Sink or Swim: Learning by Doing in a Supply Chain Integration Activity*

Studies show that supply chain integration (SCI) is important to organizations. This article describes an activity that places students in the middle of an SCI scenario. The highly interactive hands‐on simulation requires only 50 to 60 minutes of classroom time, may be used with 18 to about 36 students, and involves minimal instructor preparation. Through the activity, students learn the basics of SCI and then analyze an SCI event to better appreciate the need for collaboration and information sharing. In courses that address supply chain management, instructors can use the activity early in the semester to introduce students to the complexities of supply chain networks. Alternatively, instructors may use the simulation later to provoke a more nuanced discussion.     

A Campus-Wide Investigation of Clicker Implementation: The Status of Peer Discussion in STEM Classes

At the University of Maine, middle and high school teachers observed more than 250 university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes and collected information on the nature of instruction, including how clickers were being used. Comparisons of classes taught with (n = 80) and without (n = 184) clickers show that, while instructional behaviors differ, the use of clickers alone does not significantly impact the time instructors spend lecturing. One possible explanation stems from the observation of three distinct modes of clicker use: peer discussion, in which students had the opportunity to talk with one another during clicker questions; individual thinking, in which no peer discussion was observed; and alternative collaboration, in which students had time for discussion, but it was not paired with clicker questions. Investigation of these modes revealed differences in the range of behaviors, the amount of time instructors lecture, and how challenging the clicker questions were to answer. Because instructors can vary their instructional style from one clicker question to the next, we also explored differences in how individual instructors incorporated peer discussion during clicker questions. These findings provide new insights into the range of clicker implementation at a campus-wide level and how such findings can be used to inform targeted professional development for faculty.     

Louisiana's statewide interdisciplinary approach to diagnostic, protective and treatment services to abused and neglected children and their families

The provision of the most comprehensive funded statewide delivery of diagnostic, protective and treatment services to abused and neglected children and their families in the country has been made possible by the State of Louisiana and its concerned citizenry. The importance of obtaining a legislative mandate establishing and funding the statewide child protection concept by the Louisiana legislature was illustrated.We described how the medical and protective services components cooperate and coordinate at the state and local levels to provide the abused and neglected child and his family with the best possible services available. Throughout our presentation the use of the interdisciplinary team concept was emphasized as the best system known to enhance the reporting, investigation and diagnosis of child abuse and/or neglect cases as well as providing protective and treatment services to the child and his family.The Child Protection Center is the community agency serving as the “core” for the interdisciplinary approach to be successful. The role of each discipline employed by the center was reviewed and how interagency coordination is accomplished through their efforts.The interdisciplinary dispositional conference prior to a child's discharge from the hospital was considered as an excellent method to insure that several disciplines share in the definitive protective and treatment plans for the abused child.Several treatment modalities and their success rates for the child and his family were discussed. The accomplishments of the center were listed.Finally, a review of how the citizenry from the Baton Rouge Community responded overwhelmly by their involvement and commitments in an all out effort to combat a serious social symptom and disease — child abuse and neglect.     

Deficits in emotion regulation mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and later eating disorder symptoms

The present study examined the relationship of child maltreatment to both emotion dysregulation and subsequent eating pathology. In an effort to extend previous research, the authors examined the unique impact of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) on emotion dysregulation and eating disorder (ED) symptoms while controlling for the effects of sexual and physical abuse. Structural equation modeling was utilized to simultaneously examine the effects of all three abuse types on multiple dependent variables as well as examine whether deficits in emotion regulation mediated the relationship between abuse and eating pathology. Results from a survey of 1,254 female college students revealed significant paths from abuse subtypes to specific eating disorder symptoms, with CEA evidencing the strongest association with ED symptoms. Additionally, emotion dysregulation was positively associated with ED symptoms, and mediated the effects of emotional abuse on symptoms. Findings support previous research on the enduring effects of emotional abuse as well as highlight the importance of the assessment of CEA in the treatment of ED symptoms.     

Towards a Transformative Epistemology of Technology Education

Technology Education offers an authentic and invaluable range of skills, knowledge, capabilities, contexts and ways of thinking for learners in the 21^st century. However, it is recognised that it occupies a comparatively less defined and more fragile curricular position than associated, but longer established, subjects such as Mathematics and Science. While recognising that no single factor lies behind such a condition, this paper draws upon thinking in the philosophy of technology, technology education and the ontology of artefacts to argue that transformation may be considered as an epistemic source for technology in a similar way to ‘proof’ within Mathematics and ‘interpretation’ within Science. Encapsulating technology's intimate relationship with materials, it is ultimately argued that the transformation of a technical artefact from an ill‐defined into a well‐defined ontological state constitutes a prime source of technological knowledge for pupils. Moreover, it provides an alternative route into further consideration about the nature of the domain, epistemology and curricular identity of the subject.     

Environmental Education as a Lived‐Body Practice? A Contemplative Pedagogy Perspective

Environmental education usually appeals to the students’ knowledge and rational understanding. Even though this is needed, there is a neglected aspect of learning ecologically fruitful action; that of the lived‐body. This paper introduces the lived‐body as an important site for learning ecological action. An argument is made for the need of a biophilia revolution, in which refined experience of the body and enhanced capabilities for sensing are seen as important ways of complementing the more common, knowledge‐based environmental education. Alienation from the physical environment is seen as one key element in producing environmental devastation. Consequently, human alienation from nature is seen as closely related to alienation from one's body. It is claimed that through overcoming the (Cartesian) dualist alienation of human consciousness from its lived body, we can decrease the alienation of human beings from their environment. Methods of contemplative pedagogy are introduced for addressing alienation. By getting in touch with the tangible lived‐body in yoga or mindfulness meditation we reconnect to the material world of nature. Contemplative pedagogy cultivates the body and its senses for learning intrinsic valuation and caring for the environment. Lived‐body experience is challenging to conceptualise; we use Maurice Merleau‐Ponty's concept of the flesh in our attempt to do so. Finally, this paper suggests some contemplative practices of the lived‐body for environmental education. Experiencing the flesh of oneself and the world as one and the same is an environmentally conducive experience that gives value and meaning to the flourishing of all life, human and non‐human.     

Applying Tablet‐Based Performance Support Application for Technicians’ Training at the Israeli Air Force: A Case Study

Performance support systems are mechanisms enabling users) productivity while reducing training expenses as support is being delivered in real time, often eliminating the need for costly pre‐performance training. Mobile technologies have created new opportunities for improved performance support systems, especially for tasks performed outside the offi ce. This article describes the fi rst mobile learning and performance support initiative taken by the Israeli Air Force. The project included the development and eff ectiveness pilot study of a learning and performance support application delivered via tablet to helicopter engine technicians. The application provided support videos and illustrations of maintenance routines, thereby enabling learning and practicing at the same time. Pilot study results show high performance levels of application users compared to those applying traditional methods. Results also show that self‐effi cacy levels were not aff ected by the successful performance achieved when using the mobile performance support application. Plans to expand mobile support use are also described.     

Online interaction across three contexts: an analysis of culture and technological affordances

Students were linked virtually across three contexts: U.S., Malaysia, and China. Differences emerged in how student-created messages were constructed and interpreted; these impacted perceived relational affiliation. Messages constructed by students in Malaysia and China exhibited casual talk, greater self-disclosure, requests for personal information, and greater use of emoticons/emoji. Interactions were perceived as informal, friendly, and positive. U.S. students’ messages often showed institutional talk, less self-disclosure, and more attention to the instructor-assigned task. Asian-U.S. student pairs perceived their interactions as formal, less friendly, and less positive. This study shows how online technologies may be afforded and shaped by culture and interaction.     

Global exact tracking for uncertain MIMO linear systems by output feedback sliding mode control

This paper presents a solution to the problem of global exact output tracking for uncertain MIMO (multiple-input–multiple-output) linear plants with non-uniform arbitrary relative degree using output feedback sliding mode control. The key idea to overcome the relative degree obstacle is to generalize our previous hybrid estimation scheme to a multivariable version by combining, through switching, a standard linear lead filter with a non-linear one based on robust exact differentiators, achieving uniform global exponential practical stability and exact tracking.