Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the emerging crowd-funding phenomenon, that is a collective effort by consumers who network and pool their money together, usually via the internet, in order to invest in and support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Successful service businesses that organize crowd-funding and act as intermediaries are emerging, attesting to the viability of this means of attracting investment. Design/methodology/approach -The research employs a "grounded theory" approach, performing an in-depth qualitative analysis of three cases involving crowd-funding initiatives: SellaBand in the music business, Trampoline in financial services, and Kapipal in non-profit services. These cases were selected to represent a diverse set of crowd-funding operations that vary in terms of risk/return for the investor and the type of payoff associated to the investment. Findings -The research addresses two research questions: how and why do consumers turn into crowd-funding participants? and how and why do service providers set up a crowd-funding initiative? Concerning the first research question, the authors' findings reveal purposes, characteristics, roles and tasks, and investment size of crowd-funding activity from the consumer's point of view. Regarding the second research question, the authors' analysis reveals purposes, service roles, and network effects of crowd-funding activity investigated from the point of view of the service organization that set up the initiative. Practical implications -The findings also have implications for service managers interested in launching and/or managing crowd-funding initiatives. Originality/value -The paper addresses an emerging phenomenon and contributes to service theory in terms of extending the consumer's role from co-production and co-creation to investment.

Collaborative scholarship as a means of improving university teaching practice The general consensus in the literature is that generic professional development workshops in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning rarely have a lasting impact on changing teaching practice. In an attempt to develop an alternative model, a four-stage Collaborative Scholarship Model was designed by academic development practitioners. This model used small individually-supported projects to mentor individual academic staff into the scholarship of teaching while implementing an innovation into their own teaching. Individual project outcomes included sustained change to teaching practice, demonstrated openness to new ideas, and contribution to the scholarship in the field. Success was measured by tangible outcomes-such as sustained improvement for students, successful implementation of innovative approaches, and peer-recognition (in the form of awards, publications or invited presentations). These project outcomes were used as measures of the effectiveness of the model itself. The Collaborative Scholarship Model appears to have a greater and more sustained impact on the teaching practice of individuals involved, leading to increased research outputs by the participants; however, the labourintensive nature of the model means that only few faculty members can be mentored at any one time by a single academic developer. There are significant benefits to this individualised approach, and the longterm benefits for Faculties and their students may outweigh the limitations in scalability.

Design teaching originated as a practice-based activity centred on reviewing the visual for its aesthetic appeal. This process has enabled students to produce opportune visual outcomes that lack research, academic rigour and rely on stylistic imitation of contemporary design trends. We identified that this occurs due to two underlying problems: 1) design pedagogies have developed without solid educational foundation; and 2) assessment remains linked to the end product rather than process. To address these issues, we reviewed learning design and reconstructed the design critique to shift the learning focus toward process. We developed four stages of engagement; Investigate, Apply, Explain and Share (IAES). These stages enabled us to create educational experiences that used reflective processes to improve knowledge acquisition. Student results and feedback show this application has improved understanding of key design processes and facilitated learning relevant to future design careers.