University of Gloucestershire

About: University of Gloucestershire is a education organization based out in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 865 authors who have published 2373 publications receiving 56854 citations.

Exploring The Gap Between Attitudes And Behaviour: Understanding Why Consumers Buy Or Do Not Buy Organic Food

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore the values that underlie consumers purchasing decisions of organic food.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on data from focus groups and laddering interviews with a total of 181 regular and occasional consumers of organic food that were contrasted with survey results of other studies.Findings – The results show that most consumers associate organic at first with vegetables and fruit and a healthy diet with organic products. Fruit and vegetables are also the first and in many cases only experience with buying organic product. The decision‐making process is complex and the importance of motives and barriers may vary between product categories.Research limitations/implications – While further research would be required to facilitate full understanding of the consumer‐decision making process with regard to organic produce, this work indicates the complexity of the process and the likelihood of variation between different product categories. Future re...

Importance‐performance analysis: a useful tool for directing continuous quality improvement in higher education

Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of service quality evaluation within the higher education sector and stresses the need to develop measures that are both psychometrically and practically sound. The paper argues that recent debate surrounding the development of such measures has been too strongly geared toward their psychometric performance, with little regard for their practical value. While the paper supports the need to develop valid, reliable and replicable measures of service quality, it is suggested that educators must not lose sight of the original purpose for which these measures were designed, i.e. their practical value in informing continuous quality improvement efforts. It critiques the use of disconfirmation models and reports on a study of students’ perceptions of quality using importance‐performance analysis (IPA). The technique allows specific failings in the quality of support issues to be identified and their importance to a quality improvement programme assessed.

Resilience training in the workplace from 2003 to 2014: A systematic review

Abstract: Over a decade of research attests to the importance of resilience in the workplace for employee well-being and performance. Yet, surprisingly, there has been no attempt to synthesize the evidence for the efficacy of resilience training in this context. The purpose of this study, therefore is to provide a systematic review of work-based resilience training interventions. Our review identified 14 studies that investigated the impact of resilience training on personal resilience and four broad categories of dependent variables: (1) mental health and subjective well-being outcomes, (2) psychosocial outcomes, (3) physical/biological outcomes, and (4) performance outcomes. Findings indicated that resilience training can improve personal resilience and is a useful means of developing mental health and subjective well-being in employees. We also found that resilience training has a number of wider benefits that include enhanced psychosocial functioning and improved performance. Due to the lack of coherence in design and implementation, we cannot draw any firm conclusions about the most effective content and format of resilience training. Therefore, going forward, it is vital that future research uses comparative designs to assess the utility of different training regimes, explores whether some people might benefit more/less from resilience training, and demonstrates consistency in terms of how resilience is defined, conceptualized, developed, and assessed. Practitioner points Despite conceptual and theoretical support for resilience training, the empirical evidence is tentative, with the exception of a large effect for mental health and subjective well-being outcomes. Most programmes utilize a cognitive-behavioural approach to developing resilience. At this stage, there is no definitive evidence for the most effective training content or format, but it would appear wise to include an element of one-to-one training and support based on individual needs.

Linking Research and Teaching to Benefit Student Learning

Abstract: Linking research and teaching is a topic of international interest. The links may take many different forms and may be found in all types of higher education institution. The main aim of the paper is to explore the complexity and contested nature of the research-teaching nexus in different national and institutional contexts, with particular reference to geography. It is argued that the relationship depends on how the terms ‘research’ and ‘teaching and learning’ are conceptualized. It is suggested that undergraduate students are likely to gain most benefit from research in terms of depth of learning and understanding when they are involved actively, particularly through various forms of inquiry-based learning. The development of such research-based curricula provides challenges to staff across the sector, not least because they may lead to finding new ways for staff and students to work together.