Perception of privacy in a university building: The transparency paradox

Informal face-to-face communication and chance encounters encourage knowledge sharing. This Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) examines how well a new building of a Dutch University Institute (DI) supported interaction and perceived privacy among faculty members. The study is designed as a qualitative research project with in-depth interviews among faculty members before and after relocation into the new building. The transparent and centrally organized floor plan supported face-to-face communication but generated a lack of privacy for faculty members. Not all perceived affordances of the design were planned. Lack of visual privacy and the sense of being controlled by others were related to the hierarchical position of teachers in this Higher Education Institute (HEI) between students and the dean, which caused tension and diminished their well-being.     

Predicting early adolescent disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection.

Two large cohorts of Black 3rd-grade children from low-income families were followed into early adolescence. Adjustment at the end of the 1st year of middle school was assessed by teacher and parent ratings and by adolescent self-reports. Childhood peer social status predicted parent-reported externalized and internalized disorder and self-reported internalized disorder. Childhood aggression predicted self-reported externalized and internalized disorder and parent-reported externalized disorder. Teacher ratings of school adjustment were predicted by aggression, rejection, and sex of the child. Consensus judgments of poor adjustment were predicted by both aggression and peer rejection, with sex moderating the effect of peer rejection. Both childhood aggression and peer rejection appear to be significant predictors of adolescent disorder, with each making a predictive contribution uniquely its own. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organising and Managing boundaries: A structurational view of collaboration with Building Information Modelling (BIM)

The construction industry is currently undergoing digital transformation due to emerging technologies. Hence new forms of organisation are needed. Collaborating with Building Information Modelling (BIM) is complex and challenges the management of projects. The ubiquitous digital information sharing among multi-disciplinary actors in BIM-based projects, activates dense inter-organisational processes. This study offers insights into collaboration with BIM, through the theoretical lens of boundaries. By analysing two projects of BIM-based collaboration in the Netherlands, the interplay between structure and agency of collaboration was discussed. The various artefacts of BIM, as boundary objects were interpreted in multiple ways by different communities of practice and this resulted in poor communication and consequently poor collaboration. The findings challenge the prevalent view of BIM as a software artefact and showed that this view only partially supports collaboration. Additionally, a structurational view (enabled by communication, conflict management, negotiation, and teamwork) as opposed to a structural view of collaboration (e.g. BIM as a software) can fully support the implementation of digital innovations. Finally, the paper revealed a ‘tactical gap’ in the implementation of digital between strategic and operational decision-making needs fine-tuning to ensure better collaboration in projects where digital innovations are adopted. The study concludes with propositions for supporting organisation of teams through integration of activities and the management of BIM-based collaboration in projects beyond merely structural and technological approaches, which dominate the field but from a structurational view instead.