The importance of collegiality and reciprocal learning in the professional development of beginning teachers

This paper discusses factors which enhance induction experiences for beginning teachers. It reports the findings from case studies which explore the impact of new entrants to the teaching profession in Scotland. The data suggest that the most supportive induction processes mix both formal and informal elements, but that the informal elements such as collegiality, good communication and a welcoming workplace environment should not be underestimated. The study also highlights the potential benefits of a more collegiate environment for teachers across the career phases. Experienced teachers and new entrants had a range of experience to offer each other, thus creating more cohesive professional working which was supportive of early career teachers while encouraging reflection on practice among the more experienced professionals

Computerized Patient Records and NP Practice.

Computer-based patient records (CPRs) are becoming increasingly common in ambulatory settings. The advantages of computer-based patient records over paper records are multiple: they save space and time, help health care providers improve patient care, and provide clinical and managerial information quickly. Currently, however, this software is based on the medical model. The software for computer-based patient records was developed about 25 years ago in academic health care settings, but was never disseminated extensively into other types of ambulatory settings. Now, however, with the advent of more powerful personal computers (PCs), this innovation is commercially available for smaller ambulatory practices

Brigid\u27s Peace: An Examination of the Influences of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on One Writer\u27s Creative Work

The genesis of my novel, Brigid’s Peace, which I began in the spring of 2013 coinciding with my studies in the Presidential Seminar, was an interest in examining the need for luminosity, for transcendence, for beauty in the face of dark despair and evil. My work centers on the story of an Irish Catholic family living in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the time of sectarian conflict known as “the troubles,” but more specifically on the impact of events related to that time on one young woman, Brigid Donegan, an artist and one of seven sisters. Through a close, third person point of view, I examine how the creative process offers a place of reconciliation of seemingly irreconcilable opposites as well as a vehicle for forgiveness of self and others

Psychological Literacy: A Compendium of Practice

This set of case studies were submitted to Dr Jacqui Taylor and Dr Julie Hulme during 2014, following requests in psychology conferences and publications, and through professional networks and support from the HEA. This is the first version of the Psychological Literacy Compendium and a revised second version will be available online during 2016. An article has been published (Taylor & Hulme, 2015) presenting a brief synopsis of each case study; the article categorises case studies to allow easy comparison of the different approaches for practitioners

Are Language learning websites special? Towards a research agenda for discipline-specific usability

With the intention of defining an initial research agenda for discipline-specific factors in the usability of e-learning websites, this paper focuses on the example of foreign language learning. First, general notions and concepts of usability are analyzed, and the term 'pedagogical usability' is proposed as a means of focusing on the close relationship between usability and pedagogical design. Then, to address the key issue of whether there are aspects of pedagogical usability that are discipline-specific, the paper examines how language learning and teaching, in particular Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), has approached usability when developing technology-enhanced learning materials. Three elements of a research agenda are identified: pedagogical usability, intercultural usability and website evaluation. In conclusion, it is suggested that just as language learning websites may require a discipline-specific approach, so in other disciplines pedagogical usability may also need to be considered in relation to the specific requirements of the discipline, and that a debate around these issues is timely

Blogging Beyond Blackboard for Deeper Learning

Presentation by Marie Hulme and Pilar Munday at the Fairfield University Center for Academic Excellence Annual Conference on Innovative Pedagogy & Course Redesign May 29-30, 2014

An international survey of mature students' uses of mobile devices in life and learning

The paper presents research concerned with learner-driven innovative practice with mobile technologies and the interface between formal and informal learning. We build on our previous work investigating student use of personal devices for learning, work, social interaction and entertainment. A recent phase of the research included an international survey focusing on students registered on selected Masters and doctoral programmes in the UK, Sweden, Portugal, Hong Kong and Australia. The research gives an account of everyday uses and more unusual deployments of personal technologies by students from departments of education and technology. It illuminates learner choices and preferences, attitudes towards work–life boundaries, evolving social and cultural practices, and the impacts of technological change

After HIV testing: What\u27s Next?

Nurses and other health care providers involved in HIV testing are required to provide pre- and post-test counseling in accordance with guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 1992). Clients who test positive are extensively counseled and educated on the nature of the virus, its modes of transmission, the need to practice safer sex, and the obligation to advise sexual (and needle) partners (Preston, 1989). Some individuals do not inform their partners and this presents an urgent dilemma: Is a nurse bound by a client\u27s right to privacy not to advise that client\u27s partner of his or her HIV infection? Or does the duty to warn, and thus prevent possible harm to others, supersede confidentiality in this case