The personal created through dialogue: enhancing possibilities through the use of new media

This paper explores the relationships between a number of different developments in higher education pedagogy, which are subsumed under the broad heading of progress files. The overall concern of the paper is to explore the ways in which personal reflection and learning is enhanced through dialogue. The paper explores the ways learners engage in dialogue in two environments that use different aspects of digital technologies to support the development of portfolios. The findings from the case studies point to the ways in which different technologies facilitated personal reflection mediated through sharing and dialogue. We develop the idea of affordances as a relationship whereby the learner is involved in a purposeful engagement with the possibilities created by their environment. The affordance of digitised technologies in supporting dialogue is, therefore, conceptualised in relation to the characteristics of the learner, not as a simple technology relation

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture_SWK 440 Revised Syllabus

Syllabus for the undergraduate (BSW) social welfare policy course, SWK 440, taught by Alison S. Mitchell, Adjunct Faculty UMaine School of Social Work. The syllabus was adapted for the online learning environment midway through the Spring 2020 Semester. Several assignments were adapted and options to allow students to respond to assignments using COVID19 as their focus for the content. Also, includes examples of assignments

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture_Covid Related Materials Email

Email thread featuring messages from Alison S. Mitchell, Adjunct Faculty UMaine School of Social Work to Sandy Butler, Interim Director and Maine Social Work Program Coordinator, and Jonathon Jue-Wong, Administrative Coordinator, The Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost regarding Professor Mitchell submitting course material related to the COVID-19 pandemic

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture_SWK 640 Revised Syllabus & Final Presentation

Syllabus for the graduate (MSW) policy advocacy class, SWK 640, taught by Alison S. Mitchell, Adjunct Faculty UMaine School of Social Work. The syllabus was adapted for the online learning environment midway through the Spring 2020 Semester. Several assignments were adapted and options to allow students to respond to assignments using COVID19 as their focus for the content. Also, includes a copy of the final presentation slides and email regarding assignment

Ethical learning from an educational ethnography: the application of an ethical framework in doctoral supervision

Doctoral research entails ethical as well as methodological learning in relation to project planning, fieldwork and reporting. Ethical considerations can be especially complex with respect to ethnographic research in an international context. This empirical study explores the application and development of an ethical framework which was used to guide reflection and dialogue between a PhD researcher (Rafael) and supervisor (Alison) through a series of ‘Ethical Discussions’ outside formal supervision meetings. The chapter offers an account of the extended dialogue focusing on ethical reflexivity which occurred in these sessions, and the spaces around them. Through thematic analysis of transcripts from these discussions and related documentary artefacts, we explore the explicit, meaningful and mutual ethical learning which occurred in relation to the ethnographic study of schools in Ethiopia, and the effective use of the ‘CERD’ framework to scaffold and support researcher development. Implications are drawn for doctoral research, ethical review boards, and researcher development more generally

Evaluating Odour Attractants for Control of Wild Dogs

Attractants (odours) were assessed for their ability to attract wild dogs (dingoes, feral dogs or their hybrids) in field trials over three levels of population density and four life-cycle behaviour 'seasons'. Visitation rates and the elicited behaviour responses were recorded for eight attractant formulations. Population density exhibited no reliable effect on odour attractiveness. Seasonal factors were shown to influence the attractiveness of specific attractants. The combination of attractiveness and the correct behavioural response towards specific odour-based control devices are discussed

Coparenting and parenting pathways from the couple relationship to children's behavior problems

Although an extensive literature has linked couple conflict with the development of children’s externalizing behavior problems, longer term protective effects of positive dimensions of couple relationships on children’s externalizing behavior remain understudied, particularly in relation to underlying mechanisms. Supportiveness in the dyadic couple relationship may enhance mothers’ and fathers’ individual parenting skills and protect against children’s behavior problems, but the contribution of co-parenting (couples’ support for one another’s individual parenting) remains unclear. This observational study investigated associations between couple supportiveness in children’s infancy and middle childhood externalizing problems, exploring pathways involving coparenting and/or mothers’ and fathers’ individual parenting using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, N = 5779) and the US Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFS, N = 2069). Couple supportiveness was associated with reduced externalizing problems 8-10 years later (standardized betas: MCS:-.13, FFS: -.11, both p <.001). Much of this effect (60% MCS, 55% FFS) was attributable to coparenting and parenting when children were aged 3-5 years. Pathways from couple supportiveness involving negative parenting were stronger than those via positive parenting, pathways via mothers’ parenting were stronger than those via fathers’ parenting, and there were pathways via coparenting alone (without affecting parenting). Pathways involving coparenting were similar in magnitude (MCS), or larger (FFS), than those involving parenting alone. Consistent findings across different population samples suggest that helping parents to support one another in co-parenting, as well as develop their individual parenting skills, may lessen the longer term impact of couple relationship problems during early childhood

Cultural probes and levels of creativity

Cultural probes are a design research method, which has gained prominence for being particularly suited to conducting research on sensitive topics and in personal contexts. This paper reports the methodological process of designing and deploying cultural probes to investigate the meaning of independence for older adults. We describe the rationale behind the development of individual elements of the probe kits, as well as a follow-up qualitative interview. Our discussion focuses on our experience of using this technique, with a view to informing appropriate and empowering research methodologies for older people