The development of personal, analogous and universal thinking through in-role drama : a case study

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the development of the problem-solving skills of eleven year olds in a Western Australian Primary school when the teacher and the children were in-role within the drama. The teacher, as teacher in-role, and the students role-played a variety of situations in which effective problem-solving skills were used. As the study progressed the nature of the children\u27s use of symbol and metaphor became an important issue. In the first session the teacher in-role as the Mayor of a small town informed the children in-role as the town council that an alien spacecraft landed in their imaginary town. The children brainstormed ideas about their characters, the town and the situation confronting them. In the second session the teacher in-role as the Mayor read out a letter from the aliens and then introduced a painting to the children, played music and encouraged the children to draw symbols to represent their town to the aliens. The children created a fluid sculpture using these symbols and then reflected and discussed the lesson. Session three focussed on group skills and involved games, discussions and journal reflections about the town\u27s dilemma. The fluid sculpture was developed in session four. The children made final preparations for the alien landing in session five and organised a meeting place, before meeting the teacher in-role as the alien. The in-role teacher observed the participants in drama sessions over a period of five weeks. Data was gathered from the five 45 minute sessions and collected in the form of: audio-taped interviews; work samples- letters, symbols, drawings and a suggestion box; journals; memos - observational notes and ideas and literature related to the data collated from the drama sessions as shown in Table 4.1. This data was recorded onto checklists and coded for analysis. The data was put into categories to see if there was any development in the children’s problem-solving skills. A case study approach was used with an emphasis on \u27symbolic interactionism\u27. The results showed that in-role drama appeared to enhance the development of the problem-solving skills of eleven year old children. The data analysis showed an improvement in conflict resolution, decision-making and making value judgements. The symbolism encouraged the creation of a universal language and helped to develop the children\u27s emotional awareness. Future researchers could look at the effect of in-role drama techniques on emotional awareness, socialisation, critical thinking and empathy

Creating non-representational art by students who are severely intellectually disabled through a pictorial and musical program

The main purpose of this research study was to investigate the worth of a recently developed Pictorial and Musical art program for severely intellectually disabled students, and to compare the non-representational art work produced by lower primary students in a special education school to similar art work being produced by lower primary students in a regular school, when taught in the same program. A subsidiary purpose of the study was to investigate teacher reactions in the art classroom of each participating school, and to observe the extent of the Pictorial and Musical program interventions on the students\u27 attitudes and production of their art work. Twelve participants were chosen from each school to take part in the experimental art program. This involved the use of pictorial and musical interventions to test the outcomes, and by utilising a quantitative methodology to determine the relationship between variables. Each group of students in the study was subjected to three different art experiences within the Pictorial and Musical program, that is, Pictorial only, Pictorial with Rock music and Pictorial with classical music. All the participants supplied the researcher with an original non-representational painting from each segment of the program. The non-representational paintings were then marked by three independent teacher markers, and the marks of the 72 paintings produced by the students were analysed in a 2 way ANOVA, to ascertain if there was any comparable difference in the non- representional artwork of children with special needs and regular primary students. The descriptive statistics showed that the regular students scored higher marks for art quality than the special students, when the Pictorial only method was used, and there was more variation in the regular students marks than in the special students marks. There was no significant difference between the scores of the regular and the special students when the Pictorial and Rock music method was used, but the regular students scored higher than the special students for the Pictorial and Classical program, although variation was about the same for both. The observed attitude to the musical additions were similar for both the regular and the special students. There were marked changes in the students\u27 attitudes during the Pictorial and Rock music method. Both groups became agitated and overexcited during this segment and initially refused to keep on task, preferring to sing and keep time with the music than to go on with their painting. The Pictorial and classical music program had the opposite effect on the students, helping to create a calming atmosphere in which they were willing to return to their task, and appeared more stimulated and creative, completing better quality non-representional paintings than before. It is anticipated that the outcome of this study may provide significant evidence of the importance of pictorial and musical interventions in art programs, and may lead to further study on this subject. The introduction of the Pictorial and Classical music program to students with severe intellectual difficulties may become an additional aid in the production of their artwork

The effect of classical music on painting quality, attitude and behaviour for students with severe intellectual disabilities

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a new Pictorial and Musical Visual Arts Program for students with severe intellectual disabilities. In particular, to learn whether the addition of classical music as background helped students improve the quality of their abstract paintings, attitudes and behaviour in class

A wireless multi-sensor subglacial probe: design and preliminary results

This paper introduces a new way to investigate in situ processes, the wireless multi-sensor probe, as part of an environmental sensor network. Instruments are housed within a 'probe' which can move freely and so behave like a clast. These were deployed in the ice and till at Briksdalsbreen, Norway. The sensors measure temperature, resistivity, case stress, tilt angle and water pressure and send their data to a base station on the glacier surface via radio links. These data are then forwarded by radio to a reference station with mains power 2.5 km away, from where they are sent to a web server in the UK. The system deployed during 2004/05 was very successful and a total of 859 probe days worth of data from the ice and till were collected, along with GPS, weather and diagnostic data about the system

So Which Households Can Benefit from Energy Efficiency and is there an Argument to Fund from the Public Purse? Research Briefing 04

Improving household energy efficiency has a positive impact on a more efficient household’s income. This is because money saved by the permanent reduction in energy bills will be available to spend year on year. An EPSRC funded team at the Centre for Energy Policy and Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde has analysed the macroeconomic expansion likely to follow successful energy efficiency measures. This highlights the multiple dividends of energy savings, boosted GDP, employment and income benefits which result from energy efficiency measures. This latest work begins to explore the impact of focusing policy only on fuel poor households but finds that the more wide-ranging the boost to energy efficiency, the greater the economic expansion is likely to be. The multiple dividends are particularly obvious in the case where all households rather than just fuel poor households are targeted. This is due to both the greater stimulus and limited spending power of low income households. Governments should consider the wider economic and social benefits of spending on energy efficiency when designing energy efficiency policy, evaluating its outcome and making budget decisions

So What If There Were a Larger and More Sustained Energy Efficiency Effort across the Economy, What Would be the Impact? Research Briefing 03

The real challenge of positive economic impacts is to those policy makers who are working hard to develop sustainable energy savings. As disposable household income is spent, additional energy is consumed as the economy seeks to meet increased demand for goods and services. Over time this can erode the initial absolute energy savings of the original initiative. Thus, a key challenge in the near term is to better understand this type of economic rebound effect and its impact on net energy savings. Improving our understanding of how people use this income released by lower energy bills will allow energy policy makers to better forecast net energy efficiency outcomes and to better accommodate economic growth, while retaining energy savings and carbon reductions

How Improving Household Efficiency Could Boost the Scottish Economy

While European governments continue to invest in energy efficiency as a key tool of energy and climate policy, there is increased interest in the broader economic benefits of energy efficiency in a social and economic context. Recent studies show that, beyond the direct effects on energy use and spending, multiple positive impacts of energy efficiency improvements exist in the wider economy as a whole. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increases linked to household efficiency enhancements could well be an outcome of both implementing and realising energy efficiency measures. A team from the Centre for Energy Policy (CEP) and Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) at the University of Strathclyde have used modelling and simulation to explore the economy wide impacts of energy efficiency improvements in households.1 A clear, long lasting stimulus to the economy is triggered by improving the energy efficiency of homes; this is because the disposable income of householders increases as a result of saving money on energy bills. The team used modelling to trace the economic impact of this disposable income increase. The simulation suggested that a spending-led GDP boost can be triggered and could have wider impacts in employment and public budgets. Associated with the increased economic activity will be an increase in energy use that tends to reduce the ultimate level of energy savings from an energy efficiency action. Such an effect is called “rebound”. However, by encouraging spending in low carbon products and services, the erosion of energy savings could be minimised

Slip at the edge of complete contacts

We describe an asymptotic method for calculating the size of a zone of partial slip at the edge of a complete contact of arbitrary edge angle and coefficient of friction. Above a critical coefficient of friction the contact remains stuck, and this critical value is explored. A distributed dislocation method is used and the use of different types of numerical quadrature is explored. The size of the slip zone, and its dependence on the contact edge angle and coefficient of friction, are explored

Relationship between Sedentary Time, Physical Activity and Multiple Lifestyle Factors in Children

An improved understanding of relationships between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), screen-time and lifestyle factors is imperative for developing interventions, yet few studies have explored such relationships simultaneously. Therefore, the study’s aim was to examine the relationship between sufficient MVPA (≥60 min·day–1) and excessive screen-time (>2 h·day–1) with lifestyle factors in children. In total, 756 children (10.4 ± 0.6 years) completed a questionnaire, which assessed sleep duration, MVPA, homework/reading, screen-time and diet, and a 20 metre multi-stage shuttle run test to assess cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Body mass and stature were measured and used to calculate BMI (body mass index) for age/sex z-scores. Fruit and vegetable consumption and CRF were positively associated with sufficient MVPA, irrespective of sex (p < 0.05). Excessive screen-time was positively associated with sugary snack consumption in boys and girls, and diet soft drink intake in boys (p < 0.05). In addition, excessive screen-time was negatively associated with MVPA before school for both boys and girls, as well as with sleep duration and fruit and vegetable consumption for girls (p < 0.05). Sufficient MVPA and excessive screen-time were associated with healthy and unhealthy factors, respectively, with relationships sometimes differing by sex. Future health promoting interventions should consider targeting change in multiple lifestyle factors