Preface: proceedings of the 13th IASWS international conference

This short article forms the preface to the Proceedings of the 13th IASWS conference held in Grahamstown in July 2014. It provides a background to the conference, a synthesis of the 15 published papers published in the special issue of JSS and a poem - written and read by Harry Owen on the opening night of the conference

A Pilot study on Burnout Syndrome: Its existence, causes and coping strategies practiced by medical professionals in Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Burnout syndrome among doctors causes increased turnover, decreased job satisfaction, depression, anxiety, frequent medical errors and patient death. Main aim of this paper is to identify existence of the burnout syndrome, underlying causes and analyze the coping strategies practiced by medical professionals of the Teaching Hospital, Colombo South (CSTH). The review of definitions elaborated the most accepted definition of the syndrome as one consisting of three dimensions namely emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). Individuals scoring positive on EE and/ or DP dimension regardless of scoring positive on all three dimensions of the syndrome are considered as undergoing burnout syndrome related to work. Method used for investigating burnout syndrome was a deductive approach with a quantitative survey strategy. The survey hosted three questionnaires. First questionnaire was self – administered and validated by the authors and attempted to identify the causative factors of the syndrome. Instrument 2 - MBI – HSS validated by Samaranayake and Seneviratne (2010) was used to assess the prevalence of the syndrome among medical professionals practicing at CSTH. Coping strategies questionnaire developed and validated by Ellawala (2010) was used to measure the strategies currently practiced among medical professionals. Data collection through surveys was conducted among a sample of randomly selected 100 medical professionals. Findings illustrate that workload depicted in terms of private practice; gender and high personal contact nature of the work are not associated causes of the burnout syndrome. Long work hours, heavy work load, marital status, having less time to spend with family / friends, unpleasant work environment, unpleasant relationships with colleagues, having low autonomy at work and risk of major failure or patient death were recognized as associated causes of the burnout syndrome. Proportion of the syndrome was 53%. Of the study sample, 30% individuals scored positive on EE dimension, 24% scored positive on DP dimension and 24% scored positive on PA dimension. When considering the most popular coping strategies practiced in stressful situations, it was reported that listening to music, obtaining emotional support from family / friends and seeking comfort in the religion respectively. Another finding that contrasts from the major studies illustrated that 92% of the medical professionals in the sample never practiced harmful coping strategy of substance abuse for mitigating stress.Key Words: Burnout syndrome, Emotional exhaustion, Depersonalization, Reduced personal accomplishment, Medical professionals, Occupational stress, Coping strategie

Tracking the reflexivity of the (dis)engaged citizen: some methodological reflections

The relationship between governments and citizens in many contemporary democracies is haunted by uncertainty and sociologists face the task of listening effectively to citizens’ own reflections on this uncertain relationship. This article reflects on the qualitative methodology of a recently completed UK project which used a combination of diary and multiple interviews/ focus groups to track over a fieldwork period of up to a year citizens’ reflections on their relationship to a public world and the contribution to this of their media consumption. In particular, the article considers how the project’s multiple methods enabled multiple angles on the inevitable artificiality and performative dimension of the diary process, resulting in rich data on people’s complex reflections on the uncertain position of the contemporary citizen

What do students want most from written feedback information? Distinguishing necessities from luxuries using a budgeting methodology

Feedback is a key concern for higher education practitioners, yet there is little evidence concerning the aspects of assessment feedback information that higher education students prioritise when their lecturers’ time and resources are stretched. One recent study found that in such circumstances, students actually perceive feedback information itself as a luxury rather than a necessity. We first re-examined that finding by asking undergraduates to ‘purchase’ characteristics to create the ideal lecturer, using budgets of differing sizes to distinguish necessities from luxuries. Contrary to the earlier research, students in fact considered good feedback information the single biggest necessity for lecturers to demonstrate. In a second study we used the same method to examine the characteristics of feedback information that students value most. Here, the most important perceived necessity was guidance on improvement of skills. In both studies, students’ priorities were influenced by their individual approaches to learning. These findings permit a more pragmatic approach to building student satisfaction in spite of growing expectations and demands

Assessment and Student Learning – a fundamental relationship and the role of information and communication technologies

This paper reviews the role of assessment in student learning and its relationship with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). There is ample evidence of technology-led innovations failing to achieve the transformations expected by educators. We draw upon existing research to illustrate the links between aspects of student learning, assessment practices and the use of ICT. Assessment influences not only what parts of a course get studied, but also how those parts are studied. While the adoption of ICT does not, in itself, change student behaviours, appropriately designed assessment that exploits the potential of ICT can change students’ approaches to learning. We argue that ICT can enable important learning outcomes to be achieved, but these must be underpinned by an assessment strategy that cues students to adopt a suitable approach to learning

Study of Two-Step Mechanisms in Pion Absorption on 6Li, 12C via Deuteron Emission

The (pi+,pd), and (pi+,dd) reactions were investigated with pions of 100 and 165 MeV kinetic energy on 6Li and 12C targets. In comparison with previously published (pi+,pp) data on the same targets and at the same beam energies, kinematic regions were identified in which the neutron pickup process n+p->d dominated the observed deuteron yield. The importance of this mechanism increases with energy, contributing half of the observed cross section at 165 MeV. The contribution of direct quasi-triton absorption is significant only at 100 MeV.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure