Transformative Learning in an Online Context: The Experiences of Non-Traditional Learners in a Scottish HEI

This thesis explores non-traditional learners’ retrospective experiences of transformative learning having completed an online Childhood Practice Degree one year prior to participating in this research project. The central aim was to investigate the nature of learners’ transformations and establish the potential of the online context as a space capable of fostering transformative learning. Using a purposive sampling strategy, nineteen graduates were selected to take part in the research. Adopting a qualitative approach based on a constructivist view of human knowledge, semi-structured asynchronous email interviews were used to collect the data. A total of three hundred and ten email exchanges took place. As an online method the email interview offered space to reflect and space to be silent which increased reflexivity for participants to construct, reflect upon and learn from their responses. Data was analysed using a hybrid thematic approach which recognised the inherent interplay between inductive and deductive analysis. Findings indicate that the process of interactivity is fundamental to establishing the conditions capable of fostering transformative learning in an online context. While human interactivity lies at the heart of this process the technology acts as a significant enabler which has the capacity to create a level playing field and meeting the needs of non-traditional learners more effectively. The research findings confirmed the relational, intersubjective nature of transformative learning online and the significance of establishing relationships based on mutual recognition. There is also evidence to suggest that undertaking a Childhood Practice Degree can create conditions capable of promoting all three forms of self-awareness: self-confidence, self-respect and self-esteem. Research findings also support the current impetus to build on Mezirow’s original work to develop a more unified perspective

Advancing translational research with the Semantic Web

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A fundamental goal of the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) "Roadmap" is to strengthen <it>Translational Research</it>, defined as the movement of discoveries in basic research to application at the clinical level. A significant barrier to translational research is the lack of uniformly structured data across related biomedical domains. The Semantic Web is an extension of the current Web that enables navigation and meaningful use of digital resources by automatic processes. It is based on common formats that support aggregation and integration of data drawn from diverse sources. A variety of technologies have been built on this foundation that, together, support identifying, representing, and reasoning across a wide range of biomedical data. The Semantic Web Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group (HCLSIG), set up within the framework of the World Wide Web Consortium, was launched to explore the application of these technologies in a variety of areas. Subgroups focus on making biomedical data available in RDF, working with biomedical ontologies, prototyping clinical decision support systems, working on drug safety and efficacy communication, and supporting disease researchers navigating and annotating the large amount of potentially relevant literature.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a scenario that shows the value of the information environment the Semantic Web can support for aiding neuroscience researchers. We then report on several projects by members of the HCLSIG, in the process illustrating the range of Semantic Web technologies that have applications in areas of biomedicine.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Semantic Web technologies present both promise and challenges. Current tools and standards are already adequate to implement components of the bench-to-bedside vision. On the other hand, these technologies are young. Gaps in standards and implementations still exist and adoption is limited by typical problems with early technology, such as the need for a critical mass of practitioners and installed base, and growing pains as the technology is scaled up. Still, the potential of interoperable knowledge sources for biomedicine, at the scale of the World Wide Web, merits continued work.</p

Grounding semantics in robots for Visual Question Answering

In this thesis I describe an operational implementation of an object detection and description system that incorporates in an end-to-end Visual Question Answering system and evaluated it on two visual question answering datasets for compositional language and elementary visual reasoning

Potentials of a Harmonised Database for Agricultural Market Modelling

The study analysed existing databases for agricultural market data on errors and discrepancies and to elaborate the possibilities to harmonise datasets for policy modelling. The study supports DG AGRI in improving quality and timely availability of data for market modelling and ensuring that data from different sources are consistent. This study aims to provide a structure for a consolidated database for policy modelling which does not alter existing databases. Within this report, existing databases are analysed to derive key insights for setting-up a harmonised metabase. As available databases comprise statistical databases as well as scientific model databases, both groups are studied. For the purpose of this study, statistical databases are defined as providers of the information that international institutes receive from their reporters, while the reporters are required to provide harmonised, complete, consistent, and where possible, timely data series for establishing models or other quantitative methods. Nevertheless, a statistical database can also serve as a model database, such as e.g. PS&D. Statistical databases from international institutions (FAO, USDA, Eurostat), as well as model databases (AGLINK/COSIMO, AGMEMOD, CAPRI/CAPSIM, ESIM, FAPRI, GTAP, FARM, IMPACT), were studied to find ways of consolidating data and providing insights that allow for a better comparison of model results. For this reason, various classification schemes used in agricultural statistics were reviewed (country, product, balance item, year, unit), as was the manner in which the different modelling groups have dealt with these classifications in their databases. Besides a common classification, a harmonised database for market modelling purposes will require further efforts to be applied to a consolidation effort for the original data. Such a procedure must be supplemented by methods dealing with completion and balancing.JRC.J.5-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

‘I sort of feel that one is meant to say how important endings always are…’ Counsellors’ experiences of endings in primary care : an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Ending therapy well is widely acknowledged as crucial for therapeutic gains to be maintained over time, yet numerous authors comment on the paucity of termination research. There appears to be no extant research into counsellors’ experiences of ending time-limited counselling in primary care (CPC), despite this being a rapidly-expanding area of practice, and theoretical literature suggesting elevated stress levels, ideological battles and burnout as counsellors adjust to time-limited working within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. When the ‘hallmark’ of a good ending is mutual agreement concerning client readiness, to what extent do traditional models of termination still hold? The aim of this research is provide some preliminary understanding of counsellors’ experiences of endings within this context. A qualitative design was employed. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews with six counsellors, and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Four overarching themes emerged: ‘self-experiencing’, ‘the quality of the therapeutic process’, ‘conflicting frameworks’, and ‘towards congruence’. These are related to wider literature and implications for counselling psychology (CoP) are discussed. Limitations and suggestions for future research are explored

Radicalizing Psychology; Embodying Decoloniality

Modernity has disembodied and dissociated psychological subjectivity. It has significantly affected the capacity of individuals and communities to engage proactively in their worlds. Racism is part of modernity’s system of social control and is embedded as part of a Colonial Matrix of Power (CMP) (Quijano, 2000). Epistemic (epistemological) hegemony is an underlying assumption that is rarely called into question and is the glue that sustains the matrix. Community Psychology is based on assumptions rooted in the CMP, and its methodologies and conclusions must be called into question. This article is intended as an intervention to stop the ongoing harm of the CMP. Non-modernity is a starting point for challenging the CMP, to identify its false narratives and to recognize different epistemologies and ontologies. Non-occupied space is a condition for embodiment, the re-membering (re-integration) of the disembodied parts (Anzaldua, 2015). Out of this space emerge denormalized stories that simultaneously reveal how the matrix of power functions and re-member the village (i.e. epistemologies, ontologies, and social relationships delegitimized and silenced by conquest and violence)