Identification of cellulose nitrate X-ray film for the purpose of conservation: Organic elemental analysis

Cellulose nitrate was widely used as a film base for photography, cinematography, and radiography in the first half of the twentieth century. Its stability is inherently poor and subject to environmental storage conditions. The risk of fire and the cross-infection effect on the cellulose acetate film stored at the same location necessitate that cellulose nitrate is identified within collections and stored separately. Not only medical archives, but also museums using radiography in their research may hold a sizeable amount of historical X-ray films. The Natural History Museum, London has been using film for X-radiography since before World War II. This suggests that some of the X-ray materials in its collections have a cellulose nitrate rather than ‘safety’ (cellulose acetate or polyester) film base. X-ray sheets rarely contain information related to their composition so science-based identification methods must be used. We propose the determination of nitrogen content in the film by organic elemental analysis (OEA) as a reliable method for the identification of films (X-ray, photographic, or cinematographic) with a cellulose nitrate base. Though it is a destructive method, the sample size required is small (<1?mg). This method does not require any sample preparation apart from weighing the samples and wrapping them in tin foil. OEA proved to be more accurate than the ‘float’ test in trichloroethylene and quicker and more straightforward to perform than infrared spectroscopy.     

Enhancing teachers’ counselling skills: student teachers’ views on a teachers’ education programme

The purpose of this small‐scale study is to investigate the outcomes of a brief teacher education programme by exploring student teachers’ views. The teacher education programme aimed to provide teachers with the opportunity to develop qualities and skills that facilitate communication and to enhance teachers’ competence to apply social and emotional (SEL) programmes’ intervention activities in the classroom. According to student teachers’ estimations, the teacher education programme provided them with new knowledge and experiences in communication and counselling, which they felt they could use in teaching practice. Besides, teachers reported that the programme enabled them to develop their self‐awareness and to adopt a non‐directive attitude during the implementation of SEL programme’s activities.     

Greek parents’ perceptions of male early childhood educators

The study reported here examined Greek parents’ perceptions of barriers to men entering the early childhood education and care profession and their recommendations for recruiting more males into the field. Parents were asked to respond on a Likert scale to statements regarding males’ decision to enter the profession, possible benefits for male early childhood educators, and perceived societal attitudes towards male early childhood educators. The findings indicate that the participating parents were in favour of recruiting more males into the early childhood education and care profession but at the same time they recognize the difficulties men encounter when choosing to become early childhood educators. Recommendations for future research designs are formulated.     

Designing a consequentially based study into the online support of pre-service teachers in the UK

This paper reports on the design of a pilot doctoral study into the online support of pre-service teachers. It highlights the significance of a consequential, rather than deontological, perspective in guiding the development of a study's design. The study initially aimed to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions and use of social media on their school placements by setting up groups on Facebook and Twitter. However, several problems occurred in relation to the recruitment of participants. It became increasingly clear that there was significance in the positionality of the researcher as an “outsider” to the research context and the potential role for gatekeepers in understanding remote research sites. An ethical framework was used to make a more comprehensive analysis of the issues at play, which helped identify ways of proceeding. A redesign of the study followed with a stronger rationale for the way consequential considerations can help address deontological concerns.     

Predicting different types of parental involvement in children’s homework: the role of parent motivational beliefs and parent affect

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study investigated motivational and affective processes behind qualitatively different parental involvement practices in children’s...     

Teaching ancient Greek history in Greek compulsory education: textual and ideological continuities and discontinuities

The reality of Greek education presents a dissension in relation to the global trends regarding the existence and use of a single textbook per school subject. This reality also influences the orientation of education research. Thus, the international trend to study how textbooks affect the uptake of knowledge by the student, which is followed by Greek researchers as well, starts from a different basis, given the free choice between numerous school textbooks. However, what even Greek teachers ignore nowadays is that the one-textbook policy has not been unique in the Greek education reality; since 1969/70 the politics of multiple textbooks was dominant, at least in primary school. This paper attempts to present the particular Greek education policy related to the publication of school history textbooks, and secondly embarks on diachronic, historical research of school history textbooks that have been used in primary and secondary education from 1952 to 2010 and their inherent ideological discourse, both its continuities and discontinuities which form the cornerstones of the modern Greek identity.     

SEN students' inclusion in Greece: factors influencing Greek teachers' stance

The present study, based on recent research in secondary education schools in Greece, aimed at recording Greek teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and determining the factors that enhance positive attitudes or negative ones. The findings of this research confirm that Greek teachers, despite obvious infrastructural and institutional hindrances, favour SEN students' inclusion, and this attitude is strengthened when specialised knowledge, further training and incentives for acquiring professional qualifications are provided to teachers.     

Greek male early childhood educators: self and societal perceptions towards their chosen profession

In choosing to become early years teachers, men are positioned in a context which is numerically dominated by women. Male early years teachers may feel they experience difficulties, being induced into a predominantly female culture. The present study intended to examine whether Greek male early childhood educators experience difficulties. More precisely it has a twofold aim: on the one hand to explore Greek male early childhood educators' perceptions of their chosen profession; on the other to explore how different social groups encountered the entry of those males into that profession. Concurrent with previous international research results, the present study suggests that there are males who love working with young children and are committed to early childhood education and thus, as in other countries, in Greece too male childcare workers experience difficulties and mistrust of their choice.     

网络信息寻求行为研究新进展——研究方法与研究关注点

网络以及相关技术的飞速发展,给用户提供了一个全新的网络化学习环境.在这个动态、形象、多样化的网络环境下,用户的信息寻求行为发生了重大变化.对网络用户信息寻求行为的研究,无论在研究方法还是在研究的关注点上,都存在很大差异.本文试图对用户网络信息寻求行为研究方法及研究领域做一个全面的综述,使致力于本领域的研究者以及相关领域的研究者,对本领域的研究方法以及主要的研究内容和方向有一个全面的认识,进而促进研究走向深入.     

Evaluating the Impact of Mediated Literature Searches at a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Research informationists at a comprehensive cancer center sought to evaluate the impact and value of mediated literature searches in support of their users’ work activities. An assessment tool was identified in the literature and modified by the investigators to solicit feedback from library users and identify the major reason(s) why scientists and health care professionals request literature searches, how they use the resulting information, and the impact that the results may or may not have on their research or patient care/decision-making activities. Survey results were qualitatively analyzed, and future avenues of outreach and promotion of mediated literature search services were identified.