Impacts of organisational culture on academic efficiency and productivity in selected private universities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria

Organisational efficiency is a consistent quality that derives more from and thrives on strong internal culture than on isolated instances of timely and effortless accomplishments by corporate systems. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between organisational culture and enhanced productivity and efficiency among members of five universities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which with its peculiarities provided a unique context for the study. The quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection among 104 respondents. Faculty were assessed on the direct impacts of their organisations' culture on their research and publication, creativity and innovativeness, among others, while students were assessed on learning, career prospects and others. The study suggested that most of the five universities had no well-articulated organisational culture. This significantly compromises their unique value addition to the educational system, implying that they risk losing their relative advantages unless they fortify their organisational cultural frontiers.     

Spatial Thinking in Practice: A Snapshot of teacher's Spatial Activity Use in the Early Years' Classroom

Spatial thinking predicts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics achievement, yet is often absent from educational policy. We provide benchmarks of teachers' usage and perceptions of spatial activities in practice in the reception classroom (first year of primary school). In this questionnaire study of educational professionals working in the reception classroom in England (N = 104), we found that spatial and numeracy activities were perceived as significantly less important, and were reportedly completed significantly less often, than literacy or life skills. Despite the lower perceived importance of spatial skills in curriculum guidance in England, rates of reported spatial activity use were encouragingly high and were broadly comparable to those of numeracy. Teachers had moderate anxiety levels for both spatial and mathematics domains. The findings highlight a need to elevate teachers' understanding of the importance of developing children's early spatial and numeracy skills, which may begin with efforts to reduce spatial and mathematics anxiety.     

The World of Spirits in the Work of Some Caribbean Writers in the Diaspora

Writers of Caribbean ancestry who live outside of the region are usually described as having dual allegiance (Caribbean/American for example). This is eminently justifiable, since there is usually a recognizable Caribbean flavour to the writing. This paper focuses on one feature of Caribbean culture incorporated in three texts: Praisesong for the Widow, by Paule Marshall, who grew up in a Barbadian environment in Brooklyn, New York; Flickering Shadows by Kwadwo Kamau, who spent his early years in Barbados and Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson who spent her early years in Trinidad and Jamaica. All three writers are published in the USA (although Hopkinson lives in Canada). This paper isolates the spirit world and comments on how it is used in these texts and to what effect. Also discussed are the relative strength of cultural features and the fascination with the world of the spirits.     

Creative teaching in STEM

If Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in higher education are to retain students, there needs to be a shift towards teaching in more enriching and interesting ways. Creative teaching needs to become more prominent in STEM. This article presents a study that defines creative teaching in the STEM context and investigates attempts to teach creatively as experienced by nine STEM educators in an Australian university. The results highlighted that achieving creative teaching is difficult and that the element of surprise is essential. Despite the struggle required, creative teaching afforded fulfilment for teachers. We examine the characteristics of those interviewed and suggest strategies for fostering creative teaching. The findings extend beyond the STEM discipline.     

International comparison of differences in home advantage between level 1 and level 2 of domestic football leagues

The purpose of this study was to compare home advantage at the top two levels of the domestic leagues of a wide selection of countries worldwide. Limited previous work has been inconclusive with home advantage at level 2 appearing at least as high as at level 1. Home advantage was quantified for the most recent seven seasons of the top two levels for 47 countries worldwide and included 168,341 matches. A paired t?test was used to assess the difference between levels for each country. Home advantage was significantly more likely to be higher at level 2 than at level 1. The difference was especially apparent in Bosnia–Herzegovina, Serbia and Iran (all p?<?0.001). Kazakhstan was the only country with a significantly higher advantage at level 1. Possible factors that might be contributing to this finding include players and referees at level 1 being better trained to avoid being influenced by crowd support. Level 2 players may be more intimidated by performing away from home, less well equipped to cope with unfamiliar surroundings and routines, and will also have travelled in less comfort.