Inclusive Teaching

Over the past two decades, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty have been striving to make their teaching practices more inclusive and welcoming to the variety of students who enter college. However, many STEM faculty, even those at teaching-focused institutions, have been educated in a traditional environment that emphasizes research and may not include classroom teaching. This can produce a deficit in training that leaves many STEM faculty feeling uncertain about inclusive teaching practices and their essential undergirding principles. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide (https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/inclusive-teaching) intended to help fill this gap, serving as a resource for science faculty as they work to become more inclusive, particular with regard to differences in race, ethnicity, and gender. The guide describes the importance of developing self-awareness and empathy for students as a precursor to considering classroom practices. It also explores the role of classroom climate before turning to pedagogical choices that can support students’ sense of belonging, competence, and interest in the course. Finally, the guide suggests that true inclusivity is a community effort and that instructors should leverage local and national networks to maximize student learning and inclusion. Each of these essential points is supported by summaries of and links to articles that can inform these choices. The guide also includes an instructor checklist that offers a concise summary of key points with actionable steps that can guide instructors as they work toward a more inclusive practice. We hope that the guide will provide value for both faculty who are just beginning to consider how to change their teaching practices and faculty seeking to enrich their current efforts

Public attitudes towards community pharmacy attributes and preferences for methods for promotion of public health services

Objective: To identify attitudes towards pharmacy characteristics and promotional methods for selected pharmacy public health services (lifestyle advice and screening for cardiovascular risk factors) among different sectors of the general public. Study design: Cross-sectional survey, using a previously validated questionnaire. Methods: Three survey methods were used, across 15 areas of England, to maximise diversity: face-to-face, telephone and self-completion of paper questionnaires. Responses to closed questions regarding characteristics and promotion were quantified and differences among sub-groups explored by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: In total, 2,661 responses were available for analysis: 2,047 face-to-face, 301 telephone and 313 paper. There were strong preferences for a pharmacy near to home or doctor’s surgery and for long opening hours, particularly among employed people and non- whites. Fifty percent preferred not to use a pharmacy in a supermarket, particularly older people, the retired, those of lower education and frequent pharmacy users. Personal recommendation by health professionals or family/friends was reported as most likely to encourage uptake of pharmacy public health services, with older people and males being less likely and frequent pharmacy users more likely to perceive any promotional method as influential. Posters/leaflets were preferred over mass media methods, with fewer than 30% perceiving the latter as potentially influential. Conclusion: Pharmacists, pharmacy companies and service commissioners should use promotional methods favoured by potential users of pharmacy public health services and be aware of differences in attitudes when trying to reach specific population sub-groups. For personal recommendation to be successful good inter-professional working and a pro-active approach to existing customers are neede

Retreating to nature : rethinking 'therapeutic landscapes'

There is a long history of removing oneself from ‘society’ in order to recuperate or repair. This paper considers a yoga and massage retreat in Southern Spain, and what opportunities this retreat experience might offer for recuperation and the creation of healthy bodies. The paper positions ‘nature’ as an active participant, and as ‘enrolled’ in the experiences of the retreat as a ‘therapeutic landscape’, and questions how and what particular aspects of yoga practice (in intimate relation with place) give rise to therapeutic experiences

Responsibility modelling for civil emergency planning

This paper presents a new approach to analysing and understanding civil emergency planning based on the notion of responsibility modelling combined with HAZOPS-style analysis of information requirements. Our goal is to represent complex contingency plans so that they can be more readily understood, so that inconsistencies can be highlighted and vulnerabilities discovered. In this paper, we outline the framework for contingency planning in the United Kingdom and introduce the notion of responsibility models as a means of representing the key features of contingency plans. Using a case study of a flooding emergency, we illustrate our approach to responsibility modelling and suggest how it adds value to current textual contingency plans

Taxonomic revision of true morels (Morchella) in Canada and the United States

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed the existence of at least 50 species of Morchella worldwide and demonstrated a high degree of continental endemism within the genus. Here we describe 19 phylogenetic species of Morchella from North America, 14 of which are new (M. diminutiva, M. virginiana, M. esculentoides, M. prava, M. cryptica, M. frustrata, M. populiphila, M. sextelata, M. septimelata, M. capitata, M. importuna, M. snyderi, M. brunnea and M. septentrionalis). Existing species names (M. rufobrunnea, M. tomentosa, M. punctipes and M. angusticeps) are applied to four phylogenetic species, and formal description of one species (M. sp. Mel-8 ) is deferred pending study of additional material. Methods for assessing morphological features in Morchella are delineated, and a key to the known phylogenetic species of Morchella in North America is provided. Type studies of M. crassistipa, M. hotsonii, M. angusticeps and M. punctipes are provided. Morchella crassistipa is designated nomen dubium

‘O sibling, where art thou?’ – a review of avian sibling recognition with respect to the mammalian literature

Avian literature on sibling recognition is rare compared to that developed by mammalian researchers. We compare avian and mammalian research on sibling recognition to identify why avian work is rare, how approaches differ and what avian and mammalian researchers can learn from each other. Three factors: (1) biological differences between birds and mammals, (2) conceptual biases and (3) practical constraints, appear to influence our current understanding. Avian research focuses on colonial species because sibling recognition is considered adaptive where ‘mixing potential’ of dependent young is high; research on a wider range of species, breeding systems and ecological conditions is now needed. Studies of acoustic recognition cues dominate avian literature; other types of cues (e.g. visual, olfactory) deserve further attention. The effect of gender on avian sibling recognition has yet to be investigated; mammalian work shows that gender can have important influences. Most importantly, many researchers assume that birds recognise siblings through ‘direct familiarisation’ (commonly known as associative learning or familiarity); future experiments should also incorporate tests for ‘indirect familiarisation’ (commonly known as phenotype matching). If direct familiarisation proves crucial, avian research should investigate how periods of separation influence sibling discrimination. Mammalian researchers typically interpret sibling recognition in broad functional terms (nepotism, optimal outbreeding); some avian researchers more successfully identify specific and testable adaptive explanations, with greater relevance to natural contexts. We end by reporting exciting discoveries from recent studies of avian sibling recognition that inspire further interest in this topic

Taxonomic revision of true morels (Morchella) in Canada and the United States

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed the existence of at least 50 species of Morchella worldwide and demonstrated a high degree of continental endemism within the genus. Here we describe 19 phylogenetic species of Morchella from North America, 14 of which are new (M. diminutiva, M. virginiana, M. esculentoides, M. prava, M. cryptica, M. frustrata, M. populiphila, M. sextelata, M. septimelata, M. capitata, M. importuna, M. snyderi, M. brunnea and M. septentrionalis). Existing species names (M. rufobrunnea, M. tomentosa, M. punctipes and M. angusticeps) are applied to four phylogenetic species, and formal description of one species (M. sp. Mel-8 ) is deferred pending study of additional material. Methods for assessing morphological features in Morchella are delineated, and a key to the known phylogenetic species of Morchella in North America is provided. Type studies of M. crassistipa, M. hotsonii, M. angusticeps and M. punctipes are provided. Morchella crassistipa is designated nomen dubium

Re-casting experience and risk along rocky coasts: A relational analysis using qualitative GIS

The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2018 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). This study invites readers to experience risk on Australia’s hazardous rocky coasts with the rock fishing community. In the paper, we offer an understanding of risk that is relational, a process that emerges within human–environment interactions in a dynamic coastal space that is constantly changing. Exploring the in situ and ongoing sensory attunement of the fishers, we contend, expands upon the quantitative understandings that tend to be deployed by risk managers, offering an innovative approach to conceptualising risk. In identifying how fishers perceive and experience a rocky coastal location in Sydney, Australia, we track rock fishers’ movements using global positioning systems (GPS), undertake participant observation, and draw on video footage, semi-structured interviews and participatory sketch maps. In doing so, fishers’ perceptions of socio-environmental stimuli were spatially represented in a GIS, with sketch mapping being the proxy and/or the window into perception–environment relations that produce risk. We contend that the findings show that experienced fishers are more capable of anticipating and reacting to hazardous situations “safely” because they are more attuned to how changing coastal conditions affect risk. This study draws attention to the spatial and temporal phenomena that drive risk perceptions as well as the implications for future perception-oriented research that adopt a relational understanding