Positioning poetry: a maverick framework for the curious and bold

My focus here is on the mutually beneficial roles of poet and poetry entrepreneur. I explore how my personal development as a poet has interacted with other fields of practice (including science) and running a national writers' organization concerned particularly with education. I demonstrate why "fields of practice" are sometimes considered in too separate a manner, and how poetry can play a role in connecting them, translating from one domain to another. Crucial to this is the way in which poetry informed my own education and emerging identity (as chronicled in Chapter 2). It has led to a subversive spirit that is nevertheless dedicated to the rigours of a demanding craft. In seeking to support new writers in their learning of that craft – and sharing it further themselves – I have held to the idea of writer as maverick, and the importance of any systems reflecting that principle; systems, perhaps, as mavericks in their own right. I explore in detail public works that include a themed anthology (Chapter 3), a solo collection (Chapter 4), a subject benchmark statement and research reports (Chapter 5), but stress the broader range of writing that underpins the whole, including articles, reviews, editorial work and other literary projects. Chapter 6 interleaves all these areas of activity, revealing the creative tensions between them and suggesting how current initiatives – both personal and public – might be refocused. I have chosen a particular poem to act as transition from one chapter to the next, a concept I explain (in Chapter 1) with reference to musical precedents. Music, indeed, features large, as it does in my own history. My title derives in part from a review of a Nigel Kennedy album of 2008, a recording of classical concertos that incorporates electrified cadenzas and a jazz finale, guaranteeing disapproval from certain quarters of the musical establishment, where boundaries are viewed as sacrosanct. Kennedy is the subject of a current project, but curiosity itself is my bigger concern, related to those procedures that either nurture or threaten it. To sideline curiosity seems to me unthinkable, but I operate within a realm that is itself often viewed as marginal. Poetry is rarely considered central or even relevant to public discourse but I assert here how and why it should be so, focusing on its power to enthuse and engage, to conceptualize and transmit through song. I see my role as a poetry activist: partly poet as social activist; partly activist of poetry itself

Kinesthetic Movement Activities and Boys’ Engagement and Behavior in Literacy

The purpose of this paper is to share the results of an action research project that studies the effects kinesthetic literacy activities have on boys’ engagement and behavior in the classroom. The study was done using one kindergarten classroom that measured boys’ engagement and behavior doing a non-kinesthetic literacy activity versus a kinesthetic literacy activity. The boys were also compared to the girls level of engagement and behavior in both cases. The following paper will share the results of the study that looked at kinesthetic literacy activities to improve boys’ engagement and behavior

Healthy Skin is In: Effects of a Multifaceted Sun Safety Program for Adolescents

Skin cancer is a common, potentially life threatening disease notably on the rise among young Americans. A substantial portion of lifetime exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the greatest modifiable risk factor for skin cancer development, occurs during childhood and adolescence. Schools infrequently integrate sun safety education into the classroom and many lack essential sun safety policies. The purpose of this EBP project was to implement a multifaceted educational intervention providing middle school students with the knowledge behavioral skills needed to minimize the risk of developing skin cancer. The Health Belief Model and ACE Star Model of evidence-based practice guided this project. A convenience sample of seventh and eighth grade science students attending a local middle school in Northwest Indiana during the fall of 2012 were recruited. Interventions included two 50-minute educational sessions utilizing PowerPoint, video-clips, nurse practitioner led discussion, in-class group activities focusing on the impact of UV radiation, and appearance-focused evaluations with a skin viewing device. Informational packets for parents and school policy recommendations for administrators were developed and distributed. Questionnaires were administered to participants immediately before, immediately following, and one month following implementation of the project. Three major outcomes were evaluated: knowledge of sun safety, intentions to practice sun-protective behaviors, and attitudes toward sun-protection. While 169 students received the educational component of the program, only 125 students ages 12-14 years (M = 12.8) participated in the completion of all three questionnaires. The project demonstrated significant improvements in students’ knowledge on sun safety and UV radiation (p \u3c .001), attitudes toward tanning and skin cancer (p \u3c .001), and self-reported intentions to change sun-protective behaviors (p \u3c .001). Improvements were maintained over time from pre-test to post-test two. School nurses, administrators, and community leaders can use findings from this project to initiate policy revisions supporting a sun safe environment and the implementation of sun safety education across all grade levels

Assessing Short-Term Learning and Long-Term Impacts of Non-Formal Education Programs

Non-formal education programs, such as summer camps, offer opportunities for immersive learning and increased experiential science. Summer camps at the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia provide hands-on marine science experiences for 1st–8th grade students. This article assesses the short-term learning gains and long-term impacts of attending a marine science summer camp. Across all age groups, there is evidence of short-term learning, high numbers of new experiences for campers, and increased scientific confidence in many campers. The longitudinal study revealed that these impacts may last until at minimum college, influencing career choice, extracurricular activities, and course enrollment

FSAE Pedal Box: Controlling Stop and Go

The VCU FSAE team has a need for foot controls for the brakes and throttle on their newest race car. The assembly must meet the rules set forth by the FSAE organization to compete, and must be as light and low as possible to conserve the acceleration and handling characteristics of the car. Furthermore, the project must be completed on a budget of $500 allotted to Senior Design teams. The FSAE team has been working on the current car since 2005 and has yet to produce a drivable race car. The Senior Design teams this year cover the major systems needed to make the car run and compete in the national competition in Michigan. In order to conduct the first acceleration test, a foot control for the throttle must be present, and will soon mandate the need for control of the brakes. Goals for the pedal box include: simplicity of manufacture, durability, minimal weight, and low center of gravity. In the initial design phase, the options that would have raised the center of gravity were eliminated. Of the low-mount designs, options that would have required complex machining or non-standard parts were eliminated. Finally, any parts that could be made of lightweight materials were specified as such. The team has concluded on a robust and simple design for production. The final part of the design will be to eliminate weight through optimization, making sure that the materials are as thin as possible within a factor of safety. The results of the analysis may even show that symmetry in the 4 clamps used for repositioning the pedal assembly may be foregone in favor of fewer clamps mounted asymmetrically. Throughout this process, the design must be proven as safe given that there will be someone driving the car and –hopefully- at race-winning speeds.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1064/thumbnail.jp

On-Farm Food Loss: Farmer Perspectives on Food Waste

Although food waste is a widely discussed topic, most efforts have focused on consumers, with on-farm food loss receiving little attention. Our pilot study in California revealed the variability and complexity of reasons for on-farm food loss, many of which farmers cannot control. Interviewees spoke of market volatility and unpredictable weather as key contributors to loss, noting that much lost food is repurposed on-farm rather than ending up in a landfill. On the basis of our findings, we identify potential strategies for better aligning food recovery efforts with farmer limitations and needs and make suggestions for the role Extension can play in research and food recovery efforts

Professional Textbooks in English Didactics: Authors' perspectives

This chapter is based on interviews with fifteen authors whose professional textbooks in English didactics are currently on the reading lists for the fiveyear teacher education programme in Norway called the lektor programme. The chapter starts by defining the genre of the professional textbook, and reviewing relevant research and terminology, before describing the digital interview and transcription processes. Of the many topics raised in the interviews, the following are highlighted in this chapter: the ways in which authors select their writing and publishing partners; how they address their intended reader; how they relate to perceived conventions about what sort of texts belong in a professional textbook; the reasons why student teachers need textbooks; and the varying emphasis placed on different kinds of knowledge: research, theory, repertoire and contextualisation in relation to the current school curriculum. The chapter ends with a summary of the authors’ predictions for the genre, and a discussion of the role that the national accreditation system, CRISTIN, should, but does not yet, play in ensuring the vitality and quality of textbooks in both English didactics and other professions.publishedVersio

Meniscus Volume 4 Issue 2

Meniscus is a literary journal, published and supported by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) with editors from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The title of the journal was the result of a visit made by two of the editors to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, where James Turrell’s extraordinary installation, ‘Within without’ (2010), led them to think about how surfaces, curves, tension and openness interact. In particular, they were struck by the way in which the surface of the water features, and the uncertainty of the water’s containment, seems to analogise the excitement and anxiety inherent in creative practice, and the delicate balance between possibility and impossibility that is found in much good writing