Individual difference predictors of creativity in Art and Science students

Two studies are reported that used multiple measures of creativity to investigate creativity differences and correlates in arts and science students. The first study examined Divergent Thinking fluency, Self-Rated Creativity and Creative Achievement in matched groups of Art and Science students. Arts students scored higher than Science students on two of the three measures. Regression analysis indicated that the educational domain demographic variable was the most consistent predictor of all three measures of creativity. The second study compared natural science, social science and arts students on two performance and two preference measures of creativity, whilst controlling for the effects of general intelligence. Results indicated only Self-Rated Creativity displayed significant group differences, with the regression analysis suggesting a stronger role of personality variables. The differences between the groups and implications for the measurement of creativity are considered.     

Exploring factors that influence adoption of e‐learning within higher education

E‐learning is increasingly adopted in the workplace for supporting professional development and continuing education; however, in higher education, the use of e‐learning is predominantly used as a tool support teaching. As a relatively new priority for universities, this paper explores what influences its adoption. Challenges identified in the literature include organisational features of universities like faculty autonomy and dispersed academic perspectives. This study, carried out at the University of Warwick, adopted a phenomenological approach and explored participants' perceptions through a series of faculty‐based focus groups and individual interviews. Factors identified as influential to adoption of e‐learning included the institutional infrastructure, staff attitudes and skills, and perceived student expectations. Participants suggested the importance of an institutional strategy targeted at providing sufficient resources and guidance for effective implementation. This strategy needs to be supported by a varied programme of staff development and opportunities for sharing practice among colleagues. In further developing understanding in this area, it would be beneficial to replicate the study with other stakeholder groups (including the leadership team and students) to develop an institutional strategy responsive at all levels of implementation. It would also be valuable to investigate the extent to which these findings are replicated within other workplaces looking to adopt innovation.     

Legitimizing the Wound: Mapping the Military's Diagnostic Discourse of Traumatic Brain Injury

Following reports spanning from the beginning of the OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) and OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) conflicts to the early 2010s, this rhetorical investigation analyzes the U.S. military's diagnostic practices used to identify mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in blast-affected troops. Considering the notion of “wound/injury” as a possible boundary object, this paper discusses how the conceptual framing of “invisible” injuries may produce interruptions of distrust that inhibit effective diagnosis.     

Education for Social Transformation: Soviet University Education Aid in the Cold War Capitalist World-System

International education is seen as an effective form of soft power. This article reviews one of history’s largest and most ambitious attempts to achieve global influence through university education, and to reshape the world—the Soviet university aid program, 1956–91. Drawing on existing research and Soviet archival materials, we lay out and contextualize characteristic features of the Soviet education aid program. Specifically, we identify its focus on students from “developing” and newly independent countries, and its ambition to form graduates who would return home to become national leaders sympathetic to Soviet socialism. We conclude by approaching the program from a world-systems perspective. Here, we highlight the intended catch-up style modernization and national economic development for countries through their participation in the Soviet university aid program as well as the intended development of the human capital of participant countries. The complex impacts on participants throughout the world and their subsequent worldview are the subject of ongoing research by the authors.     

Conditions for mental health in education: Towards relational practice

There are concerns globally about the emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people and in this paper a critical orientation comprises both theoretical and empirical data sources. The case is made that (1) the medical model of mental health – that of problem identification, diagnosis and medical treatment at the level of the individual – is not appropriate for the vast majority of children and young people in schools and (2) relational approaches would be more sensitive in responding to the complexity of the ‘conditions’ in the schools, homes and communities in which young people live. Articulations of these conditions in the literature are explored while we also draw on empirical data from part of an evaluation of a school-based teacher-training programme in which interviewees and respondents mapped out their own conditions for emotional wellbeing and mental health. We conclude with proposals for relational approaches which (1) acknowledge the links between affect, cognition and school climate and culture, (2) foreground mental health and poverty as impacting on young people’s emotional wellbeing in their communities, families and schools and (3) attend to voice – providing spaces in which young people can develop their own ‘preferred narratives’ concerning emotional wellbeing and mental health.     

Beyond cultural and geographical proximity: delving into the factors that influence the dynamics of academic relationships between students in higher education

Higher Education - Scholars have widely recognised the importance of academic relationships between students at the university. While much of the past research has focused on studying their...     

Aspiring to include versus implicit ‘othering’: teachers' perceptions of inclusive education in Wales

Wales, one of the four nations of the UK, is currently undergoing major education system-level reform. From the curriculum, through to a new additional learning needs (ALN) system, there is a renewed focus on inclusive education. Research has shown the importance of teachers' attitudes towards inclusion in creating inclusive learning environments. This research study is based on data from a survey of teachers in Wales (n = 253) exploring their perceptions of inclusive education. Thematic analysis of open-text responses revealed that while teachers were able to articulate the ‘ideal’ of inclusion, these positive ideals were often caveated by both implicit othering of learners with ALN and by the explicit limitations of behaviour, training, and finance and resources. This article critically evaluates the implications of teacher perceptions of inclusive education in Wales, suggesting that without a change in teacher attitudes, the vision of an inclusive education system may be compromised.     

Robot carers,ethics, and older people

This paper offers an ethical framework for the development of robots as home companions that are intended to address the isolation and reduced physical functioning of frail older people with capacity, especially those living alone in a noninstitutional setting. Our ethical framework gives autonomy priority in a list of purposes served by assistive technology in general, and carebots in particular. It first introduces the notion of “presence” and draws a distinction between humanoid multi-function robots and non-humanoid robots to suggest that the former provide a more sophisticated presence than the latter. It then looks at the difference between lower-tech assistive technological support for older people and its benefits, and contrasts these with what robots can offer. This provides some context for the ethical assessment of robotic assistive technology. We then consider what might need to be added to presence to produce care from a companion robot that deals with older people’s reduced functioning and isolation. Finally, we outline and explain our ethical framework. We discuss how it combines sometimes conflicting values that the design of a carebot might incorporate, if informed by an analysis of the different roles that can be served by a companion robot.     

Exploring athletic identity in elite-level English youth football: a cross-sectional approach

Abstract

This study is the first empirical investigation that has explored levels of athletic identity in elite-level English professional football. The importance of understanding athletes’ psychological well-being within professional sport has been well documented. This is especially important within the professional football industry, given the high attrition rate (Anderson, G., & Miller, R. M. (2011). The academy system in English professional football: Business value or following the herd? University of Liverpool, Management School Research Paper Series. Retrieved from http://www.liv.ac.uk/managementschool/research/working%20papers/wp201143.pdf) and distinct occupational practices (Roderick, M. (2006). The work of professional football. A labour of love? London: Routledge). A total of 168 elite youth footballers from the English professional football leagues completed the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS). Multilevel modelling was used to examine the effect of playing level, living arrangements and year of apprentice on the total AIMS score and its subscales (i.e., social identity, exclusivity and negative affectivity). Football club explained 30% of the variance in exclusivity among players (P = .022). Mean social identity was significantly higher for those players in the first year of their apprenticeship compared to the second year (P = .025). All other effects were not statistically significant (P > .05). The novel and unique findings have practical implications in the design and implementation of career support strategies with respect to social identity. This may facilitate the maintenance of motivation over a 2-year apprenticeship and positively impact on performance levels within the professional football environment.