Psycho-Education with Asylum Seekers and Survivors of Torture

This article examines psycho-educational programmes for asylum-seekers and tortured refugees at the Danish Red Cross Asylum Department and Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture victims respectively. The psycho-education programme is based on a cognitive theoretical framework. However, it is argued that the processes observed during the programmes and the changes in the participants’ lives may be conjointly understood within theoretical frameworks of narrative therapy, social constructionism, and community psychology, emphasizing professionals’ and participants’ co-construction of alternative stories and action possibilities, and the importance of the context and social network outside the intervention context.

Pedagogical possibilities for unruly bodies

Project Re?Vision uses disability arts to disrupt stereotypical understandings of disability and difference that create barriers to healthcare. In this paper, we examine how digital stories produced through Re?Vision disrupt biopedagogies by working as body-becoming pedagogies to create non-didactic possibilities for living in/with difference. We engage in meaning making about eight stories made by women and trans people living with disabilities and differences, with our interpretations guided by the following considerations: what these stories ‘teach’ about new ways of living with disability; how these stories resist neoliberalism through their production of new possibilities for living; how digital stories wrestle with representing disability in a culture in which disabled bodies are on display or hidden away; how vulnerability and receptivity become ‘conditions of possibility’ for the embodiments represented in digital stories; and how curatorial practice allows disability-identified artists to explore possibilities of ‘looking back’ at ableist gazes.     

Language-learning disabilities: Paradigms for the nineties

We are beginning a decade, during which many traditional paradigms in education, special education, and speech-language pathology will undergo change. Among paradigms considered promising for speech-language pathology in the schools are collaborative language intervention and strategy training for language and communication. This presentation introduces management models for developing a collaborative language intervention process, among them the Deming Management Method for Total Quality (TQ) (Deming 1986). Implementation models for language assessment and IEP planning and multicultural issues are also introduced (Damico and Nye 1990; Secord and Wiig in press). While attention to processes involved in developing and implementing collaborative language intervention is paramount, content should not be neglected. To this end, strategy training for language and communication is introduced as a viable paradigm. Macro- and micro-level process models for strategy training are featured and general issues are discussed (Ellis, Deshler, and Schumaker 1989; Swanson 1989; Wiig 1989). The Samuel Torrey and June Lyday Orton Memorial Lecture, delivered at the 41st Annual Conference of The Orton Dyslexia Society, Washington, DC., November 1, 1990.     

Collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations in Senegal: lessons learned

This study identifies lessons learned from a collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organisations in Senegal established in the context of an SRHR programme for young people. We assessed how helpline operators are equipped to address sexual health and rights issues with young people, what the relevant skills of operators are, and to what extent referral to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service providers took place. A documentary review, a vignette study and interviews with six key informants and all seven operators took place. The collaboration led to promising initiatives, such as the provision of SRH training, the exchange of staff, referral to SRH service providers. However, the counselling advice provided by operators was not always in line with the rights-based approach and responses were influenced by underlying norms concerning young people’s sexuality. Additionally, concerns about confidentiality were noted. The collaboration was an innovative attempt to respond to young people’s limited access to SRHR information and services but there is a need for more in-depth training of helpline operator’s skills and the development of a standardised rights-based counselling manual.     

Working while studying: the impact of term-time employment on dropout rates

There are many possible reasons why students leave university prior to degree completion, and one of the more commonly cited is being employed while studying. This paper analyses the impact of employment status on dropout rates using survival analysis. It finds that employment status does have an impact on dropout rates; students who work full time alongside studying full time are less likely to complete their programme than students working short part-time or not working at all. However, it seems as if there is a threshold to how much students can work, as working more than 20?h a week (long part-time work) increase the risk of dropout as much as full-time work. Integrating employment status into the analysis does not change the effect of variables known to have an influence on dropout, such as grades, gender and social background, but it contributes to further explain who are at risk of dropout. This implies that models for dropout and retention must also take such external factors into account, not just consider what happens at university, as in model of student departure.     

Student use of out-of-class study groups in an introductory undergraduate biology course

Self-formed out-of-class study groups may benefit student learning; however, few researchers have quantified the relationship between study group use and achievement or described changes in study group usage patterns over a semester. We related study group use to performance on content exams, explored patterns of study group use, and qualitatively described student perceptions of study groups. A pre- and posttest were used to measure student content knowledge. Internet-based surveys were used to collect quantitative data on exam performance and qualitative data on study group usage trends and student perceptions of study groups. No relationship was found between gains in content knowledge and study group use. Students who participated in study groups did, however, believe they were beneficial. Four patterns of study group use were identified: students either always (14%) or never (55%) used study groups, tried but quit using them (22%), or utilized study groups only late in the semester (9%). Thematic analysis revealed preconceptions and in-class experiences influence student decisions to utilize study groups. We conclude that students require guidance in the successful use of study groups. Instructors can help students maximize study group success by making students aware of potential group composition problems, helping students choose group members who are compatible, and providing students materials on which to focus their study efforts.     

Plasmaaustausch und Immunadsorption

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Look At That! Video Chat and Joint Visual Attention Development Among Babies and Toddlers

Although many relatives use video chat to keep in touch with toddlers, key features of adult–toddler interaction like joint visual attention (JVA) may be compromised in this context. In this study, 25 families with a child between 6 and 24 months were observed using video chat at home with geographically separated grandparents. We define two types of screen‐mediated JVA (across‐ and within‐screen) and report age‐related increases in the babies’ across‐screen JVA initiations, and that family JVA usage was positively related to babies’ overall attention during video calls. Babies today are immersed in a digital world where formative relationships are often mediated by a screen. Implications for both infant social development and developmental research are discussed.     

Engaging election contention: Understanding why presidents engage with contentious issues

In recent years, technology has made it possible, and in some ways critical, for college and university presidents to increase campus‐wide communication. Following the 2016 US presidential election, many college presidents across the country sent campus‐wide communications in response to the election, while others chose not to respond. The resulting reactions from campus and community stakeholders to these communications, or the lack of communication, from presidents was mixed due to the contentious nature of the election. In an effort to better understand a president’s decision to communicate, this study utilised coded interviews with 12 US flagship institution presidents or vice‐presidents for communication, providing insight into why presidents generally respond to contentious events and, more specifically, why presidents chose to respond to the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Four motivations that generally influenced presidential communications were identified (i.e., responsibility to campus stakeholders, pressure to respond, emphasise university values and the role of a public university), and subsequent sub‐themes were identified while analysing why presidents responded to the 2016 election specifically. This study concludes by offering implications for presidential communication and directions for future research on presidential engagement with contentious events.     

Formation of multilayered biopolymer microcapsules and microparticles in a multiphase microfluidic flow

This paper reports the development of a scalable continuous microfluidic-based method for the preparation of multilayered biopolymer microcapsules and microparticles, with a size range of 1 to 100 μm, in a single-layered polydimethylsiloxane-based device. This new approach has been utilised to produce polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based microparticles, layered with subsequent stage wise coatings of polylactide-based block copolymers and polyvinylpyrrolidone. The production process was shown to allow for on-chip encapsulation of protein and vitamin molecules in the biopolymer micro particles, without any further handling after collection from the device. We have studied the release profiles in the case of model molecules of distinctive molecular weights, namely, vitronectin, horse radish peroxidase, and vitamin B(12). We compared the release properties of the microparticles to those from macro-gels of the same materials prepared off-chip. The results indicated that the microparticles have definitively different molecular weight cut-off characteristics, likely due to a denser microstructure within the microparticles compared to the bulk hydrogels. This difference suggests that significant benefits may exist in the use of this method to produce layered biopolymer microparticles in achieving improved controlled release and encapsulation.