Community Archives

Round Table discussions of various topics related to Digital Scholarship, facilitated by faculty with experience in the table topic

Genetic variation and possible origins of weedy rice found in California.

Control of weeds in cultivated crops is a pivotal component in successful crop production allowing higher yield and higher quality. In rice-growing regions worldwide, weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea Rosh.) is a weed related to cultivated rice which infests rice fields. With populations across the globe evolving a suite of phenotypic traits characteristic of weeds and of cultivated rice, varying hypotheses exist on the origin of weedy rice. Here, we investigated the genetic diversity and possible origin of weedy rice in California using 98 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and an Rc gene-specific marker. By employing phylogenetic clustering analysis, we show that four to five genetically distinct biotypes of weedy rice exist in California. Analysis of population structure and genetic distance among individuals reveals diverse evolutionary origins of California weedy rice biotypes, with ancestry derived from indica, aus, and japonica cultivated rice as well as possible contributions from weedy rice from the southern United States and wild rice. Because this diverse parentage primarily consists of weedy, wild, and cultivated rice not found in California, most existing weedy rice biotypes likely originated outside California

Taking preventative health messages into the wider caring professions: the views of housing staff and tenants.

In order to harness the potential impact of the wider public health workforce, innovative services are providing opportunities for social housing staff to extend their public health role. This study explored the views of housing professionals and social housing residents on the delivery of preventative health messages by housing staff in the context of the evaluation of the roll-out of a new service. We conducted semi structured interviews with 21 neighbourhood housing officers, 4 managers and 30 social housing tenants to understand their views on the widening role and the potential impact on the preventative healthcare messages being delivered. Neighbourhood officers were willing to discuss existing health conditions with tenants; but they often did not feel comfortable discussing their lifestyle choices. Most tenants also reported that they would feel discussions around lifestyle behaviours to be intrusive and outside the remit of housing staff. Resistance to discussions of lifestyle topics during home visits was found among both housing staff and tenants. Appropriate staff training and the development of strong and trusting relationships between officers and tenants is needed, if similar programmes to extend the role of housing staff are to succeed in terms of health impact

Conceptualizing Restorative Justice for People with Mental Illnesses Leaving Prison or Jail

Individuals with psychiatric disabilities who are involved in the criminal justice system face a number of challenges to community integration upon release. There is a critical need to develop and evaluate interventions for these individuals that connect them to the community by enhancing naturalistic social connections and helping them to participate meaningfully in valued roles. The purposes of this article are to describe, provide a theoretical rationale, and propose a conceptual model for the use of a particular restorative justice model, circles of support and accountability, to meet this need. We describe the principles of restorative justice (repairing harm, stakeholder involvement, and the transformation of community and governmental roles and relationships) and how these map on to elements of the circles intervention. These elements include a focus on community participation, positive social support, democratic decision making, collective ownership of crime problems, and connection to community-based resources. We then suggest how changes in identity transformation, moral development and motivation, and collective efficacy might mediate relationships between these intervention elements and community integration outcomes. Finally, we encourage the systematic evaluation of the circles intervention for people with mental health conditions leaving custody and provide recommendations for policy and practice

A THEORETICAL MODEL OF STUDENT LEARNING IN AN ACADEMIC SERVICE-LEARNING COURSE: DIVERSITY AND CIVIC OUTCOMES

A qualitative-quantitative mixed-methods longitudinal research study was conducted to measure differences in civic and diversity outcomes in a cross-sectional sample of 138 undergraduate students. The quantitative results indicate that students improve their social justice attitudes, awareness of White racial privilege, racial-cultural-ethnic identity, and interests in multicultural work from the beginning of the semester. The qualitative findings replicate and extend the quantitative results. Career development and opportunities for growth were detected as unexpected themes that emerged from the data. The use of the mixed-methods approach provided an opportunity to conceptualize how students reformulate their diversity attitudes and acquire civic skills in an academic service-learning course. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed.  Article visualizations

Meeting NCLB goals for highly qualified teachers: Estimates by state from survey data.

Abstract This article presents results of survey data showing teacher qualifications for their assignments that are comparable from state-to-state as well as data trends over time. The analysis is intended to help state leaders, educators, and others obtain a picture of highly qualified teachers in their state, and to be able to compare their state statistics with states across the nation. Since states have some flexibility in meeting the standard for highly qualified teachers outlined by NCLB, the analyses presented in this paper from a national survey may be useful as a common benchmark for use by states as they develop their own state-specific definitions and measures