Self-determined teacher learning in a digital context fundamental change in thinking and practice

“Self-determined Teacher Learning in a Digital Context” reports on a longitudinal study of teacher empowerment through Constructionist learning about computational technologies and learning about learning itself. The study includes but looks beyond how teachers engage with technology, to how they redefine their own understandings o f learning as they use technology in working alongside their students. The teachers’ emerging self-reflective practice enables them to better understand the multifaceted structure of the learning situation and their own relations to its social, cognitive, and affective aspects. The “Empowering Minds” study also addresses how teachers can become critical judges o f technologies, in order to define for themselves and suggest for others what being digital can mean in learning. These processes have the potential to change educational strategies on personal, community and national scales. How teachers understand learning and how we conceptualise teacher learning will directly affect future generations’ potentials. Teachers grapple with epistemological issues in designing and developing environments around new protean materials that enable each person’s construction of ideas and expression of self. Learning theory becomes less abstract and more meaningful as teachers create a language for talking among themselves about learning. The resulting concrétisation of learning processes becomes possible through anchoring the learning with and about technologies in the teachers’ everyday reality o f the classroom. Teachers become empowered to use their own practice as “an object-to-thinkwith” in the Papertian sense. By externalising and examining their understandings of learning, they experiment with and ultimately transform their teaching practice, their relationships with their students, and their understandings of their role as teachers. Constructionists have been challenged to demonstrate that their assertions about education work. The approach described here is a compelling response. Furthermore its continuance among the original participants and its extension to a variety o f new initiatives demonstrate both sustainability and scalability

An exploration into factors which influence positive object play experience for children who are living with severe physical and intellectual disabilities

Background: Toy/object play is accepted as an integral and valued occupation for all children. Though play in general is a topic which commonly receives attention in research, object play, remains relatively unexplored especially for children with severe physical and intellectual disabilities, a population which is commonly described as experiencing ‘play deprivation’. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore factors which influence positive toy/object play experiences for children who are living with severe physical and intellectual disabilities. Method: This study took a qualitative methodology that is informed by the theoretical approaches of ethnography. This study utilises method triangulation; participant observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups to obtain rich and in-depth findings. Participants: After ethical approval, 5 child participants, 6 parent(s)/guardian(s) and 6 teachers/SNAs were recruited. Findings: 4 major themes, ‘Play as an Occupation, Play as an Activity’; ‘An Empowered and Empowering Play Partner’; ‘The 'Just-Right' Play Object’ and ‘Considerations for Contextual participation’ as well as relevant subthemes were identified through thematic analysis. The interaction between the play form, play object and play context (including environment and social supports) is highlighted clearly within these analytical themes. Implications for practice: Although the findings are specific to this study sample, play facilitators may use them to further their understanding of the nature of object play for this population and inform future play interactions. By recognising the multiple facets of positive play influence, object play can be better understood and championed as a central to these children's occupational lives

Understanding the Concept of Formality in Quality Risk Management

Formality in Quality Risk Management (QRM) is an interesting concept. What makes a QRM activity ‘formal’ and what makes one ‘informal’? A simplistic viewpoint might be that formal is when a QRM tool is used to manage risks, and informal is when no such tool is used. But is it that simple? And are there different degrees of formality in QRM - is it a spectrum, or is it a binary concept? These questions are explored in this paper. Since the introduction of ICH Q9 in 2005, there have been discussions in the pharmaceutical industry and between regulators regarding the concept of formality in QRM. ICH Q9 presents two principles of Quality Risk Management, and one of those refers to formality – it states that “the level of effort, formality and documentation of the quality risk management process should be commensurate with the level of risk”. What formality in QRM means at a practical level is currently not clear. A lack of understanding of this concept has probably led to certain negative consequences – ranging from a lack of scientific rigour being applied during certain complex risk assessments, to the overuse of quite resource intensive and highly formalized QRM activities to address relatively straight forward GMP problems and risk questions. In response to this lack of clarity, regulators and industry representatives initiated work to explore the concept of formality in QRM, with a view to achieving a shared understanding as to what it means at a practical level. It was of interest that there was strong support expressed among industry and GMP inspectors for the use of less formal approaches to QRM. The primary outcome of that work is a set of suggested definitions for formal and less formal approaches to QRM. There are several anticipated benefits to this work – including that a better understanding of formality may lead to resources for QRM being used more efficiently – where lower risk issues are dealt with via less formal means, freeing up resources for managing higher risk issues and more complex problems, which usually require increased levels of rigour and effort

The relationship between serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentration and reproductive performance, and genome-wide associations for serum IGF-1 in Holstein cows

peer-reviewedThe objectives of this study were to determine (1) factors associated with serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1); (2) the relationship between serum IGF-1 concentration during the first week postpartum and ovarian cyclicity status by 35 d postpartum (DPP); (3) an optimum serum IGF-1 concentration threshold predictive of pregnancy to first artificial insemination (P/AI), including its diagnostic values; (4) the associations among categories of serum IGF-1 concentration and reproductive outcomes (P/AI and pregnancy risk up to 150 and 250 DPP); and (5) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with phenotypic variation in serum IGF-1 concentration in dairy cows. Serum IGF-1 concentration was determined at 7 (±2.4; ±standard error of the mean) DPP in 647 lactating Holstein cows (213 primiparous, 434 multiparous) from 7 herds in Alberta, Canada. The overall mean, median, minimum, and maximum serum IGF-1 concentrations during the first week postpartum were 37.8 (±1.23), 31.0, 20.0, and 225.0 ng/mL, respectively. Herd, age, parity, precalving body condition score, and season of blood sampling were all identified as factors associated with serum IGF-1 concentrations. Although serum IGF-1 concentration during the first week postpartum had no association with ovarian cyclicity status by 35 DPP in primiparous cows, it was greater in cyclic than in acyclic multiparous cows (32.2 vs. 27.4 ng/mL, respectively). The optimum serum IGF-1 thresholds predictive of P/AI were 85.0 ng/mL (sensitivity = 31.9%; specificity = 89.1%) and 31.0 ng/mL (sensitivity = 45.5%; specificity = 66.9%) for primiparous and multiparous cows, respectively. When cows were grouped into either high or low IGF-1 categories (greater or less than or equal to 85.0 ng/mL for primiparous cows and greater or less than or equal to 31.0 ng/mL for multiparous cows, respectively), primiparous cows with high IGF-1 had 4.43 times greater odds of P/AI and a tendency for higher pregnancy risk up to 150 DPP than those with low IGF-1, but not up to 250 DPP. Likewise, multiparous cows with high IGF-1 had 1.61 times greater odds of P/AI than those with low IGF-1. Pregnancy risk up to 150 and 250 DPP, however, did not differ between IGF-1 categories in multiparous cows. Moreover, 37 SNP across 10 Bos taurus autosomes were associated with variation in serum IGF-1 concentration, and 4 previously identified candidate genes related to fertility that were in linkage disequilibrium with some of these SNP were also identified

STEM education in schools: What can we learn from the research?

This report (Report #1) is as part of an Erasmus+ project entitled Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATS STEM), an innovative policy experimentation project being conducted across eight European Union countries through a partnership of 12 educational institutions. STEM education is a priority for all of the ATS STEM partners and each country/region is already engaged in implementing specific policy actions to promote the development of STEM knowledge and competences across their school sectors. The purpose of this first report is to provide a strong theoretical and research foundation regarding STEM Education, with particular respect to schools. The report aims to present examples of how STEM education has been defined and implemented in school curricula and how digital assessment of transversal skills and competences has been carried out

Teacher Wellbeing from Engaging with Educational Technologies (TWEET):Case Studies from Across Ireland

The use of educational technology as society emerges from COVID-19 continues to pose a challenge for educators. There is a lack of evidence on how digital technology can positively impact teacher wellbeing when effectively managed by school leaders and teachers. This research sought to explore and develop the connection between educational technology and teacher wellbeing, using Passey's (2021) framework and proposition that specific digital technology adoption in schools can benefit teacher well-being in various educational contexts. Six schools, three primary and three secondary, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, were studied through in-depth case studies focusing on teacher wellbeing and technology adoption. Interviews were conducted with school principals, leaders, and teachers. The results of the study include that while teachers readily discuss the impact of technology on their work, they are less likely to reflect on its impact on their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing

The relationship between serum anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations and fertility, and genome-wide associations for anti-Müllerian hormone in Holstein cows

peer-reviewedThe objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate factors associated with variation in circulating anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations, (2) establish an optimum AMH threshold predictive of pregnancy to first artificial insemination (P/AI), (3) examine the relationship between AMH and fertility (P/AI, pregnancy loss between 30 and 60 d after artificial insemination, and pregnancy risk up to 250 d postpartum), and (4) identify quantitative trait loci associated with phenotypic variation of AMH concentrations in dairy cows. Serum AMH concentrations (pg/mL) were determined at 7 ± 2.4 d postpartum in 647 lactating Holstein cows (213 primiparous, 434 multiparous) from 1 research and 6 commercial dairy herds in Alberta, Canada. Of these, 589 cows were genotyped on the 26K Bovine BeadChip (Neogen Inc., Lincoln, NE) and subsequently imputed to the Illumina Bovine High Density BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA) for genome-wide association analysis for variation in serum AMH concentrations. Factors associated with variation in serum AMH concentrations and the relationship between categories of AMH and aforementioned fertility outcomes were evaluated only in a subset of 460 cows that had a complete data set available. The overall mean (±standard error of the mean), median, minimum, and maximum AMH concentrations were 191.1 ± 6.3, 151.7, 13.9, and 1,879.0 pg/mL, respectively. The AMH concentrations were not associated with herd, precalving body condition score, postpartum week, and season of sampling; the lactation number, however, had a quadratic relationship with serum AMH concentrations (116.2, 204.9 204.5, and 157.9 pg/mL for first, second, third, and ≥fourth lactation, respectively). The optimum AMH threshold predictive of P/AI could not be established because the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis model was nonsignificant. Categories of AMH [low (285.0 pg/mL; n = 92) based on lowest 20%, intermediate 60%, and highest 20% serum AMH) had no associations with P/AI (34, 43, and 40%), pregnancy loss between 30 and 60 d after artificial insemination (20, 12, and 8%), or pregnancy risk up to 250 d postpartum. One candidate gene associated with AMH production [AMH gene on Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 7] and 4 candidate genes related to embryo development (SCAI and PPP6C genes on BTA11 and FGF18 and EEF2K genes on BTA20 and BTA25, respectively) were in linkage disequilibrium with single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with phenotypic variation in serum AMH in dairy cows

Impact of pre-service teachers’ gaming behaviours on their confidence and competence in applying game-based learning approaches: implications for teacher educators

Despite the increased popularity of Game-based Learning (GBL), there is still a lack of empirical evidence supporting GBL as an approach and the need for ongoing research is widely advocated (Hainey et al., 2016). In particular, the area of teacher education in GBL is identified as an area of research that warrants increased attention. According to Foster, Shah & Duvall (2015), teachers’ in-ability to use GBL is compounded by the lack of teacher education or professional learning programmes that focus on developing teacher confidence and competence in adopting GBL, particularly at the pre-service level. Accepting the belief that pre-service teacher education has a strong influence on teachers’ use of technology in their practice (Hammond et al, 2009), and acknowledging that a significant variable in teacher acceptance and adoption of GBL in the classroom is the teacher’s own prior experience with gaming (Becker and Jacobsen 2005); this research investigates how pre-service teachers’ gameplay behaviours influenced their confidence and competence towards using GBL. It also examines the implications of pre-service teachers’ confidence and competence towards using GBL approaches for teacher educators and the design of pre-service teacher education programs in GBL

Teacher wellbeing from engaging with educational technologies (TWEET) : Case studies from across the island of Ireland

Post COVID-19, the role of educational technologies continues to challenge many educators. There is a lacuna of evidence considering the potentially positive contribution to teacher wellbeing that may be made through effective management of digital technologies in schools by school principals and teachers. This research explores and develops the link between educational technologies and teacher wellbeing to test Passey’s (2021) conceptual framework and proposition, that effective or specific digital technological adoption in schools may benefit the wellbeing of teachers in a wide variety of educational contexts. Three postprimary schools (two in Northern Ireland and one in the Republic of Ireland) and three primary schools (one in Northern Ireland and two in the Republic of Ireland) were engaged to provide a study basis for critical in-depth case studies focused on teacher wellbeing and digital technology adoption and use. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with senior- and middle-school leaders and classroom teachers. Evidence from these case studies extends the research framework proposed by Passey (2021) by identifying additional circumstances and ways in which teachers perceive digital technologies as benefitting their wellbeing and pedagogical practices. Results suggest that teachers speak, with great readiness, on matters associated with the administrative aspects of their role, and with teaching or learning activities and outcomes, yet are considerably less likely to reflect upon and discuss matters linked to their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing