Claywork in Art Therapy With Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This literature review explores the potential benefits of the claywork modality within art therapy as a treatment for individuals who experienced childhood sexual abuse or trauma. The goals of this literature review are to indicate and define appropriate terms; discuss the forms and prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and trauma; explore traditional treatment models; investigate the benefits of claywork in treatment for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma. The research reviewed included published studies, research analyses, and literature reviews covering the topics of childhood sexual abuse and trauma, group therapy, art therapy for the treatment of trauma, and claywork. The research was chosen and prioritized based on the size of studies, and how recently the research was performed. Two studies were also reviewed: A 1995 study by Anderson involving two groups of five adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the form of incest; and a 2015 study by Haynes consisting of three adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the form of sex trafficking. Both of these studies employ exclusively claywork as the art therapy modality in treatment. The evidence suggests that the lasting negative effects of childhood sexual abuse and trauma are benefitted by the therapeutic factors of clay and the physical and emotional benefits of claywork. The author notes that the vulnerabilities of this review include the lack of claywork-specific studies, the narrow scope of childhood sexual abuse and trauma treatment research, and the lack of diversity in populations studied. Future research should address these vulnerabilities, as well as addressing the stigma faced by different populations of survivors when reporting, and revising the terms used to be more firmly empowering to survivors

"Never in My Life Have I Learned to Teach to a Program and Not to the Kids Sitting in Front of Me:" Critical Pedagogy Meets Restrictive Educational Contexts

The need for critical pedagogy instruction in teacher education programs is unquestionable.  However, what happens when teacher candidates do internalize and demonstrate a desire to enact socially just practices, and they are prevented from doing so because of their educational contexts?  By using a single teacher candidate's narrative, this paper seeks to problematize the idea that effective critical pedagogy instruction is enough to change teachers' perceptions and practices.  Because teacher candidates and novice candidates are positioned subversively, they are often unable to implement the critical pedagogy they may have come to value, which can lead to frustration, anger, loss of self-efficacy, and even a desire to leave the field.  This article seeks to consider what steps teacher education programs can take to increase the teacher candidates' critical pedagogy sustainability within restrictive institutions and structures

Series of Intermittent Heroin Injections Enhances Acquisition of Operant Responding for Cues Paired with Natural Rewards

Repeated-intermittent heroin use has been implicated in altering learning processes. Ranaldi et al. (2009) and Morrison et al. (2011) demonstrated that repeated-intermittent heroin administration leads to an enhancement of conditioned reinforcement by a food-paired light stimulus; however, the mechanism governing this effect is still largely unknown. The aims of the present study were to examine modifications in Pavlovian and operant associations for cues paired with natural rewards after a series of intermittent heroin injections. The study consisted of three phases: (1) Pavlovian Conditioning Phase (4 days)- in which three groups of rats had a light stimulus paired with food, and one group had unpaired food and light presentations, (2) Repeated Intermittent Heroin Injections (Behavioral Sensitization Test) (9 days)- rats in each group were injected daily with either saline or heroin and tested for behavioral sensitization, (3) Associative Learning Test Phase (99 days)- rats were assigned to one of four conditions based on conditioning history (light paired or unpaired with food) and type of operant consequence for lever pressing (contingent or non-contingent). In this phase, rats were exposed to two test conditions (15 days each), two spontaneous recovery conditions (10 days each), and an additional two test conditions, one with no heroin (7 days) and the other with an additional heroin injection seven days prior (7 days). There was a 7-day break in between each experimental condition. The first test condition measured conditioned reinforcement of operant responding. The light stimulus from the Conditioning Phase was presented contingent or non-contingent upon lever pressing, depending on group assignment, in the absence of primary reeinforcement. The second test condition was extinction of operant responding in which lever pressing in all groups resulted in no programmed consequence (light). The third condition was identical to the first test condition, except that animals received an additional injection of heroin or saline prior to testing. The results show that after repeated-intermittent heroin administration rats that received light-food pairings and a contingent presentation of a light stimulus demonstrated greater lever pressing for a stimulus paired with food (active lever) compared to saline controls and all other experimental conditions. These findings are consistent with the conclusion that chronic heroin administration leads to an enhancement of conditioned reinforcement, an effect that is primarily mediated by operant contingency learning

Getting to know you: Student-faculty interaction and student engagement in online courses

[EN] Covid-19 presented many challenges to universities around the world as brick-and-mortar courses were moved to an online format. This work is an unofficial study of faculty-student interaction and student engagement in 7-week online graduate-level courses conducted in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and early Spring 2021. Research shows that instructor presence in online courses leads to increased student engagement, as well as motivation, well-being, and academic achievement. Student engagement is shown to have a direct impact on a student’s emotional, behavioral, and cognitive successes. This work proposes that increased faculty-student interaction in online courses using a variety of strategies would lead to greater student engagement with the course, and in the end, greater student success in overcoming barriers and challenges to online learning.Morrison, J. (2021). Getting to know you: Student-faculty interaction and student engagement in online courses. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1267-1275. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13160OCS1267127

Scotland and alternatives to neoliberalism

No abstract available

Newburn Manor: an analysis of a changing medieval, post-medieval and early modern landscape in Newcastle Upon Tyne

This thesis is a desk-based archaeological analysis of the historic landscape of Newburn manor, now an urban suburb some five and a half miles west of Newcastle upon Tyne. Despite continuing urbanisation however, this research has shown that landscape features dating back to the earliest periods of settlement survive. Enclosure and industry have been shown to have been the main historical forces behind landscape change. Agricultural improvement coincided with the process of enclosure and this work has shown clear evidence of the implementation of the type of innovations which typified the periods known as the Agricultural Revolution and era of High Farming. Industry stamped its mark on the rural landscape from the medieval period and in time Newburn developed into an industrial settlement. The main agency of landscape change was the landowner. This work has demonstrated the integral relationship between people, places and landscape development. In the medieval period the manor remained rural under the ownership of various religious orders, the needs of the landowner being restricted to maintaining self-sufficiency. After the Dissolution, land management under the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland evolved into a commercial enterprise. The manor's agricultural and industrial resources became a source of rental income. Industrial influence has been shown to have extended beyond the sinking of collieries, extraction of quarries and construction of waggonways. Patronage by the industrial magnates of the day was responsible for the transformation of farming and fishing villages into industrial suburbs. Of greatest importance is the symbiotic connection between the town of Newcastle and its hinterland. During a period of major industrial growth, Newcastle relied on Newburn to supply its markets and industries. Without this provision the town could not have flourished, and without this trade Newburn would not have existed

The Effects of Generative Strategies in Instructional Simulations on Learning, Cognitive Load, and Calibration Accuracy

Instructional simulations can provide a powerful medium for learners to interact with a model representing underlying principles of content or phenomena. While a promising medium for developing a learner\u27s own mental model, reviews of simulation learning have revealed less than promising results (Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, & Kulik, 1985; Kulik & Kulik, 1991), perhaps due to the lack of instructional supports inherent with a discovery-based approach. This study examined the use of generative strategies as an instructional support to promote learning from a physics simulation. Generative strategies, originally proposed by Wittrock (1974, 1989), strengthen understanding by prompting learners to create meaning between new information and prior knowledge or experience. These strategies provide learners with the feedback necessary for reflection in relation to the self-regulatory process described by Zimmerman (2000). Last, engaging in these strategies may direct attention to germane resources necessary for schema construction as described by cognitive load theory (Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011). Results of this study indicated that principle learning was improved when undergraduate participants paraphrased or predicted and self-explained using a guided discovery approach. Calibration accuracy, by means of predicting anticipated test performance, was also improved for learners engaging in generative strategies as compared to a control group. Postdiction of test performance indicated a directional trend favoring participants who predicted and self-explained. Test performance was strongly correlated (r=.59) with the thoroughness of generative content between treatment groups and the quality of self-explanations indicated a marked relationship with test performance (r=.78). Generative strategies also led to significant differences in mental effort, assessments of performance, and levels of frustration between treatment groups. Specifically, participants who predicted and self-explained reported significantly higher levels of mental effort than the other two groups. These participants reported decreased levels of confidence than the paraphrase group and higher levels of frustration than the control group. Finally, the incorporation of generative strategies did not influence participants\u27 interest in the instructional content

Deepening the Relational Ecology of Restorative Justice

It is our pleasure to introduce and frame this Special Issue of The International Journal of Restorative Justice. This Special Issue seeks to advance and expand thinking, research and practice of a restorative approach at the level of institutions and social systems, from families to workplaces. The articles and notes from the field included here were developed out of the 2016 International Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that shared the title and focus of this issue. The conference was held to fulfil a commitment made by the parties involved in a restorative justice process at the Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, in 2015 (Llewellyn et al, 2015). As Mary McNally\u27s note from the field (this issue) explains, the process was undertaken to deal with harms related to a private Facebook group that contained sexist and other harmful comments from a group of male fourth-year students directed at their female classmates and more generally reflecting unprofessional behaviour.\u27 Many in the university, the professional and the general public assumed that the restorative justice process was focused at the level of the interpersonal relationships and harms involved in the incident. In fact, however, the process revealed and responded to the significant institutional climate and culture issues that were reflected in and structuring the interpersonal relationships involved. It also became clear through the process that examining and shifting interpersonal relationships was the key to bringing the institutional level changes required within the faculty, the university and the profession to address the issues and harms involved and to bring change for the future. This broader focus brought by a restorative approach was surprising to many outside and even some inside the field of restorative justice. It stretched the relational ecology of restorative justice from the use of tools and practices for conflict resolution and discipline to the level of institutions and systems by attending to their relational nature and impact expressed through climate and culture

Comparison of Restricted and Traditional Discussion Boards on Student Critical Thinking

Interaction is a critical component of distance education and involves the transfer of information between the learner and content, learner and learner, or learner and instructor (Moore, 1989). Current distance education literature has examined the role of interaction, specifically learner-learner interaction, in learning and discussion design to enhance achievement. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of restricted and traditional discussion boards on critical thinking and learning in a graduate-level online distance education course. Findings indicated improved critical thinking in the quality and preparation strategies of initial discussion board postings when participants\u27 views of peer responses to discussion board questions were restricted until a predetermined date. Although the overall quality of subsequent postings was not affected, content analysis revealed a significant increase in discourse and revised opinions in the restricted format