Evaluating Practice-based Learning and Teaching in Art and Design

The University of the Arts London is host to the Creative Learning in Practice Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CLIP CETL), which has funded a number of small course-based evaluative and developmental projects. These projects have been designed by course tutors in conjunction with the CLIP CETL team, who are evaluating them to better understand and extend the pedagogies of practice-based teaching and learning. Practice-based learning is a way of conceptualising and organising student learning which can be used in many applied disciplinary contexts. Such pedagogies we argue are founded on the claim that learning to practice in the creative industries requires engagement with authentic activities in context (Lave and Wenger 1991, Wenger 2000). This short paper will describe some of the initial evaluation and research activities in two colleges; identify and define practice-based activities in the context of the courses where the research is being carried out; identify emerging pedagogic frameworks; and discuss implications for further development. Activities identified in the projects undertaken include: Opportunities to develop students‟ direct contact with industry Simulating work-based learning in the University Event-based learning Enhancing professional practice and PPD The authors are seeking to elicit, analyse and evaluate what is often implicit in practitioner-teachers, and the experience of developing pedagogies for extending practice-based learning. We will be theorising from statements made by practitioners in semi-structured interviews and evidence provided in progress reporting from the project teams

What is Meant and what is Understood? The Role of Written Assessment Feedback in the Fine Art Subject Area

Report written as part of a research project (The Pedagogy of Fine Art) exploring contemporary pedagogy and attitudes to teaching within the fine art subject area

Supporting part-time teachers and contract faculty

Unprecedented increase in access to higher education over the past decade, particularly in the UK and Canada has required Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to employ more instructors, increasingly on contractually limited arrangements. What began as a short-term solution has now become the norm in many countries. In some disciplines, for example professional and practice-based subjects, there is a history of employing staff/faculty on contractual basis, bringing valuable professional and industrial experience. Contextual pressures influence universities: changing expectations of their nature and purpose, the relationship between students and universities, changes in curriculum and teaching. At the same time, potential students and future employers scrutinise student satisfaction with the quality of their education. Public support for permanent/tenured positions has declined (Kezar, Maxey and Eaton 2014) and there is a demand for a more flexible workforce. These conceptual and practical considerations are crucial to effective support for part-time and contractual staff. This chapter includes a series of case studies and examples from the literature, intended to illuminate good practice in the support and development of these instructors

'A kind of exchange':learning from art and design teaching

This paper analyses pedagogic practices in four fields in art and design higher education. Its purpose is to identify the characteristics that might be called signature pedagogies in these subjects and to identify their role in student centred learning. In a time of growing economic pressure on higher education and in the face of tendencies for normative practices brought about through mechanisms such as quality assurance procedures the authors seek to articulate and recognise the issues relating to spaces and pedagogies from this discipline that might be made to wider debates about learning in the sector

Intersectional Discrimination and Change in Blood Pressure Control among Older Adults: The Health and Retirement Study

BACKGROUND: Associations between multiple forms of discrimination and blood pressure control in older populations remain unestablished. METHODS: Participants were 14582 non-institutionalized individuals (59% women) in the Health and Retirement Study aged at least 51 years (76% Non-Hispanic White, 15% Non-Hispanic Black, 9% Hispanic/Latino). Primary exposures included the mean frequency of discrimination in everyday life, intersectional discrimination (defined as marginalization ascribed to more than one reason), and the sum of discrimination over the lifespan. We assessed whether discrimination was associated with change in measured hypertension status (N=14582) and concurrent medication use among reported hypertensives (N=9086) over four years (2008-2014). RESULTS: There was no association between the frequency of everyday discrimination and change in measured hypertension. Lifetime discrimination was associated with higher odds of hypertension four years later among men (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.36) but not women (OR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.13). Only among men, everyday discrimination due at least two reasons was associated with a 1.44 (95% CI: 1.03, 2.01)-fold odds of hypertension than reporting no everyday discrimination; reporting intersectional discrimination was not associated with developing hypertension among women (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.70, 1.20). All three discriminatory measures were inversely related to time-averaged antihypertensive medication use, without apparent gender differences (e.g., OR for everyday discrimination-antihypertensive use associations: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.94)). CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences in marginalization may more acutely elevate hypertensive risk among older men than similarly aged women. Experiences of discrimination appear to decrease the likelihood of antihypertensive medication use among older adults overall

Alder Canopy Dieback and Damage in Western Oregon Riparian Ecosystems

We gathered baseline data to assess alder tree damage in western Oregon riparian ecosystems. We sought to determine if Phytophthora-type cankers found in Europe or the pathogen Phytophthora alni subsp. alni, which represent a major threat to alder forests in the Pacific Northwest, were present in the study area. Damage was evaluated in 88 transects; information was recorded on damage type (pathogen, insect or wound) and damage location. We evaluated 1445 red alder (Alnus rubra), 682 white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) and 181 thinleaf alder (Alnus incana spp. tenuifolia) trees. We tested the correlation between canopy dieback and canker symptoms because canopy dieback is an important symptom of Phytophthora disease of alder in Europe. We calculated the odds that alder canopy dieback was associated with Phytophthora-type cankers or other biotic cankers. P. alni subsp. alni (the causal agent of alder disease in Europe) was not identified in western Oregon; however, Phytophthora siskiyouensis was isolated from Phytophthora-type cankers which were present on 2% of red alder trees and 3% of white alder trees. The odds of canopy dieback were 5.4 and 4.8 times greater for red and white alder (respectively) with Phytophthora-type canker symptoms than in trees without such cankers. The percentage of trees with canopy dieback was 51%, 32%, and 10% for red, white, and thinleaf alder respectively. Other common damage included wounding, foliar pathogens and insects on red alder. This is the first report of Phytophthora canker of alder in United States forests and first report of P. siskiyouensis isolation from alder in forests anywhere.Keywords: alder tree damage, Phytophthora species, riparian ecosystems, symptom

Neighborhood Characteristics and Elevated Blood Pressure in Older Adults

IMPORTANCE: The local environment remains an understudied contributor to elevated blood pressure among older adults. Untargeted approaches can identify neighborhood conditions interrelated with racial segregation that drive hypertension disparities. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate independent associations of sociodemographic, economic, and housing neighborhood factors with elevated blood pressure. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cohort study, the sample included Health and Retirement Study participants who had between 1 and 3 sets of biennial sphygmomanometer readings from 2006 to 2014 or 2008 to 2016. Statistical analyses were conducted from February 5 to November 30, 2021. EXPOSURES: Fifty-one standardized American Community Survey census tract variables (2005-2009). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Elevated sphygmomanometer readings over the study period (6-year period prevalence): a value of at least 140 mm Hg for systolic blood pressure and/or at least 90 mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure. Participants were divided 50:50 into training and test data sets. Generalized estimating equations were used to summarize multivariable associations between each neighborhood variable and the period prevalence of elevated blood pressure, adjusting for individual-level covariates. Any neighborhood factor associated (Simes-adjusted for multiple comparisons P ≤ .05) with elevated blood pressure in the training data set was rerun in the test data set to gauge model performance. Lastly, in the full cohort, race- and ethnicity-stratified associations were evaluated for each identified neighborhood factor on the likelihood of elevated blood pressure. RESULTS: Of 12 946 participants, 4565 (35%) had elevated sphygmomanometer readings (median [IQR] age, 68 [63-73] years; 2283 [50%] male; 228 [5%] Hispanic or Latino, 502 [11%] non-Hispanic Black, and 3761 [82%] non-Hispanic White). Between 2006 and 2016, a lower likelihood of elevated blood pressure was observed (relative risk for highest vs lowest tertile, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.96) among participants residing in a neighborhood with recent (post-1999) in-migration of homeowners. This association was precise among participants with non-Hispanic White and other race and ethnicity (relative risk, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.97) but not non-Hispanic Black participants (relative risk, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.85-1.11; P = .48 for interaction) or Hispanic or Latino participants (relative risk, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.65-1.09; P = .78 for interaction). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study of older adults, recent relocation of homeowners to a neighborhood was robustly associated with reduced likelihood of elevated blood pressure among White participants but not their racially and ethnically marginalized counterparts. Our findings indicate that gentrification may influence later-life blood pressure control

In The Works: Greensboro Neighborhood Self-Help Program; Revitalization Underway in Downtown High Point; New Techniques in Commercial Recruitment for Small Cities

Short planning reports including: GREENSBORO NEIGHBORHOOD SELF-HELP PROGRAM: "Helping Neighborhoods Help Themselves" is the motto of the Neighborhood Self-Help Program administered by the Greensboro Department of Planning and Community Development.; REVITALIZATION UNDERWAY IN DOWNTOWN HIGH POINT: Downtown High Point is currently the site of considerable development activity as a result of significant effort by local government, the High Point Economic Development Corporation (HPEDC), and numerous private investors.; NEW TECHNIQUES IN COMMERCIAL RECRUITMENT FOR SMALL CITIES: Nearly every downtown has faced the development of a regional shopping mall within the last ten years. With this development usually comes the move of the downtown anchor retail stores — and the threatened demise of the traditional shopping core. Many small cities are caught off-guard, empty-handed, and with a quickly deteriorating and outdated downtown. But in Sanford, North Carolina, a group of far-sighted people decided to do something about their downtown when talk about a regional shopping center was in the early stages