Using narrative ideas to learn about mental illness in the classroom

Narrative ideas provide an interesting basis for teaching health practitioners. The specific notions discussed here have been referred to as reflecting teams and as outsider-witness practices. These practices involve offering feedback in non-evaluative ways as a means of exploring new possibilities and perspectives for participants. The emphasis is on the acknowledgement and resonance that occurs when a story is told and witnessed through connecting the story with the lives of the listeners. This paper offers an example of classroom work linked to studentsʼ assignments that was designed to help general nursing students learn about people with mental health problems. The assignments focused on the media representations of people with a mental disorder. The notions of reflecting teams and outsider-witnesses were used in a classroom exercise to witness the stories described in the assignments. The primary aim was to help students to develop richer understandings of people with mental health problems that might lead to more caring ways of practising nursing. The reflecting team process helped students to go beyond the media stereotypes of mental illness and the people who suffer from it. It promoted new understandings of mental health consumers. The exercise enabled students to learn more about stigma and its undermining influence on peoplesʼ lives, to pay close attention to their own language use, and to commit to an enhanced advocate role for vulnerable groups in their care in future practice settings

Student understanding of the Boltzmann factor

We present results of our investigation into student understanding of the physical significance and utility of the Boltzmann factor in several simple models. We identify various justifications, both correct and incorrect, that students use when answering written questions that require application of the Boltzmann factor. Results from written data as well as teaching interviews suggest that many students can neither recognize situations in which the Boltzmann factor is applicable, nor articulate the physical significance of the Boltzmann factor as an expression for multiplicity, a fundamental quantity of statistical mechanics. The specific student difficulties seen in the written data led us to develop a guided-inquiry tutorial activity, centered around the derivation of the Boltzmann factor, for use in undergraduate statistical mechanics courses. We report on the development process of our tutorial, including data from teaching interviews and classroom observations on student discussions about the Boltzmann factor and its derivation during the tutorial development process. This additional information informed modifications that improved students' abilities to complete the tutorial during the allowed class time without sacrificing the effectiveness as we have measured it. These data also show an increase in students' appreciation of the origin and significance of the Boltzmann factor during the student discussions. Our findings provide evidence that working in groups to better understand the physical origins of the canonical probability distribution helps students gain a better understanding of when the Boltzmann factor is applicable and how to use it appropriately in answering relevant questions

The Political is Personal: TAs on the Front Lines of the Critical Consciousness Campaign

This paper addresses the personal demands that Teaching Assistants (TAs) encounter as they work toward nurturing critical consciousness in university tutorials. We explore two case studies that occurred during our participatory, feminist, action research project which aims to have students collaboratively question and reflect upon their responses to critical theorizing in sociology. The scenarios that we analyze illustrate how students’ investments in dominant ideologies around gender relations and sexuality can lead to situations that are very challenging for TAs. Our analyses reveal that, particularly in tutorial settings where students vocalize their positions, TAs personally encounter a myriad of emotional, intellectual and interpersonal considerations in response to their students’ politics. These case studies emphasize the complexities involved when TAs are committed to both anti-oppressive pedagogy and critical ideologies

Providing a law degree for the real world : perspective of an Australian law school

As a result of a two year curriculum review, QUT’s undergraduate law degree has a focus on first year student transition, integration of law graduate capabilities throughout the degree and work integrated learning. A ‘whole-degree’ approach was adopted to ensure that capabilities were appropriately embedded and scaffolded throughout the degree, that teaching and learning approaches met the needs of students as they transitioned from first year through to final year, and that students in final year were provided with a capstone experience to assist them with transition into the work place. The revised degree commenced implementation in 2009. This paper focuses on the ‘real world’ approach to the degree achieved through the first year program, embedding and scaffolding law graduate capabilities through authentic and valid assessment and work integrated learning to assist graduates with transition into the workplace

Безопасность и качество пищевых продуктов = Practical Food Safety and Food Quality : практикум

Даны описания практических и лабораторных работ, проводимых в рамках курсов «Международные стандарты и безопасность продуктов питания» и «Контроль качества биотехнологических продуктов». Задания сопровождаются подробными комментариями. Используются активные формы обучения, такие как работа в команде, игровые технологии и пр. Для иностранных и российских студентов, обучающихся на английском языке, изучающих пищевую биотехнологию, контроль качества и безопасность пищевых продуктов

An educational paradigm for teaching computer forensics

Teaching Computer Forensics to students at postgraduate and undergraduate levels is a challenge. Creating an assignment that is both realistic and also helpful to students when pursuing careers in this competitive area is also a demanding task for the lecturer. A problem-based learning (PBL) strategy has been used to increase the employability of the students, by designing a real-world problem for the students to solve. It can be shown that this enhances the employability skills of the students when it comes to finding jobs. The coursework is based around a case study. To add an extra dimension to the assessment we involved final year Law students from the School of Humanities, Law Department, to act as jury members and also to help to cross-examine the postgraduate students while they presented their findings in the role of an Expert Witness. This created at the same time a valuable exercise for the legal students in the context that evidence presented in courts is increasingly computer-based evidence. This paper discusses the preparation of the evidence files, how employability is enhanced by the use of a PBL approach to teaching, the process of evaluating the results of the students work and concludes with an overview of the student experience for all students involved

Determinants of harassment in online multiplayer games

Objective. Online multiplayer games allow large numbers of participants to play simultaneously online. Unfortunately, this has also given rise to new forms of harassment and abuse. The current study used the criminological framework of Routine Activity Theory to identify possible circumstantial and individual risk factors that predict both general and sexual harassment victimization in this online context. Method. An online survey of online multiplayer gamers (N = 883) was conducted. Measures included harassment exposure, guardianship, and target suitability. These determinants were used to predict general and sexual harassment victimization in multiple regression analyses. Analyses controlled for social desirability responding. Results. Both sexual harassment victimization (R² = 63%) and general harassment victimization (R² = 57%) were successfully predicted using the determinants. The gender of the gamer is associated with the type of harassment received; women are more likely to encounter sexual harassment, while men are more likely to be harassed in the general sense. Gaming for fewer hours per week, with mostly or exclusively female avatars, and sharing personal information (e.g. gender) predicts sexual harassment victimization, whereas playing in Player-versus-Player game modes predicts general harassment victimization. Harassing other gamers and associating with harassers predicts both general and sexual harassment. Conclusions. Our models explained a sizable percentage of the variation in harassment, indicating for the first time that the Routine Activity Theory can be applied to understand online harassment in gaming. Specifically, it was found that different types of in-game exposure predict different types of victimization, that lacking personal self-guardianship predicts sexual harassment and that gender (or revealing gender) is associated with changes in harassment