The rocks from space “Space Safari”: an example of remote public engagement in the planetary sciences

We describe an integrated online science programme incorporating Moodle virtual learning environments (VLEs) and Elluminate Live! virtual classrooms. The “Space Safari” was run as part of the Rocks From Space (RFS) programme hosted at The Open University (OU) and in partnership with Stockton City Learning Centre (SCLC). Schools used these resources for direct science teaching or to incorporate them into the wider curriculum (arts/literature etc), after which they produce an output. Emphasis was on providing links between schools and scientists within the higher education sector. Live sessions with experts via Elluminate Live! were held regularly, including sessions with NASA scientists and astronomers in Mallorca. Teachers and students have used Space Safari resources as part of the school science curriculum and to develop key skills and additional curriculum skills. They have also used it for informal (forums, online discussions) opportunities to engage with science. Over 3 years of the project, over 1500 students have engaged, with the project. The use of virtual classrooms enabled direct interaction with many students; one session alone involved over 100 students. This project is now hosted on the eTwinning portal to enable sustainability and widen access

Rethinking Research Ethics in the Humanities: Principles and Recommendations

This AHRC-funded report is designed to stimulate reflection and discussion about ethical issues that could arise in qualitative, Humanities-based research designs that might be considered ‘risky’. The report can be used at project meetings; by University Research Ethics Committees (URECs), College Research Ethics Committees, and other governance bodies; and in discussions with project stakeholders. It is also designed to help postgraduate, early-career researchers, and PhD supervisors navigate key issues pertaining to risky qualitative research, and to provide additional readings and precedence in developing applications for ethical review. The report is organised thematically and proposes a series of principles for reforming ethical review in this space, as well as recommendations for URECs, governance bodies, and funders. The themes arising may not be applicable to all qualitative research designs, and the specific methods and context of the research will need to be reflected upon when using this report. Different types of methodologies, participants, stakeholders and local contexts will require different ethical-approval processes that use disparate forms and procedures. The reflection that this report intends to stimulate should be promoted by and among all those involved in the design and conduct of the research, including wherever possible with participants and their communities. How to cite this report: Kasstan, Jonathan R., Pearson, Geoff & Victoria Brooks (2023): Rethinking Research Ethics in the Humanities: Principles and Recommendations. doi.org/10.34737/w36yq

Accessibility Coordinators: A model for embedded, sustainable change towards inclusive higher education

Higher education has seen a dramatic change over the last three decades. In this time, it has become open to groups of students that had not historically participated, leading to its democratisation, increased social inclusion and the breakdown of barriers to a previously elitist system. With these changes have come the moral and legislative requirements to ensure that all students, regardless of their circumstances or characteristics, have equitable study experiences. In the UK, higher education institutions have increasingly sought to develop and deliver curricula that are inclusive, particularly for students with disabilities, but changes to funding regimes have placed financial burdens on universities and exposed insecurities and gaps in academic staff skills and knowledge. These issues manifest as attainment gaps and the alienation of students the universities were making efforts to attract. Many universities seek to promote accessibility of teaching and learning but it can be challenging to operationalise accessibility systematically in institutions. In our UK university, this has been operationalised through a network of Accessibility Coordinators, operating in faculties throughout the university since 2010. These roles have become embedded to enact large-scale, consistent institutional change and have created substantial, sustainable improvements in accessibility and inclusive practice. In 2018, an evaluation of the Accessibility Coordinator role was conducted to assess how the role of Accessibility Coordinator has changed since its inception and investigate how these agents perceive the role needs to further adapt to respond to a changing higher education environment. In this paper, we present a model of how accessibility advocate roles can become embedded into an institutional structure, how the role may evolve over time and the factors involved in these changes. We review the role, beliefs and perceptions of these advocates by exploring their lived experiences, analysed in the context of change management theories. Finally, we explore how they adopt and adapt to the role, shaping it according to their context, skillset, interests and environment, and forming a change community with other advocates. In sharing this, we seek to posit a model that can be adapted into a framework for other educational institutions to create, embed, support and evaluate accessibility (or other inclusion) advocates in their own contexts

Experimental Simulation of Volatile Organic Contributions to Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

We present the results of a new simulation of the atmospheric entry heating experienced by extraterrestrial dust particles, quantifying their volatile loss into the early Earth atmosphere and characterising their organic volatile components

Student experiences of learning how to teach primary physical education during the Covid-19 pandemic

This paper offers a snapshot into the unexpected and yet positive results of a small-scale survey about learning to teach Physical Education within initial teacher education and school-based settings. It shares data from four institutions about how pre-service teachers explained their learning and teaching experiences within Physical Education during the COVID-19 pandemic, often working within a number of social and physical restrictions and teaching within enforced bubbles

The Microbial Community of a Terrestrial Anoxic Inter-Tidal Zone: A Model for Laboratory-Based Studies of Potentially Habitable Ancient Lacustrine Systems on Mars

Evidence indicates that Gale crater on Mars harboured a fluvio-lacustrine environment that was subjected to physio-chemical variations such as changes in redox conditions and evaporation with salinity changes, over time. Microbial communities from terrestrial environmental analogues sites are important for studying such potential habitability environments on early Mars, especially in laboratory-based simulation experiments. Traditionally, such studies have predominantly focused on microorganisms from extreme terrestrial environments. These are applicable to a range of Martian environments; however, they lack relevance to the lacustrine systems. In this study, we characterise an anoxic inter-tidal zone as a terrestrial analogue for the Gale crater lake system according to its chemical and physical properties, and its microbiological community. The sub-surface inter-tidal environment of the River Dee estuary, United Kingdom (53°21'015.40" N, 3°10'024.95" W) was selected and compared with available data from Early Hesperian-time Gale crater, and temperature, redox, and pH were similar. Compared to subsurface ‘groundwater’-type fluids invoked for the Gale subsurface, salinity was higher at the River Dee site, which are more comparable to increases in salinity that likely occurred as the Gale crater lake evolved. Similarities in clay abundance indicated similar access to, specifically, the bio-essential elements Mg, Fe and K. The River Dee microbial community consisted of taxa that were known to have members that could utilise chemolithoautotrophic and chemoorganoheterotrophic metabolism and such a mixed metabolic capability would potentially have been feasible on Mars. Microorganisms isolated from the site were able to grow under environment conditions that, based on mineralogical data, were similar to that of the Gale crater’s aqueous environment at Yellowknife Bay. Thus, the results from this study suggest that the microbial community from an anoxic inter-tidal zone is a plausible terrestrial analogue for studying habitability of fluvio-lacustrine systems on early Mars, using laboratory-based simulation experiments

Institutional change for improving accessibility in the design and delivery of distance learning – the role of faculty accessibility specialists at The Open University

The Open University (OU) has an established infrastructure for supporting disabled students. Historically, the thrust of this has focused on providing accessible adjustments post-production. In 2012, the OU implemented securing greater accessibility (SeGA) to raise awareness and bring about an institutional change to curriculum design so that the needs of all students, including disabled students, are taken into account from the outset of module design and production. A core component of SeGA is the introduction of faculty accessibility specialists (AS). This case study discusses the successes and challenges for AS in motivating and supporting production teams in the adoption of inclusive anticipatory practices to make new curriculum accessible. It also outlines the process of reasonable adjustment during presentation. It shows how collaborative working between AS has helped standardise design and production processes for accessibility, principles with wider relevance for supporting disabled students in other higher educatio

Through Merryman’s Window: The potential of English undergraduate liberal legal education to create proactive critical citizens and advance disability rights

This thesis explores the potential of English undergraduate liberal legal education to increase legal consciousness about the rights of people with disabilities in response to low levels of awareness of these rights throughout society. Including disability discussions throughout the curriculum rather than in separate courses, using a critical perspective and including critical pedagogy, will equip students with the skill to critique the existing framework and to call for change where necessary. Including disability in this context aims to reaffirm the relationship between rights and education, to overcome the shortcomings of previous approaches and to help fulfil the educative aim of the human rights framework concerning disability at all levels. This discussion extends recent work concerning the integration of disability specific courses within vocational legal education, as has been explored in both British and American literature. It shifts the focus of previous work from incorporating disability perspective and awareness from vocational to liberal legal education. An increased focus at the academic stage of legal education could lead to wider dissemination and understanding which may lessen the need for legal intervention in the future. In doing so, it will argue that the concept of reasonable adjustment should be challenged to shift focus to the concept of ‘Assurance of Rightful Access.

Molecular, isotopic and <i>in situ</i> analytical approaches to the study of meteoritic organic material

Organic materials isolated from carbonaceous meteorites provide us with a record of pre-biotic chemistry in the early Solar System. Molecular, isotopic and in situ studies of these materials suggest that a number of extraterrestrial environments have contributed to the inventory of organic matter in the early Solar System including interstellar space, the Solar nebula and meteorite parent bodies. There are several difficulties that have to be overcome in the study of the organic constituents of meteorites. Contamination by terrestrial biogenic organic matter is an ever-present concern and a wide variety of contaminant molecules have been isolated and identified including essential plant oils, derived from either biological sources or common cleaning products, and aliphatic hydrocarbons, most probably derived from petroleum-derived pollutants. Only 25% of the organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites is amenable to extraction with organic solvents; the remainder is present as a complex macromolecular aromatic network that has required the development of analytical approaches that can yield structural and isotopic information on this highly complex material. Stable isotopic studies have been of paramount importance in understanding the origins of meteoritic organic matter and have provided evidence for the incorporation of interstellar molecules within meteoritic material. Extending isotopic studies to the molecular level is yielding new insights into both the sources of meteoritic organic matter and the processes that have modified it. Organic matter in meteorites is intimately associated with silicate minerals and the in situ examination of the relationships between organic and inorganic components is crucial to our understanding of the role of asteroidal processes in the modification of organic matter and, in particular, the role of water as both a solvent and a reactant on meteorite parent bodies