Becoming Wild: Living the Primitive Life on a West Coast Island by Nikki Van Schyndel

Maureen Scott Harris reviews Becoming Wild: Living the Primitive Life on a West Coast Island, by Nikki Van Schyndel

Ornithologies of Desire: Ecocritical Essays, Avian Poetics, and Don McKay by Travis V. Mason

Review of Ornithologies of Desire: Ecocritical Essays, Avian Poetics, and Don McKay by Travis V. Mason

An investigation of labour ward care to inform the design of a computerised decision support system for the management of childbirth

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/622 on 03.04.2017 by CS (TIS)Patient monitoring is a complex task, particularly during childbirth, where assessment of the baby's condition is inferred from the continuous electronic recording of the baby's heart rate pattern and maternal uterine contractions (CTG). Computerised decision support has long been advocated, as difficulties in the interpretation of the CTG have led to failure to intervene and unnecessary intervention. The problem is large, for obstetric litigation now accounts for 80% of the UK National Health Service litigation bill. The Plymouth Perinatal Research Group has developed a computerised decision support system for patient monitoring during childbirth and the UK Medical Research Council has agreed to fund a multicentre randomised trial. The work of this thesis was an investigation of the labour ward care system to inform the human-centred design of the decision support system for patient monitoring in childbirth, prior to the clinical trial. It was recognised that many decision support systems have failed to gain clinical acceptance, as conventional design models were inadequate. Lack of attention to the organisational context of the care system and the process of the direct patient care led to the design of inflexible 'expert' systems, which constrained working practices. A pilot ethnographic study of an existing decision support system, used for the analysis of umbilical cord blood samples, was undertaken to clarify the research approach required for the main study. It was found that barriers to effective use within the wider work system included inadequate implementation and lack of organisational support. A case study approach produced a more comprehensive account of the context and process of the use of the computer system. The main study combined qualitative with quantitative techniques to investigate the system of care in childbirth, both outside and within the delivery room, to provide a unique, holistic perspective. The organisational context of the labour ward was investigated by direct observation of clinicians over the course of their work for 220 hours. Observations were documented and transcribed to computer text files. Patterns of actions and events were coded using ATLAS(ti) data analysis software. The codes were counted and tabulated to model the main features of this labour ward care system, which was expressed in the form of a rich picture diagram. These findings were confirmed by a limited study of five other UK labour wards. The core qualitative categories, derived from the observation data, found a complex and problematic relationship between communication, decision making and accountability. Decisions were often made outside the delivery room and were subject to misinterpretation and bias. The organisational hierarchy made it difficult for junior staff to question clinical management decisions. A system of tacit practice, external demands upon clinicians and transient allocation of junior midwives to labour ward militated against teamwork. This increased the vulnerability of the care of mothers to error. The process of direct patient care, within the individual delivery room, of 20 mothers in labour was captured in a novel audio-video observation study. The 111 hours of first stage labour and 12 hours of second stage labour were recorded and digitised to computer files. Recurrent actions and patterns of behaviour were coded both quantitatively and qualitatively using ATLAS(ti) data analysis software. Midwives left the room on average every 15 minutes to be absent for 27% of the first stage of labour. Record keeping occurred on average every 10 minutes and accounted for 19% of midwives' time. Midwives had little time to talk with mothers and only sat down at the bedside for 15% of the time. Psychosocial support was not given priority. Parents were generally excluded from communication between clinicians yet 108 clinicians took part in the care of the 20 women. Pressures from medicolegal directives and task-orientated imperatives overshadowed meaningful interaction with parents and caused spurious care priorities. This work has revealed the need for a critical reassessment of the type of support that is required for monitoring situations in all areas of medicine. A range of functions, such as shared information displays and models, have been suggested to augment roles and relationships between clinicians and parents to support patient-centred care. The present work has revealed that a combination of computer-based technology and changes to working practice can support the parents, their individual carers and their various roles. In this way the system of care can be more aligned to the objective of a safe and emotionally satisfying birth experience for parents and staff. A further programme of research is required to follow-up the existing studies, develop these new forms of interaction between technology and clinicians, and evaluate their effectiveness. The research methods employed in the present work will provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the decision support system in the forthcoming multicentre trial. The methods of investigation have also been shown to be of relevance to patient safety research, service delivery and training.Plymouth Perinatal Research Group Postgraduate Medical Schoo

Differences in mathematics scores between students who receive traditional Montessori instruction and students who receive music enriched Montessori instruction.

While a growing body of research reveals the beneficial effects of music on education performance the value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized, particularly in the area of Montessori education. This study was an experimental design using a two-group post-test comparison. A sample of 200 Montessori students aged 3 to 5-years-old were selected and randomly placed in one of two groups. The experimental treatment was an in-house music enriched Montessori program and children participated in 3 half-hour sessions weekly, for 6 months. This program was designed from appropriate early childhood educational pedagogies and was sequenced in order to teach concepts of pitch, dynamics, duration, timbre, and form. The instrument used to measure mathematical achievement was the Test of Early Mathematics Ability-3 to determine if the independent variable, music instruction had any effect on students\u27 mathematics test scores, the dependent variable. The results showed that subjects who received music enriched Montessori instruction had significantly higher mathematics scores. When compared by age group, 3 year-old students had higher scores than either the 4 or 5 year-old children. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .H37. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, page: 0060. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005

The drama, poetry and hymns of Fred Pratt Green: a bibliographic and critical study in two volumes

This thesis, which is presented in two volumes, gives a detailed description of nearly all plays, poems and hymns written by Fred Pratt Green. In the first volume bibliographic detail of all extant plays is given. There is also a synopsis of several plays and a discussion particularly of the late plays. Most of the thirteen plays referred to have been discovered during this research. Copies of some of these plays are not generally available: two are in the British Library, two are at the Pratt Green collection at the University of Durham and the others are personal copies which I obtained from various sources. The poetry section lists all known poems and many of these have been dated as a result of my research findings. Their original place of publication is given. There is a critical commentary on the four main collections: This Unlikely Earth, The Skating Parson, The Old Couple and The Last Lap. A short discussion is included here focussing on poetry ranging from 1929-1960s which was not included in a main collection and which was discovered during this research. Volume One concludes with variations in poetry texts, from their first publication to their later inclusion in the above four main collections or later anthologies. The second volume contains a complete listing of hymns to date and hymnals in which they appear where relevant. The section starts with a detailed evaluation of Pratt Green's contribution to hymnody and examines some characteristics of his hymns. Considerable comparison of textual variation in published hymnals has been undertaken as part of this research and this is included in this section. Volume Two concludes with a discussion of the significance of the variations noted

Three Poems

Poetry by Maureen Scott Harri

Sexual Pleasure and Enhancement: Implications for College Sexuality Education

The purpose of this study was to determine what sexual activities and behaviors college students are participating in, including the use of sexual enhancement products during both partnered and solo sexual activities. Pleasure and sexual satisfaction remain largely absent from today\u27s sexuality education curricula, resulting in most young adults not being aware of the importance of sexual pleasure, including autoeroticism, as a source of physical, psychological, intellectual and spiritual well-being (WAS, 1994).This study looked at college students and their the use of sexual enhancement products during partnered and solo sexual activities, in order to provide a set of baseline measures from which improvements to currently sexuality education can be made. In particular, this study aimed to inform education regarding positive sexual health benefits including pleasure and sexual satisfaction. Methods . A sample of 956 college students completed a cross-sectional survey on sexual pleasure and enhancement. The survey examined students\u27 current and past sexual behaviors, sexual satisfaction, sexual comfort, use of sexual enhancement products, motivation, and beliefs and attitudes associated with sexual enhancement products. Results . Findings indicated that age was associated with solo product use (p \u3c .001) and partnered product use (p \u3c .001). Participants over the age of 25 are more likely to use products during their solo and partnered sexual activities than 18-24 years olds. Results suggest that individuals who use products are more sexually satisfied in regard to masturbation, (p = .001), solo sexual activities (p = .004), partnered masturbation (p = .002), partnered sexual activities (p = .002), ability to have orgasms during solo sexual activities (p \u3c .001), and partnered sexual activities (p = .003), than individuals who do not use products. Results indicate that college students are participating in product use during their solo and partnered sexual activities, and there is a lack of education in college sexuality curricula to educate students on products and pleasure. This study aimed to better educate health professionals on the need for new innovative venues that may be appropriate for the delivery of sexual health education on college campuses

Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitudes of College Students Regarding HIV/AIDS

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate college students’ knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS. This study also sought to explore why students who had HIV/AIDS knowledge participated in risky sexual behaviors, and the factors may be influencing them to do so. The theoretical framework of the health belief model (HBM) aided in the exploration of college students’ rationales for sexual risk-taking and perceptions of HIV infection. The study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and face-to-face semi-structured interviews, to collect data. Purposeful sampling was used to select 15 participants from a 4-year accredited university in New York State. Data analysis was conducted by reviewing audiotapes of every interview and coding the written transcripts. Results revealed that college students lack proper HIV knowledge and are often miseducated about the severity of HIV/AIDS. Participants were engaging in risky sexual behavior by not using condoms, not having conversations about their sexual history, and not getting tested regularly for HIV. Participants who were in a relationship expressed pregnancy to be more of a relevant risk than HIV. Overall, participants felt “untouchable” when it came to HIV/AIDS because they felt it was not relevant to them. They are generations removed from the AIDS epidemic and do not see HIV as a threat. It is recommended that campus wellness organizations and administration develop and implement HIV inclusive policies as well as educational initiatives for the campus community. These initiatives can bring HIV awareness to campus, and hopefully aid in behavior change for students to make better sexual health decisions

Pragmatic Truths: When Ritual Meets the Reality of Community Engagement

Community engagement is the touchstone of all universities and is critical to the credibility and overall standing of academic institutions. The cardinal features of engagement include ‗Capability, Commitment, Contribution, Continuity, Collaboration and Conscience‘. However these abstract concepts are often idealized and simplistic. On the other hand, when community engagement is managed well, participatory planning can produce better substantive ideas, useful relationships and stronger agreements across stakeholder groups. However, if engagement is more ritual than reality, it can lead to technically deficient ideas, frustrated expectations, power grabs in which parochial interests dominate conflicts and mistrust. This case study describes the realignment of graduate nurse education at Edith Cowan University‘s School of Nursing Midwifery and Postgraduate Medicine with community stakeholders, to develop and sustain enrolment of students in the graduate program, with a focus on community engagement. In particular, the problems encountered will be identified and the ―how to‖ and ―how not to‖ manage engagement processes will be discussed. Through the realignment process the pragmatic truths of community engagement emerged; namely, a conflict of agenda, unrealistic expectations of capability and ability of stakeholders, resistance to change. This occurred despite a true intent for meaningful, sustained and beneficial partnership. The ―how to‖ emerged through assessment and involved a reality check of the power of human agents. This led to the development of a conceptual model of community engagement which embodies a change management framework. The how ‗not to‘ involved developing a set behaviours and descriptors as a diagnostic tool to identify hidden agendas, white elephants, and personal shortcomings. In conclusion, the case study provides a set of practical resources for community engagement, lessons learned and strategies to overcome issues and concerns of real and perceived barriers. Further work is required to refine and test the approach in other settings

Changes in teacher-student relationships

Background: Although teacher-student relationships lie at the heart of students’ schooling experience, fundamental questions regarding these relationships remain unanswered. Aims: This study investigates three related questions about these relationships: To what extent do they change from the beginning to the end of a school year? Are any emergent changes associated with shifts in students’ academic or motivational outcomes? Are certain “upstream” factors associated with improvements or declines in teacher-student relationships? Sample: We investigate these questions with a sample of middle school students (N = 119) and their teachers (N = 30). Methods: Through a novel approach which accounts for both perspectives within teacher-student relationships, we assess these relationships at the beginning and end of the school year. Using multi-level models, we examine how changes in these relationships are associated with changes in students’ grades, homework completion rates, self-efficacy, and effort. In addition, we examine associations with two potential precursors to teacher-student relationships: students’ accuracy in taking their teachers’ perspective and their perceptions of similarity to their teachers. Results: We find that substantial changes occur in these relationships from the beginning to the end of the year; these changes are associated with shifts in important student outcomes; and changes in students’ social perspective taking accuracy and perceived similarity to their teachers correspond with changes in teacher-student relationships. Conclusions: Given the malleability of teacher-student relationships and their importance for key achievement and motivational outcomes, we advocate for researchers to conduct field experiments to inform how to improve these critical relationships