The medium is not the message: an action research project on the use of recorded audio feedback.

Feedback to students remains a contentious issue for both staff and learners: “the UK-wide National Student Survey has shown consistently that feedback is an area in which students are often least satisfied, irrespective of institution or discipline” (Rodway-Dyer et al, 2011) “Feedback on students’ work is, probably, one of the most important aspects of learning, yet students’ report, according to the National Union of Students (NUS) Survey of 2008, unhappiness with the feedback process” (Lunt & Curran, 2010) “... teaching staff complain about lack of student engagement with feedback and a loss of connection with students” (Cann, 2014) This paper presents a case study carried out with first year undergraduate students to compare and contrast the use of audio feedback and text-based feedback. (“Audio feedback may be defined as a digital sound file containing formative or summative verbal feedback given by the tutor”. Hennessy & Forrester, 2014). Shriver (1992) has suggested that recordings of spoken feedback can be used as “think-aloud reading” and help students to focus on the impressions their writing gives to the reader. This research was directed towards writing skills but other research e.g. Lunt & Curran (2010) indicated that audio feedback had been favourably tested by students in business and tourism. Rodway-Dyer et al (2011) tested similar ideas with geography students and met with a largely positive response. Other research has suggested that the issue is not so clear-cut: “some [students] found the richness of the audio feedback a precursor to even greater effort, some students pointing out forcefully that its pro-social nature created an affective relationship, whilst others found it at best, redundant in terms of its cognitive effects, and at worst, an intrusive and unwelcome intimate obstruction to understanding.” (Gleaves & Walker, 2013) The study carried out in BA(Hons) Photography suggests that not all students see a benefit in audio feedback but that it may have a role within the curriculum as part of a broader feedback strategy

The Resonance of Colonial Era Customary Codes in Contemporary Uganda

Colonial era codifications of customary law – especially those codified in indigenous first languages – have a resilient capacity to form and inform living customary law. In the context of Mukono District, Uganda, modern conceptions of customary law are informed and shaped by colonial era codifications promulgated by the British Protectorate and the Kingdom of Buganda. This research insight offers practical benefits to those seeking to promote access to justice and human rights development in Mukono District. Such benefits speak to the potential vitality and relevance of colonial era customary codifications. Misgivings about the alien influences and exploitative purposes that distorted and corrupted colonial era codes do not warrant disregard of their active legacy within modern customary legal frameworks. The use of receptive research approaches such as those developed and modelled by Sally Falk Moore can help ensure the ongoing influence of colonial era codes are not hidden by contemporary orthodoxies and biases

A Langmuir approach on monolayer interactions to investigate surface active peptides

The Langmuir Blodgett apparatus provides a versatile system for studying the interfacial properties of peptides and peptide-membrane interactions under controlled conditions. Using amphiphilic α-helical peptides to highlight studies undertaken, here we discuss the use of this system to provide information on the surface activity of peptides and describe the insights these studies give into biological functio

Internet Use Policies in the Public Schools of Nebraska: Implications for Health Education

Nebraska school board presidents (n=604) were asked to respond to a 36-item questionnaire that addressed the issues of health education and the Internet use policy regulating Internet use in the public schools. The response rate was 22.3 percent (n=135). Nebraska school board presidents reported that health education was not an important item to take into consideration when developing an Internet use policy, but reported that that sexual content, drug content, violence-related material and commercial content, respectively were very important items the Internet use policy should regulate. Thus, this study revealed that the school board presidents of Nebraska were not aware that sexual content, drug content, violence-related material and commercial content were components of health education. Nebraska school board presidents also reported that sexual content, drug content, violence-related material and commercial content were important issues that the Internet use policy should control and each were significantly different in the reported regulation importance. Chi-square analyses found that large school districts of Nebraska perceived importance of Internet regulation and a written Internet use policy significantly more than small school districts of Nebraska

The status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities within customary legal frameworks in Uganda : a study of Mukono District

Little is known about the interaction of customary law and disability rights. This research based on a case study in Uganda offers a window into how a customary legal frameworks can impact the status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities. Dr Dennison highlights the particular importance of cultural beliefs and attitudes about the capacity and functionality of persons with disabilities in informal legal settings. This is true in the Eastern African context of the Mukono District, in the Central Region of Uganda, but also more widely on the whole African continent. The work concludes by outlining practical change strategies for those seeking to improve the status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities in settings where customary law plays an influential and effectual role

The Resonance of Colonial Era Customary Codes in Contemporary Uganda

Colonial era codifications of customary law – especially those codified in indigenous first languages – have a resilient capacity to form and inform living customary law. In the context of Mukono District, Uganda, modern conceptions of customary law are informed and shaped by colonial era codifications promulgated by the British Protectorate and the Kingdom of Buganda. This research insight offers practical benefits to those seeking to promote access to justice and human rights development in Mukono District. Such benefits speak to the potential vitality and relevance of colonial era customary codifications. Misgivings about the alien influences and exploitative purposes that distorted and corrupted colonial era codes do not warrant disregard of their active legacy within modern customary legal frameworks. The use of receptive research approaches such as those developed and modelled by Sally Falk Moore can help ensure the ongoing influence of colonial era codes are not hidden by contemporary orthodoxies and biases. &nbsp

The status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities within customary legal frameworks in Uganda: A study of Mukono District

This thesis addresses the question: How do customary legal frameworks impact the status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities? It is motivated by two underlying premises. First, customary legal frameworks are highly consequential in Sub-Saharan contexts. Second, human impairments are likely to impact status, rights and treatment in customary legal scenarios. In addition, the reality of deep legal pluralism and an anthropologically versed conception of customary law inform the research design. Customary legal content is rightly discerned by researching its substance and application within the lived environment. The researcher gathered input and stories of 63 persons with disabilities and conducted interviews of 23 community members with heightened knowledge of cultural matters in order to discern the experiences of persons with disabilities in non-formal legal contexts. In her semi-autonomous social field approach, Sally Falk Moore considers diverse and layered sources of law when determining the normative legal content in lived contexts. However, this research uncovered little in the way of normative principles specially pertaining to persons with disabilities within lived environments. Instead, legally consequential occurrences take place in customary scenarios that are largely autonomous from formal actors and institutions. The perceived normative substance of formal and customary law can influence the outcome of customary scenarios, but the decision makers' working knowledge of this legal content as it pertains to people with human impairments is limited and disparate. Decision-making family, clan and community members take various factors into consideration when determining rights, status and treatment in customary scenarios. Suppositions about the capacity and functionality of persons with disabilities are particularly influential. Thus, human impairments can be consequential factors in these decisions. This thesis demonstrates that customary scenarios are highly significant forums for establishing customary rights and status in the contexts of marital relations, clan leadership, customary guardianship, customary succession and land rights. Moreover, it indicates that effectual social and legal influences in these scenarios are multi-sourced, multi-layered and dynamic. Finally, the thesis offers practical change strategies suggested by the research for those seeking to improve the status, rights and treatment of persons with disabilities in Mukono District and similar settings