Adult Learning in Online Educative Spaces: A Constructive-Developmental Perspective

This study explored how adults construct meaning, develop, and grow within the particular context of a structured, online, educative space and through the alone/together paradox

The New Economy and Youth Justice

This article focuses on the shape of the contemporary political economy and its effects on the young people and adults who are involved in the ‘deep end’ of the youth justice system—youth prisons. This ‘deep end’ arguably represents the end of the road for young people and adults who have found themselves adrift in the context of the contemporary capitalist model, and who have passed through existing social systems intended to offer them a safety net. After examining the consequences of the economy for these individuals, the article looks to new economic models and processes and their possible implications for a research and reform agenda

The Language of Incarceration

This brief think piece considers the uses of 'people first' language in the context of incarceration, both from a historical and contemporary perspective, and offers some thoughts about the use of this language by prison researchers. It focuses on the uses of such language in the context of disability studies and rights, and the focus on language by activists working to challenge systemic racism and abuse in prison systems in the 1960s and 1970s. It makes an argument for prison researchers to work intentionally with their use of language in keeping with broader disciplinary concerns around meaning making in prisons

Making Markets and Constructing Crises: A Review of Ho’s Liquidated

This book review is a beginning academic researcher’s interpretation of the robust methods and rich data Ho presents in her study of investment banking culture and the market in Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street (2009). A unique contribution of the text is Ho’s combining of ethnographic methods in order to practice polymorphous engagement in her study. A weakness of the text is Ho’s lacking autoethnographic analysis of her experience as an Asian American woman on Wall Street. The book will be helpful for a scholarly audience interested in studying rigorous ethnographic methodologies and exploring the culture of Wall Street

Stability for a small historic house museum: Drafting a collection management policy for the Trinidad Museum

A museum exists and is defined primarily by its collection. It is therefore important for a museum to manage its collection effectively while preserving it for long-term use. The size and scope of the museum\u27s collection will determine the complexity of its policy. As such, all museums, including small ones, need a well-defined Collection Management Policy (CMP). This policy outlines what and how to collect, defines the development and use of the collection as well as procedures for the care of the collection, the loaning of items and removing of items from the museum\u27s collection. The Trinidad Museum, a small non-profit museum located in Trinidad California, has no such written policy. The mission of the Trinidad Museum is to collect, preserve and display the history and natural history of Trinidad. Because the Trinidad Museum lacks a CMP they have no standard procedures documenting on what, why and how the museum collects. This has, and without correction will continue to create administrative, legal and ethical problems. The goal of this project is to create a CMP for the Trinidad Museum. Evaluating the problems and needs of the Trinidad Museum the CMP will outline the museums purpose, the acquisition of items, the removal of items, loans, care of the collections, inventories and insurance. This document will provide the Trinidad Museum with a set of organized procedures to follow and a more stable foundation for museum management, which will also allow the easy transition of museum staff over time in the future

Mercy Towards Decarceration: Examining the Legal Constraints on Early Release from Prison

There are close to seven million people under correctional supervision in the United States, both in prison and in the community. The U.S. criminal justice system is widely regarded as an inherently unmerciful institution by scholars and policymakers, but also by people who have spent time in prison and their family members; it is deeply punitive, racist, expansive and damaging in its reach. In this article, we probe the meanings of mercy for the institution of parole

Learning by volunteer computing, thinking and gaming: What and how are volunteers learning by participating in Virtual Citizen Science?

Citizen Science (CS) refers to a form of research collaboration that engages volunteers without formal scientific training in contributing to empirical scientific projects. Virtual Citizen Science (VCS) projects engage participants in online tasks. VCS has demonstrated its usefulness for research, however little is known about its learning potential for volunteers. This paper reports on research exploring the learning outcomes and processes in VCS. In order to identify different kinds of learning, 32 exploratory interviews of volunteers were conducted in three different VCS projects. We found six main learning outcomes related to different participants' activities in the project. Volunteers learn on four dimensions that are directly related to the scope of the VCS project: they learn at the task/game level, acquire pattern recognition skills, on-topic content knowledge, and improve their scientific literacy. Thanks to indirect opportunities of VCS projects, volunteers learn on two additional dimensions: off topic knowledge and skills, and personal development. Activities through which volunteers learn can be categorized in two levels: at a micro (task/game) level that is direct participation to the task, and at a macro level, i.e. use of project documentation, personal research on the Internet, and practicing specific roles in project communities. Both types are influenced by interactions with others in chat or forums. Most learning happens to be informal, unstructured and social. Volunteers do not only learn from others by interacting with scientists and their peers, but also by working for others: they gain knowledge, new status and skills by acting as active participants, moderators, editors, translators, community managers, etc. in a project community. This research highlights these informal and social aspects in adult learning and science education and also stresses the importance for learning through the indirect opportunities provided by the project: the main one being the opportunity to participate and progress in a project community, according to one's tastes and skills

Building Life-Cycle Carbon and Operational Energy Report

The premise of this report is to surmise the embodied carbon impact and anticipated operational energy use of the 57,995 sf crosslaminated timber (CLT) and glulam addition to the Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) on the University of Maine campus. The project will contain open lab space for the world’s largest prototype polymer 3D printer, offices, and a presentation venue. A life-cycle assessment is a methodology for quantifying environmental impacts at all stages of a building’s life cycle. This is a cradle-to-grave assessment of the building, beginning from raw material extraction and sourcing, to manufacturing, transportation, construction, energy use, maintenance and building end-of-life recycling/disposal. The intent of the life-cycle assessment (LCA) is to evaluate the embodied carbon impact of the timber design and identify opportunities for impact reductions. The primary goal of the engineering analysis is to understand and determine the feasibility of the project operational energy use to achieve Zero Net Energy (ZNE) for the new lab addition. Using the results from the LCA, low carbon benchmarks will be developed for major structural components, to inform future timber developments on the University campus and in the Northeast region at large

The Legitimation Strategies of ‘Progressive’ Prosecutors

This article focuses on the self-legitimation strategies of frontline prosecutors working in a Northeastern city in the United States (‘Belton’). The research took place in a self-described ‘progressive’ prosecutor’s office in the midst of a legitimacy crisis that prosecutors faced across the country. The prosecutors in Belton spoke about their role and practices in the face of this legitimacy crisis through a strategy of differentiation from other criminal justice actors, aimed at establishing their purported positional and moral superiority in enacting criminal justice practices, and through minimizing their responsibility for the systemic harms that prosecutors more generally have been said to perpetuate