Curious About Curiosity?

There is a strong connection between creativity and curiosity. Curiosity is the foundation for creative people, creative process, and creative environment to foster innovation. To evaluate how curiosity stimulates creativity, this project explored the nature of curiosity and the role in creativity. The heart of this project is a review of literature, showing how psychological research has explored curiosity, and the application of curiosity as a central element in personal and business success. This literature review also unveils the key barriers to curiosity and how to overcome them using a variety of techniques

Demonstration of decomposition and optimization in the design of experimental space systems

Effective design strategies for a class of systems which may be termed Experimental Space Systems (ESS) are needed. These systems, which include large space antenna and observatories, space platforms, earth satellites and deep space explorers, have special characteristics which make them particularly difficult to design. It is argued here that these same characteristics encourage the use of advanced computer-aided optimization and planning techniques. The broad goal of this research is to develop optimization strategies for the design of ESS. These strategics would account for the possibly conflicting requirements of mission life, safety, scientific payoffs, initial system cost, launch limitations and maintenance costs. The strategies must also preserve the coupling between disciplines or between subsystems. Here, the specific purpose is to describe a computer-aided planning and scheduling technique. This technique provides the designer with a way to map the flow of data between multidisciplinary analyses. The technique is important because it enables the designer to decompose the system design problem into a number of smaller subproblems. The planning and scheduling technique is demonstrated by its application to a specific preliminary design problem

Electrical Appliance Ownership and Usage in Ireland. ESRI WP421. February 2012

Past research into the determinants of appliance ownership has identified associations with socioeconomic characteristics of households. Few studies have examined the intensity with which different sorts of households use the appliances they have. This paper uses microdata to examine the factors influencing ownership and usage of electrical appliances in Irish households. We also consider the factors influencing the ownership of different cooker types, space and water heating systems and energy saving features. We find that appliance ownership and usage is related to the socio‐economic characteristics of the household’s chief income earner as well as household characteristics such as the type and age of accommodation, tenure and the number of bedrooms. The number of people living in the household has a positive association with both ownership and usage of electrical appliances. However, it does not increase ownership of energy saving features, with the exception of CFLs. The highest earning households are more likely to own electrical appliances but they do not necessarily use them more often, nor are they more likely to purchase energy saving features

Distance Effects, Social Class and the Decision to Participate in Higher Education in Ireland. ESRI WP444. December 2012

While a number of international studies have attempted to assess the influence of geographic accessibility on the decision to participate in higher education, this issue has not been addressed in detail in an Irish context. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap and to present a higher education choice model that estimates the impact of travel distance on the decision of school leavers to proceed to higher education in Ireland, while also controlling for a range of individual level characteristics and school related variables. To do so we use data from the 2007 wave of the School Leavers’ Survey. We find that, on average, travel distance is not an important factor in the higher education participation decision, when factors such as student ability are accounted for. However, further analysis shows that travel distance has a significantly negative impact on participation for those from lower social classes and that this impact grows stronger as distance increases. We also find that the distance effects are most pronounced for lower ability students from these social backgrounds. This has important implications for higher education policy in Ireland, especially in relation to equity of access and the design of the maintenance grant system

An Overview of the Main Environmental Issues Affecting Kisumu and Lake Victoria's Winam Gulf

This overview was produced in response to a request from the Mayor of Kisumu, who expressed the urgent need to deal with the deteriorating environment in and around the City and in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. Researched and written by experts at the Earth Institute, the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) and the environmental team of the MDG Centre in Nairobi, it describes and analyses the current environmental condition in Kisumu and its surrounding catchment; discusses some of the factors contributing to the ongoing degradation, and proposes a set of recommendations for constructive action

An Interprofessional Approach to Community Health and Nutrition at an Emergency Shelter

Background The unmet social, economic and healthcare needs of the homeless are of growing concern to both public and private sectors in our community as steep costs are incurred when severely debilitated homeless persons cycle repeatedly through hospitals, emergency rooms, treatment centers and jails. Local problem In recent years, the communities of Harrisonburg/Rockingham County have seen a growth in homelessness due to low wages, a lack of available affordable housing, and unemployment. The number of homeless adults and children in this community has increased 59% since 2008. The Salvation Army in Harrisonburg has an emergency shelter for up to 40 individuals, including families, and has historically been served by the Healthcare for the Homeless Suitcase Clinic (SC), a unique healthcare delivery model that addresses the unconventional and complex health concerns of homeless adults. Shelter circumstances prevented the SC from offering services for a stint prior to September 2016. At that time, the opportunity to reconvene services was available, although a volunteer provider was still needed. The purposes of this Interprofessional Student Engaged Community Clinic project were to: 1). provide medical care to homeless clients sheltered at the Salvation Army; 2) offer additional clinical training sites for nursing, physician assistant and dietetic students; 3) provide first-hand interprofessional practice experiences for clinical students; 4) model and encourage community engagement with the local community partners; and 5) evaluate the beliefs, behavioral and attitudes that underlie interprofessional socialization and collaborative practice. Interventions Nursing and physician assistant students worked in teams with clinical faculty members to conduct weekly clinics, which included making the initial contact with individuals at the Salvation Army shelter and completing a thorough background history. Concurrently, Dietetics students conducted a needs assessment of the emergency shelter residents that informed the development of group programming focused on mindful eating and eating enjoyment. Additionally, a student organization offered education on chronic disease-related dietary considerations by modifying a free meal each month. Acute and chronic medical needs, nutritional education needs and opportunities to support healthful initiatives within the shelter were identified and addressed by the Nursing, Dietetics, and Physical Assistant and students, in collaboration with on-site faculty. Methods Surveys administered pre- and post- to assess student learning included the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS; n=24 items) and Attitudes Towards the Homeless Inventory (ATHI; n=11 items). Qualitative data were collected through open-ended survey items, course assessments, and student meetings. Results Based on completed surveys (n=20), ISVS scores improved pre- to post- from 5.9 to 6.3. Similarly, ATHI scores increased from 2.8 to 2.9. Themes for working in interprofessional teams included understanding roles of members, value for better patient care, and importance of communication. Themes related to working with the homeless were increased comfort with communication, providing care for the whole person, and inequity of health care. Students suggested formal orientation to peers and the setting in future courses. Conclusions/Implications Nursing, Dietetics and Graduate Physician Assistant students were able to apply their knowledge and skills to practice within an interprofessional healthcare workforce caring for homeless persons. Interprofessional community learning experiences with vulnerable populations can have a positive impact on student learning outcomes

Building a Better Term Paper: Integrating Scaffolded Writing and Peer Review

This paper presents a method for teaching undergraduate students how to write better term papers in philosophy. The method integrates two key assignment components: scaffolding and peer review. We explain these components and how they can be effectively combined within a single term paper assignment. We then present the results of our multi-year research study on the integrated method. Professor observations, quantitative measures, and qualitative feedback indicate that student writing improves when philosophy term paper assignments are designed to generate multiple rounds of drafting and review

Unintended reward costs: The effectiveness of customer referral reward programs for innovative products and services

To encourage customers’ referral behavior and expand their customer base, providers of innovative products and services often use customer referral reward programs (CRPs), though not all CRPs deliver on their initial promise. With one field experiment and four online experiments, this research investigates the effectiveness of rewarded referrals for recruiting new customers for more innovative (versus less innovative) offerings and outlines the conditions in which public referral rewards have unintended ramifications and decrease customers’ referral likelihood. In addition to establishing these effects for more innovative offerings, this research identifies some moderating consequences, such that the detrimental effect of referral rewards on referral behavior can be attenuated by not disclosing referral rewards (for recommenders) to referral recipients, increasing the referral reward size, and rewarding both recommenders and referral recipients. These findings have theoretical and managerial implications

The bond we share: experiences of caring for a person with mental and physical health conditions

The purpose of this chapter is to improve service providers’ understanding of how to work with, include and understand the experience and expertise of mental health carers. This information is useful for service providers in clinical mental health, psychosocial rehabilitation across government and non-government, and primary health care settings, and also for managers of services, to help determine training offered to their employees. It may also be useful for carers and carer support organisations, as well as for those who teach undergraduate and postgraduate health professional students