The Failures of Litigation as a Tool for the Development of Social Welfare Policy

This article argues that litigation is largely counterproductive to the development of a coherent and feasible social welfare policy and interferes with the constitutionally-derived separation of powers. It describes the proper role of the courts when evaluating government actions and the proper procedures for doing so. It then discusses several cases brought against the New York State Department of Social Services and local governments, arguing that the courts have abandoned their appropriate role, and using these decisions to illustrate its thesis

The Failures of Litigation as a Tool for the Development of Social Welfare Policy

This article argues that litigation is largely counterproductive to the development of a coherent and feasible social welfare policy and interferes with the constitutionally-derived separation of powers. It describes the proper role of the courts when evaluating government actions and the proper procedures for doing so. It then discusses several cases brought against the New York State Department of Social Services and local governments, arguing that the courts have abandoned their appropriate role, and using these decisions to illustrate its thesis

Exploiting popular culture : exploring pedagogical and motivational approaches for design and technology education

This paper describes a case study of pedagogical developments carried out with teachers and secondary school students in response to new curriculum content in Product Design courses presented in Scottish secondary schools. The pedagogy attempts to challenge the anti-commercial manufacturing attitude that prevails among teachers and students and is based on motivational principles. It makes explicit use of the language and tools of popular media culture, specifically 'ask the audience' interaction and investigative forensic science. An electronic voting system is incorporated as an introduction to detailed product evaluation and technical analysis collaborative activities. It examines the educational potential of such ICT systems to help students explore emotional response, product semantics and value judgements and make connections to commercial manufacturing detail design

Impact of change on Attitudes, Skills and Professional Learning Requirements: Survey of secondary teachers of Craft, Design, Engineering and Graphics

This is an independent report based on a national survey. It forms part of a funded project with Education Scotland. It is designed to capture the attitudes and thoughts of teachers currently involved in the implementation of the new curriculum arrangements and the teaching, learning and assessment inherent in delivery. The purpose of this report is to guide and inform future support, advice and guidance for professional learning and further research enquiry. Critically, it offers an overview of current thoughts, as a snap shot of time, set in the context of the roll out of the senior phase of DET

The gut microbiome: Relationships with disease and opportunities for therapy.

Over the past decade, our view of human-associated microbes has expanded beyond that of a few species toward an appreciation of the diverse and niche-specialized microbial communities that develop in the human host with chronological age. The largest reservoir of microbes exists in the distal gastrointestinal tract, both in the lumen, where microbes facilitate primary and secondary metabolism, and on mucosal surfaces, where they interact with host immune cell populations. While local microbial-driven immunomodulation in the gut is well described, more recent studies have demonstrated a role for the gut microbiome in influencing remote organs and mucosal and hematopoietic immune function. Unsurprisingly, therefore, perturbation to the composition and function of the gut microbiota has been associated with chronic diseases ranging from gastrointestinal inflammatory and metabolic conditions to neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory illnesses. Considerable effort is currently focused on understanding the natural history of microbiome development in humans in the context of health outcomes, in parallel with improving our knowledge of microbiome-host molecular interactions. These efforts ultimately aim to develop effective approaches to rehabilitate perturbed human microbial ecosystems as a means to restore health or prevent disease. This review details the role of the gut microbiome in modulating host health with a focus on immunomodulation and discusses strategies for manipulating the gut microbiome for the management or prevention of chronic inflammatory conditions

Exploring creativity and progression in transition through assessment is for learning

This paper provides an overview of the aims, methods and findings of the Capability and Progression in Transition through Assessment for Learning in Design and Technology (CAPITTAL-DT) project. This project, funded by Determined to Succeed Scotland, aimed to identify useful approaches to aid progression in creativity through the current initiative entitled 'Assessment is for learning' (AifL, SEED, 2002). AifL encourages learners and teachers to engage with assessment for, as, and of learning and adopt a range of strategies and ideas. The project team gathered baseline and follow up data from teachers and learners using questionnaires to gauge attitudes towards creativity, structured conceptual design activities to assess performance, learner evaluations and teacher interviews. The team concludes that there is scope for adopting the tools explored to support formative and sustainable assessment strategies and approaches to gathering meaningful indicators that can be embedded into enterprising teaching and learning for Design and Technology Education

Shifting boundaries and new technologies: a case study in the UK banking sector.

This paper describes case study based research on the use of innovative computer-based decision support systems introduced into corporate lending processes in a major UK bank. It describes how the new technology was implicated in shifting boundaries: within the sector as a whole and in specific organizational de-layering; between local/global dimensions of the loans process; and in the status of expertise and personal/professional risk. The case study is connected to broader debates in IS and social transformation through an analysis that relates aspects of the empirical material to themes from social theories of reflexive modernization. Some implications and conclusions are drawn for both the banking sector and IS research.