They came with a purpose: educational journeys of nineteenth-century Irish Dominican Sister Teachers

Irish Catholic teaching sisters were major actors in the development of education systems in New World countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Immigrants themselves, they faced a number of key challenges as they sought to adapt Old World cultural and educational ideas to the education of the immigrant Irish in a new cultural, religious and educational context. A close examination of the wide range of sources available in private archives and elsewhere offers unique insights into the challenges facing 10 Irish Dominican Sister Teachers as they journeyed from Ireland to Dunedin to found primary and secondary schools in the young colony of New Zealand. This article examines their responses to their early experiences and the part they played in the development of a viable Catholic education system in nineteenth-century New Zealand.     

The Women's Educational Equity Act Resources for Ongoing Efforts

This article discusses how an experimental social science curriculum has influenced Latina/o students' perspectives of their potential to graduate high school and attend college. The curriculum, which is called the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP), requires students to adopt a serious academic subjectivity to analyze and address social conditions that may undermine their future opportunities. The curriculum reflects graduate-level seminars in critical theory and participatory action research. Many students in the first cohort to participate in the program were labeled “at risk” of dropping out. These students not only graduated but also excelled with the advanced-level course work. Their exposure to advanced-level work was the best measure for preventing their premature departure from high school as well as preparation for college. The article concludes with recommendations for how universities can work with local schools to foster the type of academic climate that is conducive to success.     

Images of the future for education? Videoconferencing: a literature review

In the past two decades, as new capabilities for video communication have emerged, their use in educational contexts has steadily increased. Initially located in higher education, the use of videoconferencing for a broad range of learning purposes is now established in many schools. Although a considerable body of literature exists that describes the experience of videoconferencing using traditional pedagogies, much less has been published on the contextual factors that lead to effective learning outcomes and innovative uses of videoconferencing. The purpose of this review is to establish a baseline for researchers interested in the area. In focusing on educational uses in both higher education and mainstream schooling, the review examines the affordances and barriers to effective teaching and learning, with what are increasingly robust and easy‐to‐use technologies. The paper concludes with a call for further research into the more innovative possibilities of videoconferencing.     

The how and why of academic collaboration: disciplinary differences and policy implications

This paper examines how and why academics in different parts of the academy collaborate. In this paper we argue that: (1) There is a useful analytical distinction to be made between collaboration (fluid and expressive) and Collaboration (concrete and instrumental); (2) These two are not mutually exclusive and their use varies between disciplines; and (3) This distinction is an informative one for policy making that aims to encourage collaboration. Two interview based studies were used to explore the differences in collaborative practices across disciplines. The first was small and confined to a single university (n = 36) and the second was a larger study conducted in three countries (n = 274). Cross tabulations and analysis of open ended questions demonstrated many differences across the humanities, sciences and social sciences in collaboration. The C/collaboration distinction proves useful in understanding different disciplinary approaches to research, and in pointing to implications for research policy and funding. Attempts to increase collaborative research through Collaboration only, may well have deleterious effects on both collaboration and Collaboration. Research policy and funding should bear these differences in mind when seeking to stimulate collaborative research, so as to gain better outcomes across a range of disciplines.     

Human perceptions of artificial surfaces for field hockey

Measuring the performance of a sports surface is typically derived from a series of field and laboratory tests that assess the playing properties under simulated game conditions. However, from a player’s perspective their own comfort and confidence in the surface and its playing characteristics are equally if not more important. To date no comparative study to measure playing preference tests has been made. The aim of this research was to develop a suitable method for eliciting player perceptions of field hockey pitches and determine the key themes that players consider when assessing field hockey pitches. To elicit meaningful unbiased human perceptions of a playing surface, an individual subjective analysis was carried out, using interviews and inductive analysis of the recorded player statements. A qualitative analysis of elite hockey players (n = 22) was performed to obtain their perceptions immediately after a competitive match. The significant surface characteristics that emerged as part of an inductive analysis of their responses were grouped together and formed five general themes or dimensions: player performance, playing environment, pitch properties, ball interaction and player interaction. Each dimension was formed from a hierarchy of sub-themes. During the analysis, relationships between the dimensions were identified and a structured relationship model was produced to highlight each relationship. Players’ responses suggested that they perceived differences between pitches and that the majority of players considered a ‘hard’ pitch with a ‘low’ ball bounce facilitating a ‘fast’ game speed was desirable. However, further research is required to understand the relative importance of each theme and to develop appropriate measurement strategies to quantify the relevant engineering properties of pitch materials.     

Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries,risk factors and preventive possibilities

Our knowledge of sports-related injuries in para-sport is limited and there are no data on how Paralympic athletes themselves perceive an injury. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries, risk factors and preventive possibilities. Eighteen Swedish Paralympic athletes with vision impairment, intellectual impairment, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele, dysplasia and neuromuscular disorder, representing 10 different para-sports, were interviewed. The qualitative phenomenographic method was used to interpret the data. The analysis revealed nine categories of perceptions of experiences. The athletes perceived that their impairments were involved in the cause and consequential chains associated with a sports-related injury. Other categories that denoted and described these injuries were: sport overuse, risk behaviour, functional limitations, psychological stressors, the normalised pain, health hazards, individual possibilities to prevent sports-related injuries and unequal prerequisites. This qualitative study revealed that Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries are complex and multifactorial, and in several ways differ from able-bodied athletes. This needs to be considered in the sports health and safety work within the Paralympic Movement as well as in the design of future injury surveillance systems and preventive programmes.     

Welcome to America? International student perceptions of discrimination

This research explores the experiences of international students at a research university in the U.S. Southwest. Based on interviews of a sample of 24 students from 15 countries, we consider a range of difficulties they encounter which runs from perceptions of unfairness and inhospitality to cultural intolerance and confrontation. Utilizing the conceptual framework of neo-racism to explain many of their experiences, we organize our analysis and discussion around their words and the contexts in which the difficulties they encounter emerge. We find that not all of the issues international students face can be problematized as matters of adjustment, as much research does, but that some of the more serious challenges are due to inadequacies within the host society.