to assure provision of secured cloud, a roadmap or model is obligatory to analyze a security problem, design mitigation strategies, and evaluate solutions. The aim of the paper is twofold; first to enlighten the factors which make cloud security critical along with alleviation strategies and secondly to propose an intrusion detection model that identifies the attackers in a preventive way using machine learning Random Forest classifier with an accuracy of 99.8%. This model uses less number of features. A comparison with other classifiers is also presented.

Keywords: cloud security, threats, machine learning, random forest, classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Florence Ibeh, David Oyewmi Oyekunle, David Boohene

Abstract:

The continuous advancement of information technology has completely transformed how businesses and organizations operate on a global scale. The widespread availability of virtual communication tools enables individuals to opt for remote work. While remote employment offers various benefits, such as facilitating corporate growth and enhancing customer support, it also presents distinct challenges. Therefore, investigating the intricacies of virtual team morale is crucial for ensuring the achievement of project objectives. For this study, content analysis of pre-existing secondary data was employed to examine the phenomenon. Essential elements vital for improving the success of projects within virtual teams were identified. These factors include technology adoption, creating a distraction-free work environment, effective leadership, trust-building, clear communication channels, well-defined task allocation, active team participation, and motivation. Furthermore, the study established a substantial correlation between morale levels and the participation and productivity of virtual team members. Higher levels of morale were associated with optimal performance among virtual teams. The study determined that the key factors for enhancing project performance in virtual teams are the adoption of technology, a focused environment, effective leadership, trust, communication, well-defined tasks, collaborative teamwork, and motivation. Additionally, the study discovered that modifying the optimal strategies employed by in-office teams can enhance the diminished morale prevalent in remote teams to sustain a high level of team morale for virtual teams. The findings of this study are highly significant in the dynamic field of project management. Currently, there is limited information regarding strategies that address challenges arising from external factors in virtual teams, such as ambient noise and disruptions caused by family members. The findings underscore the significance of selecting appropriate communication technologies, delineating distinct roles and responsibilities for virtual team members, and nurturing a culture of accountability and trust. Promoting seamless collaboration and instilling motivation among virtual team members are deemed highly effective in augmenting employee engagement and performance within virtual team setting.

Keywords: virtual teams, morale, project performance, distract-free environment, technology adaptation

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Juan Pablo Bertuzzi, Mauro Chiarella

Abstract:

Employing a communication studies perspective and a socio-technological approach, this paper introduces a theoretical framework for understanding the concept of hybrid world; the avatarization phenomena; and the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. This analysis intends to make a contribution to future design of virtual reality experimental applications. Ultimately, this paper presents an ongoing research project that proposes the study of human-avatar interactions in digital educational environments, as well as an innovative reflection on inner digital communication. The aforementioned project presents the analysis of human-avatar interactions, through the development of an interactive experience in virtual reality. The goal is to generate an innovative communicational dimension that could reinforce the hypotheses presented throughout this paper. Being thought for its initial application in educational environments, the analysis and results of this research are dependent and have been prepared in regard of a meticulous planning of: the conception of a 3D digital platform; the interactive game objects; the AI or computer avatars; the human representation as hybrid avatars; and lastly, the potential of immersion, ergonomics and control diversity that can provide the virtual reality system and the game engine that were chosen. The project is divided in two main axes: The first part is the structural one, as it is mandatory for the construction of an original prototype. The 3D model is inspired by the physical space that belongs to an academic institution. The incorporation of smart objects, avatars, game mechanics, game objects, and a dialogue system will be part of the prototype. These elements have all the objective of gamifying the educational environment. To generate a continuous participation and a large amount of interactions, the digital world will be navigable both, in a conventional device and in a virtual reality system. This decision is made, practically, to facilitate the communication between students and teachers; and strategically, because it will help to a faster population of the digital environment. The second part is concentrated to content production and further data analysis. The challenge is to offer a scenario’s diversity that compels users to interact and to question their digital embodiment. The multipath narrative content that is being applied is focused on the subjects covered in this paper. Furthermore, the experience with virtual reality devices proposes users to experiment in a mixture of a seemingly infinite digital world and a small physical area of movement. This combination will lead the narrative content and it will be crucial in order to restrict user’s interactions. The main point is to stimulate and to grow in the user the need of his hybrid avatar’s help. By building an inner communication between user’s physicality and user’s digital extension, the interactions will serve as a self-guide through the gameworld. This is the first attempt to make explicit the avatarization phenomena and to further analyze the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. The challenge of the upcoming years will be to take advantage from these forms of generalized avatarization, in order to create awareness and establish innovative forms of hybridization.

Keywords: avatar, hybrid worlds, socio-technology, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Loris Franchi, Daniele Calvi, Sabrina Corpino

Abstract:

This paper presents a design methodology in which stakeholders are assisted with the exploration of a so-called negotiation space, aiming to the maximization of both group social welfare and single stakeholder’s perceived utility. The outcome results in less design iterations needed for design convergence while obtaining a higher solution effectiveness. During the early stage of a space project, not only the knowledge about the system but also the decision outcomes often are unknown. The scenario is exacerbated by the fact that decisions taken in this stage imply delayed costs associated with them. Hence, it is necessary to have a clear definition of the problem under analysis, especially in the initial definition. This can be obtained thanks to a robust generation and exploration of design alternatives. This process must consider that design usually involves various individuals, who take decisions affecting one another. An effective coordination among these decision-makers is critical. Finding mutual agreement solution will reduce the iterations involved in the design process. To handle this scenario, the paper proposes a design methodology which, aims to speed-up the process of pushing the mission’s concept maturity level. This push up is obtained thanks to a guided negotiation space exploration, which involves autonomously exploration and optimization of trade opportunities among stakeholders via Artificial Intelligence algorithms. The negotiation space is generated via a multidisciplinary collaborative optimization method, infused by game theory and multi-attribute utility theory. In particular, game theory is able to model the negotiation process to reach the equilibria among stakeholder needs. Because of the huge dimension of the negotiation space, a collaborative optimization framework with evolutionary algorithm has been integrated in order to guide the game process to efficiently and rapidly searching for the Pareto equilibria among stakeholders. At last, the concept of utility constituted the mechanism to bridge the language barrier between experts of different backgrounds and differing needs, using the elicited and modeled needs to evaluate a multitude of alternatives. To highlight the benefits of the proposed methodology, the paper presents the design of a CubeSat mission for the observation of lunar radiation environment. The derived solution results able to balance all stakeholders needs and guaranteeing the effectiveness of the selection mission concept thanks to its robustness in valuable changeability. The benefits provided by the proposed design methodology are highlighted, and further development proposed.

Keywords: concurrent engineering, artificial intelligence, negotiation in engineering design, multidisciplinary optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: David Blaine, George Raschbaum

Abstract:

The evaluation of DHCP has synthesized SCSI disks, and current trends suggest that the exploration of e-business that would allow for further study into robots will soon emerge. Given the current status of embedded algorithms, hackers worldwide obviously desire the exploration of replication, which embodies the confusing principles of programming languages. In our research we concentrate our efforts on arguing that erasure coding can be made "fuzzy", encrypted, and game-theoretic.

Keywords: SCHI disks, robot, algorithm, hacking, programming language

Procedia PDF Downloads 398

Authors: Paulo Da Silva Quadros

Abstract:

This work aims to point out comparative parameters between the artistic production of two exponents of the contemporary popular culture scene: Caetano Veloso (Brazil) and David Bowie (England). Both Caetano Veloso and David Bowie were pioneers in establishing an aesthetic game between various artistic expressions at the service of the music-visual scene, that is, the conceptual interconnections between several forms of aesthetic processes, such as fine arts, theatre, cinema, poetry, and literature. There are also correlations in their expressive attitudes of art, especially regarding the dialogue between the fields of art and politics (concern with respect to human rights, human dignity, racial issues, tolerance, gender issues, and sexuality, among others); the constant tension and cunning game between market, free expression and critical sense; the sophisticated, playful mechanisms of metalanguage and aesthetic metacritique. Fact is that both of them almost came to cooperate with each other in the 1970s when Caetano was in exile in England, and when both had at the same time the same music producer, who tried to bring them closer, noticing similar aesthetic qualities in both artistic works, which was later glimpsed by some music critics. Among many of the most influential issues in Caetano's and Bowie's game of artistic-aesthetic expression are, for example, the ideas advocated by the sensation of strangeness (Albert Camus), art as transcendence (Friedrich Nietzsche), the deconstruction and reconstruction of auratic reconfiguration of artistic signs (Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol). For deepen more theoretical issues, the following authors will be used as supportive interpretative references: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schiller, Johan Huizinga. In addition to the aesthetic meanings of Ars Ludens characteristics of the two artists, the following supporting references will be also added: the question of technique (Martin Heidegger), the logic of sense (Gilles Deleuze), art as an event and the sense of the gesture of art ( Maria Teresa Cruz), the society of spectacle (Guy Debord), Verarbeitung and Durcharbeitung (Sigmund Freud), the poetics of interpretation and the sign of relation (Cremilda Medina). The purpose of such interpretative references is to seek to understand, from a cultural reading perspective (cultural semiology), some significant elements in the dynamics of aesthetic and media interconnections of both artists, which made them as some of the most influential interlocutors in contemporary music aesthetic thought, as a playful vivid experience of life and art.

Keywords: Caetano Veloso, David Bowie, music aesthetics, symbolic playfulness, cultural reading

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Jacqueline Żammit

Abstract:

Recent research indicates that the utilization of right-brain strategies holds significant implications for the acquisition of language skills. Nevertheless, the utilization of visual culture as a means to stimulate these strategies and amplify language retention among adults engaging in second language (L2) learning remains a relatively unexplored area. This investigation delves into the impact of visual culture on activating right-brain processes during the initial stages of language acquisition, particularly in the context of teaching Maltese as a second language (ML2) to adult learners. By employing a qualitative research approach, this study convenes a focus group comprising twenty-seven educators to delve into a range of visual culture techniques integrated within language instruction. The collected data is subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo software. The findings underscore a variety of impactful visual culture techniques, encompassing activities such as drawing, sketching, interactive matching games, orthographic mapping, memory palace strategies, wordless picture books, picture-centered learning methodologies, infographics, Face Memory Game, Spot the Difference, Word Search Puzzles, the Hidden Object Game, educational videos, the Shadow Matching technique, Find the Differences exercises, and color-coded methodologies. These identified techniques hold potential for application within ML2 classes for adult learners. Consequently, this study not only provides insights into optimizing language learning through specific visual culture strategies but also furnishes practical recommendations for enhancing language competencies and skills.

Keywords: visual culture, right-brain strategies, second language acquisition, maltese as a second language, visual aids, language-based activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: S. Mahdi Sadatmansouri, Maryam Khalili

Abstract:

World, nowadays, encounters serious water scarcity problem. During the past few years, by advent of Smart Energy and Water Meter (SEWM) and its installation at the electro-pumps of the water wells, one had believed that it could be the golden key to address the groundwater resources over-pumping issue. In fact, implementation of these Smart Meters managed to control the water table drawdown for short; but it was not a sustainable approach. SEWM has been considered as law enforcement facility at first; however, for solving a complex socioeconomic problem like shared groundwater resources management, more than just enforcement is required: participation to conserve common resources. The well owners or farmers, as water consumers, are the main and direct stakeholders of this system and other stakeholders could be government sectors, investors, technology providers, privet sectors or ordinary people. Designing a socio-technical system not only defines the role of each stakeholder but also can lubricate the communication to reach the system goals while benefits of each are considered and provided. Farmers, as the key participators for solving groundwater problem, do not trust governments but they would trust a fair system in which responsibilities, privileges and benefits are clear. Technology could help this system remained impartial and productive. Social aspects provide rules, regulations, social objects and etc. for the system and help it to be more human-centered. As the design methodology, Design Thinking provides probable solutions for the challenging problems and ongoing conflicts; it could enlighten the way in which the final system could be designed. Using Human Centered Design approach of IDEO helps to keep farmers in the center of the solution and provides a vision by which stakeholders’ requirements and needs are addressed effectively. Farmers would be considered to trust the system and participate in their groundwater resources management if they find the rules and tools of the system fair and effective. Besides, implementation of the socio-technical system could change farmers’ behavior in order that they concern more about their valuable shared water resources as well as their farm profit. This socio-technical system contains nine main subsystems: 1) Measurement and Monitoring system, 2) Legislation and Governmental system, 3) Information Sharing system, 4) Knowledge based NGOs, 5) Integrated Farm Management system (using IoT), 6) Water Market and Water Banking system, 7) Gamification, 8) Agribusiness ecosystem, 9) Investment system.

Keywords: human centered design, participatory management, smart energy and water meter (SEWM), social object, socio-technical system, water table drawdown

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Navid Ebrahmi Madiseh, Sina Esfandiarpour-Broujeni, Rahil Razeghi

Abstract:

Introduction: Quantitative analysis of game-related statistical parameters is widely used to evaluate basketball performance at both individual and team levels. Non-free throw shooting plays a crucial role as the primary scoring method, holding significant importance in the game's technical aspect. It has been explored the predictive value of game-related statistics in relation to various contextual and situational variables. Many similarities and differences also have been found between different age groups and levels of competition. For instance, in the World Basketball Championships after the 2010 rule change, 2-point field goals distinguished winners from losers in women's games but not in men's games, and the impact of successful 3-point field goals on women's games was minimal. The study aimed to identify and compare discriminant shooting-related statistics between winning and losing teams in men’s and women’s FIBA-U19-Basketball-World-Cup-2023 tournaments. Method: Data from 112 observations (2 per game) of 16 teams (for each gender) in the FIBA-U19-Basketball-World-Cup-2023 were selected as samples. The data were obtained from the official FIBA website using Python. Specific information was extracted, organized into a DataFrame, and consisted of twelve variables, including shooting percentages, attempts, and scoring ratio for 3-pointers, mid-range shots, paint shots, and free throws. Made% = scoring type successful attempts/scoring type total attempts¬ (1)Free-throw-pts% (free throw score ratio) = (free throw score/total score) ×100 (2)Mid-pts% (mid-range score ratio) = (mid-range score/total score) ×100 (3) Paint-pts% (paint score ratio) = (Paint score/total score) ×100 (4) 3p_pts% (three-point score ratio) = (three-point score/total score) ×100 (5) Independent t-tests were used to examine significant differences in shooting-related statistical parameters between winning and losing teams for both genders. Statistical significance was p < 0.05. All statistical analyses were completed with SPSS, Version 18. Results: The results showed that 3p-made%, mid-pts%, paint-made%, paint-pts%, mid-attempts, and paint-attempts were significantly different between winners and losers in men (t=-3.465, P<0.05; t=3.681, P<0.05; t=-5.884, P<0.05; t=-3.007, P<0.05; t=2.549, p<0.05; t=-3.921, P<0.05). For women, significant differences between winners and losers were found for 3p-made%, 3p-pts%, paint-made%, and paint-attempt (t=-6.429, P<0.05; t=-1.993, P<0.05; t=-1.993, P<0.05; t=-4.115, P<0.05; t=02.451, P<0.05). Discussion: The research aimed to compare shooting-related statistics between winners and losers in men's and women's teams at the FIBA-U19-Basketball-World-Cup-2023. Results indicated that men's winners excelled in 3p-made%, paint-made%, paint-pts%, paint-attempts, and mid-attempt, consistent with previous studies. This study found that losers in men’s teams had higher mid-pts% than winners, which was inconsistent with previous findings. It has been indicated that winners tend to prioritize statistically efficient shots while forcing the opponent to take mid-range shots. In women's games, significant differences in 3p-made%, 3p-pts%, paint-made%, and paint-attempts were observed, indicating that winners relied on riskier outside scoring strategies. Overall, winners exhibited higher accuracy in paint and 3P shooting than losers, but they also relied more on outside offensive strategies. Additionally, winners acquired a higher ratio of their points from 3P shots, which demonstrates their confidence in their skills and willingness to take risks at this competitive level.

Keywords: gender, losers, shoot-statistic, U19, winners

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Johannes Van Der Sandt

Abstract:

This quantitative study investigates different approaches of community singing, in building social capital in South Tyrol, Italy, and South Africa. The impact of the various approaches of community singing is examined by investigating the main components of social capital, namely, social norms and obligations, social networks and associations and trust, and how these components are manifested in two different societies. The research is based on the premise that community singing is an important agent for the development of social capital. It seeks to establish in what form community singing can best enhance the social capital of communities in South Tyrol that are undergoing significant changes in the ways in which social capital is generally being generated on account of demographic, economic, technological and cultural changes. South Tyrol and South Africa share some similarities in the management of their multi-cultural composition. By comparing the different approaches to community singing in two multi-cultural societies, it is hoped to gain insight, and an understanding of the connections between culture, social cohesion, identity and therefore to be able to add to the understanding of the building of social capital through community singing. Participation in music contributes to the growth of social capital in communities, this is amongst others the finding of an ever increasing amount of research. In sociological discourses on social capital generation, the dimension of community music making is recognized as an important factor. Trust and mutual cooperation are products when people listen to each other, when they work or play together, and when they care about each other. This is how social capital develops as an important shared resource. Scholars of Community Music still do not agree on a short and concise definition for Community Music. For the purpose of this research, the author concurs with the definition of Community Music of the Community Music Activity commission of the International Society of Music Education as having the following characteristics: decentralization, accessibility, equal opportunity, and active participation in music-making. These principles are social and political ones, and there can be no doubt that community music activity is more than a purely musical one. Trust, shared norms and values civic and community involvement, networks, knowledge resources, contact with families and friends, and fellowship are key components in fostering group cohesion and social capital development in a community. The research will show that there is no better place for these factors to flourish than in a community singing group. Through this comparative study, it is the aim to identify, analyze and explain similarities and differences in approaches to community across societies that find themselves in a rapid transition from traditional cultural to global cultural habits characterized by a plurality of orientation points, with the aim to gain a better understanding of the various directions South Tyrolean singing culture can take.

Keywords: community music, multicultural, singing, social capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Babalola Sunday Oyetayo, Igbinomwanhia Uyi Osamwonyi, Idowu T. O., Herbert Tata

Abstract:

This paper explores the potential benefits of adopting blockchain technology in Nigeria's land administration systems while also addressing the challenges and implications of its implementation in the country's unique context. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of existing research, the paper delves into the key attributes of blockchain that can revolutionize land administration practices, with a particular focus on simplifying land registration procedures, expediting land title issuance, and enhancing data transparency and security. The decentralized and immutable nature of blockchain offers unique advantages, instilling trust and confidence in land transactions, which are especially crucial in Nigeria's land governance landscape. However, integrating blockchain in Nigeria's land administration ecosystem presents specific challenges, necessitating a critical evaluation of technical, socio-economic, and infrastructural barriers. These challenges encompass data privacy concerns, scalability, interoperability with outdated systems, and gaining acceptance from various stakeholders. By synthesizing these insights, the paper proposes strategies tailored to Nigeria's context to optimize the benefits of blockchain adoption while addressing the identified challenges. The research findings contribute significantly to the ongoing discourse on blockchain technology in Nigeria's land governance, offering evidence-based recommendations to policymakers, land administrators, and stakeholders. Ultimately, the paper aims to promote the effective utilization of blockchain, fostering efficiency, transparency, and trust in Nigeria's land administration systems to drive sustainable development and societal progress.

Keywords: block-chain, technology, stakeholders, land registration

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Crystal Hoole

Abstract:

Employee well-being has become an area of concern for top executives and organizations worldwide. In developing countries such as South Africa, and especially in the educational sector, employees have to deal with anxiety, stress, fear, student protests, political and economic turmoil and excessive work demands on a daily basis. Research has shown that workplaces with higher resilience and better well-being strategies also report higher productivity, increased innovation, better employee retention and better employee engagement. Many organisations offer standard employee assistance programs and once-off short interventions. However, most of these well-being initiatives are perceived as ineffective. Some of the criticism centers around a lack of holistic well-being approaches, no proof of the success of well-being initiatives, not being part of the organization’s strategies and a lack of genuine leadership support. This study attempts to illustrate how a holistic well-being intervention, over a period of 100 days, is far more effective in impacting organizational outcomes. A quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test and pro-test design with a randomization strategy, will be used. Measurements of organizational outcomes are taken at three-time points throughout the study, before, middle and after. The constructs that will be measured are employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust, and perceived stress. The well-being is imitative follows a salutogenesis approach and is aimed at building resilience through focusing on six focal areas, namely sleep, mindful eating, exercise, love, gratitude and appreciation, breath work and mindfulness, and finally, purpose. Certain organizational constructs, including employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust and perceived stress, will be measured at three-time points during the study, namely before, middle and after. A quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test design will be applied, also using a randomization strategy to limit potential bias. Repeated measure ANCOVA will be used to determine whether any change occurred over the period of 100 days. The study will take place in a Higher Education institution in South Africa. The sample will consist of academic and administrative staff. Participants will be assigned to a test and control group. All participants will complete a survey measuring employee engagement, psychological well-being, organizational culture and trust, and perceived stress. Only the test group will undergo the well-being intervention. The study envisages contributing on several levels: Firstly, the study hopes to find a positive increase in the various well-being indicators of the participants who participated in the study and secondly to illustrate that a longer more holistic approach is successful in improving organisational success (as measured in the various organizational outcomes).

Keywords: wellbeing, resilience, organizational success, intervention

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Özge Çeliker Tosun, Melda Başer Secer, İsmail Düşmez, Sedat Çapar, İlkay Kozak, Melahat Aktaş, Furkan Can Şimşek, Gökhan Tosun

Abstract:

Purpose: Portable innovative balance room system with digital game program; It was created to be able to be divided into small areas, such as inside the house, garden, balcony, to enable the person to enter and perform both evaluation and exercise safely, and to ensure that these results can be stored and sent to the therapist live or later when desired. The aim is to compare the effectiveness of the exercise program applied by the elderly within this system and the exercise program implemented under the supervision of a physiotherapist on balance and urinary incontinence symptoms. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a randomized controlled manner on 63 people with urinary incontinence (mean age: 75.5 years) at Narlıdere Nursing Home Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Center. Elderly people participating in the study were divided into 3 groups: 1. Group, an exercise program consisting of pelvic floor muscle training and OTOGA exercises, 2. Group, only pelvic floor muscle training, and 3. Group, pelvic floor muscle training and Otoga exercises in the form of a digital game program in a portable balance room system. (self-administered) for 12 weeks. Pelvic floor distress inventory (PTDE-20) and bladder diary were used to evaluate the incontinance symptoms of the cases. Pelvic floor muscle function was evaluated with superficial EMG. Berg, Fall Effectiveness Scale (FES) and Functional Status Evaluations (Chair Stand Test, Eight (8) Food Up and Go Test, Chair Sit and Reach Test, Two Minutes Step Test) were used to evaluate balance. The existence of differences between groups was analyzed using Krusskal Wallis analysis of variance, and the difference between before and after exercise was analyzed with Wilcoxon tests. Results: After treatment, PTDE-20, daily urinary incontinence and toilet visits values decreased significantly in all three groups (p < 0.001). While there was a statistically significant increase in pelvic floor muscle EMG values in the 2nd and third groups after treatment, there was no change in the other group (2nd Group PFM average EMG before-after: 5.5 (4.15-10.95) - 10.95 (8.68-13.68), P=0.05, 3 Group PFM average EMG before-after: 6.5 (4.28-11.55) - 11.75 (8.67-14.26), p=0.04). While BERG score, Chair Stand Test, Eight (8) Food Up and Go Test, and Two Minutes Step Test values increased in all groups (p<0.05), Fall Effectiveness Scale (FES) values did not change after treatment. Conclusion: Although pelvic floor muscle training combined with balance exercises reduces symptoms, it may not lead to a positive improvement in the functions of the pelvic floor muscles. For this reason, recovery lasts for a short time, and then symptoms may reoccur in the future. However, thanks to the new system, when balance exercises are combined with a game program for the pelvic floor muscles, a double effect can be achieved with a single application and both incontinence and balance problems can be treated in a safe environment where the person can do it himself. But more work needs to be done on this subject. However, thanks to the new system, a double effect can be achieved with a single application, and both incontinence and balance problems can be treated in a safe environment where the person can do it himself. But more work needs to be done on new system

Keywords: fall, urinary incontinance, balance, elderly

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Gordon James Knowles

Abstract:

Historically the Chinatown district in Sandwich Islands has been plagued with the traditional vice crimes of illegal drugs, gambling, and prostitution since the early 1800s. However, a new form of psychologically addictive arcade style table gambling machines has become the dominant form of illegal revenue made in Honolulu, Hawaii. This study attempts to document the drive, desire, or will to play and wager with arcade style video gaming and understand the role of illegal game rooms in facilitating pathological gambling addiction. Indicators of police corruption by Chinese organized crime syndicates related to protection rackets, bribery, and pay-offs were revealed. Information fusion from a police science and sociological intelligence perspective indicates insurgent warfare is being waged on the streets of Honolulu by the People’s Republic of China. This state-sponsored communist terrorism in the Hawaiian Islands used “contactless” irregular warfare entailing: (1) the deployment of psychologically addictive gambling machines, (2) the distribution of the physically addictive fentanyl drug as a lethal chemical weapon, and (3) psychological warfare by circulating pro-China anti-American propaganda newspapers targeted at the small island populace.

Keywords: Chinese and Polynesian organized crime, china daily newspaper, electronic arcade style table games, gaming technology addiction, illegal compulsive gambling, and police intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Matthias Haenisch, Katharina Hermann, Marc Godau, Verena Weidner

Abstract:

Over the past two decades, international music education has been characterized by a growing interest in informal learning for formal contexts and a "compositional turn" that has moved from closed to open forms of composing. This change occurs under social and technological conditions that permeate 21st-century musical practices. This forms the background of Musical Communities in the (Post)Digital Age (MusCoDA), a four-year joint research project of the University of Erfurt (UE) and the University of Education Karlsruhe (PHK), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Both explore songwriting processes as an example of collective creativity in (post)digital communities, one in formal and the other in informal learning contexts. Collective songwriting will be studied from a network perspective, that will allow us to view boundaries between both online and offline as well as formal and informal or hybrid contexts as permeable and to reconstruct musical learning practices. By comparing these songwriting processes, possibilities for a pedagogical-didactic interweaving of different educational worlds are highlighted. Therefore, the subproject of the University of Erfurt investigates school music lessons with the help of interviews, videography, and network maps by analyzing new digital pedagogical and didactic possibilities. In the first step, the international literature on songwriting in the music classroom was examined for design development. The analysis focused on the question of which methods and practices are circulating in the current literature. Results from this stage of the project form the basis for the first instructional design that will help teachers in planning regular music classes and subsequently reconstruct musical learning practices under these conditions. In analyzing the literature, we noticed certain structural methods and concepts that recur, such as the Building Blocks method and the pre-structuring of the songwriting process. From these findings, we developed a deck of cards that both captures the current state of research and serves as a method for design development. With this deck of cards, both teachers and students themselves can plan their individual songwriting lessons by independently selecting and arranging topic, structure, and action cards. In terms of science communication, music educators' interactions with the card game provide us with essential insights for developing the first design. The overall goal of MusCoDA is to develop an empirical model of collective musical creativity and learning and an instructional design for teaching music in the postdigital age.

Keywords: card game, collective songwriting, community of practice, network, postdigital

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Azaz Zaman, Imtiaz Uddin Chowdhury, Mohammad Shariful Islam

Abstract:

Corporate governance has become a crucial issue in both the business and academic world as a result of world-wide financial scandals and lack of trust in corporate practices. There is no doubt that in order to thrive and attain growth in the market, a company must earn the trust of its stakeholders by consistently delivering on its commitments. Directors of the companies thus comprehend the importance of upfront communication with relevant stakeholders to increase their confidence. The authors of this article argue that practicing good corporate governance is not enough in this highly competitive market place; corporate leaders need to market their good corporate governance practices in order to make the company more attractive to investors. This article also contends that the strength of corporate governance relies wholly upon the extent to which it is communicated simply, effectively and unceasingly to its stakeholders. The main objective of this study, therefore, is to explore the importance of branding good corporate governance in order to increase corporate brand equity, attract investors, and capture market share. A structured questionnaire comprising three sections and a total of 34 questions was prepared and surveyed by the authors among respondents residing in Bangladesh and who also have an academic and corporate background, to investigate the potential impact of branding good corporate governance in the market place. High mean values for individual questions and overall section depict that communicating and branding good corporate governance to the stakeholders will not only boost the investors’ confidence but also increase the corporate brand equity, yielding both profitable and sustainable business environment.

Keywords: brand equity, investors’ preference, good corporate governance, sustainable business environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 97