Education and lifelong learning research findings No.42/2008: Evaluation of the extended pre-school provision for vulnerable two year olds pilot programme

The University of Strathclyde was commissioned by the Scottish Government to evaluate a pilot programme of extended pre-school provision for vulnerable two year olds. The team gathered both quantitative and qualitative data across the three pilot areas of Glasgow, Dundee, and North Ayrshire. Data were collected from multiple stakeholders- children, parents, preschool centre staff, heads of centres and local authority childcare strategy managers. The overall aim was to build up a coherent picture of the programme's impact by triangulating findings from different methodologies and different informants

Evaluation of the extended pre-school provision for vulnerable two year olds pilot programme: final report

In August 2006 the Scottish Government invited Glasgow, Dundee and North Ayrshire local authorities to take part in a £2 million Extended Pre-School Provision for Vulnerable 2 Year Olds Pilot Programme. The pilot programme was to run for a two year period with the key aim of providing positive preschool experiences one year early for vulnerable children and supporting their parents. Local authorities were encouraged to develop their own models of delivery within the broad aims of the project. A research team from the Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde, headed by Dr Lisa Woolfson was contracted to carry out an evaluation of the programme in the second year of the pilot. The research study ran from April 2007 to September 2008 and evaluated children who participated in the pilot programme between August 2007 and June 2008, the second year of the pilot programme. Aims We aimed to explore the impact of the extended pilot programme on cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural developmental child outcomes, as well as the impact on participating parents. In addition we aimed to identify recruitment criteria and admission procedures used by the participating local authorities as well as staffing, numbers of children, attendance rates and practical issues around programme set-up and delivery

Representing the Museum and the People: Rhetorical Sovereignty and the Representational Genres of American Indian Museums

This study addresses questions surrounding American Indian representations, specifically how Native nations use standard museum communicative structures to forward those communities' needs and goals, thus enacting what Scott Richard Lyons terms "rhetorical sovereignty." Using rhetoric studies' genre theory as the methodological tool, the genres of publicity/orientation literature, exhibits, and gift shops at three sites, the National Museum of the American Indian, Haskell Cultural Center and Museum, and Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, are analyzed for how Native peoples employ these genres for their own purposes for multiple audiences. The analysis suggests these genres are retailored depending upon the cultural and rhetorical context of each site, revealing that "rhetorical sovereignty" grounds itself in the context of an individual community. Furthermore, while positive changes have occurred in American Indian representations through the adaptation of museum genres by Native communities, the potential for communicative contradictions across genres and audiences still occurs

Swimming capabilities of stoats and the threat to inshore sanctuaries

Stoats (Mustela erminea) are small carnivorous mammals which were introduced into New Zealand in the late 19th century, and have now become widespread invasive pests. Stoats have long been known to be capable of swimming to islands 1-1.5 km offshore. Islands further out have usually been assumed to be safe from invasion, therefore routine stoat monitoring on them has been considered un-necessary. Recent incursions, including a stoat found on Rangitoto Island (3 km offshore) in 2010, and another which was deduced to have reached Kapiti (5 km offshore) in 2009, along with distribution modelling and genetic studies, strongly support the proposition that stoats can swim much further than 1.5 km. Acceptance of this hypothesis depends on estimating the probability that such small animals could indeed swim so far unaided. This paper reports the results of a project designed to assist this debate by recording the paddling action, speed and minimal endurance of nine stoats observed (once each) swimming against an endless current in a flume at the Aquatic Research Centre, University of Waikato. Four of the five males and two of the four females could hold a position for at least five minutes against the maximum current available, averaging 1.36 ± 0.336 km/h. In steady swimming against a current of c. 1 km/hr, they all used a rapid quadripedal paddling action (averaging 250 strokes/min, stronger with the spread forepaws). Four of the nine swam strongly for >1 h, including one female who covered 1.8 km in nearly 2 h non- stop. Results from such artificial conditions cannot be conclusive, but support suggestions that wild stoats could indeed swim much further than 1.5 km, hence we conclude that the “risk zone” for stoat reinvasions of inshore islands has been seriously under-estimated

“The Virus Stops with Me” : couples living positively with HIV in rural, eastern Uganda

Background: Historically people living with HIV (PLHIV) were left out of the center of the HIV prevention agenda in Africa, yet more recently greater attention has been placed on interventions that forefront PLHIV. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to increase knowledge on the ways couples living with HIV prevent further transmission of HIV and live with health and dignity. Methods: We identified four main research themes: HIV serostatus disclosure (I), altruism (II), reproductive behavior in the context of antiretroviral therapy (ART) (III), and HIV serodiscordance (IV). We designed, conducted and have reported the results around each of the themes. We used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for Articles I & II and purely qualitative methods for Articles III and IV. Participants were selected from two parent studies, both in Eastern Uganda. The first was a cross-sectional study of men and women living with HIV in Jinja District (Articles I & II) and the second was a longitudinal cohort of over 1,000 adults on ART in Tororo and Busia Districts (Articles III& IV). Article I assessed health and social predictors of HIV serostatus disclosure to sexual partners among 1092 adults and purposely selected 45 men and women for in-depth interviews on processes and outcomes of disclosure. Article II explored, among the same participants, concerns about HIV transmission, feelings of responsibility for HIV prevention and associated prevention behavior. Article III explored reproductive decision-making among 29 women and 10 of their partners. Article IV explored understanding of serodiscordance, couple communication and risk reduction, among 40 HIV serodiscordant couples, before and after a risk reduction intervention. Findings: Disclosure of HIV serostatus among sexual partners was associated with being married, increased condom use and knowledge of partner‟s serostatus. Disclosure resulted in far more positive than negative outcomes and was associated with risk reduction behavior. The reasons adults living with HIV provided for their sense of prevention responsibility revolved around ethical and practical themes such as “leaving children orphaned”. Among couples where the women were living with HIV, on ART and were pregnant or had recently delivered a baby, most stated their pregnancy was unintentional and often occurred because they believed they were infertile. In the same study, women who did not get pregnant, mentioned reasons for their choice: poor health, financial strain, the counseling received, not wanting an HIV-infected infant and having already reached their desired family size. Among discordant couples, their current risk behavior was influenced by their understanding about discordance and couple relations /communication and mediated by gender norms around sexual and reproductive health, their past behavior, physical health and the intervention. Conclusions: A couple‟s ability to communicate with each other has a powerful influence on their capacity to adopt risk reduction behavior. To be relevant and effective, interventions to reduce HIV transmission should be mindful of the cultural and structural influences on behavior and consider culturally relevant communication skill building as an integral element of prevention interventions, both with individuals and/or couples

The Importance of Situational Information for Abstract Concepts

Very little is known about how people understand abstract concepts. While a good deal is known about concrete concepts such as chair or apple, concepts that are perceptually elusive, such as idea or freedom, remain a challenge for theories of conceptual knowledge. Past research has explained how these concepts are understood by focusing on how they differ from concrete concepts, suggesting they are primarily understood by their relations to other words. However, recent research recognizes that this is not a comprehensive view of their representation, and that it excludes much of people’s everyday experience. Accordingly, current theories of grounded cognition propose that real-world situational knowledge plays a key role in how people understand abstract concepts. Experiment 1 supports this idea by showing that short scenario descriptions prime abstract concepts in the absence of any word association. In Experiment 2, I grouped concepts according to whether they relate multiple aspects of a situation, or refer to internal states. The former shows significant priming but the latter does not. These experiments demonstrate the importance of situational knowledge for the representation and processing of abstract concepts, including how the relationship between situations and abstract concepts is important to delineating among them

Opening a window into the past with historical fiction

A fundamental challenge facing historical fiction writers is how to provide a 'real' window into the past. This thesis explores how writers use the literary devices of point of view and setting to create 'true' accounts of historical events. Historical fiction balances the tension between the creation of fiction to entertain and the need for historical accuracy. I argue that by focusing on the minutiae or specific details of setting, readers can be transported to the time and place of the story and a window into the past can be opened. The writer uses point of view to position the telling of the story offering a relationship with the intended reader. The lens, or point of view, used to tell a story, is a mechanism which can bring an historical event into sharper focus for the reader giving them a perspective, albeit a fictionalised one, into history. The literary devices of setting and point of view are explicated in this discussion through my own creative writing resulting in a series of vignettes imaginatively depicting the events leading up to and including the execution of Martha Rendell, the last and only woman hanged at Fremantle Prison in Western Australia

The Host Galaxy of GRB 060505: Host ISM Properties

We investigate the ISM environment of GRB 060505. Using optical emission-line diagnostic ratios, we compare the ISM properties of the GRB 060505 host region with the hosts of unambiguous long- and short-duration GRBs. We show that the metallicity, ionization state, and star formation rate of the GRB 060505 environment are more consistent with short-duration GRBs than with long-duration GRBs. We compare the metallicity and star formation rates of the GRB 060505 region with four other star-forming regions within the GRB 060505 host galaxy. We find no significant change in metallicity or star formation rate between the GRB 060505 region and the other four host regions. Our results are consistent with a compact-object-merger progenitor for GRB 060505.Comment: 7 pages, two figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

Are work-integrated learning (WIL) students better equipped psychologically for work post-graduation than their non-work-integrated learning peers? Some initial findings from a UK university

Work-integrated learning (WIL) provides an opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge, competence, and experience, which increase employability and lead to more satisfying careers. Research indicates that WIL results in improved academic- and occupationally-related outcomes. However, there is a paucity of quantitative research examining the psychological impact of WIL. The study aimed to determine whether students who pursue WIL in the UK, differ significantly in terms of self-concept, self-efficacy, hope, study skills, motivation, and procrastination than students who have not participated in WIL. The methodology used a cross-sectional analysis of a large sample (n=716) of undergraduate students at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Results showed significant differences predominantly centred upon measures which pertain to students’ confidence in setting and attaining goals. The increased hope and confidence in goal attainment suggest that gaining work experience perhaps enhances the ability to set and achieve goals once in the work force. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2013, 14(2), 117-125) Keywords: Employability; Psychological factors; Work-integrated learning; Placement; Confidence; Self estee

From unskilled to employable: using a qualitative examination of the ‘Placement Timeline Research Method’ to explore student professional and personal development whilst on multiple WIL experiences.

This paper explores the method and findings of a qualitative examination into multiple work integrated learning (MWIL) placements. The research consisted of 14 reflective interviews with students from across discipline areas who had undertaken a series of work placements. The range of MWIL experiences included professional placements in nursing and youth work, yearlong placements in accountancy and engineering, self-directed WIL experiences in arts, informal and part-time placements. The aim of this study was to explore the transitions that took place throughout multiple placements that helped the student to become a work ready and an effective professional. A research method, 'Placement Timeline' was developed. This allows a reflective structure for the researcher to tease out skill development and work readiness. All interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo qualitative software. The paper will discuss selected findings from the research. These provide insights into how multiple WIL experiences may benefit students in their preparation for work. In effect it was as if the work readiness and skills relating to an uncertain and ever changing job market skills were fast tracked over MWIL.This research highlights the key transitional features of MWIL