Signposts: Resource for staff developers

This guide is for staff developers who work with new tertiary teachers, and provides guidelines on how to use 'Signposts: A professional development resource for new teaching staff in the tertiary sector'. It is the result of a project funded by the Ako Aotearoa Northern Hub

Pilot investigation of a virtual gastric band hypnotherapy intervention

This was a pilot investigation of 30 men and women with a BMI > 27kg/m² over a 24 week period. It aimed to determine whether virtual gastric band (VGB) hypnotherapy has an effect on weight loss in overweight adults, compared to relaxation hypnotherapy and a self-directed diet. Levels of weight loss and gain ranged from -17kg to +4.7kg in the VGB hypnotherapy group and -9.3kg to +7.8kg in the relaxation group. There was no significant difference between VGB hypnotherapy as a main effect on weight loss (Chi²=0.67, p=0.41, df=1) and there was no evidence of differential weight loss over time (Chi²=4.2, p=0.64, df=6). Therefore, this study concludes that there was no significant difference between VGB hypnotherapy and the relaxation hypnotherapy

A framework to support the design and cultivation of embedded research initiatives

This work was supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Services & Delivery Research (HS&DR) programme under grant number 16/52/21.Background: Embedded research involves co-locating researchers within non-academic organisations to better link research and practice. Embedded research initiatives are often complex and emergent with a range of underlying intents, structures and processes. This can create tensions within initiatives and contributes to ongoing uncertainty about the most suitable designs and the effectiveness of different approaches. Aims and objectives: We aimed to devise a practical framework to support those designing and cultivating embedded research by operationalising findings from an extensive study of existing initiatives. Key conclusions: The underpinning research on embedded initiatives – a literature review and scoping exercise of initiatives in health settings across the UK – showed that such initiatives share ten common sets of concerns in relation to their intent, structure and processes. We used these insights during a co-production workshop with embedded researchers and their managers that made use of a range of creative activities. The workshop resulted in a practical framework (and associated web-based tools) that draw on the metaphor of a garden to represent the growing, emergent nature of embedded research initiatives and the active work which individuals and organisations need to put into planning and maintaining such initiatives. Each of the aspects is represented as a separate area within the garden using relevant visual metaphors. Building on this, we also present a series of reflective questions designed to facilitate discussion and debate about design features, and we link these to the wider literature, thereby helping those involved to articulate and discuss their preferences and expectations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Ethics in global research:Creating a toolkit to support integrity and ethical action throughout the research journey

Global challenge-led research seeks to contribute to solution-generation for complex problems. Multicultural, multidisciplinary, and multisectoral teams must be capable of operating in highly demanding contexts. This brings with it a swathe of ethical conflicts that require quick and effective solutions that respect both international conventions and cultural diversity. The objective of this article is to describe the process of creating a toolkit designed to support global researchers in navigating these ethical challenges. The process of creating the toolkit embodied the model of ethical research practice that it advocates. Specifically, at the heart of ethical decision-making is consideration of the following: Place , solutions must be relevant to the context in which they are to be used; People , those impacted by the outcomes must be partners in co-creation; Principles , ethical projects must be guided by clear values; and Precedent , the existing evidence-base should guide the project and, in turn, the project should extend the evidence-base. It is the thesis underlying the toolkit that consideration of these 4Ps provides a strong basis for understanding ethical conflicts and allows for the generation of potential solutions. This toolkit has been designed in two phases of collaborative work. More than 200 researchers participated from more than 30 countries and more than 60 different disciplines. This allowed us to develop a model for contextual, dynamic analysis of ethical conflicts in global research that is complementary to traditional codes of ethics. It emphasizes the need to consider ethical analysis as an iterative, reflective, process relevant at all stages of the research journey, including, ultimately, in evaluating the legacy of a project. The toolkit is presented as an open access website to promote universal access. A downloadable “pocket guide” version is also now available in 11 languages

The Tea Bag Index—UK: using citizen/community science to investigate organic matter decomposition rates in domestic gardens

Gardening has the potential to influence several ecosystem services, including soil carbon dynamics, and shape progression towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, (e.g., SDG 13). There are very few citizen/community science projects that have been set up to test an explicit hypothesis. However, citizen/community science allows collection of countrywide observations on ecosystem services in domestic gardens to inform us on the effects of gardening on SDGs. The geographical spread of samples that can be collected by citizen/community science would not be possible with a team of professional science researchers alone. Members of the general public across the UK submitted soil samples and buried standardised litter bags (tea bags) as part of the Tea Bag Index—UK citizen/community science project. Participants returned 511 samples from across the UK from areas in their garden where soil organic amendments were and were not applied. The project examined the effects of application of soil amendments on decomposition rates and stabilisation of litter, and in turn, effects on soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations. This was in response to a call for contributions to a global map of decomposition in the Teatime4Science campaign. Results suggested that application of amendments significantly increased decomposition rate and soil carbon, nitrogen, and carbon: nitrogen ratios within each garden. So much so that amendment application had more influence than geographic location. Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between location and amendment application. We therefore conclude that management in gardens has similar effects on soil carbon and decomposition, regardless of the location of the garden in question. Stabilisation factor was influenced more prominently by location than amendment application. Gardening management decisions can influence a number of SDGs and a citizen/community science project can aid in both the monitoring of SDGs, and involvement of the public in delivery of SDG