The Uncomfortable mix of seduction and inexperience in Vocational Students' decision making

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the process that undergraduates go through in selecting universities and courses in the context of an increasingly marketisated higher education (HE) where students may see themselves as consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The process students go through is examined with reference to the services marketing literature and using a qualitative, phenomenological approach with students encouraged to focus on their lived experiences. Findings – Notable was the reported inexperience of students who suggest an apparent focus on peripheral rather than core aspects of the HE service offering and therefore aim to quickly make “safe” choices. Also there is evidence of “satisficing” and of avoiding risks and choosing options which “feel right” rather than following a more systematic decision-making process which might be expected for such an important decision. Also noted was a tendency to defer the decision to others, including the institutions themselves, and their increasingly seductive marketing approaches. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on a vocational university with a focus on subjects for the new professions (marketing, journalism and media production). Further studies might consider how far the findings hold true for other types of subjects and institutions. Practical implications – The paper considers the implications of these findings for universities and their marketing activities, and invites them to both re-evaluate assumptions that an informed and considered process has taken place, and to further consider the ethics of current practices. Originality/value – The paper's focus on the stories provided by students provides new insights into the complexities and contradictions of decision making for HE and for services in general

Glimpses in a Christmas Shop

The year is aging and growing old, the wintry winds and drifting snows proclaim to us the passing of romantic summer and flippant fall. With the grayed and tired closing year, come the thoughts of Christmas bells and the reindeer which are soon to trip lightly over the roofs, and of Santa, who, with his bag bulging, will slip down the chimneys to leave gifts that will be cherished by the little ones until his next coming

The value of dramatization in the junior high school

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Hints for the Spring Wardrobe

The cold blasts of winter winds may easily be thought of as heralders of spring. To the well-dressed woman the signs of spring are a warning to her to think of her spring wardrobe. Every woman wants to be well dressed, and this privilege is becoming more possible every day thru the numerous fashion magazines and daily papers. The first essential for the well-dressed woman is to be appropriately dressed and this is really the hard part. However, by close observation of the current styles with consideration of her type and the occasion, a very pleasing result may be secured. The really well-dressed woman takes into consideration every detail of her costume from the tip of her head to the soles of her shoes

Towards a strategy for workplace learning: Report to HEFCE by CHERI and KPMG

The study, undertaken between March and November 2005 aimed to inform HEFCE thinking on developing a strategy for workplace learning by: exploring the nature, purposes and outcomes of workplace learning; considering workplace learning within the broader relationships between the worlds of work and learning; exploring emerging changes in higher education which may impact on workplace learning in the future; identifying structural issues that currently enable or inhibit workplace learning, and identify future opportunities

Understanding the quality of life experiences of older or frail adults following a new dens fracture: non-surgical management in a hard collar versus early removal of collar

Introduction: In the UK, fractures of the cervical dens process in older and/or frail patients are usually managed non-surgically in a hard collar. However, hard collars can lead to complications and this management approach is now being questioned, with growing interest in maximising patients’ short-term quality-of-life. It is vital that patient’s perspectives are considered, yet there is a dearth of literature examining the aspect. To help inform wider decision-making about use of collar/no collar management of dens fractures in older/frail people, we explored older/frail people’s experience of the two management approaches and how they affected their perceived quality-of-life. Methods: We interviewed older and/or frail adults with a recent dens fracture (aged ≥65 years or with a clinical frailty score of ≥5) or their caregiver. Participants were recruited from both arms of a clinical trial comparing management using a hard collar for 12 weeks (SM) with early removal of the collar (ERC) and were interviewed following randomisation and again, 12-16 weeks later. Data were analysed using a framework approach. Results: Both participant groups (SM/ERC) reported substantial, negative QoL experiences, with the fall itself, and lack of access to care services and information being frequent major contributory factors. Many negative experiences cut across both participant groups, including pain, fatigue, diminished autonomy and reduced involvement in personally meaningful activities. However, we identified some subtle, yet discernible, ways in which using SM/ERC reinforced or alleviated (negative) QoL impacts, with the perceived benefits/burdens to using SM/ERC varying between different individuals.Conclusion: Study findings can be used to support informed decision-making about SM/ERC management of dens fractures in older/frail patients.Patient or Public Contribution: Public and patient involvement (PPI) contributors were involved in the study design, development of interview topic guides and interpretation of study findings. <br/

Assessment of the reproducibility and inter-site transferability of the murine direct splenocyte mycobacterial growth inhibition assay (MGIA)

Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidates must be tested for safety and efficacy using preclinical challenge models prior to advancement to human trials, because of the lack of a validated immune correlate or biomarker of protection. New, unbiased tools are urgently needed to expedite the selection of vaccine candidates at an early stage of development and reduce the number of animals experimentally infected with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to develop standardised functional ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assays (MGIAs) as a potential surrogate read-out of vaccine efficacy. We have previously described a direct MGIA for use with mouse splenocytes. In the current study, we set out to systematically compare co-culture conditions for the murine direct splenocyte MGIA with respect to both intra-assay repeatability and inter-site reproducibility. Common sample sets were shared between laboratory sites and reproducibility and sensitivity to detect a BCG-vaccine induced response were assessed. Co-culturing 5×106 splenocytes in 48-well plates resulted in improved reproducibility and superior sensitivity to detect a vaccine response compared with standing or rotating sealed 2ml screw-cap tubes. As the difference between naïve and BCG vaccinated mice was not consistently detected across both sample sets at both sites, we sought to further improve assay sensitivity by altering the multiplicity of infection (MOI). Cell viability at the end of the co-culture period was improved when splenocyte input number was reduced, with the highest viability for the condition of 3×106 splenocytes in 48-well plates. This cell input was also associated with the greatest sensitivity to detect a BCG vaccine-mediated MGIA response using an M.tb inoculum. Based on our findings, we recommend optimal co-culture conditions in a move towards aligning direct MGIA protocols and generating a cross-species consensus for early evaluation of TB vaccine candidates and biomarker studies

A Rapid Scoping Review on Academic Integrity and Algorithmic Writing Technologies

This presentation provides insight into the development and findings of a rapid scoping review centred on the intersections of academic integrity and artificial intelligence, with particular attention to algorithmic writing technologies (e.g., ChatGPT) involving faculty, students, teaching assistants, academic student support staff, and educational developers in higher education contexts. This rapid scoping review was developed by a transdisciplinary team including Communication studies, Education, Engineering, and English, and followed Joanna Brigg Institute’s (JBI) updated manual for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) reporting standards. JBI provides a high-quality, trusted framework for conducting these kinds of studies. This inquiry’s study design includes qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, theoretical and opinion studies; additionally, this inquiry did not restrict studies by geographic location and focused on sources written in English. This review’s studies involved faculty, students, teaching assistants, academic support staff, and educational developers in higher education. It also included studies about artificial intelligence in the context of academic integrity, focusing on artificial intelligence tools that assist text generation and writing developed in Tertiary type A and B postsecondary education. Studies excluded from this review were related to primary and secondary education contexts, did not address the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and focused on text plagiarism software. The protocol of this rapid review was published in the Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity Journal. Its implementation helped this team identify various ethical implications signalled by scholars between 2007 and 2022. Considering the expansive emergence of these technologies and the multiple positionings derived from these new and unprecedented encounters with such technology, we believe that the implications identified in this rapid scoping review are particularly relevant to inform academic staff, administration, students, and academic integrity researchers’ ethical decision-making and practices when teaching, learning, designing, and implementing assessments, and doing research. The findings of this rapid scoping review encompass nuanced perspectives concerning the ethical and unethical uses of these emerging technologies and insights into equity, diversity, and inclusion issues

Combining statistics from two national complex surveys to estimate injury rates per hour exposed and variance by activity in the USA

BACKGROUND: A common issue in descriptive injury epidemiology is that in order to calculate injury rates that account for the time spent in an activity, both injury cases and exposure time of specific activities need to be collected. In reality, few national surveys have this capacity. To address this issue, we combined statistics from two different national complex surveys as inputs for the numerator and denominator to estimate injury rate, accounting for the time spent in specific activities and included a procedure to estimate variance using the combined surveys. METHODS: The 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to quantify injuries, and the 2010 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) was used to quantify time of exposure to specific activities. The injury rate was estimated by dividing the average number of injuries (from NHIS) by average exposure hours (from ATUS), both measured for specific activities. The variance was calculated using the \u27delta method\u27, a general method for variance estimation with complex surveys. RESULTS: Among the five types of injuries examined, \u27sport and exercise\u27 had the highest rate (12.64 injuries per 100 000 h), followed by \u27working around house/yard\u27 (6.14), driving/riding a motor vehicle (2.98), working (1.45) and sleeping/resting/eating/drinking (0.23). The results show a ranking of injury rate by activity quite different from estimates using population as the denominator. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach produces an estimate of injury risk which includes activity exposure time and may more reliably reflect the underlying injury risks, offering an alternative method for injury surveillance and research