Clinical psychologists' experiences of NHS organisational change

Organisational-change experiences of eight clinical psychologists working in the NHS were captured. Three themes revealed the challenges they experienced and how their knowledge and skills have helped them understand, cope with, and respond to change

Distribution and incidence of viruses in Irish seed potato crops

peer-reviewedVirus diseases are of key importance in potato production and in particular for the production of disease-free potato seed. However, there is little known about the frequency and distribution of potato virus diseases in Ireland. Despite a large number of samples being tested each year, the data has never been collated either within or across years. Information from all known potato virus testing carried out in the years 2006–2012 by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine was collated to give an indication of the distribution and incidence of potato virus in Ireland. It was found that there was significant variation between regions, varieties, years and seed classes. A definition of daily weather data suitable for aphid flight was developed, which accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in virus incidence between years. This use of weather data to predict virus risk could be developed to form the basis of an integrated pest management approach for aphid control in Irish potato crops

Evaluation of students’ employability skills development and the use of radar diagrams in Personal Development Planning

Increasingly in recent years, there has been concern about the employability skills of UK graduates in certain Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Problems highlighted were that graduates sometimes lacked the transferable skills necessary for employment, and/or awareness of when they had developed them (Wakeham, 2016). Electronic Personal Development Planning (ePDP) is widely used as a means of helping students to develop and recognise employability skills. Through reflection, students identify their strengths and weaknesses, and plan for improvement, thus developing independent skills for future personal and professional development (Cowan and Peacock, 2017). While there is evidence that this can be beneficial, e.g. in interview performance (Lackner and Martini, 2017), practices across UK HEIs are highly variable, student engagement is frequently poor, and academic staff have differing attitudes to facilitating PDP (e.g. McKenna et al., 2017a; Peyrefitte and Nurse, 2016). S112, Science: concepts and practice, was a new module at the Open University in 2017 (60 credits, FHEQ level 4). Each assignment included self-assessment for employability skills development using radar diagrams, and reflection on them. We explored students’ perceptions of their skills development, and the efficacy of radar diagrams for recording this. The use of radar diagrams for electronic Personal Development Planning (ePDP) in distance learning was novel in the Open University; our insights could be helpful to many other institutions. A sample of students’ self-assessment scores were collated (n = 20). An anonymous online questionnaire was also sent to 636 students (115 responses) to capture opinions on skills development and using radar diagrams. Finally, two focus groups were held with three S112 tutors at each to establish tutors’ perspectives on their students’ skills development and use of radar diagrams. Students demonstrated development of some employment-related skills, particularly communication, collaboration and time management, but not business and customer awareness. While many students recognised their improvements, confidence could be affected by negative experiences, e.g. in teamwork. The use of radar diagrams was not popular, with most only engaging to gain marks. Radar diagrams should be offered as an optional ePDP tool, with more work to support and encourage initial self-assessment and engagement

Evaluating the effectiveness of printed materials as an alternative to online resources

The Open University has a strategic priority to maximise accessibility of its module materials. The majority of the Environmental Science curriculum is delivered online, and this presents accessibility challenges for students with certain additional learning requirements and those in secure institutions. Printed packs of online materials are provided to these students. We will present our initial evaluation of this adjustment and discuss our results and next steps for improving its efficacy. This session will be of interest to colleagues from across higher education who need to provide alternative resources to students who can’t access online resources

Improving equity of experience in distance education for students with challenges accessing online learning environments

There is a legal requirement (Equality Act, 2010) to provide students who have declared disabilities with reasonable adjustments which address their learning needs. An Advance HE report on making reasonable adjustments (Falsinger & Bryford, 2010) recommends including ‘resources available’. Reading on screen can lead to difficulties focusing, e.g., when reading through text interspersed with images and links (Habib et al., 2012). This can also mean studying takes longer, which itself can be a barrier due to the impact on workloads and can negatively affect quality of life leading to stress and anxiety (Lambert & Dryer, 2018). Accessibility can be improved for students with barriers to studying online-only materials through producing printed versions of the materials (“print packs”). Typically, print packs improve accessibility for students with a range of declared disabilities (e.g., sight conditions; chronic migraine; chronic physical pain or fatigue). This research evaluates the use, utility, and efficacy of print packs as a reasonable adjustment to some disabled students and students in secure environments (SiSE) on Earth and Environmental Science modules. We investigated (2021/22) how students used print packs and the problems and benefits associated with them, through scrutiny of institutional data, a student survey, and focus groups with Associate Lecturers tutoring the students, and student support staff. Institutional data for a large, year 1 science module over 2 presentations revealed higher submission rates and performance among SiSE using print packs compared with the whole module cohort; however, the same metrics were lower than the whole cohort for students using print packs as an adjustment for a disability. An online survey of students using print packs (13 responses / 43, 30%) highlighted that the majority use them for over half their study time. Comments revealed students blended study of the printed materials with shorter periods of access to interactive online content and synchronous / asynchronous tuition. 23% reported having received advice on how to make best use of print packs

Exploring student perceptions of employability skills development using radar charts in first year science

Development of employability skills is globally expected in undergraduate students; this is frequently approached through Personal Development Planning (PDP). However, science graduates are often reported as lacking the skills necessary for graduate employment. An online distance learning first-year science module required students to use radar charts for PDP in each assessment. An online questionnaire evaluated students’ perceptions of their employability skills development, and the efficacy of radar charts as a means of recording this. The questionnaire was sent to 636 students and 115 responded; this report is a thematic analysis of the open text questions. Students recognised development of several employability skills, though some found difficulty due to lack of self-confidence and challenges participating in asynchronous group work. A proportion of students found radar charts easy to use, though the majority used them to gain marks. Students found benchmarking their skills at module start challenging, and would benefit from more support with this, as well as the option to use other means of recording PDP

Flaunting it on Facebook: Young adults, drinking cultures and the cult of celebrity

Copyright © Antonia Lyons; Tim McCreanor; Fiona Hutton; Ian Goodwin; Helen Moewaka Barnes; Christine Griffin; Kerryellen Vroman; Acushla Dee O’Carroll; Patricia Niland; Lina Samu Print publication available from: http://www.drinkingcultures.info/Young adults in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) regularly engage in heavy drinking episodes with groups of friends within a collective culture of intoxication to ‘have fun’ and ‘be sociable’. This population has also rapidly increased their use of new social networking technologies (e.g. mobile camera/ video phones; Facebook and YouTube) and are said to be obsessed with identity, image and celebrity. This research project explored the ways in which new technologies are being used by a range of young people (and others, including marketers) in drinking practices and drinking cultures in Aotearoa/NZ. It also explored how these technologies impact on young adults’ behaviours and identities, and how this varies across young adults of diverse ethnicities (Maori [indigenous people of NZ], Pasifika [people descended from the Pacific Islands] and Pakeha [people of European descent]), social classes and genders. We collected data from a large and diverse sample of young adults aged 18-25 years employing novel and innovative methodologies across three data collection stages. In total 141 participants took part in 34 friendship focus group discussions (12 Pakeha, 12 Maori and 10 Pasifika groups) while 23 young adults showed and discussed their Facebook pages during an individual interview that involved screencapture software and video recordings. Popular online material regarding drinking alcohol was also collected (via groups, interviews, and web searches), providing a database of 487 links to relevant material (including websites, apps, and games). Critical and in-depth qualitative analyses across these multimodal datasets were undertaken. Key findings demonstrated that social technologies play a crucial role in young adults’ drinking cultures and processes of identity construction. Consuming alcohol to a point of intoxication was a commonplace leisure-time activity for most of the young adult participants, and social network technologies were fully integrated into their drinking cultures. Facebook was employed by all participants and was used before, during and following drinking episodes. Uploading and sharing photos on Facebook was particularly central to young people’s drinking cultures and the ongoing creation of their identities. This involved a great deal of Facebook ‘work’ to ensure appropriate identity displays such as tagging (the addition of explanatory or identifying labels) and untagging photos. Being visible online was crucial for many young adults, and they put significant amounts of time and energy into updating and maintaining Facebook pages, particularly with material regarding drinking practices and events. However this was not consistent across the sample, and our findings revealed nuanced and complex ways in which people from different ethnicities, genders and social classes engaged with drinking cultures and new technologies in different ways, reflecting their positioning within the social structure. Pakeha shared their drinking practices online with relatively little reflection, while Pasifika and Maori participants were more likely to discuss avoiding online displays of drinking and demonstrated greater reflexive self-surveillance. Females spoke of being more aware of normative expectations around gender than males, and described particular forms of online identity displays (e.g. moderated intake, controlled selfdetermination). Participants from upper socio-economic groups expressed less concern than others about both drinking and posting material online. Celebrity culture was actively engaged with, in part at least, as a means of expressing what it is to be a young adult in contemporary society, and reinforcing the need for young people to engage in their own everyday practices of ‘celebritising’ themselves through drinking cultures online. Alcohol companies employed social media to market their products to young people in sophisticated ways that meant the campaigns and actions were rarely perceived as marketing. Online alcohol marketing initiatives were actively appropriated by young people and reproduced within their Facebook pages to present tastes and preferences, facilitate social interaction, construct identities, and more generally develop cultural capital. These commercial activities within the commercial platforms that constitute social networking systems contribute heavily to a general ‘culture of intoxication’ while simultaneously allowing young people to ‘create’ and ‘produce’ themselves online via the sharing of consumption ‘choices’, online interactions and activities

Trade-off decisions in ecosystem management for poverty alleviation

The academic literature on trade-offs in ecosystem management has paid relatively little attention to justice and poverty reduction objectives. The aim of this paper is to highlight the multiple dimensions of trade-offs in ecosystem services management for poverty alleviation, and to support decision-makers in planning for the almost inevitable trade-offs arising from environmental interventions. The paper brings together different dimensions or lenses through which to analyse trade-offs in ecosystem management for poverty alleviation in a low-income country context. Following a literature review of trade-off decisions, the paper introduces the Balance Sheets Approach to structure trade-off analysis and appraise decisions. We apply the Balance Sheets Approach to analyse five case studies set in very different social-ecological systems where trade-offs were pertinent and undermined poverty alleviation. We show how the combination of ‘positive’ approaches, often used at strategic level, with ‘value’ approaches which analyse multiple values, multi-scale governance, power and capacity, is necessary to analyse complex trade-offs. Based on the case studies we identify four lessons for future trade-off analysis in the context of ecosystem management for poverty alleviation in low-income settings

Chlamydia trachomatis from Australian Aboriginal people with trachoma are polyphyletic composed of multiple distinctive lineages.

Chlamydia trachomatis causes sexually transmitted infections and the blinding disease trachoma. Current data on C. trachomatis phylogeny show that there is only a single trachoma-causing clade, which is distinct from the lineages causing urogenital tract (UGT) and lymphogranuloma venerum diseases. Here we report the whole-genome sequences of ocular C. trachomatis isolates obtained from young children with clinical signs of trachoma in a trachoma endemic region of northern Australia. The isolates form two lineages that fall outside the classical trachoma lineage, instead being placed within UGT clades of the C. trachomatis phylogenetic tree. The Australian trachoma isolates appear to be recombinants with UGT C. trachomatis genome backbones, in which loci that encode immunodominant surface proteins (ompA and pmpEFGH) have been replaced by those characteristic of classical ocular isolates. This suggests that ocular tropism and association with trachoma are functionally associated with some sequence variants of ompA and pmpEFGH