Researching young researchers in primary schools: responding to children's evaluations of a participatory technique

Increased emphasis on children's "voices" and their rights to be involved in events and decisions which affect them has seen a move towards children becoming participants and co-researchers in research projects about their lives. This has prompted a further step towards enabling children to become "active" researchers in their own right (Kellett, 2005). The Children's Research Centre (CRC) at the Open University is a pioneering initiative in this field. This paper draws on data from a doctoral study exploring the experiences of groups of English primary school children who have undertaken research training through the CRC programme prior to carrying out research projects of their own choice. Issues emerging include the importance of (i) identifying a reliable method of evaluating what children have to say about their experiences of doing research (ii) offering them an authentic role in evaluating the efficacy of such a method and (iii) recognising the research knowledge and skills they have developed. 10 and 11 year old children's evaluations of a particular participatory technique as a means of representing their views have raised some important points. The value these children place upon the recognition of unique perspectives, the dangers of concealing individual priorities within group data and issues relating to internal validity all have implications for how the data generated with children within the context of this study can be analysed and represented. This is a crucial consideration if the technique is to be used to make comparisons across groups as the study continues (author abstract

Children as researchers in English primary schools: developing a model for good practice

Since the establishment of the Children's Research Centre at The Open University (CRC) in 2004, children from the age of nine have been shown to be able to engage meaningfully with research process when given appropriate training. This paper reports on the findings of a four-year doctoral study (Bucknall, 2009) which identifies and explores the issues and barriers that influence experiences of children's engagement in self-directed empirical research in these settings. Multiple-case study was adopted as the research strategy for this study. A flexible, multi-method research design was applied. Predominantly qualitative data were generated with adult and child participants in five schools associated with the CRC and data analysis was informed by grounded theory. The central categories which emerged from the data and, in particular, the identification of important issues by the children, have together informed the staged construction of a model for CaR initiatives in English primary schools. This illustrates the factors and processes that had an impact on both the children's experiences of research training and the research process and outcomes and demonstrates that these are inextricably interrelated. This study addresses a gap in our knowledge and understanding of children as researchers and consideration of the issues and barriers identified will provide a basis for good practice during the further implementation and evaluation of young researcher initiatives in schools (author abstract

A Study of the Film Adaptations of Marek Hłasko's Prose by the Students of the Film School in Łódź

A Study of the Film Adaptations of Marek Hłasko's Prose by the Students of the Film School in ŁódźThe works of Marek Hłasko have proved a reliable source of content and inspiration in Polish culture from the time of their writing to the current day, and this is demonstrated by the number of film adaptations of his literature. This article will look at Hłasko’s short stories that were written while the author lived in Poland and are collected in the book The First Step in the Clouds published in 1956. It will consider the subject matter and themes of the text, overview some examples of adaptations made by the students of the celebrated Łódź Film School, reflect as to how these have remained faithful or deviated from Hłasko’s original works, before concluding as to the reasons why the students may have been drawn to this particular source

Analysis of harmonics in subsea power transmission cables used in VSC-HVDC transmission systems operating under steady-state conditions

Subsea power cables are a critical component of a voltage-source converter-high-voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) transmission system in any offshore electrical power scheme. Subsea cables have complicated structures consisting of many different layers: conductor, insulation, sheath, and armor. Harmonic performance of the system depends upon the interactions between the subsea cable, the power converters, and other system components, such as smoothing capacitors. In this paper, a mathematical model of an HVDC-VSC transmission system is developed and its harmonic performance is investigated for steady-state operating conditions. The results suggest that the design of the subsea transmission cable has important effects on harmonic levels in the voltage and current waveforms in the cable and upon power loss within the transmission system. This paper demonstrates that it is always important to consider interactions between all of the system components when predicting harmonic performance in a VSC-HVDC transmission system

Notched impact behavior of polymer blends: Part 1: New model for particle size dependence

A model is proposed to explain the observed relationships between particle size and fracture resistance in high-performance blends, which typically reach maximum toughness at particle diameters of 0.2–0.4 μm. To date there has been no satisfactory explanation for the ductile–brittle (DB) transition at large particle sizes. The model is based on a recently developed criterion for craze initiation, which treats large cavitated rubber particles as craze-initiating Griffith flaws. Using this criterion in conjunction with Westergaard's equations, it is possible to map the spread from the notch tip of three deformation mechanisms: rubber particle cavitation, multiple crazing and shear yielding. Comparison of zone sizes leads to the conclusion that maximum toughness is achieved when the particles are large enough to cavitate a long way ahead of a notch or crack tip, but not so large that they initiate unstable crazes and thus reduce fracture resistance

Definitions of severity and outcome measures

AbstractOutcome measurement is still a difficult area in general, and in asthma in particular, with further research needed. (Attributable) outcomes of health care are the only sort of outcome measure which are of direct use as a contracting tool. However, less well-researched and understood outcomes are useful as quality improvement tools, and within more open-ended discussions involving purchasers and providers. In terms of hospital care of acute asthma, there is no well-defined outcome measure which reflects the quality of hospital care; re-admission rates show promise as an outcome measure which relate to the quality of discharge planning and merit further study. In terms of ambulatory care, there is an urgent need to develop and evaluate a symptom-based outcome measure which would be usable in routine practice and could be recommended for widespread use. As a physiological outcome measure, percentage of best function is one which corrects for the degree of irreversible air flow obstruction and is independent of treatment step. It is valuable for individual patients by providing a realistic gold standard and, if best function is assessed in a standard manner, it also allows results of groups of patients to be compared in a meaningful manner. Severity scores, which might allow categorization of patients on the basis of characteristics other than current symptoms or therapy, are currently being evaluated

The "Reflective Participant," "(Remember)ing" and "(Remember)ance":A (Syn)aesthetic Approach to the Documentation of Audience Experience

Experience is central to immersive, interactive and participative dramaturgies; however, it is that central feature of the work which poses a complex challenge to strategies of analysis and approaches to documentation. This is further exacerbated by the context of practice as research, (PaR), particularly in doctoral contexts. Over the last 10 years I have been developing a cognitivist approach to the documentation of immersive, interactive and participatory performance practices that is sympathetic to the experiential nature of those forms. In this paper, I draw out the epistemic logic of the practice-based (PBR) strategies that I have developed for documenting and disseminating the nature of the audience’s role. I explicate the three central strategies which inform that approach: the role of the ‘reflective participant’ and the process of ‘reflective hypermnesis’ as an act of ‘(remember)ing’ and the production of experiential documents of ‘(remember)ance’. The role of the “reflective participant,” and the (syn)aesthetic approach to capturing and disseminating the experiences of the “reflective participant” utilizes the process of hypermnesis as a form of praxis. The methodology of (remember)ing and (remember)ance that I explicate over the course of this article, employs “reflective hypermnesis” as a critical act for capturing and disseminating the experience of immersive dramaturgies