Supporting professional development using the VLE in the PGCE/Certificate in Education

This case study is based in Coleg Glan Hafren and focuses on the Post-Compulsory Education and Training Programme franchised from the University of Wales, Newport (UWN). This is a case study into E-Learning Practice in the area of HE in FE. Funding was provided by DeL (JISCs Distributed e-Learning Programme). These case studies are intended to illustrate good/innovative practice in the delivery of HE in FE using e-learning. It concludes that e-learning, coupled with close professional relationships between all parties, can provide an innovative experience for various learners. The fact that the material is online is not paramount to success, and technology itself can cause problems, but with good liaison and support it can offer any time anywhere access for students, and empower them with skills immediately transferable in their own classrooms as teachers. It is presented as a final project report of some 10 page

Searching for Productivity and Competitive Advantage on New Zealand Dairy Farms

The New Zealand dairy industry is susceptible to volatile international prices, and depends on cost leadership at the farm level to maintain its international competitive advantage. The industry has accepted a target of 4% productivity improvement per annum. However, cost-based benchmarks of productivity are not used widely by farmers. It is argued that at the farm level, overall gains in resource efficiency need to be assessed in terms of cost per unit of output, and that these benchmarks need to be calculated in both cash and economic terms. These output-based cost benchmarks are tools both for assessing alternative technologies and for monitoring progress. However, they need to be used with discretion, and with recognition that strategic goals of increasing wealth through capital gain may on occasions take farmers in other directions.Livestock Production/Industries,

Modern Modesty: The Renegotiation of Female Pious Dress In Modern Pentecostal Assemblies

Hair buns, high necklines, long sleeves, ankle length skirts, and simple yet practical work style shoes have exemplified Pentecostal women\u27s dress throughout the history of the movement. Their bodies fervently protected from impropriety and immorality, through prescribed attire, are the sites upon which the church inscribes its vision of the modest Pentecostal woman. How dress is used within the community to `set apart\u27 those assembly members whom have achieved the appropriate holiness lifestyle not only makes them upstanding members of the church assembly but also defines them as `saints\u27 (sanctified ones, holy assembly members) and helps to develop their relationship with God. In this paper I hope to elucidate on the use of female pious dress within the Pentecostal church assembly. I want to explore how appropriate pious dress might bring an assembly member closer to God and even illicit the gifts of the Holy Spirit within these assembly members. I also explore the scriptural reference to pious dress and the basis for its inclusion within the Pentecostal assembly, to get at its roots in hopes of understanding what defines this particular style of dress as `holy\u27 pious dress and can this type of dress be molded as future styles infiltrate the system

The name of the sandwich itself.

The poems in this collection seek to explore and highlight connections between the familiar domestic realm (often seen in depictions of food preparation and consumption, social events, or material possessions) and shifting, sometimes ambiguous relationships between people. Gender, in particular, is examined, exaggerated, and/or de constructed to underscore the author\u27s ongoing interest in the ways in which expected male and female roles are constructed and performed within personal interactions. The poems here exhibit a variety of different tones, ranging from darkly comic to contemplative, from joyous to solemn. The author believes it possible for poems to possess both comedic and serious elements, for simple language to convey complex meaning, and for elaborate language to make a celebration out of the ordinary. In other words, poetry has the potential to use contradiction to create meaningful effect

Process Evaluation of Georgia's Integrated Family Support Demonstration Project: Findings from First Year Implementation Efforts

This report summarizes findings from first year implementation efforts of the Georgia Department of Human Resources' Family Support Demonstration Project. The goal of the project was to reduce child abuse and neglect and improve child health by providing support to Georgia's families with infants and young children at highest risk for child maltreatment

Introducing Game Studies with Small Worlds

Curatorial note from Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: David Shute’s Small Worlds (currently available at jayisgames.com/games/small-worlds/) is an exploration game in which a figure navigates a series of moody, pixelated worlds shrouded in darkness. Each scene begins zoomed closely on the avatar, and exploration reveals more of the background while the camera gradually zooms out. Uncovering these small worlds reveals a minimalist environmental narrative—an elegant example of narrative architecture with dystopian science fiction undertones. This lesson plan offers suggestions for leading a class discussion about games using Small Worlds as an example. In a humanities classroom, it facilitates conversations about the fundamental properties of games, including the centrality of space and movement to narrative in games and how simple mechanics (such as the widening field of view) can encourage the gamer to perform specific tasks without explicit instructions. Understanding the unique aesthetic and rhetorical properties of games can lead to discussions about how other media use different representational and persuasive strategies

Georgia Aging and Disability Resource Center Connection Expansion Evaluation

The unprecedented aging of the population will have a dramatic impact on Georgia's long-term care system. In Georgia, where the elderly population is anticipated to increase at a rate above the national average, the number of elderly people is expected to rise 143% by 2030, compared with 104% nationally. For a recent conference on the Aging Population in Georgia, the Georgia Health Policy Center identified delivering and staffing long-term care services as priorities that state and local governments should begin to address immediately

Randomised controlled trial of exercise for low back pain : clinical outcomes, costs and preferences

Objective: To evaluate effectiveness of an exercise programme in a community setting for patients with low back pain to encourage a return to normal activities. Design: Randomised controlled trial of progressive exercise programme compared with usual primary care management. Patients' preferences for type of management were elicited independently of randomisation. Participants: 187 patients aged 18-60 years with mechanical low back pain of 4 weeks to 6 months' duration. Interventions: Exercise classes led by a physiotherapist that included strengthening exercises for all main muscle groups, stretching exercises, relaxation session, and brief education on back care. A cognitive-behavioural approach was used. Main outcome measures: Assessments of debilitating effects of back pain before and after intervention and at 6 months and 1 year later. Measures included Roland disability questionnaire, Aberdeen back pain scale, pain diaries, and use of healthcare services. Results: At 6 weeks after randomisation, the intervention group improved marginally more than the control group on the disability questionnaire and reported less distressing pain. At 6 months and 1 year, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in the disability questionnaire score (mean difference in changes 1.35, 95% confidence interval 0.13 to 2.57). At 1 year, the intervention group also showed significantly greater improvement in the Aberdeen back pain scale (4.44, 1.01 to 7.87) and reported only 378 days off work compared with 607 in the control group. The intervention group used fewer healthcare resources. Outcome was not influenced by patients' preferences. Conclusions: The exercise class was more clinically effective than traditional general practitioner management, regardless of patient preference, and was cost effective