Positive Performance Management: Bold Experiments,Provocative Possibilities

In the face of accelerating technological, demographic, socioeconomic, and political changes, successful organizations are flattening hierarchies, forging active communication networks, promoting cross‐functional and cross‐level collaboration, and actively supporting grassroots innovation. Traditional performance management practices lack the capacity, scalability, and speed to support these cultural strategies. This article describes a new breed of performance management: an appreciative inquiry‐inspired process that focuses on strengths and puts employees in the driver's seat. It increases commitment and forges trusting relationships between employees and their leaders and paves the way for the next generation of performance management systems.     

Participation in science practices while working in a multimedia case‐based environment

The purpose of this study was to investigate how two female students participated in science practices as they worked in a multimedia case‐based environment: interpreting simulated results, reading and writing multiple texts, role‐playing, and Internet conferencing. Using discourse analysis, the following data were analyzed: students' published web posters, Internet conferencing logs between American and Zimbabwean university students, and a focus group interview. Three constructs supported the development of these students' identities in practice: (a) multimedia cases creating emotional involvement; (b) authoring web posters, and role‐playing situated in cross‐cultural social networks; and (c) altruism associated with relevant global topics. The investigators argue that educators and developers of online learning environments consider social contexts, authoring, and opportunities for cross‐cultural interaction to support participation in science practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1116–1136, 2010     

A Cross‐Cultural and Interdisciplinary Collaboration in a Joint Design Studio

A design studio is a critical venue for design students, as they are educated to develop design thinking and other skills through studio courses. This article introduces a design studio project in which Korean and Malaysian students worked jointly for one semester to design affordable urban housing. The Korean students were interior design majors and the Malaysian students were architecture majors; thus it was thought that the students' areas of expertise were likely to differ. It was also anticipated that the students would display cultural differences in terms of housing and planning practices. The motive for starting the joint design studio was the idea that a cross‐cultural collaborative working setting could redefine students' thinking styles and stimulate students to obtain non‐routine perspectives on the design of buildings and spaces. Through observation and interviews, we explored how students tackled affordable housing problems within the context of cross‐cultural and interdisciplinary design education. Collaborative learning in a joint studio situation supplemented students' expertise, re‐orienting approaches to design and opening up a holistic approach to the design issues of affordability, sustainability and community. Overall, the practical learning in the joint studio project validated the importance of exploring alternative solutions based on varied levels of information, and input of those from different educational and cultural backgrounds. The cross‐cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration allowed for a previously unavailable enhancement of design education by encouraging students to obtain divergent thinking for innovative design ideas.     

Social capital and home literacy engagement: case studies of low-SES single mothers' access to literacy resources

Drawing on the theory of social capital, this paper explores how difference in mothers' social networks might impact on low‐SES' children's literacy development at home. A cross‐case analysis of the influence of two low‐SES single‐mothers' social networks on their children's home literacy practices suggests that difference in mother's social capital has a disparate impact on their access to literacy resources, their home literacy engagement with their children, and their interaction/connection with school teachers and contributes to their children's differential school literacy achievement. The findings suggest that for low‐SES children to achieve school success, parents must be able to access resources that support their ability to engage in literacy activities that align with those valued in the school. Therefore, there is a need for schools and teachers to provide not only services that allow more networking opportunities but also support to understand school‐literacy practices and expectations for low‐SES families, especially single‐parents who might be more socially isolated.     

Informational capital and the transition to university: First‐in‐family students' experiences in Austrian higher education

The agenda for widening participation in higher education has led to increasing numbers of students with a broader range of education and family backgrounds. However, transitioning to the university landscape remains a highly complex negotiation process, especially for first‐in‐family students, who cannot draw on previous experience from higher education in their families. Gaining access to informational capital—a combination of cultural and social capital—plays a crucial role in managing education transitions. We draw on rich empirical data obtained from 26 autobiographical narrative interviews with first‐in‐family university students in Austria to investigate how transitions to university are affected by informational capital. We also explore how access to informational capital was influenced by (1) institutional practices, such as initiatives to support students, especially first‐year students; and (2) cultural fit—the extent to which a student's cultural capital corresponded with the dominant cultural capital in the field of their chosen discipline or higher education establishment. Our findings show that gaining access to informational capital was strongly affected by the institutional practices at universities within the different disciplines, thus highlighting the importance of higher education institutions in supporting their students during transition processes. We conclude with policy implications for how higher education institutions can assist first‐in‐family students to succeed at university.     

Greater expectations: Learning from other nations in the quest for 'world-class standards' in US school mathematics and science

This study examines teachers’ experiences with and opinions on a web‐based, cross‐cultural project. Students from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Macedonia, and Sweden used information and communication technology and international collaboration to explore the links among youth, culture, and the use of alcohol. The data was generated through interviews with the teachers co‐ordinating the project in each of the classes. The teachers’ experiences with the approach as a whole led them to emphasize that the action‐oriented and participatory approach, combined with the use of information and communication technology and international collaboration, brought new, valuable perspectives to their own teaching and to their reflections about emerging new roles and teaching skills needed. The provisions for genuine student participation, authenticity in learning, intrinsic motivation, and the sense of the other were identified by the teachers as the main strengths of the approach.     

Cross‐cultural adjustment of Native‐speaking English Teachers (NETs) in Hong Kong: a factor in attrition and retention

This paper argues that, despite government support in financial and contractual matters, ongoing problems of retention of Native‐speaking English Teachers (NETs) in Hong Kong stem, in part, from problems of cross‐cultural adjustment. The paper reports a small‐scale qualitative investigation into the experiences of NETS in Hong Kong and finds problems of cross‐cultural adjustment of the NETs themselves, the host schools and the government’s induction practices. The paper reports a diversity of problems in cross‐cultural adjustment and a variety of ways in which NETs handled them. The argument is made for increased and differentiated attention to be given to the cross‐cultural adjustment of NETs, for greater social networking and for reducing the isolation and cross‐cultural stresses that they experience. It is suggested that this might attenuate the problem of high NET turnover in Hong Kong.     

How to Build a Better Online Community

There have been many attempts to design online communities of practices (CoPs) as social contexts in which teachers can work together for their professional development. In practice, however, the realization of such a community is far from what is promised in theory. One of the most significant reasons for online community failures is our general lack of understanding of the potential influences of teachers' of‐fline cultures. Thus, this study explores the interaction of online and offline teachers' cultures to better understand which offline cultural influences might affect teachers' participation in the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), an online community of practice hosted by the Center for Research on Learning and Technology (CRLT) at a mid‐western university. Using a qualitative case‐study approach, data were collected by conducting document analyses, holding online and face‐to‐face meetings, and conducting interviews with designers, researchers, and teachers. Weidentified seven cultural influences that negatively affected the teachers' rate of participation in the ILF: (1) lack of time, (2) their isolated working culture, (3) lack of reflection on their practices, (4) lack of technological support, (5) pressure from state‐mandated standards, (6) pre‐existing mistrust directed at the university, and (7) preferences for face‐to‐face interaction. These findings will inform future designers, so that they may continue to improve the utility of online CoPs for teachers' professional development.     

The researcher/interviewer in intercultural context: a social intruder!

The search for improved understanding in cross‐cultural contexts is resulting in a correspondingly high increase in cross‐cultural studies in diverse fields and disciplines. Globalization, economic universalism and internationalization of technology, as well as increased international mobility, immigration and relocation accelerated by the communication explosion, are drawing the world closer, but with an increasing awareness of differences, particularly across the given historical and eco‐political divides. The challenge to research is to communicate meaningfully across these divides. This article explores the issues surrounding cross‐cultural interviewing. Against the backdrop of growing emphasis on cross‐cultural research, there is an emerging need to reconsider interviewing as a research tool with a focus on the interview participants' subjectivities and the subsequent interplay with data collection and making meaning. This entails a recognition of the deep consequences of culture — the embedded patterns of behaviour and the processes of making meaning — and the significance of how these impact on doing research across cultures.     

Transferring Knowledge across Cultures: A Learning Competencies Approach

ABSTRACT At the heart of any successful cross‐cultural knowledge transfer effort lies an individual or group of individuals with the skills to manage a complex, ambiguous and often stressful process. The ability to manage the knowledge transfer process depends as much on learning in real time as it does on rational planning. Yet, few approaches to knowledge transfer have considered learning as a primary driver of success. In this article, we draw on new insights on how adults learn from experience in cross‐cultural settings to understand the cross‐cultural knowledge transfer process. We conceive cross‐cultural knowledge transfer as a seven‐stage process of learning and describe the essential competencies necessary for managing each of the seven stages. We draw on work with cross‐cultural knowledge transfer efforts in a variety of industries and cultures to illustrate this process.     

Conceptions of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by tertiary educators in New Zealand

The conceptions an individual holds about a phenomenon can influence and determine associated behaviours and perspectives. Consequently, they have a bearing upon how learning about a phenomenon is undertaken and how that phenomenon is experienced and applied in context. A phenomenographic research approach was used to gather the expressed experiences of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by teachers and support staff from institutions across New Zealand. Five conceptions of e‐learning (as tool and equipment; as a facilitator of interaction; as learning; as a reduction in distance; and as a collaborative enterprise) and four conceptions of professional development for e‐learning (as training; as opening up possibilities; as collaboration; and as relevant and purposeful) were discovered. In this report, we discuss the conceptions, and show how they are interrelated through outcome space. Implications for the professional development of tertiary teachers and teaching support staff are outlined. The study provides some insights for individuals, institutions and those responsible for planning and implementing professional development programmes to help them to support the development and progress of e‐learning in appropriate and rewarding directions.     

Cross‐cultural Validation of Models of Approaches to Learning: an application of confirmatory factor analysis

Six structural equation models were tested by analysing responses to the Learning Process Questionnaire of 10 samples of primary and secondary school students from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Beijing, Hong Kong and Canada. Confirmatory factor analyses provided general support for the cross‐cultural within‐construct validity of the questionnaire. As predicted, the dimensions of deep and surface approaches to learning received cross‐cultural support, but the positioning of the achieving dimension varied across cultures. This is in line with the notion that students who adopt an achieving approach will adopt different strategies which will be likely to maximise their achievement according to particular course and teacher characteristics.     

Creating Spaces for Collaboration in Community Co‐design

Urgent societal challenges have led to unease in our socio‐cultural interactions and the production systems that underpin our lives. To confront such challenges, collaboration stands out as an essential approach in accomplishing joint goals and producing new knowledge. It calls for interdisciplinary methodologies such as co‐design, an approach capable of bridging multiple expertise. The core activities of co‐design are based on the premise of collaboration and on developing creative social environments. Yet achieving collaboration through co‐design is challenging as people need to understand each other, and develop trust and rapport. We argue that ‘informal‐mutual learning’ is central to building mutual understanding. This article explores how we create spaces for collaboration through co‐design by examining the social environments supporting them. It examines the value of collaboration and its impact upon participants within an action research project conducted in Scotland. We identified Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a suitable theoretical framework. It offers support for holistic inquiry into participation and learning. Its strength was in the attention that it pays to multi‐dimensional human interactions within the social environment. This led to an understanding of the concepts of boundary‐crossing and boundary space examined through a CHAT lens. The findings shed light on four designerly conditions supporting informal‐mutual learning when engaged in collaboration during co‐design situations: choreography and orchestration, aesthetics, playfulness, and quality and quantity of participation. The findings enable us to elaborate on the theorisation of boundary space, a theoretical space for the assemblage of multiple levels of expertise to achieve collaboration.     

Design and development of a new facility for teaching and research in clinical anatomy

This article discusses factors in the design, commissioning, project management, and intellectual property protection of developments within a new clinical anatomy facility in the United Kingdom. The project was aimed at creating cost‐effective facilities that would address widespread concerns over anatomy teaching, and support other activities central to the university mission–namely research and community interaction. The new facilities comprise an engaging learning environment and were designed to support a range of pedagogies appropriate to the needs of healthcare professionals at different stages of their careers. Specific innovations include integrated workstations each comprising of a dissection table, with removable top sections, an overhead operating light, and ceiling‐mounted camera. The tables incorporate waterproof touch‐screen monitors to display images from the camera, an endoscope or a database of images, videos, and tutorials. The screens work independently so that instructors can run different teaching sessions simultaneously and students can progress at different speeds to suit themselves. Further, database access is provided from within an integrated anatomy and pathology museum and display units dedicated to the correlation of cross‐sectional anatomy with medical imaging. A new functional neuroanatomy modeling system, called the BrainTower®, has been developed to aid integration of anatomy with physiology and clinical neurology. Many aspects of the new facility are reproduced within a Mobile Teaching Unit, which can be driven to hospitals, colleges, and schools to provide appropriate work‐based education and community interaction. Anat Sci Ed 2:34–40, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Scientific collaboratories in higher education: exploring learning style preferences and perceptions of technology

Scientific collaboratories hold the promise of providing students access to specialized scientific instruments, data and experts, enabling learning opportunities perhaps otherwise not available. However, evaluation of scientific collaboratories in higher education has lagged behind their development. We conducted a repeated‐measures study that provided data regarding social interaction learning styles and perceptions of a scientific collaboratory system from 40 university science students working face‐to‐face and remotely. Students with a strong competitive learning style preference or who worked with a student with a strong competitive learning style reported a slightly more positive perception of the relative advantage, compatibility and complexity of the collaboratory system. Students with a strong individualistic learning style preference or who worked with a student with a strong individualistic learning style reported a more negative perception of the observability of the system. No relationships were found between students’ cooperative learning style preference and their perceptions of the system after using it face‐to‐face or remotely.     

Design Issues in a Cross‐institutional Collaboration on a Distance Education Course

Collaborative learning has been gaining momentum as a promising pedagogy in higher education. Research on student collaboration is increasing. However, one arena is often overlooked—faculty collaboration. In this article, a cross‐institutional faculty collaboration is presented. The context is faculty collaboration on the design of an undergraduate engineering course. Specifically, this paper examines design issues encountered in the faculty collaborations associated with developing, delivering, and redesigning a senior‐level engineering design course that was taught simultaneously at two universities. This course was taught in state‐of‐the‐art distance learning classrooms. Both within class and outside class, participating students and faculty made use of a Web‐based environment that supported a variety of synchronous and asynchronous interactions. The course itself focused on team design projects and provided instruction on the engineering design process, in various specific skills needed for the students’ projects, and on how to function effectively as part of a geographically distributed engineering design team. The participating faculty members represented different backgrounds, academic disciplines, and academic cultures. Issues related to collaborations on development, delivery, and redesign are elaborated. Based on the lessons learned, suggestions for future cross‐institutional faculty collaboration in course development are provided.     

Anik E2 Over the Prairies: inter‐organizational collaboration in the application of satellite technology

This paper describes the inter‐organizational collaboration which contributed to the development and satellite‐mediated delivery of university courses to a highly dispersed, rural population. This collaboration yielded results beyond what each group of stakeholders could have achieved on its own, but the project confirms the observation of some educators that collaboration, within the context of adopting innovative procedures, is a process fraught with potential pitfalls. There are, however, some practical strategies which can encourage the partners to work together towards a common goal.     

The Model of Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour: a qualitative cross‐cultural validation within the Greek elementary education context

The Model of Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour (MITB) provides a widely acclaimed framework for studying the student–teacher interaction. However, the consistently weak psychometric properties of the instruments designed to measure the MITB in educational contexts other than the ones for which the MITB was originally developed, indicate the need for scrutinised cross‐cultural adaptation procedures. The present study examined the cross‐cultural validity of the MITB within the Greek elementary education context. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with 6 teachers and 24 students. Interviews were analysed using the method of qualitative content analysis. The findings corroborated the validity of the MITB and indicated slight repetitive patterns of differentiation in the conceptualisation of the MITB by both Greek elementary students and teachers.     

Integrating Northern Ireland: Cross‐group friendships in integrated and mixed schools

While Northern Ireland strives to build a shared society, the current reality is that everyday experiences are still shaped by division along ethno‐religious lines. This is particularly pronounced in the education system, where more than 92% of pupils attend separate schools. Within the predominantly separate education system, however, exists a small collection of schools which cater to a more heterogeneous pupil body and offer the opportunity for young people from both communities to meet and interact, and potentially develop cross‐group friendships. The present study compares the network‐based cross‐group friendships within two such school types; an integrated and a separate post‐primary school. These schools boast a distinct ethos yet they similarly enrol students from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. Findings reveal that both schools show a high level of interconnection between pupils; however, the integrated school, with an ethos that openly supports social cohesion, shows a greater tendency towards cross‐group interactions and best friendships than those found within the separate school. In line with contact theory, these findings suggest that it may not be enough to simply create opportunities for intergroup contact but that optimal conditions, such as institutional support, may be a prerequisite for positive relationships to flourish. Implications for educational policies designed to promote greater cross‐community contact are discussed.