Lecturers' experiences of computers in everyday academic practice : a phenomenological study

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.Although higher education teaching and learning practices have undergone many transformations through computers and their related technologies, the human dimension in lecturers’ everyday work at the digital interface has yet to attract attention. This thesis investigates lecturers’ experiences of computers in everyday academic practice through phenomenology and an understanding of practice shaped by Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life (1984). Five lecturers working in the field of Physical Education in Australia participated in the research, each doing two in-depth interviews in which their experiences of a typical day in the academic office were explored through rich descriptions. A modified phenomenological approach to researching lived experience was adopted to structure the research design and data explication process. The lecturers’ descriptions of their experiences brought to light a primary production of routine and taken-for-granted practices, which lecturers intentionally carry out at the computer. Routine practices involved ‘checking email’ and ‘communicating through email’; taken-for-granted practices involved processes of ‘tweaking and reworking’, ‘searching and sifting’, and ‘bringing things together’ at the computer. All of the lecturers experienced these everyday practices through different temporal and spatial dimensions, which also constituted the two main variant themes of the phenomenon. Phenomenological analysis allowed the identification of the importance of the ‘lived body’ and the essence of the phenomenon, whereby the ‘lived body’ operated at a concealed level in the lecturers’ relations with their computers. At times, the descriptions revealed that bodily awareness was in the background of the lecturers’ experiences of computers and in harmony with the practices where it was unfelt. However, with the passage of time, awareness of the body moved into the foreground of their consciousness in two ways: first, in the feelings of ‘restriction’ which surfaced at the desk while they were working on their computers, and second, in the ‘painful corporeal reminders’ they became aware of later in the day. Both of these embodied experiences could be seen as a concealed secondary production entailing a practice of ‘balance’. In this practice, numerous small tactics were used by the lecturers to restructure their interactions with their computers. The findings of this investigation revealed not only a primary production in which the same everyday academic practices were being produced in many different ways, but also a concealed secondary production of tactics – a poïesis – involving a deep bodily-based human agency that played out in the lecturers’ experiences of their computers. Through the secondary production, the centrality of the ‘lived body’ in the lecturers’ experiences came to the foreground, revealing yet another dimension of academic labour at the digital interface

Next of kin’s protracted challenges with access to relevant information and involvement opportunities

Background: Next of kin are considered a resource for both the patient and the health service. Need for information varies with severity and duration of health changes. A clear requirement is about what to expect upon homecoming, and what supportive services are available. The picture of relatives’ access to involvement and information is still somewhat unclear. Objective: To investigate what information, knowledge, and involvement next of kin considered important for managing their caring role and collaboration with their close relatives who experienced events that led to chronic illness. Design, setting, and methods: A qualitative exploratory design. Seventeen informants were recruited through various courses offered to relatives. Data were collected in 2017 from individual interviews, analyzed in an interpretative tradition, and involved qualitative content analysis. Results: The results reflect a long intervening period in between the activating incident and a clarification of the situation. This period was characterized by unpreparedness for duration of anxiety and amount of energy involved in balancing the relationship. Further, the interviewees saw retrospectively that information about disease and treatment was available, but they had to find such resources themselves. Information about how to handle the situation was almost absent. Ultimately, they were disappointed over not being involved. Conclusion: Previously provided prospective information about the embedded anxiety in the situation and consequences for relationships, involvement in patients’ services, and better communication about existing services seem to be significant. Health care professionals, especially in outpatient care, may improve their services by debating how they can implement family-oriented care in personalized treatment as usual. Focus on prospective information, early involvement, and relevant information about existing resources may empower relatives and relieve the experience of care burden.publishedVersio

‘This might be advertising’: Perception, Understanding and Handling of Online Advertising by Children

Werbung ist im Alltag der Kinder allgegenwärtig – so auch im Internet. Die Erscheinungsformen der Online-Werbung sind nicht nur vielfältig, sondern auch sehr dynamisch, zunehmend personalisiert und entsprechend herausfordernd für junge Online-Nutzerinnen und -Nutzer. Mit der Überschrift dieses Aufsatzes ist unmittelbar die Problematik angesprochen, nämlich, dass bereits die Definition und Operationalisierung von «Onlinewerbung» ein kritisches Moment darstellt. Sowohl aus rechtlicher als auch aus medienpädagogischer Sicht stellt sich die Frage, ob Kinder in der Lage sind, Online-Werbung als solche zu erkennen und ihre Intention zu verstehen. Ein grundlegendes Verständnis von Werbung und eine zuverlässige Kennzeichnung von Werbemitteln werden als Grundvoraussetzung dafür gesehen, dass Kinder Werbung als solche erkennen und angemessen und kompetent damit umgehen können. Im vorliegenden Beitrag stellen wir Ergebnisse einer interdisziplinären Studie vor, in der untersucht wurde, welches Werbeverständnis Kinder im Grundschulalter haben und wie sie Werbung im Internet begegnen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, wie herausfordernd Online-Werbung für Kinder ist und an welchen Stellen sie Schwierigkeiten haben, ihr Werbekonzept auf Online-Inhalte zu übertragen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Studie diskutieren wir das Konzept der Werbekompetenz sowie die methodischen Herausforderungen im Hinblick auf aktuelle und künftige Formen der Online-Werbung und persuasiver Kommunikation.Advertising is ubiquitous in children's everyday life – and on the Internet. The manifestations of online advertising are not only diverse but also very dynamic, increasingly personalised and therefore challenging for young online users in multiple respects. From the perspectives of both law and media education, the central question arises whether children are able to identify online advertising as such and to understand its intention. A basic understanding of advertising and reliable labelling of advertising material is seen as fundamental requirements for children to identify advertising as such and to be able to handle it appropriately and competently. Concerning the question of advertising literacy, we present findings of an interdisciplinary study in which we investigate the concept of online advertising of primary school age and how they deal with advertising online. The results show how challenging online advertising is for children and at which points they have difficulties in transferring their concept of advertising to online content. Against the background of the study, we discuss the idea of advertising literacy and the methodological challenges about current and future forms of online advertising and persuasive messages

Qualität im betrieblichen Bildungsmanagement : Stakeholder, Kriterien, Standardisierbarkeit

Quality in corporate learning management is hard to measure since it lacks theoretical foundation and practical frameworks. The dissertation first discovers the six main stakeholders of corporate education and their learning needs. Via desk research and interview analysis as grounded theory it sets up a list of more than 100 practical criteria of how to ensure and improve corporate learning management. These criteria are grouped around a solid learning value concept and are discussed for the possibilities of their standardisation as practical guideline

Der konstruktionistische Ansatz in der nordamerikanischen Problemsoziologie: Fallstudien als Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung der Theorie?

'In den beiden letzten Jahrzehnten dominiert in der nordamerikanischen theoretischen und empirischen Forschung über soziale Probleme der konstruktionistische Ansatz. Aus der konsequenten Durchführung seiner zentralen theoretischen und methodologischen Ideen folgt der Sachverhalt, daß nahezu ausschließlich Einzelfallstudien über Konstruktionsprozesse sozialer Probleme durchgeführt werden. Gegen diese Strategie wenden die Vertreter einer objektivistischen Position ein, daß eine solche auf den Einzelfall abstellende Forschungsstrategie nicht in der Lage sein kann, die Grundlagen für eine allgemeinere Theoriebildung zu schaffen. Eine erste systematische Sichtung neuerer Fallstudien zeigt, daß tatsächlich in den Einzelfallstudien und ihren Interpretationen durch die Autoren selbst wenig für eine umfassende Theoriebildung geleistet wird. Auf der anderen Seite könnte die vergleichende Analyse von Einzelfallstudien durchaus zur Grundlage neuerer Theoriebildung und zur Überprüfung von umfassenderen Hypothesen werden.' (Autorenreferat)'For almost two decades anglo-american theories and empirical social research on social problems have been dominated by the constructionist perspective. A consequent application of its central theoretical and methodological principles leads to a very rigid concentration on case studies about processes on constructing social problems. Proponents of an 'objetivistic' approach to the study of social problems argue that a strategy that restricts itself on case studies will not be able to lay the ground for general theories of social problems. A first systematic analysis of case studies reported in the last years comes to the result that these case studies and their interpretations by the authors really do not result in a notable theoretical progress. On the other hand, a comparative analysis of case studies may become a stimulus for generating new theoretical ideas and a chance to test propositions about the contingencies of the processes of constructing social problems.' (author's abstract)

Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Erforschung von Zusammenhängen zwischen Krankheit und Erwerbsverlauf mit Routinedaten der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung

"Im Arbeitspapier, welches im Rahmen des Sfb 186 erstellt wurde, werden Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Nutzung von Krankenkassendaten für die Erforschung von Zusammenhängen zwischen Krankheit und Erwerbsverlauf diskutiert. Der erste Teil setzt sich mit den Stärken und Schwächen solcher Daten für verschiedene Fragestellungen eines Teilbereichs der Lebenslaufforschung - nämlich der Erwerbsverlaufsforschung - auseinander. Das Schwergewicht wird dabei auf die Erforschung von Erwerbsverläufen aus sozialmedizinischer Sicht gelegt. Im zweiten Teil wird die Eignung der Angaben zur ausgeübten Tätigkeit in Krankenkassendaten für eine verlaufsbezogene Untersuchung berufsbedingter Belastungen und ihrer Folgen in den Mittelpunkt gestellt.

Efficient Designer Nuclease-Based Homologous Recombination Enables Direct PCR Screening for Footprintless Targeted Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

SummaryGenetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) via customized designer nucleases has been shown to be significantly more efficient than conventional gene targeting, but still typically depends on the introduction of additional genetic selection elements. In our study, we demonstrate the efficient nonviral and selection-independent gene targeting in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Our high efficiencies of up to 1.6% of gene-targeted hiPSCs, accompanied by a low background of randomly inserted transgenes, eliminated the need for antibiotic or fluorescence-activated cell sorting selection, and allowed the use of short donor oligonucleotides for footprintless gene editing. Gene-targeted hiPSC clones were established simply by direct PCR screening. This optimized approach allows targeted transgene integration into safe harbor sites for more predictable and robust expression and enables the straightforward generation of disease-corrected, patient-derived iPSC lines for research purposes and, ultimately, for future clinical applications

Update on novel antiangiogenic compounds

Les antiangiogéniques de 2e génération sont, pour la majorité, des inhibiteurs de récepteurs tyrosine-kinase membranaires dont nous retenons, dans cet article, les composés ayant atteint les phases II ou III randomisées. Leur rôle consiste, soit à améliorer la puissance d’inhibition sur des cibles déjà validées (VEGFR, PDGFR, KIT), soit à étendre leur spectre d’inhibition envers des cibles supplémentaires telles que FGFR, RET ou EGFR. En dehors de leurs propriétés sur le plan biologique, les chances de succès de ces nouveaux composés reposent également sur le choix judicieux des pathologies auxquelles ils s’adresseront.The second generation of antiangiogenics mainly includes membrane tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitors. This chapter summarizes clinical results of compounds that reached phase II and/or randomized phase III clinical trials. The aims of these agents are to improve the inhibition on validated targets (VEGFR, PDGFR, KIT) or to enlarge the spectrum of inhibition toward additional targets including FGFR, RET or EGFR. Beside intrinsic biological properties, the selection of appropriate disease appears critical to ensure future success in the development of those novel compounds