Vol 2 Iss 4

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A Case Study on Nursing Student Involvement in Social Justice Week: Reported Findings on this Innovative Method

Kimberly Petrovic, Southern Connecticut State University USA (Pages 1 to 5)

Professional nurses as well as nursing students are advocates for diversity, human rights and issues pertaining to social justice. This includes advocating for access to healthcare as well as the dignified and equitable treatment of all individuals, especially as clients/patients within the healthcare system. During the fall semester of 2015, the author’s undergraduate students pursuing the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and enrolled in a nursing course on health, theory and the family collaborated to present key ideas from each student’s research paper as part of the Social Justice Week (SJW) events at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). Speaking in front of an audience from across the diverse campus, the author and her BSN students discussed a wide array of topics pertaining to health and human rights. These presentations were well-received and provided the BSN students with the opportunity to advocate for vulnerable populations of individuals. 

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Exploring the Use and Perception of Creativity in Community Organizing

Andrew C. Schoeneman, University of Richmond and Jason M. Sawyer, Norfolk State University (Pages 6 to 27)

Organizing is a dynamic process that incorporates creative elements in mobilizing communities to achieve change. Creativity has been linked conceptually to organizing, but little is understood about this relationship in practice.  This exploratory study examines organizers’ use and perception of creativity using an online qualitative survey.  Three overarching themes are identified: creativity as attribute, in which creativity is seen as an individual quality; creativity as means, whereby creativity is a tactical and strategic tool; and creativity as core, i.e. a central and fundamental element of organizing.  Takeaways for organizers and implications for practice, education, and research are discussed.  

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A Straight-Jacket for Conceptual Breakthroughs: The Appraisal in Science as a Brake on the Progress of Knowledge

Part II.     What to Do to Get out of the Impasse of Neophobia

Armen E. Petrosyan, Institute for Business Consulting, Tver, Russia (Pages 28 to 67)

This article is Part 2 of an article published in May 2016, of this Journal, entitled Why New Ideas Get Dashed to Pieces on the Rocks of Evaluation. The analysis of the patterns and procedures of evaluating scientific results, carried out in the first part of the article clearly displays that the current practice of science is by no means directed at encouraging novelties and supporting original ideas. At the same time, it is absolutely obvious that in the epoch of swift changes the world undergoes, insufficiently comprehensive renewal of knowledge emasculates, to a large extent, its practical potential and undermines the opportunities of involving science in solving social and human problems. Therefore, the reality comes into a harsh collision with the needs of society and the interests of its development. This article seeks to answer: How to resolve such conflicts? In what way to transform the practice of evaluating scientific results, so that it favor the emergence and growth of new ideas? 

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Acceptance of Open Innovation model in Malaysian SMIs

Sanmugam Annamalah, SEGi University College, Kuala Lumpur; Murali Raman; Govindan Marthandan & Aravindan Kalisri Logeswaran, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya.   Malaysia (Pages 68 to 84)

Studies on open innovation in Small Medium Industries (SMIs) lack comprehensive review. The objective of this study is to analyse adoption of open innovation in SMIs by integrating empirical findings. Findings suggest that most studies conducted on larger companies and studies focussed on organisational structures but lacking in behavioural and cost aspects. In addition, most of the studies conducted based on qualitative studies and only few studies conducted using quantitative analysis. Most of the studies conducted in Europe and other developed countries, while studies in developing countries are lacking and no studies have been conducted in Malaysian SMIs. Relevant theories and models for managers have been established to support the arguments. This study will investigate whether open innovation enables productivity and improve the performances of SMIs or otherwise. This is a conceptual paper undertakes to study the adoption of Open Innovation (OI) model in Malaysian SMIs. This study examines the effects of organizational behaviour and organizational cost in determining the adoption of OI. Therefore, the factors that have been initiated to analyse the level of adoption are Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB), Organisational Culture, Managerial Ties, and Transaction Cost on open innovation adoption. Appropriability Regimes has been used as moderating effect to analyse the strength of the relationship. The factors outlined in the paper were analysed with the support of theoretical framework of Social Exchange Theory and Actor Network theory. 

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Sustainable Happiness, Living Campus, and Wellbeing for All

Catherine O’Brien , Cape Breton University and Chris Adam, Dawson College, Canada (Pages 85 to 102)

There is a definite and heartening movement afoot in many education circles. The widespread recognition that formal education is destined for sweeping changes begins with redefining its very purpose.  This, in turn, is leading to innovative practices that are demonstrating new possibilities for education to become a more prominent change leader towards a sustainable future. However, there is a risk in squandering the very real potential for substantial education change if schools latch onto just one or two progressive recommendations. An education vision of wellbeing for all, sustainably has the breadth and depth to incorporate diverse proposals for transforming education. Sustainable happiness and Living Campus align with this vision and have the capacity to accelerate the transition of schools and society towards wellbeing for all. 

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Building School Readiness for Teaching Improvement: The First Step

David Lynch and Richard Smith, Southern Cross University, Australia (Pages 103 to 121)

In 2016, we published a paper entitled ‘Readiness for School Reform’. This paper provided an insight into the concept of ‘School Readiness for Teaching Improvement’ by providing an account of an underpinning theory complete with an examination of an associated process and a report format.  In this paper the premise of ‘readiness’ is further explored by examining the concept of ‘alignment’ in a school. More specifically, the paper provides an insight into a series of considerations and steps for developing alignment in a school’s staff. 

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Measuring Creativity with Divergent Thinking Tasks: Communication Design Students’ Experience

Eric Francis Eshun and Kofi Amoako-Agyeman Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana (Pages 122 to 155)

This study explored approaches to creativity development in design students with the needed employable creative skills needed by the creative industry. A quantitative method was adopted for the study which involved 112 (59 males and 43 females) in two mixed groups from two academic levelsfrom the Department of Communication Design in Ghana. The study used the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Figural Form B) designed by E. P. Torrance (1966) to measure students’ creativity levels. Mean, S.D. and T-test were calculated to analyse the data. The findings of the study are significant as they support the theoretical contention and empirical evidence suggests that special instructions (cognitive skill sets) have direct influence on individuals’ creativity levels. The findings also revealed that boys do not differ significantly in all the variables of visual creativity, except the measures of originality from the girls. 

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Using I.C.T.  in Chemistry Education

Lokendra Kumar Ojha, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab. (Pages 156 to 164)

There are several topics in chemistry which required computational technique to learn and use of ICT enhance learning capacity of learner as well as facilitator. The present article deals with the use of ICT in some of the topic of chemistry. We tried to overcome from routine chalk and talk method to understand the several topic viz. stereochemistry, IUPAC naming and other organic chemistry topics. All though chalk and talk method has gain attention of the students but it has been found that using ICT to teach such topic of chemistry helps teacher to overcome from class room difficulty like presenting 3 D structure of molecule with model. The objective is to reveal teachers' ICT experiences and views on ICT integration into teaching-learning process as well as uncover the perceived obstacles to the integration process. Chemistry education pedogogy  in this country will have to shift its present at all levels attracts the best talen, retains them and works for their professional development. To acquire this goal teaching profession will have to be made more attractive. Teachers like researchers should be duly recognized for their contributions in form of fellowship and awards. 

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Because a Lesson Is a Kind of Performance (Commentary)

Yaron Vansover, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel Aviv (Pages 165 to 171)

When I enter the class as a researcher/teacher trainer, I say to myself: Try to forget everything you know; try to look at what is happening as never before, try to see things that you have never seen. That's very difficult and one doesn't always succeed. Considering this difficulty and out of a desire to view things in another way, I try to employ this fresh view in other regions which bear a certain similarity to the classroom. I identify this similarity, for example, in the theater. This article presents three examples from live performances appearing on YouTube, and tries to use them to distill fragments of insight about teaching, about learning and about relations between students and their teachers. 

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A case Study into Learning that is Additional to the Classroom (Commentary)

Dirk Wellham, Caloundra City Private School, Australia. (Pages 172 to 193)

There has been much debate in the media, both here in Australia and overseas, about the challenges faced by Education in a fast changing world, where shifts in society are causing a rethink on ‘the what and why’ of Schooling. Commentators argue schools have not kept pace with such changes. But, as this paper reveals,  schools are powerhouses of innovation and creativity. In this paper one school provides an outline of the work it is doing in making its curriculum relevant and engaging for students. More specifically, this paper reports, what can be termed, the ‘Caloundra City Private School Curriculum’ project. The premise of the project is the use of a unique school curriculum focus to provide learning stimuli for students.  To these ends the paper provides an insight into how one school has innovated on its curriculum for student learning effect.