Postcards from The Edge: Exploring the Edges of Regenerated Fibre Development and Design Driven Material Innovation

In this paper, postcards from the EU funded Horizon 2020 Trash-2-Cash (2015-2018) project - completed by workshop participants – are presented in three tables with a focus on how they contributed to the building of communication channels, shared understanding and methods in this inter-disciplinary consortium work. The Trash-2-Cash project aims to support better waste utilisation, improve material efficiency, contribute to reduction of landfill area needs, whilst also producing high-value commercial products. Novel materials will drive the generation of new textile fibres that will utilize paper and textile fibre waste, originating from continuously increasing textile consumption. The inter-disciplanarity of the participants is key to achieving the project aims – but communication between sectors is challenging due to diverse expertise and levels of experience; language and cultural differences can also be barriers to collaboration as well. Designing easy and accessible, even fun, communication tools are one of the ways to help build relationships. The cards reviewed were used in Prato (November 2015), Helsinki (February 2016) and London (November 2016). This paper concludes with insights for the ongoing development of the project communications work towards the Design Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) methodology, due to be presented at the end of the project in 2018

Season's Greetings: An Analysis of Christmas Card Use

Christmas is the time of year when people reaffirm social connections through the medium of Christmas cards. Although much communication in the modern age is conducted via electronic means, many people continue to send and receive paper-based cards during the festive season. With a view to understanding practices surrounding the use of digital and paper-based media, this paper explores the use of paper-based and electronic Christmas cards among a sample of university students. We describe students’ practices regarding Christmas cards, examining what they do, why they do it, and what they value about both paper and electronic cards. Our analysis leads to a number of design challenges for the development of electronic alternatives to paper-based cards

Mapping Social Justice: A Case Study of a School of Social Work Student-Led Social Justice Initiative

Throughout the history of social work, two different branches – micro social work and macro social work – have emerged. Micro social work is largely focused on treating mental and behavioral health problems in individuals, couples and groups. Macro social work, meanwhile, focuses on making systemic changes through advocacy like lobbying and community organizing. Despite their differences, a key principle unites these branches: social justice. Although the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) identify social justice as a guiding principle of social work, there is little consensus in the field of what the term actually means and how it can be achieved. Master of Social Work (MSW) programs are likewise struggling with how to educate students on social justice and prepare them to engage in macro-level advocacy after graduating. This research examines how one student-led social justice initiative at a school of social work in St. Paul, MN is working to increase student engagement in macro-level social justice work through the use of targeted advocacy alerts. A case study design was utilized to explore the project\u27s intricacies and evaluate first-year feedback, ultimately providing other MSW programs with a blueprint to adopt their own version of the project. Findings suggest that the targeted alert model may be successful in engaging clinical MSW students in social justice advocacy. Future research should explore longterm outcomes of this initiative at the original institution, as well as how it has been expanded to and implemented at other social work programs

Developing a product that customers love: examining the effectiveness of qualitative user interviews for co-creation at the new product development stage

The concept of co-creation enables new ways for businesses to interact with their customers in product development. Yet, the gap between successful co-creation and co-destruction is small, and research is lacking insights about promising methodologies that can be applied by startups at the new product development stage. Drawing on the example of PenPal, this study compared the insights from four mini focus groups and six individual interviews to answer the research questions on whether qualitative interviews are suited for startup co-creation. A qualitative content analysis highlighted key advantages and disadvantages of both methods and drew valuable insights for future research

A Survey of Occupational Therapy Services Provided for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: We examined the services provided to adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by occupational therapists across the United States. Method: This cross-sectional study used an online survey, with a combination of structured and open-ended questions, to collect data from a nonprobability sample. Descriptive, inferential, and nonparametric statistics were used to analyze data. Results: In our sample (N= 57), the majority of the participants spent less than half of their workweek intervening with the adult ASD population. Caregivers were instrumental in both referral and discharge, and Medicaid was the most common payer source. The Adult Sensory Profile was used by more than half of the participants and sensory integration was the most influential model underlying practice (77%). The participants advised new occupational therapists to pursue high quality continuing education courses and formal mentorship from senior colleagues. Conclusion: This study suggests that working with adults with ASD remains a niche area of practice. Further research is needed to examine the pathways to receiving occupational therapy for the adult ASD population

Interactive technologies on art museum websites

Master of ScienceDepartment of Communications StudiesGregory PaulThis report investigates how American art museums have adopted interactive technologies on their websites. The use of such technologies brings to the forefront a tension regarding authority over visitors’ experience of and interpretation of art both in person and online. Interactive tools on 15 art museum websites were coded as enabling one of three types of interaction: human-to-computer, human-to-human and human-to-content. Human-to-computer interactive features were most prevalent on museum websites, followed by human-to-human and human-to-content interactive technologies respectively. The findings demonstrate a tension between the goals of art museums in wanting to engage visitors in co-creation of meaning about art on the one hand and wanting to maintain their traditional authority over that meaning on the other. The report concludes by offering recommendations for how museums can use interactive technologies more effectively in order to maintain their role as centers of social and cultural life