An interpretative journey into constructivism and primary science curriculum

The principle focus of this study has been a reflection on my planning methodology since 1988. Teachers planning from 19882002 was predominantly individual and was aided by the gradual introduction of State and Commonwealth produced documents. These documents assisted in topic choices and assessment outcomes.Important influences transformed my planning. The first occurred in 1996 and the second in 2002. In 1996 I was involved in the production of a resource kit for teachers titled, Its Working Career and Work Education, Kindergarten to Year 8. During the compilation of this resource kit my planning incorporated the 1995, Teaching and Learning in Science Planning Guide, which resembled constructivism by building knowledge and understanding. In 2002 the curriculum in Tasmanian State Schools was transformed with the introduction of the Essential Learnings Framework 1 and 2. This curriculum innovation had implications on teachers planning methodology with a strong emphasis on collaborative planning.Studies and critiques of environmental units were undertaken in 2000, 2003 and 2004 to ascertain the effectiveness of my planning methodology. The underlying principles of constructivism provided a lens to improve perceived deficiencies in my classroom practice. The inclusion of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) assisted in making constructivism visible. A strong purpose therefore evolved from the study; a more effective planning methodology

Evaluation of the 20,000 days campaign

The aim of Counties Manuaku District Health Board (CMDHB) 20,000 Days Campaign was to give back to the community 20,000 healthy and well days to avoid predicted growth in hospital bed days. After tracking the difference between projected demand and actual use, at the end of the Campaign on 1st July 2013, CMDHB reported that 23,060 bed days were given back to the people of Counties Manukau. This evaluation report explains how using the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series the Campaign was run with the expectation that small immediate changes to practical problems (in this case the work of 13 Collaborative teams), will accumulate into large effects (a reduction of 20,000 bed days against predicted bed days use by July 2013). The evaluation found the Campaign did save bed days, though attributing causality was always going to be difficult, and overall the Campaign was very successful in keeping the energy and motivation of participants

Using Scenarios in Public Policy

Futures thinking is a field rich in a wide range of tools and techniques. Of these, scenario development has perhaps the most potential to assist future-focused policy development. This article seeks to stimulate discussion and inform practice in New  Zealand, first, by exploring the history of scenarios, and second, by investigating a past scenario development process which sought to guide nationalhealth policy

A multi-centre study of adults with learning disabilities referred to services for antisocial or offending behaviour: demographic, individual, offending and service characteristics

This study was carried out as part of a larger study commissioned by the UK Department of Health to investigate the service pathways for offenders with learning disabilities (LD). The study covered three health regions in the UK and included 477 people with LD referred to services because of antisocial or offending behaviour during a 12-month period. Data were collected concerning demographic, individual, offending behaviour and service characteristics. The findings of the study are broadly consistent with contemporary research concerning this population, particularly in relation to the nature and frequency of offending, history of offending, psychopathology, age and gender distribution. However, very few of those referred had any form of structured care plan, despite having significant offending histories, and this may have compromised early identification of their needs and communication between the health, social and other services involved

Referrals into services for offenders with intellectual disabilities: variables predicting community or secure provision

Background There is a need for research to promote an understanding among service developers on why people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are referred to offender services in order for them to receive appropriate assessment and treatment. Previous studies investigating referrals into forensic ID services have concentrated on referral sources and administrative variables such as legal status. Aims To construct a predictive model for choice of service referral based on a comprehensive range of information about the clientele. Method We conducted a case record study of 336 people referred to community services and 141 to secure provision. We gathered information on referral source, demographics, diagnosis, index behaviour, prior problem behaviours and history of abuse. Results Comparisons revealed 19 candidate variables which were then entered into multivariate logistic regression. The resulting model retained six variables: community living at time of referral, physical aggression, being charged, referral from tertiary health care, diverse problem behaviour and IQ < 50, which correctly predicted the referral pathway for 85.7% of cases. Conclusions An index act of physical aggression and a history of diversity of problem behaviours as predictors against the likelihood of community service referral suggest that professionals have similar concerns about people with ID as they do about their more average offending peers; however, the more severe levels of ID mitigated in favour of community referral, regardless. Offenders with ID tend to be referred within levels of service rather than between them, for example, form tertiary services into generic community services

A Realist Evaluation of Local Networks Designed to Achieve More Integrated Care

Introduction: Not surprisingly given their multi-component nature, initiatives to improve integrated care often evolve to find the best way to bring about change. This paper provides an example of how an evaluation evolved alongside such an initiative designed to better integrate care across primary, community and hospital services in South Auckland, New Zealand. Theory and methods: Using the explanatory power of a realist evaluative approach, theories of new ways of working that might be prompted by the initiative were explored in: (i) interviews with stakeholders in 2012 and 2015, (ii) online surveys of general practices and local care organisations, and (iii) a purposive sample of ten general practices. Results: The results highlighted the institutional contexts that led to difficulties in implementing population health initiatives. They also revealed that changes in work practices focussed mostly on activities that improved the coordination of care for individuals at risk of hospital admissions. Discussion: Multi-component complex interventions can vary in their delivery and be vulnerable to one or more components not being implemented as originally intended. In the case of this intervention, the move towards strengthening local relationships arose when contractual arrangements stalled. Realist evaluative approaches offer a logic that helps unpick the complexity of the relationships and politics in play, and uncover the assumptions made by those developing, implementing and assessing health service changes. Conclusion: Given the multi-component and evolving nature of initiatives seeking to better integrate care, the realist evaluative emphasis on surfacing early the theories to explain how change is expected to occur helps overcome the challenge of evaluating “a moving target”

Pathways into services for offenders with intellectual disabilities : childhood experience, diagnostic information and offence variables

The patterns and pathways into intellectual disability (ID) offender services were studied through case file review for 477 participants referred in one calendar year to community generic, community forensic, and low, medium, and maximum secure services. Data were gathered on referral source, demographic information, index behavior, prior problem behaviors, diagnostic information, and abuse or deprivation. Community referrers tended to refer to community services and secure service referrers to secure services. Physical and verbal violence were the most frequent index behaviors, whereas contact sexual offenses were more prominent in maximum security. Age at first incident varied with security, with the youngest in maximum secure services. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or conduct disorder was the most frequently recorded diagnosis, and severe deprivation was the most frequent adverse developmental experience. Fire starting, theft, and road traffic offenses did not feature prominently. Generic community services accepted a number of referrals with forensic-type behavior and had higher proportions of both women and people with moderate or severe ID

A p53-dependent mechanism underlies macrocytic anemia in a mouse model of human 5q- syndrome.

The identification of the genes associated with chromosomal translocation breakpoints has fundamentally changed understanding of the molecular basis of hematological malignancies. By contrast, the study of chromosomal deletions has been hampered by the large number of genes deleted and the complexity of their analysis. We report the generation of a mouse model for human 5q- syndrome using large-scale chromosomal engineering. Haploinsufficiency of the Cd74-Nid67 interval (containing Rps14, encoding the ribosomal protein S14) caused macrocytic anemia, prominent erythroid dysplasia and monolobulated megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. These effects were associated with defective bone marrow progenitor development, the appearance of bone marrow cells expressing high amounts of the tumor suppressor p53 and increased bone marrow cell apoptosis. Notably, intercrossing with p53-deficient mice completely rescued the progenitor cell defect, restoring common myeloid progenitor and megakaryocytic-erythroid progenitor, granulocyte-monocyte progenitor and hematopoietic stem cell bone marrow populations. This mouse model suggests that a p53-dependent mechanism underlies the pathophysiology of the 5q- syndrome

Stillbirths: recall to action in high-income countries.

Variation in stillbirth rates across high-income countries and large equity gaps within high-income countries persist. If all high-income countries achieved stillbirth rates equal to the best performing countries, 19,439 late gestation (28 weeks or more) stillbirths could have been avoided in 2015. The proportion of unexplained stillbirths is high and can be addressed through improvements in data collection, investigation, and classification, and with a better understanding of causal pathways. Substandard care contributes to 20-30% of all stillbirths and the contribution is even higher for late gestation intrapartum stillbirths. National perinatal mortality audit programmes need to be implemented in all high-income countries. The need to reduce stigma and fatalism related to stillbirth and to improve bereavement care are also clear, persisting priorities for action. In high-income countries, a woman living under adverse socioeconomic circumstances has twice the risk of having a stillborn child when compared to her more advantaged counterparts. Programmes at community and country level need to improve health in disadvantaged families to address these inequities.Mater Research Institute – The University of Queensland provided infrastructure and funding for the research team to enable this work to be undertaken. The Canadian Research Chair in Psychosocial Family Health provided funding for revision of the translation of the French web-based survey of care providers.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01020-