Onset of word form recognition in English, Welsh, and English-Welsh bilingual infants

Children raised in the home as English or Welsh monolinguals or English–Welsh bilinguals were tested on untrained word form recognition using both behavioral and neurophysiological procedures. Behavioral measures confirmed the onset of a familiarity effect at 11 months in English but failed to identify it in monolingual Welsh infants between 9 and 12 months. In the neurophysiological procedure the familiarity effect was detected as early as 10 months in English but did not reach significance in monolingual Welsh. Bilingual children showed word form familiarity effects by 11 months in both languages and also revealed an online time course for word recognition that combined effects found for monolingual English and Welsh. To account for the findings, accentual, grammatical, and sociolinguistic differences between English and Welsh are considered

Conflicting logics of public relations in the English NHS: a qualitative study of communications and engagement

Since the formation of the NHS, all UK citizens have been entitled to access a universal health service, but radical changes to the NHS are now occurring. Although recent NHS policy claims that ‘the NHS belongs to us all’ and ‘the NHS is a social movement’, these collectivist rhetorical claims appear when such communitarian discourse is under threat, as NHS England’s (2014) Five Year Forward View tries to square the circle of efficiency, quality and equity. Historically, patients and user-groups have formed support networks and social movements, and collectively campaigned for their voices to be heard by policy makers, clinicians and managers. In contrast to the discourse of user movements, the field of marketing and public relations generally relies on the idea of the public as consumers rather than citizens. As complex governance arrangements blur the lines between public and private, concerns have been raised about how ‘spin’ associated with public relations might contravene accountability, communicative rationality and deliberative or participatory democracy. Using qualitative methods, we conducted empirical research in two localities to explore the role of communications and engagement staff as they worked to ‘transform’ the NHS in line with the vision of the Five Year Forward View. We gathered documentary data and interview data from people whose roles required them to ‘do engagement’. These staff came from a range of backgrounds, including professional marketing backgrounds, and many were unaware of emancipatory goals or user-led involvement and activism. Our analysis examines the competing logics of marketing and patient empowerment within a key stakeholder matrix document and that surfaced in participants’ accounts of their engagement practices.NIH

Producing pulses in the southern agricultural region

The development of pulses in Western Australia has undergone tremendous advances over the past 12 years. From a tiny industry in the early 1990’s where the knowledge of both scientists and farmers was very limited, we now have a robust industry with production packages and improved varieties for all the grain legumes species that are well suited to our environment. This book, which is both comprehensive and practical, collates much of the information gathered through pulse research and commercial experience over the past 10 years and will be valuable to all pulse growers, agronomists, students and industry advisors alike. The knowledge presented in this book has resulted from the dedicated efforts of scientists and industry specialists in Western Australia, working hand-in-hand with leading farmers, together with generous funding from the State Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1154/thumbnail.jp

Toward Seaport Resilience for Climate Change Adaptation: Stakeholder Perceptions of Hurricane Impacts in Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI)

A growing body of research indicates that climate change is having and will continue to have a range of negative impacts on social–environmental systems. Reducing the vulnerability and increasing the resilience of these systems has thus becomes a focus of research, disaster planning, and policy-making. Seaports, located in environmentally sensitive, high-risk locations, are particularly vulnerable to severe storms and the increased sea levels resulting from such climate changes. Planning and policy making must therefore consider the human factor, that is the population potentially vulnerable to climate change induced events and also the complex network of stakeholders that depend on their functionality. An increasing body of literature suggests that, for planners to be effective in increasing resiliency of social-environmental systems to climate change-related events and other hazards, they must understand and incorporate the perceptions and concerns of the stakeholders in their assessment and planning processes. This study uses empirical evidence collected through case studies of two particularly exposed ports: Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI), in order to examine how port stakeholders such as port operators, municipal planners, port tenants, coastal managers, perceive storm impacts and the seaport\u27s vulnerability, and how their planning and policy making address these perceived concerns. Results suggest the following: (1) Port stakeholders of Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI) identified a wide range of direct damages, indirect costs, and intangible consequences of a hurricane hitting the port; (2) these impacts would result in costs that would be borne by all port stakeholders as well as society as a whole; and (3) in Providence and Gulfport, plans and policies that address storm resilience for the ports did not include the concerns of many stakeholders

Producing pulses in the northern agricultural region

Pulses, like most other temperate crops, are ideally suited to environments with mild temperatures, adequate rainfall and free draining soils that have a deep uniform profile, a medium to fine texture and slightly acid to neutral pH (6.5-7.5). Pulses when grown on these soils and in these environments produce reliable yields, are relatively easy to manage and achieve good returns on investment. Pulses can be grown very successfully in less ideal situations, but must then be managed carefully to ensure reliable yields. The different pulse species, and even different varieties of the same species, vary in how tolerant they are of less than ideal conditions. Understanding how pulses respond to soil and environment will make it easier to successfully manage crops in the range of situations occurring in the northern agricultural region.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1157/thumbnail.jp

Instructor creativity in producing learning activities for a diverse cohort of first year anatomy and physiology students

We co-teach first year anatomy and physiology to 320 allied health students studying 4 different programs (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, and Sport and Exercise Science). The cohort is comprised of just over half first-in-family students, with diverse academic backgrounds, as evidenced by a broad range of university entrance scores (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) 99.95-35, with just under half of ATAR 87 or lower). Historically the subject has been characterised by student disengagement, and a high failure rate. As an initial strategy to address this issue, in 2015 we introduced activity-intensive workshops as part of flipped-classroom learning experiences. The activities were designed to increase visualization of concepts. The instructor needs both a solid understanding of the concept and a high degree creativity when designing these activities. For example, orange safety mesh was used to model the cell membrane for a role play on cellular transport processes and simple garden irrigation equipment used to simulate a nephron. Students also used a high degree of creativity in producing posters for case studies, which were utilised as another strategy to enhance student learning and engagement. Students were surveyed regarding their experiences in both 2015 and 2016. They were ambivalent about how useful the different activities were in helping understanding of concepts in 2015. In 2016 we increased the instruction around how the exercises should be utilised and this resulted in the students gaining much more satisfaction from the activities

'My expectations remain the same. The student has to be competent to practise' : practice assessor perspectives on the new social work degree qualification in England

Research has emphasized the importance of practice learning to social work qualifying education but has tended to feature social work educator and student perspectives more strongly than the views of those responsible for assessing students' practice in the field. This article draws on 195 responses to a postal questionnaire sent at two points in time to practice assessors working with students from nine social work qualifying programmes run in six higher education institutions collected as part of the evaluation of the new social work degree qualification in England. While practice assessors described changes in their role and in the opportunities available to students, they also emphasized continuities, particularly in the skills that they expected students to possess. The key difficulty they identified was the heavy workload resulting from combining their role as practice assessors with their other responsibilities at work. Increases in the number of social work students and changes to the organization of services are likely to create further pressures on practice assessors. Given that these issues are faced by a number of different professions, the article concludes that there is potential for future studies to look at the experiences of practice educators across different professional qualifying programmes

Student creativity in assessment of an anatomy and physiology subject: the digi-explanation

We co-teach first year anatomy and physiology to 320 allied health students studying 4 different programs (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, and Sport and Exercise Science). The cohort is comprised of just over half first-in-family students, with diverse academic backgrounds, as evidenced by a broad range of university entrance scores (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) 99.95-35, with just under half of ATAR 87 or lower). Historically the subject has been characterised by student disengagement, and a high failure rate. As part of a continuing strategy to address these issues, we included a group based digi-explanation (which involves the students making a video) in the assessment regime. Digi-explanations harness the skills and creativity students already possess in terms of being able to manipulate digital resources for social purposes. Groups of 4-6 students were tasked with producing a 3 minute video which explained a specific topic covered in the subject. The topics were tailored for the different cohorts to increase relevance of the exercise for the students. Instructional documentation was produced to assist the students in this process. Students could assemble a composite video from public domain materials, or film and produce an entirely original video. Most groups used a mix of public domain materials and original footage for their videos. Students were surveyed regarding their digi-explanation experiences and 75% of students found the exercise was useful for exploring their understanding of the material, and that it increased the relevance of the material to their degree