‘It’s good enough that our children are accepted’: Roma mothers’ views of children’s education post migration

The discrimination of Roma groups across Europe has been highlighted by several international organisations. For many, poverty, racism and their children’s systematic exclusion from education are ‘push’ factors when deciding to migrate. This study explores Roma mothers’ views of their children’s education post migration and their attitudes to education more broadly, by adopting an intersectional framework and examining issues of difference and belonging as experienced by Roma mothers and their children. While Roma mothers recognised the value of education for social mobility, they remained aware of the limited resources they could draw upon, in the absence of desirable economic and cultural capitals, and as a result of their ethnicity, social class, gender and ‘undesirable migrant’ status. There was a perceived hopelessness in relation to the chances that Roma children have to overcome their marginalisation through schooling, pointing to the need for dedicated policy interventions when working with Roma families.     

The student–teacher relationship quality in children with selective mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare anxiety disorder that compromises children's daily life during critical periods of early development. Because school is a prime context for the manifestation of the disorder, the aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the student–teacher relationship and its effects on behavior and work, and on social and relational skills. The sample consisted of 75 children—15 were affected by SM, with 60 in the control group—and 15 teachers. The results showed greater difficulty on the teacher's part to establish a relationship based on affective closeness with a child affected by SM, compared to that with unaffected children. Nevertheless, an encouraging picture emerges of the inclusion and integration of the child with SM among peers and therefore in the class group.     

Providing Undergraduates with Opportunities to Explicitly Reflect on How News Articles Promote the Public (Mis)understanding of Science

Science & Education - A well-informed populace is vitally important for the proper functioning of democracy. Media news articles constitute an essential means by which the public comes into...     

Tert-butyl amine borane complex: An unusual application of a reducing agent on model molecules of cellulose based materials

The need to preserve cultural heritage on paper requires the setting up of methods and treatments that can be applied to original documents. The cellulose main degradation processes are hydrolysis and oxidation. Only the first one has been widely investigated. The Istituto Centrale per la Patologia del Libro (ICPL) focused its attention on oxidation phenomena and studied a particular class of reducing agents, namely the borane-amine complexes. During the investigation it was found that the borane tert-butylamine complex, besides being the most promising reducing agent, was also able to react with carboxylic functions. In the present study ¹H and ¹³C NMR, Pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy as well as Raman spectroscopy were used as analytical tools to disclose the mechanism of the interaction between the borane tert-butylamine complex and the carboxylic functions. Given the complexity of the paper/environment interactions and the subsequent degradation phenomena, we worked on simplified models based on small carbohydrate molecules in order to reproduce the behavior of degraded paper after reductive restoration. Modified D-glucose and D-cellobiose were used in this first step in order to set up the analytical methods before approaching more complex systems such as microcrystalline cellulose and paper. Our results give the experimental evidence that borane tert-butylamine complex is also able to neutralize acidic functions. This finding has important perspectives in paper restoration.     

pH controlled staining of CD4+ and CD19+ cells within functionalized microfluidic channel

Herein proposed is a simple system to realize hands-free labeling and simultaneous detection of two human cell lines within a microfluidic device. This system was realized by novel covalent immobilization of pH-responsive poly(methacrylic acid) microgels onto the inner glass surface of an assembled polydimethylsiloxane/glass microfluidic channel. Afterwards, selected thiophene labeled monoclonal antibodies, specific for recognition of CD4 antigens on T helper/inducer cells and CD19 antigens on B lymphocytes cell lines, were encapsulated in their active state by the immobilized microgels. When the lymphocytes suspension, containing the two target subpopulations, was flowed through the microchannel, the physiological pH of the cellular suspension induced the release of the labeled antibodies from the microgels and thus the selective cellular staining. The selective pH-triggered staining of the CD4- and CD19-positive cells was investigated in this preliminary experimental study by laser scanning confocal microscopy. This approach represents an interesting and versatile tool to realize cellular staining in a defined module of lab-on-a-chip devices for subsequent detection and counting.     

Holistic or analytic rubrics? Grading information literacy instruction

Abstract

Studies about the assessment of information literacy instruction have reported the use of specific grading criteria, also known as rubrics, to evaluate students’ responses. Rubrics can be divided into two general categories: (1) holistic, where one score is assigned for evaluating the successful completion of a task; and (2) analytic, where a grade is subdivided into discrete components needed to complete the task and each component is given its own score for achievement. This article will investigate which scoring method—employing holistic versus analytic rubrics—is the most effective for evaluating students’ search strategies in terms of providing constructive feedback to students and informing the librarian’s future teaching practices.     

Chemical air filtration in archives and libraries reconsidered

The implementation of chemical filtration in air-conditioning systems in archive and library repositories has become standard practice for heritage institutions in many countries. This practice is codified in official standards with general reference to a substantial body of scientific publications on the effects of air pollutants on paper materials. In this paper we report the application of a well-established decision analysis approach elaborating an integral cost-benefit perspective to provide decision support to four European national heritage institutions confronted with dilemmas in connection to chemical air filtration. Available scientific evidence for air pollution induced damage of paper material is reviewed and weighed against financial and environmental costs of air pollution control. Exposure of paper to both indoor and outdoor generated air pollutants at typical concentration levels observed within storage areas is expected to cause minimal to no additional yellowing and embrittlement, while the costs of chemical air filtration are significant. From a cost-benefit perspective the use of chemical air filtration in typical library and archive repositories is therefore discouraged.     

Inhibition of exploratory behavior in the rat by handling

The effect of tail-handling on exploratory behavior of the rat, measured as step-through latency in a well-lighted, two-box apparatus, was investigated. Male adult Wistar rats, aged 60 days, were employed in all three experiments. Experiment 1, in which the subjects were handled at different times after entering the goal chamber (0, 10, 30, 60, 300, and 600 sec), showed that immediate handling, relative to detention in the goal chamber (delay of handling) had an inhibitory effect on exploration. Experiment 2 showed that groups handled immediately after entering the goal chamber but then detained there for different durations all showed the same progressive inhibition of exploration. Experiment 3 showed that the inhibition of exploration (very long step-through latencies) due to tail-handling immediately after entering the goal chamber could be significantly decreased by further trials in which handling was delayed for a sufficient duration (30 sec or more). Handling is discussed as a stimulus that is aversive enough to elicit conditioned passive-avoidance responses (inhibition of exploratory behavior), although it is subject to rapid extinction.     

From departure to arrival: Re-engaging students who have withdrawn from university

Despite institutional strategies to prevent student withdrawal, attrition remains a concern across higher education sectors in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. In the case of Australian universities, attrition rates have remained consistently high since 2002. Some level of attrition is inevitable, but universities can influence the circumstances and the consequences of departure. This article draws on two research projects conducted within an Australian institution. The studies confirm that withdrawing students: often leave for personal reasons; are typically young and from under-represented backgrounds; generally remain positive about higher education; and are relatively likely to return to the sector in future. Despite our findings, institutional strategies around the point of departure remain variable and, contrary to their stated intentions, departing students are rarely seen as future students by the institutions from which they withdraw. Preventive strategies need to be combined with broader institutional policies designed to re-engage and re-recruit the cohort of departed students.