The Politics of Pensions in Ireland

Where power lies in the politics of pensions in Ireland is the central research question guiding this research. Working within a power orientated theoretical framework that links actors and ideas with an institutional analysis, an evaluation of half a century of pension policy is conducted. The hypothesis locates a knowledge elite within the institutional structures of pension policy-making, giving them privileged influence over policy. Analysis of data from process tracing and elite interviews supports the hypothesis, establishing that a network of professionals formed a pensions epistemic community. The research is presented as a narrative of the community gaining power in the 1970s, and consolidating it over the remainder of the century. They successfully countered a policy trajectory of a stronger role for the state within the pension system with their own policy enterprise, constructed around the idea of the pension system as a partnership. The state’s function within the partnership was to provide a basic pension, rather than involve itself in income-related pensions that could better be provided privately. Through the exercise of power, and manipulating the path dependent tendency of pension systems they normalised their policy enterprise as the only logical and viable reform trajectory, so that policy-making was only thought possible within its confines. In an extension to the epistemic community concept, the thesis separates the policy enterprise from the epistemic community and accords it structural weight in its own right, allowing the concept to account for a phase of declining epistemic power. The findings from this research matter for the pension debate in Ireland, as they draw out the lack of gender as an analytical category in pension reform. By understanding how the confines of what is considered possible in pension policy are constructed, this thesis can unlock conventional thinking on reform. In doing so, it challenges policy-makers to think innovatively about the Irish pension system, to place Ireland on a path of sustainable adequate and equitable pension provision for future generations

Aging Coyotes Using Dental Characteristics

The accepted methods of age determination in the coyote (Canis latrans) are either highly subjective and unquantifiable or expensive and require the extraction of the canine tooth. Since neither of these methods are ideal, their limitations have impeded research on this species. Therefore, it was my objective to (1) develop and test the accuracy and precision of a descriptive key based on tooth wear patterns on the lower canine tooth, (2) develop and test the reliability of multiple regression models for aging coyotes using measurements from extracted teeth, and (3) suggest criteria for improving the consistency of results using these techniques. From a sample of 996 teeth collected from coyotes that had been previously aged by counting cementum annuli, a subsample of 303 teeth were carefully examined for characteristic tooth wear patterns. These characteristics were used to develop an illustrated tooth wear key that could be used to assign coyotes to 1 of 7 age classes: 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, and ≥ 6.5 years. Using the illustrated key, I estimated the age of a subset of 203 of these teeth. I correctly aged 138 of the 203 (68%) teeth and of the remaining 65 teeth 58 (89%) were aged within one year. My estimated ages were highly correlated to the assigned ages (r = 0.882). Four other readers using the key and composite estimated the age of 20 teeth. The four readers had a mean coefficient of variation (CV) of 27.9, ranging from 10.8-35.6. The most accurate reader aged 16 of 20 (80%) teeth correctly and the least accurate 10 of 20 (50%). Older individuals tended to be underaged. The second age determination technique came from multiple regression models. Multiple regression models were developed based on a series of 12 measurements taken from the 303 teeth. The measurements taken were: total tooth length, minimum root length, maximum root length, maximum root width, maximum root thickness and crown width, crown thickness, maximum crown width, maximum crown thickness, anterior crown length, posterior crown length and pulp width. No single measurement could be used to determine age or sex because of overlap in the ranges of measurements. However, there were significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) between measurements for the sexes, except for pulp width (p = 0.689). Therefore, 3 multiple regression models were developed: one for males, one for females and one for both sexes combined. All were significant predictors of age (p ≤ 0.001). The male model was the least accurate and the least precise. These models cannot be used on living coyotes without extracting the canine because each model required at least 2 root measurements. To investigate the precision of measuring teeth, 5 people measured 11 of the 12 measurements (excluding pulp width) on 20 teeth. The measurements of posterior crown length and maximum crown width were the least precise with CVs of 8.6 and 8.8. As expected, total tooth length was the easiest to measure with a CV of 1.5. Because there is some overlap in age-classes using either of these techniques (tooth wear or multiple regression), they probably are not as accurate as ages determined from cementum annuli aging which is usually cited as the most accurate method. But, they can be an alternative when either the tooth cannot be extracted from living coyotes or when time and expense are concerns

The Politics of Pensions in Ireland

Where power lies in the politics of pensions in Ireland is the central research question guiding this research. Working within a power orientated theoretical framework that links actors and ideas with an institutional analysis, an evaluation of half a century of pension policy is conducted. The hypothesis locates a knowledge elite within the institutional structures of pension policy-making, giving them privileged influence over policy. Analysis of data from process tracing and elite interviews supports the hypothesis, establishing that a network of professionals formed a pensions epistemic community. The research is presented as a narrative of the community gaining power in the 1970s, and consolidating it over the remainder of the century. They successfully countered a policy trajectory of a stronger role for the state within the pension system with their own policy enterprise, constructed around the idea of the pension system as a partnership. The state’s function within the partnership was to provide a basic pension, rather than involve itself in income-related pensions that could better be provided privately. Through the exercise of power, and manipulating the path dependent tendency of pension systems they normalised their policy enterprise as the only logical and viable reform trajectory, so that policy-making was only thought possible within its confines. In an extension to the epistemic community concept, the thesis separates the policy enterprise from the epistemic community and accords it structural weight in its own right, allowing the concept to account for a phase of declining epistemic power. The findings from this research matter for the pension debate in Ireland, as they draw out the lack of gender as an analytical category in pension reform. By understanding how the confines of what is considered possible in pension policy are constructed, this thesis can unlock conventional thinking on reform. In doing so, it challenges policy-makers to think innovatively about the Irish pension system, to place Ireland on a path of sustainable adequate and equitable pension provision for future generations

Learning Lessons and Being Schooled: The Relational Lessons of Young Women in an Alternative High School

This dissertation is a qualitative investigation of 12 female high school graduates who had previously dropped out or were pushed out of public high school and who attended and graduated from Conservation High School (CHS), located in the Pacific Northwest. CHS is an alternative high school organized around an environmental conservation theme. In this study, participants describe how their relationships with peers and teachers in each school affected their commitment to finish school. I analyze participants\u27 awareness of how power dynamics were communicated to students through social organization, school practices, meaning making systems, constructions of identity, and others\u27 behavior. The youth interacted with peers and teachers based on their perceptions of their place in the social order of the school, reinforced by hearing such terms as at-risk, dropouts, behaviorally-disordered, and special education. I used Foucault\u27s concept of the self as a product of the disciplinary power of discourse to frame the study of these youth\u27s experience of being socially and therefore relationally positioned, a phenomenon I named relational regulation. In Chapter 4 participants describe how institutionalized practices, such as the management of school space, time, and organization, and informal regulations, such as emotional expression and bodily representations, were managed in their relationships in school. Participants describe the relational possibilities they experienced at CHS in comparison to their public school experiences. Themes were developed from their narratives, including getting to know you, being at each other\u27s throats, and schooling effects. In Chapter 5, I consider how participants use the discourses of being fake and being real to inform themselves about the relational terrain. Being fake is their term for a deceptive representation of self, while being real is their term for an honest one. I show how they use these discourses to resist and also reproduce some of the exclusionary politics they rejected in their public school that were central to their leaving school. In Chapter 6, I look at how the students negotiated the dominant discourse of hygienic femininity, while doing conservation work in the muddy outdoors. Last, I address why relational regulation matters and discuss implications for future research

Differentiated instruction : does it work?

The fact that every child is unique poses a dilemma for educators. The model for differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to adjusting the curriculum and presentation of information to learners. Noting that there is no recipe for differentiation, this paper discusses the broad principles and characteristics that are useful in establishing a differentiated classroom. Studies explore the impact differentiated instruction has on students, and research highlights what must be done to transition beliefs about differentiated instruction into action. The outcome of this review indicates mixed results regarding differentiated instruction and implementation. Further research is suggested because the nature of differentiated instruction, its interpretation, and implementation are controversial

Germanium incorporation into sponge spicules: Development of a proxy for reconstructing inorganic germanium and silicon concentrations in seawater

Measurements of germanium (Ge) in deep-sea sponge skeletons are presented for sponges collected by dredge and for spicules isolated from a range of deep-sea sediment cores. Germanium to silicon (Si) ratios (Ge/Sisp) for sponge silica ranged between 0.07

An Autoethnography of Transitioning Mathematics Content Courses for K-8 Preservice Teachers to Online Learning during COVID-19

The following autoethnography is completed by a group of mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) after transitioning their mathematics content courses for K-8 Preservice Teachers (PSTs) from face-to-face to online due to COVID-19 in Spring 2020. The MTEs present their perceptions of the shift to online teaching and learning by describing (a) how they typically teach their classes, (b) how they redesigned classes to support student learning when the pandemic started, (c) their PSTs\u27 perceptions of which course components we effective (or not) in helping them adjust to the new online learning environment, and (d) next steps in teaching and research

Finding a Fit: Biological Science Doctoral Students’ Selection of a Principal Investigator and Research Laboratory

In the laboratory-based disciplines, selection of a principal investigator (PI) and research laboratory (lab) indelibly shapes doctoral students’ experiences and educational outcomes. Framed by the theoretical concept of person–environment fit from within a socialization model, we use an inductive, qualitative approach to explore how a sample of 42 early-stage doctoral students enrolled in biological sciences programs made decisions about fitting with a PI and within a lab. Results illuminated a complex array of factors that students considered in selecting a PI, including PI relationship, mentoring style, and professional stability. Further, with regard to students’ lab selection, peers and research projects played an important role. Students actively conceptualized trade-offs among various dimensions of fit. Our findings also revealed cases in which students did not secure a position in their first (or second) choice labs and had to consider their potential fit with suboptimal placements (in terms of their initial assessments). Thus, these students weighted different factors of fit against the reality of needing to secure financial support to continue in their doctoral programs. We conclude by presenting and framing implications for students, PIs, and doctoral programs, and recommend providing transparency and candor around the PI and lab selection processes

Cognitive Apprenticeship and the Supervision of Science and Engineering Research Assistants

We explore and critically reflect on the process of science and engineering research assistant skill development both within laboratory-based research teams and, when no team is present, within the faculty supervisor-research assistant interactions. Using a performance-based measure of research skill development, we identify research assistants who, over the course of an academic year of service as a researcher, markedly developed, modestly developed, or failed to develop their research skills. Interviews with these research assistants and their faculty supervisors, seen through the lens of cognitive apprenticeship, provide insight into this variation. We found that within the contours of supervisory relationships and research teams, research skill development is indelibly shaped, for better or worse, by supervisor influence and abundant trial-and-error

Feeding Two Birds With One Scone? The Relationship Between Teaching and Research for Graduate Students Across the Disciplines

We surveyed over 300 graduate students at a Southeastern research university to increase our understanding of their perceptions of (a) the connection between teaching and research, (b) the means by which integration occurs, and (c) the extent to which teaching and research contribute to a shared skill set that is of value in both contexts. We also examined differences across disciplines in the perception of this teaching-research nexus. Overall, findings indicate that graduate students perceive important relationships between teaching and research, and they point toward opportunities for administrators to promote teaching and research integration