Employer engagement within 14-19 diploma development

In 2005, the UK government announced the development of a suite of employer-designed diplomas for 14-19 year olds linked to different industrial and commercial sectors. This article will reflect on some of the achievements and challenges of this major employer engagement initiative by drawing on three pieces of research: a review of Diploma development and two employer consultation studies belonging to the latest phase of Diploma development - the Diplomas in Humanities and Social Sciences and Languages and International Communications. The article suggests that meeting the needs of employers in qualification design is problematic as employers are a heterogeneous group bringing a range of different views, ideas and contributions to the process. Furthermore, the article points to a possible mismatch between policymakers' expectations from employers at the macro level, and what in fact happens at the local, micro level owing to personal and economic circumstances, companies' demands and the economic climate

Newman-Penrose quantities as valuable tools in astrophysical relativity

In this talk I will briefly outline work in progress in two different contexts in astrophysical relativity, i.e. the study of rotating star spacetimes and the problem of reliably extracting gravitational wave templates in numerical relativity. In both cases the use of Weyl scalars and curvature invariants helps to clarify important issues.Comment: 3 pages. Proceedings of 16th SIGRAV conference, Vietri, Italy, September 200

Push and pull: Using regression models to study the influence of economic variables on net migration in Iowa counties

Migration is an intensely personal decision, but mathematical models are useful for quantifying the larger, economic aspects of it. The goal of this research is to use spatial and multiple regression models to study the influence of economic variables on net migration rates in Iowa counties. To achieve this data for many variables was collected from several sources and centered on the year 2000. S-plus software was used to create neighborhood structures, run spatial correlations and regressions, and run multiple regressions and residual diagnostics. The results showed that it is possible to develop a good regression model of migration using net migration as the dependent variable along with various economic covariates. Results also emphasized the rural nature of Iowa, as outliers were often the larger and more urban counties. Two counties in particular, Dallas and Woodbury, were extreme cases for the state of Iowa. This research shows that despite migration\u27s subjective nature, regression models are applicable to the study of migration and can lead to a better understanding of why migration occurs

How the Chameleon Effect Impacts Introverts and Extroverts in Social and Academic Settings

The chameleon effect is a phenomenon in which people unconsciously copy other people’s behaviors so they match the people around them in interactive settings. It is important for college students to know what type of personality they have and how that personality type is impacted by this phenomenon. This is because it will allow them to be more aware of this phenomenon’s effect as sometimes the mind naturally blends into situations that are problematic if they are not overcome. The result of this knowledge can help them perform better in academic settings and be safer in social settings as they will know how their personality is affected in these situations. The chameleon effect and the personality traits of introversion and extroversion have been studied in previous literature in many ways separately, but not together in the manner this research has done. This study aims to investigate how the chameleon effect may impact introverts and extroverts differently in social and academic settings, with the intention of finding who is more impacted by the phenomenon in these settings. This study will use a survey that has two parts: an introversion and extroversion scale and four stories; two will be about social settings and the other two will be about academic settings, and after reading, participants will answer one question on how they would behave in that setting. The data analysis will be looking at the correlation between introversion/extroversion and the chameleon effect. The hypothesis is that in social settings, extroverts will be more impacted by the chameleon effect than introverts, and the opposite is hypothesized to be observed in academic settings with introverts being more impacted than extroverts. The belief is that the results will show this pattern when the data is analyzed after collection is complete

The benefits of child-centered play therapy and filial therapy for pre-school-aged children with reactive attachment disorder and their famiies

The purpose of this study was to investigate, from a theoretical perspective, the best treatment approach for preschool-aged children with Reactive Attachment Disorder. The challenges and needs of these children can be extensive, and the search for effective treatment is ongoing. Two specific questions of focus were: How are the theories behind Non-Directive Play Therapy/Child-Centered Play Therapy and Filial Therapy useful in conceptualizing the experience of therapy for a child with attachment disorder? And, how could these treatments be used to benefit children with attachment disorders and their families? The research for this paper involved a literature review of peer-reviewed articles on Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and treatment, original sources describing Attachment Theory, Non-Directive Play Therapy and Filial Therapy, and the DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10. Both types of therapy were found to be helpful for children with RAD because they create a therapeutic relationship that encourages secure attachment, allow children to process trauma as needed, and provide conditions which help children build affect-regulation, improve self-concept and regain healthy development. Filial Therapy showed an additional benefit in training parents to provide ideal caregiving conditions. A comprehensive assessment and treatment program, utilizing aspects of both treatment types was suggested for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder and their families; it includes the potential for use in clinical settings, child welfare investigations and with foster and adoptive families

The Urban Archaeological Supersite Paradigm: Integrating Archaeology and HGIS into Heritage Management

The archaeological heritages of many of the world’s historic cities are at risk. If these urban archaeological resources are destroyed before excavation and documentation using sound archaeological techniques, the material histories of these cities are erased. The Urban Archaeological Supersite Paradigm is presented as means to address some of the threats facing urban archaeological sites. The urban archaeological supersite paradigm is both an applied and a scholarly research framework useful for examining and interpreting the urban past and for helping to address urban archaeological heritage at risk. It conceptualizes the historic city as a supersite made up of numerous archaeological deposits and past activity areas that can reveal the palimpsest of the city. The supersite paradigm is also a mechanism to identify, analyze, and interpret the archaeological heritage of the city via historical GIS (HGIS). Using New Orleans as an example, the research presented involved collecting, creating, and analyzing geospatial data and combining this data in new, meaningful ways within a GIS platform. To showcase the usefulness of implementing the supersite paradigm using HGIS research, three different research questions, at three different scales, are addressed to investigate past histories of New Orleans. The goal is to improve the likelihood that archaeology is incorporated into larger urban planning, management, and implementation processes thereby reducing the threats to the historic urban landscape. Moreover, creating a research paradigm in combination with HGIS creates opportunities for scholars to examine the historic city from a variety of perspectives and helps to link research themes spatially by adding a geographical component

How the Chameleon Effect Impacts Introverts and Extroverts in Social and Academic Settings

The chameleon effect is a phenomenon in which people unconsciously copy other people’s behaviors, so they match the people around them in interactive settings. It is important for college students to know what type of personality they have and how that personality type is impacted by this phenomenon. The result of this knowledge can help them better understand their behavior in academic and social settings, which will make them more aware of said behaviors. This will help students be safer in these situations, as well as help them to stop the behavior faster. The chameleon effect and the personality traits of introversion and extroversion have been studied in previous literature in many ways separately, but not together in the manner this research has done. This study investigated how the chameleon effect may impact introverts and extroverts differently in social and academic settings, with the intention of finding who is more impacted by the phenomenon in these settings. The study used a survey with two parts: an introversion and extroversion scale and four stories; two about social settings and two about academic setting. The data analysis looked at the correlation between introversion/extroversion and the chameleon effect. The hypothesis was that in social settings, extroverts will be more impacted by the chameleon effect than introverts, and vice versa in academic settings. The data did show this pattern with stipulations. The hope is to expand this research to other populations, such as children