A Case Study of Community Action Service Learning on Young, Gifted Adolescents and Their Community

This study documents the evolution o fservice learning in America and the types of service learning. This case study examined the perception of 28 young, gifted adolescents involved in a Community Action service learning project toward their project, the effects of this involvement upon them, the impact of the project on the rural community, and the effects of the methodology that was used in the classroom from 1998-2000. The study examined this case in relation to an earlier pilot study by the researcher. Data were gathered through focus group and individual interviews, observations, and a review of documents. The importance of service learning to the young, gifted participants in this study was highlighted in the following themes emerging from the data: methodology, attitudes, student development, empowerment, commitment, and effects of celebration. The experiences from this project gave the students opportunities to grow academically, intellectually, personally, creatively, and socially. Through their participation in this Community Action service learning project, the students began to see outside the walls of their classroom into the community beyond. Civic awareness and responsibility were developed. Basic skills were propped up. while the students\u27 sense of responsibility toward their community and each other developed. They learned how to creatively elicit ideas to improve their community. This project had both a direct and an indirect impact on the community. Directly, it led to beautification of the downtown area and educated the community about its historic resources. Indirectly, it led to the community perceiving youth as a positive element in the community. It also affected student attitudes positively toward the community. These findings point to the importance of methodology to service learning. In order to help gifted students perform to their maximum potential, a conscious effort to lead students toward self-learning and independence is needed. The study suggests that students must have opportunities to work cooperatively; to learn the skills of creative problem solving; to have ample, formal reflective activities; and to have opportunities for celebration. Implications for educators are discussed

A Case Study of Community Action Service Learning on Young, Gifted Adolescents and Their Community

This study documents the evolution o fservice learning in America and the types of service learning. This case study examined the perception of 28 young, gifted adolescents involved in a Community Action service learning project toward their project, the effects of this involvement upon them, the impact of the project on the rural community, and the effects of the methodology that was used in the classroom from 1998-2000. The study examined this case in relation to an earlier pilot study by the researcher. Data were gathered through focus group and individual interviews, observations, and a review of documents. The importance of service learning to the young, gifted participants in this study was highlighted in the following themes emerging from the data: methodology, attitudes, student development, empowerment, commitment, and effects of celebration. The experiences from this project gave the students opportunities to grow academically, intellectually, personally, creatively, and socially. Through their participation in this Community Action service learning project, the students began to see outside the walls of their classroom into the community beyond. Civic awareness and responsibility were developed. Basic skills were propped up. while the students\u27 sense of responsibility toward their community and each other developed. They learned how to creatively elicit ideas to improve their community. This project had both a direct and an indirect impact on the community. Directly, it led to beautification of the downtown area and educated the community about its historic resources. Indirectly, it led to the community perceiving youth as a positive element in the community. It also affected student attitudes positively toward the community. These findings point to the importance of methodology to service learning. In order to help gifted students perform to their maximum potential, a conscious effort to lead students toward self-learning and independence is needed. The study suggests that students must have opportunities to work cooperatively; to learn the skills of creative problem solving; to have ample, formal reflective activities; and to have opportunities for celebration. Implications for educators are discussed

School performance trajectories and young adult offending: Findings from a national administrative data linkage, United Kingdom

Objectives Criminal offending and re-offending comes at a significant social and economic cost. Offending prevention therefore presents a high priority policy area. Low educational attainment is a known risk factor for offending, but little is understood about how changes in school performance over time might be associated with offending. Methods We investigated this in a large sample of n~4.3 million pupils using an administrative data linkage between two routinely-collected national datasets: the National Pupil Database (NPD) and the Police National Computer (PNC). First, we conducted growth mixture modelling using NPD data over three statutory testing years (School Years 2, 6 and 11). We then investigated the association between membership of these trajectories and subsequent conviction or caution for any criminal offence between Year 11 and age 21. Results We derived five school performance trajectories: (1) Average Consistent (n=3,497,167, 81.0%), (2) Average Increasing (n=66,383, 1.5%), (3) Average Declining (n=373,117, 8.6%), (4) Low Increasing (n=98,805, 2.3%), and (5) Low Consistent (n=281,964, 6.5%). The Average Declining group had the highest proportion of individuals who went on to be convicted or cautioned for any first offence up to age 21 (9.8%), followed by the Low Consistent (8.5%), Low Increasing (5.6%), Average Consistent (4.2%) and Average Increasing (1.5%) groups. Furthermore, as the number of offending days between Year 11 and age 21 increased (indicating repeat offending), the likelihood of having been in the Average Declining or Low Consistent groups also increased. We will also present findings from multilevel models accounting for school clustering, different offence types, and interactions. Conclusion Tentatively, findings suggest that changes in school performance could help to identify pupils who are struggling and at increased risk of criminal justice involvement, and therefore might be in need of additional support

Associations between paternal PTSD or depression, adolescent mental health, and family functioning:A cross-sectional study of UK military families

Background: Relationships between paternal mental health, adolescent mental health, and family functioning have received limited attention in UK military populations. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to investigate whether post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression in military fathers was associated with mental health disorders in adolescent offspring and impaired family functioning. Methods: In total, n=105 serving and ex-serving members of the UK Armed Forces, and n=137 of their adolescent offspring (aged 11 to 17 years), were included in this analysis. Data were collected online and via home visits, using validated questionnaires to assess mental health and family functioning. Results: Families where fathers had probable PTSD or depression experienced more impaired general family functioning compared to families where the father did not have these conditions (unadjusted b=0.21, 95% CI=0.07 to 0.35, p=0.003), and particularly on the communication subscale of the Family Assessment Device. Probable paternal PTSD or depression was also associated with increased likelihood of adolescent mental health disorders (unadjusted OR=2.30, 95% CI=1.10 to 4.81, p=0.027), particularly internalising disorders such as depression or anxiety (unadjusted OR=2.21, 95% CI=1.04 to 4.71, p=0.040). The direction and strength of these associations did not substantially change after adjusting for sociodemographic and military covariates. Conclusions: This study found evidence for associations between probable paternal PTSD or depression, poorer adolescent mental health, and poorer family functioning in military families. This highlights the importance of supporting the wellbeing of both military fathers and their adolescent offspring, and of supporting the whole family when parents are known to be struggling with their mental health

A split horseradish peroxidase for detection of intercellular protein-protein interactions and sensitive visualization of synapses

Intercellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs) enable communication between cells in diverse biological processes, including cell proliferation, immune responses, infection and synaptic transmission, but they are challenging to visualize because existing techniques1,2,3 have insufficient sensitivity and/or specificity. Here we report split horseradish peroxidase (sHRP) as a sensitive and specific tool for detection of intercellular PPIs. The two sHRP fragments, engineered through screening of 17 cut sites in HRP followed by directed evolution, reconstitute into an active form when driven together by an intercellular PPI, producing bright fluorescence or contrast for electron microscopy. Fusing the sHRP fragments to the proteins neurexin (NRX) and neuroligin (NLG), which bind each other across the synaptic cleft4, enabled sensitive visualization of synapses between specific sets of neurons, including two classes of synapses in the mouse visual system. sHRP should be widely applicable for studying mechanisms of communication between a variety of cell types

Supporting code for "Educational attainment trajectories among children and adolescents with depression, and the role of sociodemographic characteristics: longitudinal data-linkage study"

This project contains supporting code for the publication: Wickersham, A., Dickson, H., Jones, R., Pritchard, M., Stewart, R., Ford, T., & Downs, J. (2021). Educational attainment trajectories among children and adolescents with depression, and the role of sociodemographic characteristics: Longitudinal data-linkage study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 218(3), 151-157. doi:10.1192/bjp.2020.160 Multiple study authors contributed to study design, analysis and code. Uploaded to Open Science Framework by Alice Wickersham on 1st July 2021