Students as producers: Designing games to teach social science research methods and ethics

In this paper we explore our experiences of a staff-student collaborative project that sought to design games and learning resources that could be used to 'liven-up' research methods and ethics teaching in the social sciences. Final and second year undergraduate social science students were encouraged to reflect on their own experiences of both research methods teaching and the process of doing primary research, in order to design games resources that would be useful for future cohorts of students. The concept of games was applied twofold in the project: the development of the teaching resources was itself set up in a games format: we based our initial workshops on the style of the BBC's "Apprentice" programme in order to come up with ideas for the games resources and to introduce a competitive element into the design process. Two groups of students were given a brief to design a games resource that would 'liven up' social science research methods and ethics teaching. Groups then spent an intensive day working on the brief alongside an academic facilitator before pitching their final game concept in a presentation at the end of the day when a winner was announced. In subsequent workshops students worked collaboratively to further develop both games before piloting them on further groups of students prior to production. The second application of the games concept lay in the development of an actual learning resource to be used in future research methods and ethics teaching. The premise of developing an undergraduate dissertation, its (realistic) design and the potential ethical and methodological problems encountered when doing research underpinned the learning objectives for the games developed. The developed games resources have been introduced into the curriculum to supplement the existing (more traditional) learning and teaching strategies and to add a 'fun' element into research methods teaching. Developing a game-based learning approach themselves has thereby increased students' influence on the design of teaching and learning strategies and helped produce a useful learning resource for future cohorts. The paper highlights the benefits of staff-student collaboration in the design and production of game resources, and in particular, the potential for harnessing students' experiences of teaching and learning through feeding it into curriculum development. The paper also demonstrates the benefits of gamification - through a discussion of the positive student feedback and evaluation received by the developed games

Whose Reparation Claims Count? Gender, History and (In)justice

The recognition and compensation of historic injustices is part and parcel of a politics of recognition and of socio-legal attempts of reconciliation and redemption. The notion of ‘restorative justice’ has recently gained political salience by invoking national governments to face and deal with historical injustice and often judicial recourse is used as a means to redress, through legislation, the legacy of historical wrongs in which democratic nation states have been implicated. At least, it would appear so when considering the proliferation of apologies and reparations issued in recent years on behalf of public bodies. Yet despite a proliferation of apologies, memorials, commemorations and other means of dealing with past practices, some claims for reparation regarding historic wrongs remain unaddressed, unsuccessful or unheard. The article analyses discourses of eugenic legacies and restorative justice claims using a gender sensitive perspective and examines reparation claims in relation to coerced sterilisations comparing Switzerland with Sweden and several states in the United States

‘Am I Too Straight for the Gay People, Am I Too Gay for the Straight People?’: A Qualitative Analysis of How Young Bisexual Women Navigate Self-presentation on Dating Apps

Many young people with marginalized sexual identities still experience discrimination and discomfort when searching for relationships on digital networks. Young bisexual women who are searching for/confirming their identities consistently face ‘binegativity’, typified by marginalization, hypersexualization, and erasure, despite some positive affordances of online connecting. Based on a small-scale qualitative study with young women aged 18–24, this article considers the ways in which young bisexual women construct and navigate their online dating profiles. Drawing on Goffman’s ideas of self-presentation and an examination of how visual clues are supported by verbal statements, this article argues that bisexual young women’s engagement with dating apps requires identity modulation and produces ambivalent affective formations. Their experiences of digital networked spaces are simultaneously shaped by a search for identity, agency, pleasures as well as frustrations and hateful messaging

Open journal systems and undergraduate research: How an open journal system can facilitate digital literacy and a research culture.

In August 2016 Leeds Beckett University launched its first open access undergraduate student journal, Critical reflections: a student journal on contemporary sociological issues. The journal is the first of its kind at the university and includes student reflections upon everyday scenarios viewed through a theoretical–sociological lens. As well as delivering many opportunities for the students, the purpose of the journal corresponds with the strategic objectives of the university as a whole. Firstly, to grow and develop a research culture by recognising the contribution of undergraduate research, and the impact this has upon the digitally literate graduate. Secondly, to allow students to capitalise upon their time at university by facilitating the experience of writing for publication, and the consequent effect upon both employability and their academic career development. The following summarises the beginnings of the journal and its relevance to the student experience, as well as outlining practical considerations for librarians, information specialists and academic staff

“Growing foods from home”: food production, migrants and the changing cultural landscapes of gardens and allotments

The paper arises out of research that explored how migrant identities are constructed in relation to food practices in a Northern city. Using narrative accounts and participant observation collected through a small scale qualitative study we examine how, in using gardens and allotments to “grow foods from home” alongside locally established fruit and vegetables, a landscape approach allows us to see how migrant gardeners are re-shaping existing cultural landscapes and constructing places of belonging. Whilst these landscapes can be viewed visually as representations of both traditional and hybrid practices, the paper draws on non-representational theories in landscape to explore emotions, embodiment, performance and practice. Such an approach uncovers some of the differences in the meaning of food production for diasporic and non-diasporic migrant gardeners