To find, design and create solutions to global challenges, 21st century engineering professionals work in multi-disciplinary and international teams that are expected to work effectively, efficiently and innovatively. Universities are following this trend, as they acknowledge the importance of soft skills for employability. The integration of soft skills in higher education curricula is not straightforward, especially in engineering education. At our university, soft skills courses score low in student satisfaction surveys. This is the reason why we study the motivation, attitude and anxiety of computer engineering students toward learning soft skills. To do so, we performed a quantitative study using an online survey based on the mini-AMBT. Overall, our data indicate that computer engineering students have a positive motivation and attitude toward learning soft skills from both an integrative and an instrumental perspective. The obtained results do not give clear insights as to what causes the low satisfaction scores for soft skill courses. All of the above calls for further, qualitative research. We studied the motivation and attitude of computer engineering students in a Dutch university of applied sciences; the motivation and attitude of students in other disciplines and countries may differ and should be studied separately. Full text for members of IEEE : https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8363231/
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Background: The purpose of this study was to explore physiotherapists’ knowledge, attitude, and practice behavior in assessing and managing patients with non-specific, non-traumatic, acute- and subacute neck pain, with a focus on prognostic factors for chronification. Method: A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted with 13 physiotherapists working in primary care. A purposive sampling method served to seek the broadest perspectives. The knowledgeattitude and practice framework was used as an analytic lens throughout the process. Textual data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach and constant comparison. Results: Seven main themes emerged from the data; physiotherapists self-estimated knowledge and attitude, role clarity, therapeutic relationship, internal- and external barriers to practice behavior, physiotherapists’ practice behaviors, and self-reflection. These findings are presented in an adjusted knowledge-attitude and practice behavior framework. Conclusion: A complex relationship was found between a physiotherapist’s knowledge about, attitude, and practice behavior concerning the diagnostic process and interventions for non-specific, non-traumatic, acute, and subacute neck pain. Overall, physiotherapists used a biopsychosocial view of patients with non-specific neck pain. Physiotherapists’ practice behaviors was influenced by individual attitudes towards their professional role and therapeutic relationship with the patient, and individual knowledge and skills, personal routines and habits, the feeling of powerlessness to modify patients’ external factors, and patients’ lack of willingness to a biopsychosocial approach influenced physiotherapists’ clinical decisions. In addition, we found self-reflection to have an essential role in developing self-estimated knowledge and change in attitude towards their therapeutic role and therapist-patient relationship.
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In general, people are poorly protected against cyberthreats, with the main reason being user behaviour. For the study described in this paper, a ques-tionnaire was developed in order to understand how people’s knowledge of and attitude towards both cyberthreats and cyber security controls affect in-tention to adopt cybersecure behaviour. The study divides attitude into a cog-nitive and an affective component. Although only the cognitive component of attitude is usually studied, the results from a questionnaire of 300 respond-ents show that both the affective and cognitive components of attitude have a clearly positive, albeit varying, influence on behavioural intention, with the affective component having an even greater effect on attitude than the cog-nitive aspect. No correlation was found between knowledge and behavioural intention. The results indicate that attitude is an important factor to include when developing behavioural interventions, but also that different kinds of attitude should be addressed differently in interventions.
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The aim of this exploratory study was to assess whether practicing social workers currently enrolled in Master Social Work (MSW) programs (hereafter referred to as MSW students) were more oriented to the evidence-based practice (EBP) process and more engaged in it than practicing social workers who are not currently enrolled in MSW programs (hereafter referred to as social workers) in the Netherlands. Data were collected from MSW students (n = 32) and from social workers (n = 341) using the EBP Process Assessment Scale. MSW students reported a stronger orientation toward the EBP process, more positive attitudes toward EBP, more familiarity with EBP and more intentions to engage in EBP than social workers did, however, they were less positive about the feasibility of implementing EBP in practice. These preliminary results suggest that there are grounds for optimism about MSW students’ acceptance of and engagement in the EBP process. Implications for social work education are discussed.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model on how business managers perceive that an employee’s psychological contract influences his or her attitude toward an organizational change. More specifically, it aims to provide insight into the managerial views on: first, the affective, behavioral and cognitive responses of employees toward organizational change; second, the pre-change and change antecedents of these responses; and third, the role of the psychological contract as a pre-change antecedent. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 39 human resource directors, change managers and management consultants in eight European countries. Based on detailed grounded theory-driven analyses of the qualitative data, a conceptual model was developed. Findings – Based on the grounded theory analysis, a model emerged that positions the individual change perception and individual answer to the “what’s in it for me?” question as central determinants of an employee’s attitude toward change. Moreover, the model distinguishes between “influencing” variables that shape the employees’ change perception, and “overruling” variables that can potentially reverse the change perceptions. Practical implications – A strong emphasis on managing the employment relationship by fulfilling mutual obligations and by creating trust will yield more constructive responses to organizational change than focussing on managing an organizational change as an independent event. Originality/value – As one of the first in its field, this study provides insight in the sense-making processes during organizational change, while adopting a managerial perspective. A grounded theory approach by means of interviewing, serves as a first step toward better understanding of the development of employees’ affective, behavioral and cognitive responses to organizational change.
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With the increase of Virtual Reality (VR), the importance of advertising within VR has become more relevant. However, it is unclear whether advertising strategies used in traditional media also work in VR. This study is focused on openness in advertisements, an advertisement strategy that refers to the degree of guidance towards the intended message. More open means less guidance and is often used to increase attention and attitude. However, open ads have not been researched in VR before. In this study, VR-advertisements were created and tested that differ in openness. An experiment with 87 participants revealed new ways of creating openness based on positioning and timing of anchoring cues. Moreover, the results revealed a negative effect of openness on interpretation, consistent with findings in studies using traditional media. Unexpectedly, openness in VR-advertisements did not influence (ad and brand) attitude, possibly due to the newness-effect causing high appreciation for ads in VR.
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The principal aim of this study is to explore the relations between work domains and the work-related learning of workers. The article is intended to provide insight into the learning experiences of Dutch police officers during the course of their daily work. Interviews regarding actual learning events and subsequent changes in knowledge, skills or attitudes were conducted with police officers from different parts of the country and in different stages of their careers. Interpretative analyses grounded in the notion of intentionality and developmental relatedness revealed how and in what kinds of work domains police officers appear to learn. HOMALS analysis showed work-related learning activities to vary with different kinds of work domains. The implications for training and development involve the role of colleagues in different hierarchical positions for learning and they also concern the utility of the conceptualisation of work-related learning presented here.
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Objectives: This study assesses social workers’ orientation toward the evidence-based practice (EBP) process and explores which specific variables (e.g. age) are associated. Methods: Data were collected from 341 Dutch social workers through an online survey which included a Dutch translation of the EBP Process Assessment Scale (EBPPAS), along with 13 background/demographic questions. Results: The overall level of orientation toward the EBP process is relatively low. Although respondents are slightly familiar with it and have slightly positive attitudes about it, their intentions to engage in it and their actual engagement are relatively low. Respondents who followed a course on the EBP process as a student are more oriented toward it than those who did not. Social workers under 29 are more familiar with the EBP process than those over 29. Conclusions: We recommend educators to take a more active role in teaching the EBP process to students and social workers.
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Background: Our transition to an “information society” means that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become integral to our lives. ICT has also become an essential aspect of medical institutions and healthcare settings. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses are required to use ICT in their daily work. In Lebanon, however, due to political factors, many universities have not introduced technology or any form of ICT in their curricula. Institutions of higher education do use technology in various ways, however, successful incorporation of ICT in education requires acceptance by instructors who are expected to use ICT in teaching practices. Although international findings reveal that ICT should be used in nursing education, some faculty members experience difficulty integrating it. Method: A mixed methodological research approach was used to investigate the attitudes of nursing teaching staff toward the use of ICT in nursing education. Results: Our findings revealed three categories of faculty with differing attitudes to the use of ICT in teaching and learning: pioneers, faculty members who have developed positive attitudes toward ICT usage; followers, faculty members with neutral attitudes; and resisters, faculty members with negative attitudes. Conclusions: Identification of the nursing faculty members’ attitude toward ICT and the challenges faced by them contributes to the integration of ICT into nursing curricula and further development of educational practices.
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This literature review reports on the assumed relations between primary school teachers' knowledge of technology and pupils' attitude towards technology. In order to find relevant aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, scientific literature in the field of primary technology education was searched. It is found that teacher nowledge is essential for stimulating a positive attitude towards technology in pupils. Particularly, teachers' enhanced Pedagogical Content Knowledge is found to be related to pupils' increased learning and interest in technology. Six aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge that are likely to play a role in affecting pupils' attitude are identified and schematically presented in a hypothetical diagram. It is concluded that more empirical vidence on the influence of technology-specific teacher knowledge on pupils' attitude is needed. The hypothetical diagram will serve as a helpful tool to investigate the assumed relations between teacher knowledge and pupils' attitude empirically.
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