Developing self efficacy in research skills: becoming research-minded

The OSWE project’s aims to promote research capacity and develop outcome measures in social work education mirror the capacity and capability building ambitions articulated in the JUCSWEC research strategy (2006) and resonate with concerns about the limited research mindedness and competence of practitioners and social work students. This situation is not unique to the UK. A study from Canada (Unrau and Beck, 2004, p. 188) captures these concerns: While professional and academic expectations are that students integrate research into their practice frameworks…it is not at all clear to what degree students….are learning research skills. Furthermore, studies consistently show that social work students do not exercise research knowledge and skills in their early years of entering the profession. Further synergies between the project discussed within this chapter and the intent to build research capacity in social work were created by focusing on the development of self-efficacy in research skills of social work students at Bournemouth University. This concern for research capacity and capability enhancement, or ‘collaborative capacity building’ (Burgess and Carpenter, 2008, p. 909), was reflected in the local project through the active collaboration between an established and an emerging researcher. This chapter describes the use of research self-efficacy as a tool to evaluate and promote student learning, through self-assessment and lecturer-assessment. We suggest ways in which the approach can be used to plan, predict and assist future learning. The project rationale arose from the desire to increase and enhance research capacity and awareness in social work students. The underpinning premise is summarised by Holden: “when a social worker…has greater confidence regarding his or her research abilities he/she will feel more empowered as a social worker” (Holden et al., 1999, p. 465). This is because high self-efficacy ratings in research are consistently predictive of future confident and successful research behaviour in social workers in the USA (Holden et al., 1999). This confidence in being able to engage with research will enable practitioners to develop practice based on competent reading of research and contribute to the enhancement of the profession and its research base

Agent-Based Urban Land Markets: Agent's Pricing Behavior, Land Prices and Urban Land Use Change

We present a new bilateral agent-based land market model, which moves beyond previous work by explicitly modeling behavioral drivers of land-market transactions on both the buyer and seller sides; formation of bid prices (of buyers) and ask prices (of sellers); and the relative division of the gains from trade from the market transactions. We analyze model output using a series of macro-scale economic and landscape pattern measures, including land rent gradients estimated using simple regression models. We first demonstrate that our model replicates relevant theoretical results of the traditional Alonso/Von Thünen model (structural validation). We then explore how urban morphology and land rents change as the relative market power of buyers and sellers changes (i.e., we move from a 'sellers' market' to a 'buyers' market'). We demonstrate that these strategic price dynamics have differential effects on land rents, but both lead to increased urban expansion

The Impact of a Dual Language Environment on Social and Emotional Competency

As SEL is intentionally embedded into a student’s school experience, it is important to explore contexts in which SEL can be further enhanced. Because the bilingual brain has shown high correlation to social and emotional behaviors, this study examined the dual language environment and the impact on a student’s SEL. The setting is a K-5 global and dual language immersion school, and the study examined the social and emotional competency of students learning in the K-3 dual language immersion cohorts compared to K-3 students in the traditional learning cohorts. The study used the Devereux Student Strength Assessment (DESSA)-Mini from Aperture Education to assess the student’s social and emotional total (SET). Teachers and parents assessed students using the DESSA-Mini, a brief SEL rating form. The data were analyzed for significant impact of the dual language environment on SEL. Additionally, a K-3 teacher focus group was facilitated and responses were coded and analyzed for increased social and emotional behaviors from the K-3 dual language student cohort. Data outcomes were presented to the school setting and the District Administration. First and third grade student data did not demonstrate a significant SEL impact. However, through overall examined research and data analysis, it is concluded that a DLI instructional model is an effective pathway to support SEL

Introducing Preference Heterogeneity into a Monocentric Urban Model: an Agent-Based Land Market Model

This paper presents an agent-based urban land market model. We first replace the centralized price determination mechanism of the monocentric urban market model with a series of bilateral trades distributed in space and time. We then run the model for agents with heterogeneous preferences for location. Model output is analyzed using a series of macro-scale economic and landscape pattern measures, including land rent gradients estimated using simple regression. We demonstrate that heterogeneity in preference for proximity alone is sufficient to generate urban expansion and that information on agent heterogeneity is needed to fully explain land rent variation over space. Our agent-based land market model serves as computational laboratory that may improve our understanding of the processes generating patterns observed in real-world data

Agent-Based Urban Land Markets: Agent\'s Pricing Behavior, Land Prices and Urban Land Use Change

We present a new bilateral agent-based land market model, which moves beyond previous work by explicitly modeling behavioral drivers of land-market transactions on both the buyer and seller side; formation of bid prices (of buyers) and ask prices (of sellers); and the relative division of the gains from trade from the market transactions. We analyze model output using a series of macro-scale economic and landscape pattern measures, including land rent gradients estimated using simple regression models. We first demonstrate that our model replicates relevant theoretical results of the traditional Alonso/Von Th�nen model (structural validation). We then explore how urban morphology and land rents change as the relative market power of buyers and sellers changes (i.e., we move from a \'sellers\' market\' to a \'buyers\' market\'). We demonstrate that these strategic price dynamics have differential effects on land rents, but both lead to increased urban expansion.Location Choice, Urban Land Market, Agent-Based Computational Economics, Land Use, Land Rent Gradient, Spatial Simulation