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In the realm of construction education, the investigation of immersive learning and extended reality (XR) technologies has experienced a surge in recent times. Nevertheless, there remains a notable lack of comprehension surrounding the most efficient ways to integrate these technologies into tailored teaching approaches for vocational construction training. This research study aims to pinpoint the key factors that construction vocational education and training (VET) providers must consider when introducing XR technologies into their training schemes.

This study conducted an in-depth literature review to develop an initial framework to summarise training, technology and institutional factors influencing the educational-technology integration of XR technologies in VET. In addition, this study utilised a Delphi technique, including semi-structured group discussions and two rounds of online follow-up questionnaires, to capture VET experts’ judgements on the importance of decision-making criteria.

This study has identified the critical factors to be considered in the VET sector when adopting XR technologies. Findings revealed institutional factors were the most important criteria for participants, followed by training and technology factors.

The current decision-making process focuses on selecting XR technologies rather than evaluating their performance after implementation. Therefore, more research is needed to monitor the implementation of this technology in curricula from a senior management perspective. This will help to understand the cost and value factors related to the value proposition of XR technologies in courses.

To ensure the success and long-term viability of the technology-curriculum interface, it is important to consider factors such as the availability of technical and educational support, data security and cost-effectiveness. It is also crucial to focus on ease of use and content development that emphasises instruction to create engaging content for learners.

The potential impact of this study is underpinned by two facts: (1) it constitutes the first effort made in the field to comprehensively elicit VET expert judgements in relation to XR technologies, and (2) it offers decision-making criteria that are at play in seeking to take advantage of high-cost technologies that are rapidly evolving. While there is no simple checklist for XR implementation, this study takes a step further to identify significant factors influencing XR integration in vocational construction training.

Construction suffers from “peculiarities” that concern the temporary natures of the construction site, project teams and unique product design. Considering the digital transformation of construction, new solutions are being investigated that can provide consistent data between changing projects. One such source of data manifests in the tracking of logistics activities across the supply chain. Construction logistics is traditionally considered a site management activity focused solely on the “back end” of projects, but an expanded logistics focus can unlock new avenues of improvement. This study aims to understand the requirements and benefits of such a consistent thread of data.

From a research project with one of Australia’s largest contracting companies, this paper details a series of construction tracking tests as an empirical case study in using Bluetooth low energy aware tracking technology to capture data across the manufacture, delivery and assembly of a cross-laminated timber structural prototyping project.

The findings affirm the tracking of expanded logistics data can improve back-end performance in subsequent projects while also demonstrating the opportunity to inform a project’s unique front-end design phase. The case study demonstrates that as the reliability, range and battery life of tracking technologies improve, their incorporation into a broader range of construction activities provides invaluable data for improvement across projects.

As a live case study, this research offers unique insights into the potential of construction tracking to close the data loop from final site assembly back to the early project design phase, thus driving continual improvement from a holistic perspective.

The construction industry has actively attempted to tackle the low-productivity issues arising from inefficient construction planning. It is imperative to understand how construction practitioners perceive technology integration in construction planning in light of emerging technologies. This study intended to uncover unique experimental findings by integrating 4D-building information modelling (BIM) to virtual reality (VR) technology during construction planning among construction professionals at light steel framing (LSF) projects.

The building industry participants were invited to provide inputs on two different construction planning methods: conventional and innovative methods. The conventional method involved the participants using traditional platforms such as 2D computer-aided design (CAD) and physical visualisation of paper-based construction drawings for the LSF assembly process with a Gantt Chart tool to complete construction planning-related tasks for the targeted project. Comparatively, participants are required to perform the same tasks using more innovative platforms like 4D-BIM in a VR environment.

A Charrette Test Method was used to validate the findings, highlighting an improvement in usability (+10.3%), accuracy (+89.1%) and speed (+30%) using 4D BIM with VR compared to the conventional paper-based method. The findings are also validated by a paired t-test, which is supported by the rationality of the same findings. This study posits positive results for construction planning through the utilisation of modern practices and technologies. These findings are significant for the global construction industry facing low productivity issues, delays and certainty in terms of building delivery timelines due to poor construction planning.

This new blend of technologies—combining 4D BIM and VR in industrialised construction projects—potentially directs future initiatives to drive the efficiency of construction planning in the building lifecycle. The interactive BIM-based virtual environment would purposefully transform construction planning practices in order to deliver modern and more certain building construction methods with a focus on prefabrication processes.

Serious case reviews remind us that there is much to learn about inter-agency activity. Professional identity is a key phenomenon influencing work behaviour, especially during inter-agency activity. Yet, this link is complex and not well understood within the context of UK children’s services. With an agenda of improving outcomes for children and their families, The purpose of this research paper is to conduct a systematic literature review on this topic to develop a conceptual model aimed at informing how practitioners mobilise their professional identity during inter-agency activity.

This paper used meta-ethnography to synthesise the available research. This method is suitable for researchers who are interested in conceptual or theoretical understandings of a particular phenomenon as opposed to describing individual accounts or experiences.

The findings support postmodern accounts of identity and show the construct as fluid, contingent and constituted within interaction. Professional identities are mobilised through the sharing of professional knowledge, which is underpinned by the performative nature of language. Mobilisations can lead to both positive and negative consequences, which can act as a barrier to and facilitator of inter-agency activity.

Inter-agency working is integral to the function of children’s services but remains an undertheorised concept, and this had led to a dearth of guiding theory on inter-agency practice. By drawing on relevant psychological theory, the proposed model provides a unique psycho-social perspective that articulates the important role of identity during inter-agency activity, which would be of interest to professionals working in children’s services.

Current and predicted continued dramatic increases in international migration and ethnocultural diversity of older adult cohorts pose challenges for health care services. Review studies on ethnoculturally diverse older adults and health care show a lack of focus on their service use experiences. This study aims to report a meta-ethnography that addresses this knowledge gap through answering the review question: How do ethnoculturally diverse older adults who are immigrants experience health careservices?

The authors applied a seven-phase method of meta-ethnography to guide the review. The authors conducted two literature searches (April 2018 and June 2020) in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Sociological Abstracts and Abstracts in Social Gerontology that yielded 17 papers eligible for review.

“There’s always something positive and something negative” is the overarching metaphor for answering the review question. Findings highlight positive and negative tensions within ethnoculturally diverse older adults’ health care use experiences of understanding and being understood, having trust in providers and the health care system, having needs, preferences and resources met and desire for self-care over dependency. The majority of experiences were negative. Tipping points towards negative experiences included language, fear, provider attitudes and behaviours, service flexibility, attitudes towards Western and traditional health care and having knowledge and resources.

The authors propose concrete actions to mitigate the tipping points. The authors discuss policy recommendations for health care system changes at the micro, meso and macro service levels to promote positive experiences and address mainstream service policy inequities.

Disasters can affect the important sector of tourism across the world. This study aims to combine qualitative findings from 13 publications to enhance disaster management plans for the security and resilience of the tourist industry.

The authors used Noblit and Hare’s seven-step meta-ethnography method, identifying 13 qualitative studies on tourism disaster management through extensive searches in key databases (WoS, Scopus and Google Scholar), meeting inclusion criteria. NVivo 12 aided in coding, translation and comprehension of related ideas.

Five interrelated and third-ordered conceptual categories were identified: extreme natural and malevolent events, lack of risk management and emerg+ency response, sustainable tourism, tourism resilience factors, disaster awareness and preparedness. Effective strategies demand collaboration, resource allocation and local engagement.

This study offers a novel synthesis of qualitative research in tourism disaster management, enhancing understanding of resilience in the industry. It provides unique insights on cross-cultural dynamics, stakeholder engagement and integrated strategies while showcasing the utility of meta-ethnography in business and management research.

Adopting a public-management perspective, this study aims to conduct a meta-ethnography to discern local government’s role in city hospitality in terms of promoting the welcome the city gives its guests, filling a gap in research into the subject.

The authors used the seven-step iterative approach of Noblit and Hare’s meta-ethnography. By conducting a systematic search in the major bibliographic databases, ten qualitative studies on city hospitality were identified that met the criteria to be included. Concepts alluding to a local government’s role in city hospitality were coded in NVivo 11 software, translated and interpreted through the lens of public management. A total of 14 semi-structured interviews with experts were also conducted to further validate the meta-ethnography findings.

Six interrelated, third-order constructs were developed and conceptualized into an articulated model describing local government’s role in city hospitality from a public-management perspective: advocating, co-creating, strategizing, planning and implementing city hospitality, and promoting it into a sustainable tourism development. The model, also substantiated by expert feedback, describes local government actions to promote city hospitality and achieve sustainable tourism. It highlights a responsive, proactive and collaborative role for local government as a key actor responsible for the strategic management and co-creation of city hospitality.

The study introduces public governance cues into a city hospitality context, with theoretical and practical implications for hospitality and tourism researchers, businesses, politicians, public managers, city officials and destination marketing/management practitioners.

The study proposes an original conceptual model that serves as an overarching framework and operative tool for understanding and practicing city hospitality in a contemporary public-management perspective. This lays the foundations for the development of a broadened notion of hospitality management, extended from the traditional context of the hospitality industry to that of the city or place. The study also showcases how meta-ethnography can be an effective methodology in business, management and accounting research, within which it is still a novelty.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the stress‐relaxation behavior of different woven fabrics under constant torsional strain in a wrinkled state. For this purpose, a new method for determination of stress‐relaxation behavior of the fabric was used while keeping the torsional strain constant.

In this study, the behavior of stress relaxation of fabric is examined with modification of wrinkle force tester sophisticated electro‐mechanical method and fabricating a device which uses a computer and micro controller, with constant torsional strain by a rotational level of 9.1 turn/m in 280°, and in 300 s.

The results depict that stress‐relaxation percentage in fabric in weft alignment is more than warp alignment and the fabrics which tolerate more torsional force, possess less stress‐relaxation percentages. In this way, with increasing polyester percentage in fabric the scale of stress‐relaxation percentage decreases. Also, adoption of data derived from experiments with Maxwell model shows that the interlaced model is a suitable model for explaining the stress relaxation decline in fabric. Correlation coefficient of fabrics in weft alignment with Maxwell model is more than warp alignment.

This study has practical implications in the clothing as well as in technical textiles areas.

Knowing visco‐elastic properties is very important. However, there is no information available to study the stress relaxation of woven fabrics under the combined influences of compression and constant torsional strains.

Although patients and lay people are often more knowledgeable about medical conditions than their predecessors, the dominant culture’s increased involvement in understanding their health and making treatment decisions does not translate into consistently more informed patients. High health literacy is associated with both improved health outcomes and receiving better quality-of-care. Low health literacy disproportionately affects people from marginalized ethnic and language groups. Regardless of how a particular clinician feels about a patient, malapropisms and mis-attributions may cause patients to appear less intelligent or to have lower perceived health literacy, potentially affecting their healthcare experiences with other clinicians. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper discusses the evidence for “up-skilling” patients and uses principles from conversation analysis to demonstrate how malapropisms can be corrected sensitively. Clinician training in skilled communication using the conversation analytic role-play method is also addressed.

Malapropisms are best corrected through modelling rather than calling attention to the error directly, as this allows the patient to save face. Explanations using drawings and clearly written materials may also be useful.

Helping patients to improve their communication with clinicians may lead to improved health outcomes through improved quality-of-care.

The study presents the principal results of a survey into patient information needs and satisfaction levels in a large general hospital as part of a feasibility study on the provision of a patient information service. The background to the survey is the change in the patient/doctor relationship to one of consumer/supplier, coupled with the growing awareness of the importance of patient education and information as a form of preventive medicine. The survey found that information given prior to admission increased satisfaction rates for information provision generally, but also led to more questions being asked during the stay in hospital. Patients were given information freely, though there are slight gender differences, and there is a preference for verbal rather than written information from doctors. There are implications for patient information services. A range of patient resources is provided by wards, but there are problems of co‐ordination of supply and the human resources needed to manage them effectively.