Evaluating and enhancing the feedback process: an international college case study

This paper identifies a style of feedback which is comprehensible and meaningful to international students on pathway to HE programmes. Moreover, it identifies the extent to which international students at pathway level can interact and engage with academic feedback on academic assignments in the fields of mathematics and statistics. Two distinct styles of feedback were offered to students studying academic modules on pathway programmes at Glasgow International College (a collaboration between Kaplan International Colleges and the University of Glasgow). Students were surveyed regarding their reaction to and use of assignment feedback, as well as their understanding of it and their perception of its role in their learning. This case study suggests that a simple and directed style of feedback which deals with each question or aspect of an assignment individually, highlighting weak areas and allowing students to pinpoint their weaknesses combined with short ‘feedback meetings’ is particularly appropriate for international students. This case study was financially supported using a professional development grant awarded by Glasgow International College

Investigating academic cultural differences in an international classroom

Given the large increase in international student numbers (UKCISA, 2012) it will prove beneficial to the international educator to identify any differences in cultural perceptions and expectations of newly registered international students and UK teaching and learning expectations. Knowledge of such differences could be used to inform teaching practice which promotes a smooth cultural transition. This project aimed to measure the ‘typical’ academic culture of a new cohort of international students compared to that of their UK teacher. Several cultural differences were identified according to Hofstede’s cultural typologies (Hofstede, 1986). Students identified themselves as collectivists in a position of low power, whereas their teacher expressed individualist traits and valued a more equal distribution of power in the classroom. These findings can be used to understand how different cultural expectations between students and staff may become apparent in an international classroom

Moral Values, Perceived Access to Care and Preferences for Healthcare Resource Allocation

Background: The National Health Service (NHS) is under financial pressure, and the allocation of healthcare resources relies on complex decision-making processes. Rationality is key in rationing procedures, yet its definition is subjective. Additionally, ethical frameworks associated with rationing processes may be ill-equipped to address health-related social injustices. Literature suggests emotions, intuition, rationality, moral values, and narratives of deservedness may infiltrate preferences about healthcare resources allocation (PHRA). Aims: This research explored how factors drawn from the literature (demographic characteristics, moral judgement, health locus of control, political views, and perceived access to health resources) are associated with PHRA. Methods: A pragmatic stance with a cross-sectional quantitative approach was adopted. PHRA was defined by author-designed health vignettes with four ethical response options. These were presented to 549 adults in an online survey alongside standardised questionnaires. Results: Chi-Square analyses suggested that demographic characteristics (e.g. ethnicity and job types) were associated with PHRA in some vignettes but not others. Kruskal Wallis and post hoc tests found differences in PHRA based on political views, moral values, and internal health locus of control. Deprioritising certain groups or allocation based on previous taxation contribution was associated with high internal health locus of control, right-wing views, and moral concerns associated with this stance. Left-wing participants with a lower internal locus of control and moral concerns about care were represented more often in the group that favoured the vulnerability-based options. Specific results differed significantly for each vignette. Conclusion: The situation-specific nature of the results suggests that participants were not relying on single ethical frameworks when allocating resources and that PHRA may be associated with intuitive processes. Thereafter, the ‘Intuition & Bias Accountability Framework’ is proposed so that healthcare services are held accountable for bias, and practical rationality is acknowledged as a positive tool for social justice

New Zealand culture of intoxication: Local and global influences

This article shows that attitudes towards and behaviours involving the consumption of alcohol in New Zealand have long been problematic. It provides an historical account of social, economic and legislative factors which have influenced the development of the New Zealand drinking culture. Accordingly, it tracks a combination of local and global alcohol-related influences and documents the interrelationships amongst these factors. In particular, it proposes that the liberalisation of alcohol licensing laws and advertising/sponsorship regulations, alongside the growth of the alcohol-based hospitality industry have promoted the normalisation of an alcohol-based leisure lifestyle. Against this backdrop, the growth of consumer culture , tertiary student culture and the New Zealand drug culture, along with the development of new alcohol products and the establishment of commercial and social-networking websites have conjointly enabled the growth of a culture of intoxication, which is characterised by drinkers intentionally drinking to intoxication and viewing this behaviour as socially acceptable

Tackling the pre-basic seed system bottleneck

One of the objectives of the SASHA project is to strengthen technical, financial and institutional capacities for the sustainable production of pre-basic sweetpotato seed in 11 sub-Saharan African countries. This flyer outlines the schematic of sweetpotato seed system and the progress made from June 2014 to July 2015 towards achieving this objective. It specifically summarizes work in developing and testing different seed system technologies to increase the multiplication rate for sweetpotato and improve the supply of quality, early generation seed; and exploring innovative partnership business models between public research programmes and private entities that may contribute to developing commercially viable seed systems

Sweetpotato seed systems in sub-saharan Africa: A literature review to contribute to the preparation of conceptual frameworks to guide practical interventions for root, tuber and banana seed systems.

This review assesses our current knowledge of sweetpotato seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a contribution toward developing a conceptual framework for guiding practical interventions for root, tuber, and banana (RTB) seed systems. This is in the context of the CGIAR RTB program’s theme on seed systems. The proposed framework will help to identify gaps and research needs in order to address the continuing challenge of ensuring that smallholder farmers can access timely and sufficient quantities of quality sweetpotato planting material. As part of this effort, this review proposes to field test alternative approaches to RTB seed system improvements that connect biophysical, management, and socioeconomic factors, and to draw strategic guidelines for future interventions

Field dependence of electronic recoil signals in a dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber

We present measurements of light and charge signals in a dual-phase time projection chamber at electric fields varying from 10 V/cm up to 500 V/cm and at zero field using 511 keV gamma rays from a $^{22}$Na source. We determine the drift velocity, electron lifetime, diffusion constant, and light and charge yields at 511 keV as a function of the electric field. In addition, we fit the scintillation pulse shape to an effective exponential model, showing a decay time of 43.5 ns at low field that decreases to 25 ns at high fields.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Pleasure, profit and pain: Alcohol in New Zealand and the contemporary culture of intoxication

This book details the rich, complex and often contested role of alcohol in New Zealand society. It explores the three fundamental alcohol rights that continue to fight for dominance of the national drinking culture: the rights of individual drinkers to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol, the rights of society to protect itself from the harms of alcohol, and the rights of the alcohol industry to profit from the sale of a legal commodity. Historically, most of our intoxicated drinkers were adult males and drinking was typically separated from family, food and entertainment. With the sweeping social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, women and later young people, increasingly engaged with alcohol. A growing proportion of these groups have since joined men in a culture of intoxication, or binge drinking culture as it is often termed. New Zealand is not alone however, in having a culture of intoxication, with similar alcohol consumption patterns evident in many other developed nations. This book identifies the local and the global influences that have affected New Zealand society (and much of the rest of the world) since the late 1900s and details how these influences have sustained the contemporary culture of intoxication. Finally, this book will propose that to implement effective change to our national drinking culture, the rights of the alcohol industry and of individual drinkers will need to be pulled back from the liberal excesses that the 1980s and 1990s provided. A re-balancing is required in order to strengthen and sustain society’s right to protect itself from alcohol-related harm

Minority Status, Gender, and Electronic Home Monitoring in Hennepin County, Minnesota

This study examined the relationship of gender and minority status on juveniles who were placed on electronic home monitoring in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The study used juvenile demographic information that was collected upon a juvenile’s intake with a member of the department of community corrections. The results of the chi-square analysis that was conducted shows no statistical significant difference in gender or minority status of those placed on electronic home monitoring in Hennepin County

Dual-functional materials via CCTP and selective orthogonal thiol-Michael addition/epoxide ring opening reactions

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) has been synthesised by cobalt catalysed chain transfer polymerisation (CCTP) yielding, in one step, polymers with two points for post polymerisation functionalisation; the activated terminal vinyl bond and in chain epoxide groups. Epoxide ring-opening and a combination of thiol-Michael addition and epoxide ring-opening has been used for the post-functionalisation with amines and thiols to prepare a range of functional materials