Participatory research in support of quality public education in New Orleans

In 2007, two years after Hurricane Katrina, several education and child advocacy groups began discussing the depleted conditions of the New Orleans public school district. These groups came together to discuss how to create a sustainable education reform movement post Katrina. New Orleans-based community groups and outside university researchers joined together to implement a multi-year participatory action research project to engage historically marginalized, black communities in a dialog about quality public education. We found that, in order to create a collective vision for what quality public education looks like for black children, the New Orleans community needs to resolve perceived challenges with inequitable access to quality public schools, with who has a say in governing these schools, with inconsistent quality of teachers, with inequitable distribution of resources, and with strategies for serving challenging students. The results of this pilot participatory action research project led to a sustained community engagement campaign addressing these issues.     

Women,Access and Progression: An examination of women's reasons for not continuing in higher education following the completion of the Certificate in Women's Studies

This study is an exploration of the reasons why women who had successfully completed an access course did not progress on to higher education. Following a review of the relevant literature on women as returners to education a number of main themes are identified and discussed. The study is based on in-depth interviews with women who did not continue on to higher education following the successful completion of the Certificate in Women's Studies at the University of Ulster. This research highlights the difficulties faced by women who want to continue with their studies. From the interviews three main obstacles to progressing further with higher education emerged; caring responsibilities, financial constraints and lack of career advice. It is argued that women as mature students face particular difficulties due to their role and position in society. Also the women themselves have been conditioned into putting their own needs after the needs of their families, and their personal development is often not afforded a high priority. Finally it is suggested that government's commitment to widening access to higher education is simply rhetoric if it does not take account of the broader inequalities faced by women. Policies to improve access appear to be somewhat at odds with the removal of the financial support necessary for study at higher education.     

Teaching gender studies via open and distance learning in South Africa

The University of South Africa (UNISA) has recently redesigned its honors degree in Gender Studies. The course design team members have been mindful of three key factors while redesigning this degree. First, we are aligning our course design with the demands of open and distance learning (ODL) and UNISA’s institutional move to online delivery of all teaching materials. Second, we are guided by the theoretical principles of feminist pedagogy. Third, we are committed to producing graduates who can take on the challenge of being gender change agents in a country with an escalating rate of gender-based violence. This article charts the development of the Gender Studies curricular initiative at UNISA with reference to the pedagogical insights provided by feminist scholarship on teaching, learning, and technology. We hope that our experience will provide insight into the parameters and process of creating an effective program in Gender Studies within an ODL context.     

Early indicators of pathological dissociation in sexually abused children.

Although reported cases of adult multiple personality disorder (MPD) are increasing, confirmation of MPD and related dissociative disorders in children remains rare. Since MPD can cause severe impairment and psychological distress, and is thought to originate in childhood, early recognition of pathological dissociation and predictors of MPD is critical. Sexual abuse in childhood has similarly been under-reported until recently, and is highly associated with the development of dissociative disorders. This paper reviews factors in the professional neglect of these syndromes as well as recent diagnostic developments in childhood dissociative disorders. The identification of subtle dissociative symptomatology in children is illustrated and two case examples are presented.     

An analysis of the rollover backstroke turn by age-group swimmers

Kinetic (3-D force plate), kinematic (videography) and temporal characteristics of backstroke turns by 20 male and 16 female swimmers were recorded to identify and describe key elements of backstroke turning performance. Data were recorded during a 50 m maximum effort swim in a 25 metre pool. A Pearson product moment correlation matrix revealed that the 5 m RTT was significantly correlated with anthropometric measures of height, mass, trochanteric height and age; kinetic measures of horizontal impulse and peak force; and kinematic measures of wall contact time and peak velocity. The stepwise multiple regression equation to predict 5 m RTT was: 19.6-0.75 trochanteric height-1.8 wall exit velocity-0.03 peak vertical force. Four key factors were identified from a principle components factor analysis--anthropometry and force, post-turn velocity, force preparation and rotational skills. Implications from the findings were that age-group backstrokers should 'hit the wall hard' with relatively extended legs to reduce swim distance and push-off deceleration; use minimal wall contact time, and maximise forces to develop high horizontal velocities in a streamlined position.     

I Give Civil Rights Four Stars

Three recent Hollywood films, The Help (2011), Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) and Selma (2014), drew attention for depicting the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. While Hollywood has been scrutinized for its role in racial discourse, less attention has been paid to how film critics discuss race in their reviews. This paper examines the critical response to these films, with an emphasis on the reviewers’ reliance on memory and history in forming their opinions. A textual analysis found that critics were reverential toward the movement and the black experience but still distrustful of the Hollywood system doing a credible job in explaining or understanding the events. The reviewers shaped and shared a memory of nightmarish race relations and prescribed corrections for both Hollywood and America. These reviews illustrate that film critics see themselves as arbiters not only of taste but also of history.     

Comparison of learning in two context-based university chemistry classes

ABSTRACT

Context-based learning (CBL) is advocated as beneficial to learners, but more needs to be understood about how different contexts used in courses influence student outcomes. Gilbert defined several models of context that appear to be used in chemistry. In one model that achieves many criteria of student meaning-making, the context is provided by ‘personal mental activity’, meaning that students engage in a role to solve a problem. The model’s predicted outcomes are that students develop and use the specialised language of chemistry, translate what they learn in the immediate context to other contexts, and empathise with the community of practice that is created. The first two of these outcomes were investigated in two large-enrolment university chemistry courses, both organised as this CBL model, in which students were introduced to kinetic molecular theory (KMT). Sample 1 students (N₁?=?105) learned KMT through whole-class kinaesthetic activity as a human model of a gas while focusing on a problem identifying substances in balloons filled with different gases. Sample 2 students (N₂?=?110) manipulated molecular dynamics simulations while focusing on the problem of reducing atmospheric CO₂. Exam answers and pre-/post-test responses, involving a new KMT context, were analysed. Students in Sample 1 demonstrated a stronger understanding of particle trajectories, while Sample 2 students developed more sophisticated mechanistic reasoning and greater fluidity of translation between contexts through increased use of chemists’ specialised language. The relationships of these outcomes to the contexts were examined in consideration of the different curriculum emphases inherent in the contexts.     

For sale — Scotland's most famous mountain range: Land 'ownership' in Scotland

The nature of land ownership is infrequently discussed by practitioners of outdoor education, though it is often central to the way they work. The recent controversy over the proposed sale of the Cuillin mountain range on the Isle of Skye in Scotland provoked heated discussion over rights to and benefits of this important place. The main point at issue was the role of the Cuillins as property, whether as that of one man or of society as a whole. This point raised questions about who should benefit, and how, from various kinds of ownership of land. It alerted interested citizens to the flexible and changing nature of relationships to land and hence to land use.

This paper explores the origins of some of the confused and confusing ideas about property ownership. It uses this explanation to analyse voices from the media debate about the Cuillins as property, in order to understand the wide-ranging cultural assumptions used by different interest groups in responding publicly to the issue. The discussion that follows highlights for outdoor educators how understanding of long-standing traditions in the use of both public and private land is politically important for their practice. It suggests the importance of their having a pro-active role in public debate about the nature of land ownership and its relationship to land use.