Co-production and values in museums: with special reference to the production of temporary exhibitions in Britain

This thesis looks at co-production in museums, specifically how external parties were involved in the production of temporary exhibitions. It explores the different patterns of co-production found in various museum contexts, offers an explanation for the differences based on values and discusses the implications for museum managers. The research explored the topic from a museum management perspective, an interdisciplinary field informed by museum and heritage studies as well as various management disciplines. The central research question was - why does the pattern of external involvement in temporary exhibitions vary in different museum settings? Over a 15 month period data was gathered from a range of museums in Britain to create 20 case studies. A grounded theory methodology (Goulding 2002; Glaser and Strauss 1967; Glaser 1996) meant that existing work in museum studies, eo-production, project management and organisational culture, informed rather than defined the direction of research. Data gathering and analysis were part of an iterative process which allowed for progressive focusing on the key issues (Stake 1981). Using a typology of eo-production developed specifically for this research the pattern of external involvement was analysed. This established similarities and differences in the pattern of eo-production across the case studies. This analysis found that some parts of the exhibition making process were more open to external involvement than others. It also found that some patterns of eo-production could be explained by particular exhibition variables, e.g. the size of the budget. However, it became apparent that important aspects of eo-production could only be understood by reference to the wider museum context. Hence a higher-level framework to represent the variety of museum contexts, in terms of values, priorities and norms, was needed. Such a framework needed to locate and illuminate the range of co-production documented in the study, be theoretically robust and make sense to practitioners. To this end, the Museum Values Framework, was developed from the work of Quinn and others (Quinn and Rohrbaugh 1981), used to interrogate the data further, and trialed in the field. This study offers new knowledge on the nature and variety of co-production in museums and highlights the importance of individual, group and organisational values in shaping behaviour in a museum context. The wider implications of the findings for museum management are also discussed. In addition this research makes a theoretical and methodological contribution in the form of the Museum Values Framework. Considerable scope exists to apply this analytic tool to other aspects of museums' work and behaviour

An Investigation of the Preparation of Adult Educators in Australia and its Possible Application for the Adult Education System of Vietnam

Adult education plays an important role in the development of the labour force of every country and in raising the standard of life by providing adult learners with necessary skills and knowledge. It can be said that the effectiveness of an adult education system depends very much on the quality and quantity of its adult education teachers. To improve the effectiveness of a system, better training programs for adult educators are needed. The adult education system of Vietnam is not truly effective because adult educators are unable to meet the present requirement of administering and managing the adult education system including the teaching-learning process. There are many factors that affect the effectiveness of the adult education system and the lack of a formal training program at university level for adult educators is the most serious. This study examines the training of adult educators in Australia, especially the training program of the University of New England, focusing on the teaching-learning process, as well as the roles and competencies of adult educators, in order to make recommendations for Vietnam. The present situation of the training of adult educators in Vietnam is investigated through literature and the results of field work in Vietnam to arrive at a series of conclusions and recommendations for possible implementation in the near future. An outline for a short training program for adult educators in Vietnam is included as an appendix

Instrument development, data collection, and characteristics of practices, staff, and measures in the Improving Quality of Care in Diabetes (iQuaD) Study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Celiac Disease and Diabetes-Dietary Intervention and Evaluation Trial (CD-DIET) protocol: A randomised controlled study to evaluate treatment of asymptomatic coeliac disease in type 1 diabetes

Introduction: Coeliac disease (CD) is an autoimmune condition characterised by gluten-induced intestinal inflammation, and observed at a 5-10 fold greater prevalence in type 1 diabetes. While universal screening for CD in patients with diabetes is frequently advocated, objective data is limited as to benefits on diabetes control, bone health or quality of life related to the adoption of a gluten-free diet (GFD) in the large proportion of patients with diabetes with asymptomatic CD. The Celiac Disease and Diabetes-Dietary Intervention and Evaluation Trial (CD-DIET) study is a multicenter, randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a GFD in patients with type 1 diabetes with asymptomatic CD. Methods and analysis: Children and adults (8-45 years) with type 1 diabetes will be screened for asymptomatic CD. Eligible patients with biopsy-proven CD will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to treatment with a GFD for 1 year, or continue with a gluten-containing diet. The primary outcome will evaluate the impact of the GFD on change in glycated haemoglobin. Secondary outcomes will evaluate changes in bone mineral density, blood glucose variability and health-related quality of life between GFD-treated and the regular diet group over a 1-year period. The study was initiated in 2012 and has subsequently expanded to multiple paediatric and adult centres in Ontario, Canada. Ethics and dissemination: The findings from this study will provide high-quality evidence as to the impact of GFD treatment on glycaemic control and complications in asymptomatic children and adults with CD and type 1 diabetes. Trial registration number: NCT01566110

Improving the delivery of care for patients with diabetes through understanding optimised team work and organisation in primary care

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Do Cochrane summaries help student midwives understand the findings of Cochrane systematic reviews: the BRIEF randomised trial.

BackgroundAbstracts and plain language summaries (PLS) are often the first, and sometimes the only, point of contact between readers and systematic reviews. It is important to identify how these summaries are used and to know the impact of different elements, including the authors’ conclusions. The trial aims to assess whether (a) the abstract or the PLS of a Cochrane Review is a better aid for midwifery students in assessing the evidence, (b) inclusion of authors’ conclusions helps them and (c) there is an interaction between the type of summary and the presence or absence of the conclusions.MethodsEight hundred thirteen midwifery students from nine universities in the UK and Ireland were recruited to this 2 × 2 factorial trial (abstract versus PLS, conclusions versus no conclusions). They were randomly allocated to one of four groups and asked to recall knowledge after reading one of four summary formats of two Cochrane Reviews, one with clear findings and one with uncertain findings. The primary outcome was the proportion of students who identified the appropriate statement to describe the main findings of the two reviews as assessed by an expert panel.ResultsThere was no statistically significant difference in correct response between the abstract and PLS groups in the clear finding example (abstract, 59.6 %; PLS, 64.2 %; risk difference 4.6 %; CI −0.2 to 11.3) or the uncertain finding example (42.7 %, 39.3 %, −3.4 %, −10.1 to 3.4). There was no significant difference between the conclusion and no conclusion groups in the example with clear findings (conclusions, 63.3 %; no conclusions, 60.5 %; 2.8 %; −3.9 to 9.5), but there was a significant difference in the example with uncertain findings (44.7 %; 37.3 %; 7.3 %; 0.6 to 14.1, p = 0.03). PLS without conclusions in the uncertain finding review had the lowest proportion of correct responses (32.5 %). Prior knowledge and belief predicted student response to the clear finding review, while years of midwifery education predicted response to the uncertain finding review.ConclusionsAbstracts with and without conclusions generated similar student responses. PLS with conclusions gave similar results to abstracts with and without conclusions. Removing the conclusions from a PLS with uncertain findings led to more problems with interpretatio

Changing digital media environments and youth audiovisual productions: A comparison of two collaborative research experiences with south Madrid adolescents

SAGE: David Poveda, Marta Morgade, Changing Digital Media Environments and Youth Audiovisual Productions: A Comparison of Two Collaborative Research Experiences with South Madrid Adolescents, Young 26.4 (2018): 34-55 Copyright © 2018SAGE. Reprinted by permission of SAGE PublicationsThis article compares two studies conducted in Madrid in a seven–eight years span in which secondary school students (14–15 years of age) were asked to collaboratively create digital audiovisual narratives. In the first project, adolescents seemed to consider their audiovisual materials as transparent and with self-evident meanings. In the second project, adolescents problematized meaning and reflexively examined the design of audiovisual media. We explore two distinct but complementary factors that might help interpret the differences: (a) rapid historical changes in the digital narratives adolescents are exposed to and engage with and (b) methodological differences in the way adolescents were supported and guided during the creation of their audiovisual narratives. Through this analysis, we draw on an ethnographically grounded notion of ‘mediatization’ that helps unpack both rapid transformations in adolescent’s digital mediascape and how digital practices are socially co-constructed in collaborative projects with youth

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy