Just for Me Engagement

BACKGROUND The Mathematics Education Support Hub (MESH) at UWS is a unit within the learning and teaching portfolio with a remit to provide mathematical and statistical help to all students within the university. One method of enabling this support has been a mathematics library roving program, introduced in 2013 to complement literacy support which was already operating in the library. AIMS The program aims to provide “just in time” support for students experiencing difficulty with the mathematical and statistical components of their subjects in a non-confrontational environment. A secondary aim is to increase student confidence in their own mathematical abilities. DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION The MESH library roving program began in the Autumn session 2013 and has continued during Spring 2013 and Autumn 2014. Support is provided by MESH staff who ‘rove’ the various campus libraries for two hour sessions at well-advertised times throughout the teaching and study vacation periods of the semester. These library rovers assist individual students and groups by encouraging students to engage with the mathematical and statistical content of their subject through a process of guided discovery of the material as well as direct responses to enquiries. The time taken for such interventions range from a few minutes to approximately half an hour, with students with problems requiring longer discussion usually referred back to subject teaching teams for further clarification. Students availing themselves of the service range from first year to post graduate with problems coming from subjects as diverse as business, finance, biomechanics, law and engineering as well as mathematics and statistics subjects. DESIGN AND METHODS Each library consultation is recorded on an electronic form and features of the consultation are noted. The data collected includes the campus, number of students in a group, student year of study, length of time spent with the group, unit or discipline area in which assistance is provided as well as if a group or student has been seen previously. At the end of 2013 a research project conducted in conjunction with the academic literacy library roving program collected survey responses from students, library staff and rovers. Analysis of this data along with surveys of students, library staff and rovers will show the patterns of use and responses of various stakeholders to the program. RESULTS The data collected for this project are still being processed and it is anticipated features of the analysis will be presented. It is envisaged that models of student behaviour gleaned from this analysis will form the basis of the results. The nature of requests from students and how these are dealt with by the rovers will also be presented. Responses from student, librarian and rover surveys will also provide an indication of student engagement with the service. CONCLUSIONS The intention of this project is to use the results to fine tune the impact and delivery of the library roving program

Tertiary students’ engagement in a mathematics support program

Background Mathematics is often perceived to be a difficult subject and students struggle with it. A combination of factors including a compromise with tertiary admission requirements, such as prerequisites, a link between Federal funding and student number at an institution, relaxed mathematics requirement to complete secondary education, ATAR based admission to programs, and, admission of mature age and international students with diverse backgrounds elevates the number of tertiary students struggling with mathematics. At UWS, to support these students with their mathematics, various services including lecturer consultation time, tutorials, pre- and within-semester workshops, library roving, online tutoring, peer-assisted student support and free internet sites are made available to them. This study deals with students’ engagement in pre-semester workshops. Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate (i) age and gender based influences on students’ engagement in the workshops, (ii) perceived reasons to participate in the workshops and (iii) post-workshops perceptions of their mathematical competency. Methodology The workshops were advertised on the UWS web and emails were sent to the prospective students to encourage them to register for these voluntary workshops. The workshops aimed to revise basics of algebra, trigonometry, calculus and statistics to prepare students for their first year mathematics units. The students attended 1 – 3 days workshops in these areas before starting degree programs at UWS. The students were asked to complete two surveys one each on their first- and last-day of the program, and, pre- and post-achievement tests. The first- and last-day survey targeted students’ reasons to participate in and satisfaction from attending the workshops respectively. Only 57.3% of those who completed first day survey (616) from 2011 to 2014 completed the last-day survey. The data were analysed to evaluate areas of interest specified under aims. Results The results of the study revealed that students’ intention to engage and actual engagement in the workshops were significantly different. The participation was significantly higher of male (62.1%) than female (37.9%) students and 33.5% of them were older than 20 years indicating a high percentage of matured age students. The major reason for participation in the workshops was their perceived weak or very weak background in these areas. The number of weak or very weak students in calculus and statistics was higher than algebra and trigonometry. Analysis of post-workshops survey revealed a significant improvement in their perceived knowledge of these mathematics areas. This claim was partly supported by significantly improved post-test scores in 2014. Gender, age and year to year based trends in these findings will also be discussed. Conclusions and Future Directions Students perceived their engagement in pre-semester workshops was helpful in improving their desired mathematics content knowledge. Further research to investigate students’ performance in their required mathematics subjects and programs is warranted

Social enterprise policy design: Constructing social enterprise in the UK and Korea

Taking the elusive definition of social enterprise as its starting point, this study seeks to understand the impact of government policies on the development of social enterprises in the national contexts of the UK and South Korea. The social construction of target populations is utilised as a theoretical framework in order to identify which factors influence government policy. A comparison of the two countries over a 14-year period from 1997 to 2010 reveals that, despite very different contexts, governments in both countries have taken an instrumental approach to social enterprise. This tendency is more pronounced in Korea however, where government has limited the input of stakeholders and used an approval system to control access to the social enterprise name. The study concludes by recommending a more value-oriented approach to social enterprise

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Adding 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy to postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of short-course versus no androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised controlled trial

Background Previous evidence indicates that adjuvant, short-course androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves metastasis-free survival when given with primary radiotherapy for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the value of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy is unclear. Methods RADICALS-HD was an international randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of ADT used in combination with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to radiotherapy alone (no ADT) or radiotherapy with 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT), using monthly subcutaneous gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue injections, daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as distant metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. Standard survival analysis methods were used, accounting for randomisation stratification factors. The trial had 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 80% to 86% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·67). Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00541047. Findings Between Nov 22, 2007, and June 29, 2015, 1480 patients (median age 66 years [IQR 61–69]) were randomly assigned to receive no ADT (n=737) or short-course ADT (n=743) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 121 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 9·0 years (IQR 7·1–10·1), metastasis-free survival events were reported for 268 participants (142 in the no ADT group and 126 in the short-course ADT group; HR 0·886 [95% CI 0·688–1·140], p=0·35). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 79·2% (95% CI 75·4–82·5) in the no ADT group and 80·4% (76·6–83·6) in the short-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 121 (17%) of 737 participants in the no ADT group and 100 (14%) of 743 in the short-course ADT group (p=0·15), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Metastatic disease is uncommon following postoperative bed radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy. Adding 6 months of ADT to this radiotherapy did not improve metastasis-free survival compared with no ADT. These findings do not support the use of short-course ADT with postoperative radiotherapy in this patient population

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of long-course versus short-course androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised trial

Background Previous evidence supports androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with primary radiotherapy as initial treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the use and optimal duration of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy remains uncertain. Methods RADICALS-HD was a randomised controlled trial of ADT duration within the RADICALS protocol. Here, we report on the comparison of short-course versus long-course ADT. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after previous radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to add 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT) or 24 months of ADT (long-course ADT) to radiotherapy, using subcutaneous gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (monthly in the short-course ADT group and 3-monthly in the long-course ADT group), daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. The comparison had more than 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 75% to 81% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72). Standard time-to-event analyses were used. Analyses followed intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00541047 . Findings Between Jan 30, 2008, and July 7, 2015, 1523 patients (median age 65 years, IQR 60–69) were randomly assigned to receive short-course ADT (n=761) or long-course ADT (n=762) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 138 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years (7·0–10·0), 313 metastasis-free survival events were reported overall (174 in the short-course ADT group and 139 in the long-course ADT group; HR 0·773 [95% CI 0·612–0·975]; p=0·029). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 71·9% (95% CI 67·6–75·7) in the short-course ADT group and 78·1% (74·2–81·5) in the long-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 105 (14%) of 753 participants in the short-course ADT group and 142 (19%) of 757 participants in the long-course ADT group (p=0·025), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Compared with adding 6 months of ADT, adding 24 months of ADT improved metastasis-free survival in people receiving postoperative radiotherapy. For individuals who can accept the additional duration of adverse effects, long-course ADT should be offered with postoperative radiotherapy. Funding Cancer Research UK, UK Research and Innovation (formerly Medical Research Council), and Canadian Cancer Society

Tertiary students’ engagement in a mathematics support program

Background: Mathematics is often perceived to be a difficult subject and students struggle with it. A combination of factors including a compromise with tertiary admission requirements, such as prerequisites, a link between Federal funding and student number at an institution, relaxed mathematics requirement to complete secondary education, ATAR based admission to programs, and, admission of mature age and international students with diverse backgrounds elevates the number of tertiary students struggling with mathematics. At UWS, to support these students with their mathematics, various services including lecturer consultation time, tutorials, pre- and within-semester workshops, library roving, online tutoring, peer-assisted student support and free internet sites are made available to them. This study deals with students’ engagement in pre-semester workshops. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate (i) age and gender based influences on students’ engagement in the workshops, (ii) perceived reasons to participate in the workshops and (iii) post-workshops perceptions of their mathematical competency