Ordinary magic: developing services for children with severe communication difficulties by engaging multiple voices

‘Not so ordinary’, I am told; it is unusual for healthcare professionals to co-construct new practices by learning together with the people who use services. This paper describes action learning and research with NHS professionals and the parents of children with severe communication difficulties to develop a new practice framework for children with severe communication difficulties and a new model for service development which is inclusive and integrates evidence from multiple sources. A methodology is presented which draws together theory, empirical research and narrative to present my account of an inquiry that, in a way, spans the whole of my working life. The paper focuses on the three-year time frame of an NHS research fellowship, which was a period of collaboration and participation between myself, speech and language therapists and parents of children with communication difficulties in Liverpool. The purpose was to co-create a research design with parents and therapists who were shaping an emerging methodology whilst developing themselves in the process. This paper tells the story of the design and implementation of this methodology and the differences it has made to the participants and to children's services in Liverpool.     

Understandings of the higher education curriculum in Vietnam

The Vietnamese higher education context is characterised by state control, including the state's development of curriculum frameworks and materials. Institutional autonomy has been ratified by the government; however in practice, universities seem to have little control over curriculum. In order for universities to develop more ownership of curriculum, it is necessary to explore the foundational understandings of curriculum held by stakeholders. Thus, this paper explores the understandings of curriculum expressed by a group of senior staff, academics and students at a Vietnamese university. We found a diversity of understandings that tended to be product focused, teacher focused and textbook driven. We propose that our findings can be used as a starting point for developing more innovative and student-focused understandings of curriculum.     

Envisioning a meaningful future and academic engagement: The role of parenting practices and school‐based relationships

In contrast to the focus on short‐term, extrinsic goals in our society (e.g., wealth, prestige), positive youth development scholars have highlighted the need for parents and schools to help youths cultivate and plan for long‐term, intrinsic, and meaningful goals (i.e., envisioning a meaningful future), arguing that envisioning a meaningful future is potentially inspiring and associated with better outcomes for youths. Envisioning a meaningful future includes being future‐oriented and planful and having a sense of purpose, a life focus that provides deep meaning to life and contributes to the good of society. This study used structural equation modeling to examine the direct and indirect effects of parental and school relationships on envisioning a meaningful future and academic engagement in a diverse sample of adolescents (n = 624). Parental and school‐based relationships were positively associated with academic engagement, and this association was partially mediated by envisioning a meaningful future. Analyses revealed the importance of parental and school relationships in engaging youths in developing a vision for a meaningful future toward the goal of academic engagement. Variations between African‐Americans and Whites, and across grade and parental education levels are discussed.     

潜意识,你未知的自己

潜意识,自心理学家西格蒙德·弗洛伊德1在其《精神分析学》(An Outline of Psycho-Analysis)理论中首先提出后,这股潜藏在我们一般意识底下的神秘力量开始得到广泛的关注和探究,如今已成为开发自己能量的一种重要方式.你可曾留意过自己的潜意识?你可知道,你可能会发现一个意想不到的强大的自己?     

Assessing attitude towards religion: the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith. The scale properties of this new instrument, established among a sample of 284 (200 female and 84 male) 16–18-year-old students, commend it for use in future research.     

The psychology of elite cycling: a systematic review

This systematic review sought to synthesise what is currently known about the psychology of elite cycling. Nine electronic databases were searched in March 2017 for studies reporting an empirical test of any psychological construct in an elite cycling sample. Fourteen studies (total n = 427) met inclusion criteria. Eight studies were coded as having high risk of bias. Themes extracted included mood, anxiety, self-confidence, pain, and cognitive function. Few studies had similar objectives meaning that in many instances findings could not be synthesised in a meaningful way. Nevertheless, there was some cross-study evidence that elite cyclists have more positive mood states (relative to normative scores), pre-race anxiety impairs performance (among male cyclists), and associative strategies are perceived as helpful for pain management. Among single studies coded as having low risk of bias, evidence suggests that implicit beliefs affect decision making performance, elite cyclists are less susceptible to mental fatigue (than non-elite cyclists), and better leadership skills relates to greater social labouring. Limitations include non-standardisation of measures, lack of follow-up data, small sample sizes, and overall poor research quality. The findings of this systematic review might be used to inform research and theory development on the psychology of elite endurance cycling.     

Early Experiences Matter: A Relationships-Based Curriculum for the Birth-to-Three Age Group

The paper discusses some research findings in Singapore that investigated if a relationships-based curriculum extended the active involvement of the infants, toddlers, and young children (up to the age of three) in their learning. Using a relationships-based curriculum, a study conducted over a year involved the use of a well-tested, traditional before-and-after methodology to find out if any change had occurred in the phenomenon under study between two points in time. A sample of 58 infants, toddlers and young children (up to the age of three) in an experimental cohort and 59 of comparable ages in a control cohort, were measured using the Laevers’ Active Involvement scale before and after a curriculum intervention. The results showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the active involvement of the children in the experimental cohort as compared to no improvement in the control cohort. It is proposed that the relationships-based approach has the potential to raise the quality of curriculum and could be considered for application in child care centres in other countries.     

Undermining anarchy: Facebook's influence on anarchist principles of organization in Occupy Wall Street

Drawing on concepts rooted in cybernetics and anarchist political theory, this article argues that the shift in Occupy Wall Street from being a physical protest camp in late 2011 to an online movement in 2012 coincided with a shift in social media activity. Analysis of Facebook activity suggests a move from functional to anatomical hierarchy and a corresponding move from many-to-many communication to one-to-many communication. In conclusion, we argue that this development served to undermine the movement's anarchist principles of organization.     

Report on the work of the Bartol Research Foundation, 1933–1934

Using the velocity analyzer of Zartman with improved technique the combined velocity spectrum of Bi atoms and Bi₂ molecules was obtained at 827°, 851°, 875°, 899°, 922°, 947° C. From the spectral distribution curves the relative abundance of Bi atoms and Bi₂ molecules in the beams at the above temperatures could be determined to 1 per cent. The vapor pressure curve of Bi was obtained experimentally by the method of effusion and the values so obtained were combined with the degree of dissociation of the vapor as computed from the beams to give the heat of dissociation. The heat of dissociation was computed from the data, assuming the pressure to be given by the temperature of the crucible T_c. In calculating the heat of dissociation, the equilibrium temperature was taken as that of the slit chamber T_s which was 24° above T_c. The results of these calculations plotted with log₁₀K_p as ordinates against $\text{1}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{s}}$ give a straight line whose slope yields the value of the heat of dissociation as 77,100±1200 calories. The curves for the distribution of velocities observed and computed on the assumption of a given ratio of Bi atoms to Bi₂ molecules in the beam were compared in an attempt to test the law of distribution of velocities. On the high velocity side agreement in two curves was obtained within the limits of experimental accuracy. On the low velocity side important deviations were noted of such a sort that the observed curves below a velocity $\text{α}\text{2}$, (α is the most probable velocity) gave more molecules than the theory demanded. Other deviations were observed on some of the runs taken with a fourth slit in which a deficiency of molecules was observed between velocities of .75α and $\text{α}\text{2}$. This deviation was probably due to a warping of the fourth slit carriage due to heat. The nature of the variation at velocities less than $\text{α}\text{2}$ indicated the presence of molecules of greater mass than Bi₂ in the beam and at the lower temperatures a distinct peak corresponding to Bi₈ molecules was observed which were present to less than 2 per cent. The vapor pressure curve for Bi was determined by least square reduction of the observed points to be given by $\text{log}{}_{10}\text{P = ? 52.23 ×}\text{195.26}\text{T}\text{+ 8.56}$ between 1100° and 1220° abs. It lies very close to the extrapolated curve given in the International Critical Tables.