Exchanges between Two Rivers: Possibilities for Teaching Writing in the Northwest Territories

My action research investigation into place-conscious writing practices invited experienced Non-Aboriginal teachers from the Northwest Territories to think through writing practices that might engage Northern students, many of whom are Indigenous. In this paper, I will focus on what the teachers had to say about the influences of aspects of Indigenous oral traditions on their writing pedagogies. I will consider the possibility that multiliteracies might provide a more dynamic conception of literacy that invites student engagement through multimodal connections and opens up spaces for Indigenous ways of knowing and being in approaches to teaching writing. Key words: writing pedagogy, multiliteracies, Indigenous education, oral tradition

VIP STEM Education & Public Engagement (International) : Gambia Project 2019

Vertically Integrated Project: STEM Education & Public Engagement (International) The Vertically Integrated Project: STEM Education & Public Engagement was created in 2015 by Robert Collins of the School of Education, Faculty of HaSS at the University of Strathclyde. The project’s ongoing aims resonate with a fostering of both interdisciplinary approach to learning and the development of enhanced communities of inquiry in the field of STEM Education. Within the project students are involved in creating and sustaining STEM Education Clinics in local Scottish schools and public engagement events within their related local communities. In so doing, the project not only develops students’ own STEM domain knowledge - and intra–professional and inter-personal skills sets in students - but also seeks to promote the development of STEM literacies acquisition of stakeholder communities in which these clinics are set. Although the VIP’s initial aspirations are towards developing all participants’ predicate socio-scientific discourse, it is also known that subsequent associated specialist STEM knowledge and skills set acquisitions this activity promotes are considered a much-valued commodity in the wider political and economic spheres. This is particularly relevant in terms of citizenship attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (particularly that of SDG 4 Quality Education and SDG 5 Gender Equality) in practice. It is envisaged therefore, that protracted iterations of the project will elicit valuable STEM Literacies’ attainment across the longer term. To this end, domestically in Scotland the current project has taken the form of an evaluative study of STEM Education enhancement within local community schools identified in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) areas 0-20 and 0-40. Emphasis here was placed on the investigation of participant argumentation within STEM through use of the Modified Toulmin Argument Pattern (ModTAP) Analytical Framework (Foong & Daniel, 2010).Crucially, the VIP is timely in supporting the national drive towards bridging attainment gap and gender imbalance in STEM Education study, is aligned to creativity regarding STEM study in Scottish schools and chimes with precepts highlighted in the Scottish Government’s recent National Improvement Framework. With this in mind, in Academic Session 2018-19 it was decided that the early successes of the domestic project might be usefully replicated internationally. To this end a small exploratory case study in Summer 2018-19 in Gambia was able to identify that there may indeed be scope for the VIP to extend internationally within Gambian schools. This successful pilot study was then followed up in Academic Session 2018-19 with a view to working toward a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education in Gambia towards introducing the programme, which had already been run so successfully in Scotland, in the near future. This report then outlines the process of investigation, scope for furthering student study internationally within the VIP: STEM Education & Public Engagement and the appetite for its adoption as a key STEM pedagogical driver in Gambian schools moving forward

Embracing materiality as a core element of Arctic pedagogy

This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL 1224020. We thank NSF for their support of this work. This work was also supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number EP/X525820/1]. We thank the Council for its support of this work. This research was part of the project “DiSSI – Diversity in Science towards Social inclusion – non-formal education for students' diversity” that is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, under the grant number 612103-EPP-1_2019-1-DE-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN. We would like to thank the European Union for its financial support. The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Embracing materiality as a core element of Arctic pedagogy

Arctic pedagogy has arisen as a distinct set of practices that are particularly relevant for learners in northern regions. Here, we advocate to expand notions of Arctic pedagogy by formally including theories of materiality and sensory engagement into the framework. We posit that materiality, especially when place-based, offers a route to mediate and connect learners with emotion and culture, as well as disciplinary content. This paper presents four different examples of learning activities in northern settings, three of which use specific place-based materials as the basis for investigations, and one that was place-based in narrative but did not focus on direct place-based material engagement. Data sources were different for each intervention, including pre and post data capture via postcards, questionnaires, and/or participant interviews. The findings across the first three cases indicate that the activities that richly drew from local materials and contexts and that included sensory elements afforded learning in the affective or identity-related realms. These results contrasted with the fourth activity, in which the learning was largely content based. The combined results underscore the value of direct, hands-on exploration of materials of local significance within northern pedagogical contexts

Working with the National Framework for Inclusion: a guide for teacher educators

This companion resource accompanies the National Framework for Inclusion 3rd edition and was developed by the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group (SUIG) and edited by Di Cantali (SUIG Chair). SUIG is a working group of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education

National framework for inclusion

Inclusive education is the cornerstone of Scottish education and, as such, must be of the highest priority for the Scottish Government and for all those involved in education in Scotland. There is clear recognition of the fact that teachers need to be well prepared and appropriately supported throughout their careers if they are to succeed in developing and sustaining the desired inclusive practice which will enable them to meet the increasingly diverse needs of all children within schools in Scotland

Working with the National Framework for Inclusion: a guide for teacher educators

This companion resource accompanies the National Framework for Inclusion 3rd edition and was developed by the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group (SUIG) and edited by Di Cantali (SUIG Chair). SUIG is a working group of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education

Cumulative Risk: Toxicity and Interactions of Physical and Chemical Stressors

Recent efforts to update cumulative risk assessment procedures to incorporate nonchemical stressors ranging from physical to psychosocial reflect increased interest in consideration of the totality of variables affecting human health and the growing desire to develop community-based risk assessment methods. A key roadblock is the uncertainty as to how nonchemical stressors behave in relationship to chemical stressors. Physical stressors offer a reasonable starting place for measuring the effects of nonchemical stressors and their modulation of chemical effects (and vice versa), as they clearly differ from chemical stressors; and “doses” of many physical stressors are more easily quantifiable than those of psychosocial stressors. There is a commonly held belief that virtually nothing is known about the impact of nonchemical stressors on chemically mediated toxicity or the joint impact of coexposure to chemical and nonchemical stressors. Although this is generally true, there are several instances where a substantial body of evidence exists. A workshop titled “Cumulative Risk: Toxicity and Interactions of Physical and Chemical Stressors” held at the 2013 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting provided a forum for discussion of research addressing the toxicity of physical stressors and what is known about their interactions with chemical stressors, both in terms of exposure and effects. Physical stressors including sunlight, heat, radiation, infectious disease, and noise were discussed in reference to identifying pathways of interaction with chemical stressors, data gaps, and suggestions for future incorporation into cumulative risk assessments

The TREAT-NMD advisory committee for therapeutics (TACT): an innovative de-risking model to foster orphan drug development

Despite multiple publications on potential therapies for neuromuscular diseases (NMD) in cell and animal models only a handful reach clinical trials. The ability to prioritise drug development according to objective criteria is particularly critical in rare diseases with large unmet needs and a limited numbers of patients who can be enrolled into clinical trials. TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) was established to provide independent and objective guidance on the preclinical and development pathway of potential therapies (whether novel or repurposed) for NMD. We present our experience in the establishment and operation of the TACT. TACT provides a unique resource of recognized experts from multiple disciplines. The goal of each TACT review is to help the sponsor to position the candidate compound along a realistic and well-informed plan to clinical trials, and eventual registration. The reviews and subsequent recommendations are focused on generating meaningful and rigorous data that can enable clear go/no-go decisions and facilitate longer term funding or partnering opportunities. The review process thereby acts to comment on viability, de-risking the process of proceeding on a development programme. To date TACT has held 10 review meeting and reviewed 29 program applications in several rare neuromuscular diseases: Of the 29 programs reviewed, 19 were from industry and 10 were from academia; 15 were for novel compounds and 14 were for repurposed drugs; 16 were small molecules and 13 were biologics; 14 were preclinical stage applications and 15 were clinical stage applications. 3 had received Orphan drug designation from European Medicines Agency and 3 from Food and Drug Administration. A number of recurrent themes emerged over the course of the reviews and we found that applicants frequently require advice and education on issues concerned with preclinical standard operating procedures, interactions with regulatory agencies, formulation, repurposing, clinical trial design, manufacturing and ethics. Over the 5 years since its establishment TACT has amassed a body of experience that can be extrapolated to other groups of rare diseases to improve the community's chances of successfully bringing new rare disease drugs to registration and ultimately to marke

SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS OF IF-CLAUSE CONSTRUCTIONS.

Abstract not availabl