Search Results (9)

Product Identity (PI) is a strategic instrument for enterprises to forge brand strength through New Product Development (NPD). Concurrently, facing increasingly fierce market competition, the NPD for consumer emotional requirements (CRs) has become a significant objective in enterprise research and development (R&D). The design of new product forms must ensure the continuity of PI and concurrently address the emotional needs of users. It demands a high level of experience from designers and significant investment in R&D. To solve this problem, a generative and quantitative design method powered by AI, based on Shape Grammar (SG) and Kansei Engineering (KE), is proposed. The specific method is as follows: Firstly, representative products for Morphological Analysis (MA) are selected, SG is applied to establish initial shapes and transformation rules, and prompts are input into Midjourney. This process generates conceptual sketches and iteratively refines them, resulting in a set of conceptual sketches that preserve the PI. Secondly, a web crawler mines online reviews to extract Kansei words. Factor Analysis (FA) clusters them into Kansei factors, and the Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (G-AHP) calculates their grey weights. Thirdly, after analyzing the PI conceptual sketches for feature extraction, the features are integrated with CRs into the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) matrix. Experts evaluate the relationships using interval grey numbers, calculating the optimal ranking of PI Engineering Characteristics (PIECs). Finally, professional designers refine the selected sketches into 3D models and detailed designs. Using a Chinese brand as a case study, we have designed a female electric moped (E-moped) to fit the PI and users’ emotional needs. Through a questionnaire survey on the design scheme, we argue that the proposed innovative method is efficient, applicable, and effective in balancing the product form design of PI and user emotions. Full article

This article endeavors to investigate the impact of three years of teaching experience acquired during student teaching training on the professional identity of aspiring educators. The ensuing literature review expounds upon the concepts of identity and professional identity. To scrutinize this subject comprehensively, a quantitative study was conducted, the details of which are elucidated in the subsequent section devoted to research methodology. The findings of this study underscore the paramount significance of fostering a sense of belonging and mission as integral components that underpin the means of support, adaptability, and PI development, particularly pertinent to student teachers and, especially, those immersed in the practical experience phase, as discerned through their self-perceptions. The principal conclusions and insights drawn from the cumulative body of research evidence underscore that, despite the recent recognition accorded the pedagogical training processes and their multifaceted impact on various aspects of a student’s life as a future educator, the teaching profession still remains underappreciated. The finding that emerged during this study underscores the heightened significance of teaching practices as an essential element in the preparation of a prospective graduate who aspires to become a pioneering educator in shaping the future of generations to come. The investigation surveyed 216 students pursuing teaching degrees, analyzing their professional identity development throughout their academic journey. Results revealed a positive association between the students’ advancement in their training curriculum and the enhancement of their professional identity. Specifically, as students progressed further in their studies, there was a discernible growth in their identification with the teaching profession. Full article

This study developed a professional identity (PI) scale and compared the scores of male and female nursing students. Few studies have focused on male nursing students to understand their PI vis-à-vis related background variables relative to female ones. We recruited 384 male nursing students in Taiwan to construct the PI scale based on the Rasch model with 12 items and 3 factors, namely cognitive, emotional, and behavioural identity. The PI scale showed a good model fit in confirmatory factor analysis, with factor loadings ranging from 0.56 to 0.73. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.79 for the three subscales and 0.88 for the entire scale. The results of the multiple latent regression analyses showed that male nursing students had higher PI in the total scale and its three factors than did female ones. Having mothers with medical or nursing-related jobs may help promote the cognitive PI of male nursing students. Experiences of caring for family members can help promote PI among female nursing students but not among male ones. Future research should focus on decreasing loss in behavioural PI for both genders after graduation and on reinforcing the association between behavioural PI and interest in nursing among male nursing students. Full article

Professional identity development in higher education and its implications is a growing interest in the literature. Research indicates that the professional identity of academic lecturers has been unstable and influenced by a variety of personal and contextual factors. With a lack of a clear definition of professional identity in literature, we composed The Professional Identity COVID Scale (PI-COVID) specifically designed to measure lecturers’ professional identity in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The items focused on three components: occupational security, academic skills, and combining teaching and research. The purpose of the present study was to examine the associations between lecturers’ age, years of seniority, academic rank, and work permanence on the professional identity of academic lecturers post-COVID-19 in Israel. Participants were 95 academic lecturers teaching in universities and colleges. Using self-report questionnaires, participants filled the PI-COVID scale. Results showed that age is negatively and significantly associated with PI-COVID. Moreover, seniority years, academic rank, and work permanence are associated with more COVID-19 challenges. Findings showed that lecturers without work permanence and with lower academic rank reported higher occupational insecurity during the pandemic, which emphasizes the vulnerability of younger lecturers and their need for confidence and stability, especially during a crisis event. Thus, our study contributes to the existing literature by better understanding the post-COVID-19 professional identity of academic lecturers. Implications and limitations for future research are discussed. Full article

The sustainable development of early childhood institutions in aging China calls for the sustainable development of early childhood teachers, which should attend to the balanced development between male and female teachers. Yet this issue has not been adequately investigated in the literature. To fill this research gap, this study explored the gender differences in Chinese early childhood (EC) teachers’ professional identity (PI) and emotional labor strategies. Altogether, 250 teachers (146 female and 104 male, M_age = 30.28 years, SD = 7.81) from Southern China were sampled and surveyed. First, the independent samples t-tests revealed significant gender differences in teachers’ PI, deep acting, and surface acting. Second, the structural equation modelling results demonstrated that PI fully mediated the relationship between teacher educational attainment, years of teaching experience, and natural and deep acting. Third, multigroup analysis confirmed different mediation paths for female and male teachers. These findings suggest that male and female early childhood teachers differed in their sense of PI and use of emotional labor strategies. Therefore, future policymaking efforts should design and implement teacher professional development (PD) programs and teacher support mechanisms catering to male EC teachers’ needs, characteristics, and difficulties in the Chinese EC workforce. Full article

Teaching is a metacognitive pedagogical problem-solving process. Teachers’ commitment to this process can be partly influenced by their professional identity (PI) in the pursuit of identity-congruent actions and identity verification. For these pursuits, teachers produce cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses, which are the representations of PI, and use metacognition by monitoring and regulating these responses for successful pedagogical problem solving. Teachers, in turn, improve their PI and metacognition. Based on a narrative approach, the problem-solving processes of five Korean teachers of English are explored along with their PI and metacognition operation. This exploration provides the rationales for the conceptualised co-operation mechanism of teacher PI and metacognition, and also reveals the possibility of its variation. Comprehension of the mechanism enables teacher educators and policy makers to establish specific plans and procedures for principled professional development or policy support. Thus, based on the conceptualisation and findings, systematic interventions via problem-solving-based teacher education and contextual support, which help teachers develop PI and metacognition, are discussed. Full article

The health promotion (HP) community advocates for capacity building, quality assurance and political awareness of HP. Professional identity (PI) is of great relevance to these goals as persons who strongly identify with their profession better adopt their professional role, raising the quality, competence and common values within a professional group. However, investigations on the HP workforce are missing. In order to investigate PI formation in HP professionals, a longitudinal study was conducted with two student cohorts of a Swiss HP and prevention undergraduate program. Using a qualitative approach, focus groups were conducted at the beginning and end of the undergraduate program. Data were transcribed verbatim and condensed using thematic analysis. The results highlight the complexity of the HP’s professional profile. While students experienced difficulties to capture the profile at the beginning of the program, at the end they developed an understanding of it. The practical experience within work placements helped students to grasp the profile and specify their future professional role. Several behavioral, cognitive and motivational aspects were identified that influence HP students’ PI formation and can be fostered. For instance, universities can commit to public relations for HP practitioners and support the PI formation throughout the study program. Full article

This study was intended to develop a comprehensive and psychometrically adequate professional identity scale for healthcare students and professionals based on Taiwanese cultural contexts. In order to elicit a more consistent result of the psychometric indices of the newly developed scale, the study adopted a combination of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the consistency of the scale factors. In a pilot study of 562 randomly selected healthcare students and professionals, the EFA yielded a 33-item four-factor model with the terms “professional commitment & devotion” (16 items; 47.33% of variance), “emotional identification & belongingness” (7 items; 9.72% of variance), “professional goals & values” (5 items; 8.17% of variance), and “self-fulfillment & retention tendency” (5 items; 3.38% of variance). The CFA yielded an 18-item four-factor model with good or even excellent fit to the data, where the χ²/df ratio = 1.138, Tucker Lewis index (TLI) = 0.997, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.997, and root mean square of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.016. The convergent validity and discriminant validities were also conducted to test the feasibility of the Professional Identity Scale for Healthcare Students and Professionals (PIS-HSP) scale. For the EFA model, the Cronbach’s alphas for the four factors and the overall scale ranged from 0.84 to 0.96; for the CFA model, the Cronbach’s alphas and composite reliabilities were, respectively, in the ranges of 0.78–0.93 and 0.78–0.97, demonstrating satisfactory reliabilities. The results proved that the developed PIS-HSP can be a reliable measurement tool to assess professional identity for healthcare students and professionals. Full article

Internet addiction (IA) has become a major public health problem among college students. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-identity confusion and IA and the mediating effects of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance (PI/EA) indicators in college students. A total of 500 college students (262 women and 238 men) were recruited. Their levels of self-identity were evaluated using the Self-Concept and Identity Measure. Their levels of PI/EA were examined using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II. The severity of IA was assessed using the Chen Internet Addiction Scale. The relationships among self- identity, PI/EA, and IA were examined using structural equation modeling. The severity of self-identity confusion was positively associated with both the severity of PI/EA and the severity of IA. In addition, the severity of PI/EA indicators was positively associated with the severity of IA. These results demonstrated that the severity of self-identity confusion was related to the severity of IA, either directly or indirectly. The indirect relationship was mediated by the severity of PI/EA. Self-identity confusion and PI/EA should be taken into consideration by the community of professionals working on IA. Early detection and intervention of self-identity confusion and PI/EA should be the objectives for programs aiming to lower the risk of IA. Full article