Digital Horizons: Faculty and Student Perspectives on ChatGPT and the Future of English Studies

The growing body of literature on the uses, challenges, potentials, and ethics of generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) is rich and nuanced; however, such research rarely examines faculty and student perspectives comparatively or in the context of discipline-specific issues and concerns. Since both faculty and students are implicated in shaping a future for their discipline of study, and both are deeply affected by disciplinary policies and standards of practice, it is crucial to situate faculty and student perspectives as a part of a shared discourse rather than two related but distinct conversations. This thesis investigates the specific expectations, concerns, ambitions, and desires for the future that circulates among and between English faculty and students in the wake of the widespread availability of generative AI applications like ChatGPT. It employs mixed-methods to compare and contrast the responses of eleven faculty and thirty-one students from one Ontario university’s English department to semi-structured questionnaires on the topic of generative AI, the future of English studies, and participants’ perceptions of one another. Participant perspectives are contextualized within a discussion of the imagination as a mechanism for inventing into being. This research emphasizes self-reflexivity as a method for establishing trustworthiness. This MA thesis finds that participants imagine generative AI and one another in both similar and contrasting (and occasionally contradictory) ways. In that context, the thesis ends by discussing misconceptions and mistrust among and between faculty and students as a potential cause for differences between what participants anticipate and what they desire for the future of their field

The contribution of lifestyle coaching of overweight patients in primary care to more autonomous motivation for physical activity and healthy dietary behaviour: results of a longitudinal study

Background: Combined lifestyle interventions (CLIs) have been advocated as an effective instrument in efforts to reduce overweight and obesity. The odds of maintaining higher levels of physical activity (PA) and healthier dietary behaviour improve when people are more intrinsically motivated to change their behaviour. To promote the shift towards more autonomous types of motivation, facilitator led CLIs have been developed including lifestyle coaching as key element. The present study examined the shift in types of motivation to increase PA and healthy dieting among participants of a primary care CLI, and the contribution of lifestyle coaching to potential changes in motivational quality. Methods: This prospective cohort study included participants of 29 general practices in the Netherlands that implemented a CLI named ‘BeweegKuur’. Questionnaires including items on demographics, lifestyle coaching and motivation were sent at baseline and after 4 months. Aspects of motivation were assessed with the Behavioural Regulation and Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2) and the Regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (REBS). We performed a drop out analysis to identify selective drop-out. Changes in motivation were analysed with t-tests and effect size interpretations (Cohen’s d), and multivariate regression analysis was used to identify predictors of motivational change. Results: For physical activity, changes in motivational regulation were fully in line with the tenets of Self Determination Theory and Motivational Interviewing: participants made a shift towards a more autonomous type of motivation (i.e. controlled types of motivation decreased and autonomous types increased). Moreover, an autonomy supportive coaching style was generally found to predict a larger shift in autonomous types of motivation. For healthy dietary behaviour, however, except for a small decrease in external motivation, no favourable changes in different types of motivation were observed. The relation between coaching and motivation appeared to be influenced by the presence of physical activity guidance in the programme. Conclusions: Motivation of participants of a real life primary care CLI had changed towards a more autonomous motivation after 4 months of intervention. Autonomy-supportive lifestyle coaching contributed to this change with respect to physical activity. Lifestyle coaching for healthy diet requires thorough knowledge about the problem of unhealthy dieting and solid coaching skills. (aut. ref.

Molecular genetic analysis of familial early-onset alzheimer's disease linked to chromosome 14q24.3

Genetic linkage studies have indicated that chromosome 14q24.3 harbours a major locus for early-onset (onset age <65 years) Alzheimer's disease (AD3). Positional cloning efforts have identified a novel gene S182 or presenilin 1 as the AD3 gene. We have mapped S182 in the AD3 candidate region between D14S277 and D14S284 defined by genetic linkage studies in the two chromosome 14 linked, early-onset AD families AD/A and AD/B. We have shown that S182 is expressed in lymphoblasts and have determined the complete cDNA in both brain and lymphoblasts by RT-PCR sequencing. S182 is alternatively spliced in both brain and lymphoblasts within a putative phosphorylation site located 5′ in the coding region. We identified two novel mutations, Ile143Thr and Gly384Ala located in, respectively, the second transmembrane domain and in the sixth hydrophilic loop of the putative transmembrane structure of S182. As families AD/A and AD/B have a very similar AD phenotype our observation of two mutations in functionally different domains suggest that onset age and severity of AD may not be very helpful predictors of the location of putative S182 mutations. © 1995 Oxford University Press.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe