The role of museums, collections, and objects in supporting higher education student mental well-being and quality of learning

This chapter focuses on the potential role of museums and cultural collections in facilitating student well-being. In order to investigate the potential relationship between object engagement and student well-being, several groups of students undertaking modules that involved engaging with museum objects were asked to participate in an anonymous online survey. The UCL students who participated in the survey seemed to recognise the need to cope more effectively with stress manifested in the fact that over three-quarters of respondents thought that well-being activities should be incorporated into taught modules, with 30% of them proposing extra curricula relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Workshops and visits also enhance student engagement and interest, though to a slightly lesser extent than that of well-being. The fact that object-based learning activities, especially when performed outside the regular classroom environment, such as in a museum or collection space, appear to meet the expressed needs of the students is encouraging

Systematic review of arts and culture-based interventions for people living with dementia and their caregivers

Aims: To explore and summarize studies investigating the effect of arts and culture interventions for people living with dementia and their caregivers on the well-being and cognition of the person living with dementia and, caregiver strain. Methods: We carried out a systematic search of five electronic databases (PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library).  We included original research published in peer-reviewed journals including both qualitative and quantitative studies.  We assessed quality of included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration’s Risk of Bias tools.   A narrative synthesis was conducted of all included studies. Results Of the 4827 articles screened, 34 articles met inclusion criteria. A variety of interventions were identified, with more than half taking place in a museum or gallery. Five RCTs showed improvements in wellbeing outcomes but no cognitive improvements except in some subscales in a music intervention. Most non-randomised studies reported cognitive improvements and well-being improvements for people living with dementia  and their caregivers. Studies primarily focused on individuals with mild to moderate dementia. Conclusions: The use of arts and culture interventions may provide benefits for people living with dementia and their caregivers. However, heterogeneity of the interventions and outcome measures prevented generalization of the results. Further research of arts and culture interventions for people living with dementia and their caregivers should utilize larger controlled trials, standardized outcome measures and include individuals with moderate to severe dementia

Experiential learning spaces and student wellbeing: a mixed-methods study of students at three research intensive UK universities

There is clear evidence that university students are experiencing significant mental health difficulties, further exacerbated by the temporary closure of university campuses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, our study – Student Wellbeing and Experiential Learning Spaces (SWELS) – explored the role of experiential learning spaces in supporting student wellbeing. We adopted a mixed-methods approach, consisting of an online survey and interviews with students from three research intensive UK Universities. The survey results revealed that compared to the national average of 16–25-year-olds from the UK Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) wellbeing questionnaire, the sampled students exhibited significantly lower levels of life satisfaction, happiness, perceived worthwhileness and higher levels of anxiety. The qualitative results further confirmed that students perceived their wellbeing to be affected by their university experience and the COVID pandemic. However, the results also suggest that experiential learning spaces (such as museums, collections, libraries, and gardens) hold strong potential to support student mental health. Accordingly, the study indicates that diversifying module content and conscientiously considering both physical and digital learning spaces can positively impact students. In short, curricula that are cognisant of the physical learning environment and embed a focus on wellbeing into their content might help to bolster student wellbeing

Object-based learning and research-based education:Case studies from the UCL curricula

157 Chapter 11 Object-based learning and research-based education: Case studies from the UCL curricula Thomas Kador, Leonie Hannan, Julianne Nyhan, Melissa Terras, Helen J. Chatterjee and Mark Carnall The general broadening in recent years of what counts as legitimate learning has included an interest in objects, including those from curated collections such as artefacts, natural history specimens and archival items, which may have complex cultural or scientific meaning in their own right. A more sophisticated interaction with objects has been a particular focus for some time and meshes well with newer initiatives and strategies. Indeed, it was a forerunner of bringing research-based education into university curricula. These case studies describe how students could be part of genuine research projects while drawing on traditionally neglected aspects of learning such as touch and direct experience. It is no artificial exercise: Kador and his colleagues record that students have at times corrected mistakes in cataloguing, as well as reconsidering the ethics of objects often taken without permission as colonial curiosities. Francis Galton and his colleague Flinders Petrie must be reckoned with again, given the provenance of many of the objects available to UCL students on site. They are also concerned with the opposite direction: creating virtual versions of objects gives students the chance not just to learn, but to ‘produce’, by creating exhibitio

Aldose reductase in the BB rat: isolation, immunological identification and localization in the retina and peripheral nerve

Aldose reductase was purified from testis of nondiabetic BB rats using DEAE cellulose, hydroxylapatite and sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The molecular weight of the isolated enzyme was found to be 36,500±1000. Antibody against the isolated enzyme was raised in rabbits. It was purified by affinity chromatography, characterised by double immunodiffusion and Western blot analysis and used to localize the enzyme in retina and in peripheral nerve of the BB rat. In the retina, aldose reductase immunoreactivity was seen in the ganglion cells, Müller cell processes, retinal pigment epithelium and in the pericytes and endothelial cells of retinal capillaries. In peripheral nerve, aldose reductase immunoreactivity was found in the paranodal cytoplasm of Schwann cells and in pericytes and endothelial cells of endoneurial capillaries.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46019/1/125_2004_Article_BF00270423.pd

Where are we going?:Movement and mobility in mesolithic research

In this article I will discuss some of the most dominant approaches to early prehistoric, and in particular mesolithic movement and mobility. After outlining the significance of mobility studies to mesolithic research I shall briefly review the most commonly employed models of mobility, including some of their greatest problems and shortcomings. As a way forward I will then offer an alternative approach, based on an integrated study of lithic artefacts within a landscape perspective. To test and illustrate this approach I will present three brief case studies from different parts of Ireland