Don’t Silence “the Dinosaurs”: Keeping Caution Alive With Regard to Social Work Distance Education

Distance education (DE) in social work programs and studies on its comparable effectiveness with face-to-face education continue to increase. Yet not all faculty are convinced of the results, and this study explores why. Three case studies indicate that reservations center on valuing the process of learning and nonverbal communication. Issues regarding duty of care to families to be served by future social workers primarily educated in a virtual classroom also matter significantly. The trend toward DE may be inevitable, but this does not mean that educators should not voice their concerns; their skepticism has merit, and they have a responsibility to be vocal.     

Measuring the success of 'Playing for Success'

'Playing for Success' is a national initiative to establish Study Support Centres in professional football clubs, intended to support underachieving young people at key stages 2 and 3. The second year of the evaluation involved collection of data from pupils in 12 such Centres. Instruments were administered before and after attendance at the Centres, and measurements taken relating to literacy and numeracy, as well as attitude scales and self-assessments of ICT skills. Data were also obtained from a small 'control' group. Multilevel analysis of the results has given insights into the areas where the initiative appears to have had positive effects, and the other factors which may be associated with such effects.     

Threshold capabilities: threshold concepts and knowledge capability linked through variation theory

The Threshold Capability Integrated Theoretical Framework (TCITF) is presented as a framework for the design of university curricula, aimed at developing graduates’ capability to deal with previously unseen situations in their professional, social, and personal lives. The TCITF is a new theoretical framework derived from, and heavily dependent upon, the ideas of the Threshold Concepts Framework (Meyer and Land 2003a; Land et al. 2006) and Capability Theory (Bowden and Marton 1998; Bowden et al. 2000; Bowden 2004). Capability theory is firmly based in phenomenography and variation theory, is concerned with the development of knowledge capability, but has had limited application in practice. The threshold concepts framework has enjoyed greater acceptance by a large range of academics in many fields. This acceptance has initially focussed on analytic studies of what constitutes a threshold concept—and the location and distribution of such concepts—in a given domain. In many instances subsequent attention has focussed on issues of pedagogy and assessment, including the design of curricula. We propose a merging of capability theory and the threshold concepts framework and argue that capability and variation theories provide the ideal mechanism for developing a strong pedagogical approach based on newly emerging knowledge of the critical features of threshold concepts within different domains.     

The Education–Occupation Match,Seen From an Educational Perspective

This is a Swedish study about the correspondence between higher education studies and the obtained profession considering both skill level and specialisation. The labour market position in 2002, for a student population, aged 26–28 years, was analyzed. Also those students who had not obtained a degree, but who had studied at least two years were included. Income was not considered when a match was determined. Social class background did not have any effect on matching when types of higher education studies were the same. It was more likely that a woman would find a matching employment than a man. Having a degree improved the chances of obtaining a matching profession by three times.     

SCHOOL DELINQUENCY AND SOCIAL BOND FACTORS: EXPLORING GENDERED DIFFERENCES AMONG A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF 10TH GRADERS

School delinquency has been linked to an array of negative educational outcomes, and if left unchecked, may lead to more serious problems in adulthood. Identifying the risk and protective factors that influence school delinquency is therefore crucial to develop effective intervention programs. Utilizing Hirschi's social bond theory as a framework, the authors investigated the relationships between social bonds (i.e., parental involvement, bond to school, beliefs, commitment to sport activities, commitment to non‐sport activities, and involvement) and school delinquency among a nationally representative sample of 10th graders. Special attention was given to gender differences. Results indicate that social bond measures account for a significant variance in school delinquency (11.2%, p < .001) above and beyond that predicted by socioeconomic status (1.5%, p < .001), and that the relationships between social bonds and school delinquency vary across gender. Practical and theoretical implications are for educators and researchers alike.     

Perspectives on trauma-informed care from mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment: A qualitative study

Women who experienced abuse or neglect as children are more likely to have health problems during pregnancy and postpartum, but can be reluctant to seek help due to a lack of trauma-informed services. As part of a larger mixed method study, this component aimed to obtain qualitative data from trauma-exposed new mothers about their health care preferences during the perinatal period with the ultimate goal to design personalized, supportive interventions. Fifty-two trauma-exposed mothers completed a semi-structured interview at seven months postpartum about health care preferences including ideas for programs that promote wellness, thoughts about the influences of being a new mother and possible names for a program serving trauma-exposed mothers. Interviews were transcribed and coded using N-Vivo. Participants described ambivalence about seeking help but also a sincere desire for healing, coupled with hope for the future. This tension was apparent in the discussions highlighting the importance of access to experienced, nonjudgmental, and knowledgeable health and social care staff and volunteers, the wish for both formal, integrated physical and mental health services, and for informal opportunities to meet other trauma-exposed mothers in a non-stigmatizing, child-friendly setting. Finally, positive relationship-building, respect, and safety were identified as key elements of services critical to counteract trauma-related shame and mistrust in others. Services for trauma-exposed mothers should acknowledge the normal ambivalence surrounding seeking help, but promote hope-affirming practices in a family-centered, safe, non-clinical setting that involves children, builds social support, and provides peer interaction. Program names should reflect optimism and healing rather than trauma.     

Protection from motorcycle neck–braces using FE modelling

In road and off-road motorcycle accidents, neck injury often has a catastrophic outcome if not fatal. To protect motorcyclists’ necks, a number of neck–braces are available on the market. The level of protection from these systems is not well reported because of the absence of an accepted neck-loading evaluation standard. The present study proposed a numerical evaluation for the neck–brace to protect the neck. Twenty-four impacts with and without the brace were simulated by changing impact angles and initial impact velocities. For each simulation, the vertical force, the extension moment, and the normalized neck injury criterion were calculated. Results showed that the risk of AIS 3?+?neck injury was reduced by the neck–brace on average by 39 and 13% at 5.5 and 6.5 m/s, respectively, when the normalized neck injury criterion was considered; however, for impact velocities, above 6.5 m/s, the neck–brace was not as efficient in reducing overall neck injury risk.     

Aerobic exercise training performed by parents reduces mice offspring adiposity

The present study aimed to determine the effects of physical training performed by parents on mice offspring adiposity. Male and female parents underwent an aerobic training protocol for 7 weeks. The trained and sedentary parents were allowed to mate and the resultant offspring divided in: S (Offspring from Sedentary Parents), T (Offspring from Trained Parents), ST (Offspring from Sedentary Father and Trained Mother) and TS (Offspring from Trained Father and Sedentary Mother). After weaning, offspring was euthanized, blood collected and samples of mesenteric and inguinal fat pads used to isolate adipocytes for morphologic and histological analyses. Lee index, mesenteric fat pad, sum of visceral fat and total fat weight of female T was reduced in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.05). Periepididymal and sum of visceral fat in male T group was also reduced when compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). The diameter of mesenteric and inguinal adipocytes of T group was smaller compared to all groups comparisons for both sexes (p < 0.05). In summary, exercise training performed by parents reduced visceral offspring adiposity, the diameter of subcutaneous adipocytes and improved metabolic parameters associated to metabolic syndrome.