Generalised self-efficacy in relation to the life transitions of adult learners in a university setting : towards a narrative constructivist model of self-regulation

This paper demonstrates a model of self-regulation based on a qualitative research project with adult learners undertaking an undergraduate degree. The narrative about the participant’s life transitions, co-constructed with the researcher, yielded data about their generalised self-efficacy and resulted in a unique self-efficacy narrative for each participant. A model of self-regulation is proposed with potential applications for coaching, counselling and psychotherapy. A narrative method was employed to construct narratives about an individual’s self-efficacy in relation to their experience of learning and life transitions. The method involved a cyclical and iterative process using qualitative interviews to collect life history data from participants. In addition, research participants completed reflective homework tasks, and this data was included in the participant’s narratives. A highly collaborative method entailed narratives being co-constructed by researcher and research participants as the participants were guided in reflecting on their experience in relation to learning and life transitions; the reflection focused on behaviour, cognitions and emotions that constitute a sense of self-efficacy. The analytic process used was narrative analysis, in which life is viewed as constructed and experienced through the telling and retelling of stories and hence the analysis is the creation of a coherent and resonant story. The method of constructing self-efficacy narratives was applied to a sample of mature aged students starting an undergraduate degree. The research outcomes confirmed a three-factor model of self-efficacy, comprising three interrelated stages: initiating action, applying effort, and persistence in overcoming difficulties. Evaluation of the research process by participants suggested that they had gained an enhanced understanding of self-efficacy from their participation in the research process, and would be able to apply this understanding to their studies and other endeavours in the future. A model of self-regulation is proposed as a means for coaches, counsellors and psychotherapists working from a narrative constructivist perspective to assist clients facing life transitions by helping them generate selfefficacious cognitions, emotions and behaviour.

Network structure, knowledge governance, and firm performance : evidence from innovation networks and SMEs in the UK

It is increasingly understood that learning and thus innovation often occurs via highly interactive, iterative, network-based processes. Simultaneously, economic development policy is increasingly focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a means of generating growth, creating a clear research issue in terms of the roles and interactions of government policy, universities, and other sources of knowledge, SMEs, and the creation and dissemination of innovation. This paper analyses the contribution of a range of actors in an SME innovation creation and dissemination framework, reviewing the role of various institutions therein, exploring the contribution of cross-locality networks, and identifying the mechanisms required to operationalise such a framework. Bivariate and multivariate (regression) techniques are employed to investigate both innovation and growth outcomes in relation to these structures; data are derived from the survey responses of over 450 SMEs in the UK. Results are complex and dependent upon the nature of institutions involved, the type of knowledge sought, and the spatial level of the linkages in place but overall highlight the value of cross-locality networks, network governance structures, and certain spillover effects from universities. In general, we find less support for the factors predicting SME growth outcomes than is the case for innovation. Finally, we outline an agenda for further research in the area.

Optimism about safety and group-serving interpretations of safety among pedestrians and cyclists in relation to road use in general and under low light conditions

Drivers are known to be optimistic about their risk of crash involvement, believing that they are less likely to be involved in a crash than other drivers. However, little comparative research has been conducted among other road users. In addition, optimism about crash risk is conceptualised as applying only to an individual’s assessment of his or her personal risk of crash involvement. The possibility that the self-serving nature of optimism about safety might be generalised to the group-level as a cyclist or a pedestrian, i.e., becoming group-serving rather than self-serving, has been overlooked in relation to road safety. This study analysed a subset of data collected as part of a larger research project on the visibility of pedestrians, cyclists and road workers, focusing on a set of questionnaire items administered to 406 pedestrians, 838 cyclists and 622 drivers. The items related to safety in various scenarios involving drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, allowing predictions to be derived about group differences in agreement with items based on the assumption that the results would exhibit group-serving bias. Analysis of the responses indicated that specific hypotheses about group-serving interpretations of safety and responsibility were supported in 22 of the 26 comparisons. When the nine comparisons relevant to low lighting conditions were considered separately, seven were found to be supported. The findings of the research have implications for public education and for the likely acceptance of messages which are inconsistent with current assumptions and expectations of pedestrians and cyclists. They also suggest that research into group-serving interpretations of safety, even for temporary roles rather than enduring groups, could be fruitful. Further, there is an implication that gains in safety can be made by better educating road users about the limitations of their visibility and the ramifications of this for their own road safety, particularly in low light.

The use of ZIP and CART to model cryptosporidiosis in relation to climatic variables

This research assesses the potential impact of weekly weather variability on the incidence of cryptosporidiosis disease using time series zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and classification and regression tree (CART) models. Data on weather variables, notified cryptosporidiosis cases and population size in Brisbane were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Department of Health, and Australian Bureau of Statistics, respectively. Both time series ZIP and CART models show a clear association between weather variables (maximum temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and wind speed) and cryptosporidiosis disease. The time series CART models indicated that, when weekly maximum temperature exceeded 31°C and relative humidity was less than 63%, the relative risk of cryptosporidiosis rose by 13.64 (expected morbidity: 39.4; 95% confidence interval: 30.9–47.9). These findings may have applications as a decision support tool in planning disease control and risk management programs for cryptosporidiosis disease.

Tips for generating a media release and media coverage : how the media ate up my research on Aussie horror movies

The focus of this paper is preparing research for dissemination by mainstream print, broadcast, and online media. While the rise of the blogosphere and social media is proving an effective way of reaching niche audiences, my own research reached such an audience through traditional media. The first major study of Australian horror cinema, my PhD thesis A Dark New World: Anatomy of Australian Horror Films, generated strong interest from horror movie fans, film scholars, and filmmakers. I worked closely with the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) public relations unit to write two separate media releases circulated on October 13, 2008 and October 14, 2009. This chapter reflects upon the process of working with the media and provides tips for reaching audiences, particularly in terms of strategically planning outcomes. It delves into the background of my study which would later influence my approach to the media, the process of drafting media releases, and key outcomes and benefits from popularising research. A key lesson from this experience is that redeveloping research for the media requires a sharp writing style, letting go of academic justification, catchy quotes, and an ability to distil complex details into easy-to-understand concepts. Although my study received strong media coverage, and I have since become a media commentator, my experiences also revealed a number of pitfalls that are likely to arise for other researchers keen on targeting media coverage.

Attachment in relation to affect regulation and interpersonal functioning among substance use disorder inpatients

Attachment theory has been conceptualised as an affect regulation theory, proposing that attachment is associated with the expression and recognition of emotions as well as interpersonal functioning. Previous research has reported affect regulation difficulties in substance use disorders and addiction has been considered an attachment disorder. However, scarce empirical research exists on the relationship of attachment in relation to affect regulation and interpersonal functioning in those with substance use problems. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate potential associations between attachment, negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, fear of intimacy and self-differentiation in substance abusers. The revised adult attachment scale (RAAS), the NMR expectancies scale, the fear of intimacy scale and the differentiation of self inventory were administered to a sample of 100 substance use disorder inpatients. Attachment accounted for significant variance in NMR expectancies and was also a strong predictor of fear of intimacy. The predictive utility of attachment also extended to self-differentiation, suggesting that attachment was strongly related to overall self-differentiation score, Emotional reactivity, Emotional cut-off and I position. These findings support attachment theory suggesting that attachment is associated with and predicts affect regulation abilities and difficulties in interpersonal functioning in a sample of substance use disorder inpatients. The inclusion and assessment of attachment appears to be important in the development of treatment programmes for substance abusing individuals.

Re-generating the praxis of academic staff development

Effective academic workforce staff development remains a challenge in higher education. This thesis-by-publication examined the importance of alternative paradigms for academic staff development, focusing specifically on arts-based learning as a non-traditional approach to transformative learning for management and self-development within the business of higher education. The research question asked was whether or not the facilitation of staff development through the practice of arts-based transformational learning supported academic aims in higher education, based on data obtained with the participants of the academic staff development program at one Australian university over a three year period. Over that three year period, eighty academics participated in one large metropolitan Australian university’s arts-based academic development program. The research approach required analysis of the transcribed one-on-one hermeneutic-based conversations with fifteen self-selected academics, five from each year, and with a focus group of twenty other self-selected academics from all three years. The study’s findings provided evidence that supported the need for academic staff development that prepared academics to be engaged and creative and therefore more likely to be responsive to emerging issues and to be innovative in the presence of constraints, including organisational constraints. The qualitative participative conversation transcription data found that arts-based lifelong learning processes provided participant perception of enhanced capabilities for self-creation and clarity of transformational action in academic career management. The study presented a new and innovative Artful Learning Wave Trajectory learning model to engender academic professional artistry. The findings provided developers with support for using a non-traditional strategy of transformational learning.

The ‘good’ parent in relation to early childhood literacy : symbolic terrain and lived practice

In this paper we consider the place of early childhood literacy in the discursive construction of the identity( ies) of ‘proper’ parents. Our analysis crosses between representations of parenting in texts produced by commercial and government/public institutional interests and the self-representations of individual parents in interviews with the researchers. The argument is made that there are commonalities and disjunctures in represented and lived parenting identities as they relate to early literacy. In commercial texts that advertise educational and other products, parents are largely absent from representations and the parent’s position is one of consumer on behalf of the child. In government-sanctioned texts, parents are very much present and are positioned as both learners about and important facilitators of early learning when they ‘interact’ with their children around language and books. The problem for which both, in their different ways, offer a solution is the ‘‘not-yet-ready’’ child precipitated into the evaluative environment of school without the initial competence seen as necessary to avoid falling behind right from the start. Both kinds of producers promise a smooth induction of children into mainstream literacy and learning practices if the ‘good parent’ plays her/his part. Finally, we use two parent cases to illustrate how parents’ lived practice involves multiple discursive practices and identities as they manage young children’s literacy and learning in family contexts in which they also need to negotiate relations with their partners and with paid and domestic work.

CYR61 (CCN1) protein expression during fracture healing in an ovine tibial model and its relation to the mechanical fixation stability

The formation of new blood vessels is a prerequisite for bone healing. CYR61 (CCN1), an extracellular matrix-associated signaling protein, is a potent stimulator of angiogenesis and mesenchymal stem cell expansion and differentiation. A recent study showed that CYR61 is expressed during fracture healing and suggested that CYR61 plays a significant role in cartilage and bone formation. The hypothesis of the present study was that decreased fixation stability, which leads to a delay in healing, would lead to reduced CYR61 protein expression in fracture callus. The aim of the study was to quantitatively analyze CYR61 protein expression, vascularization, and tissue differentiation in the osteotomy gap and relate to the mechanical fixation stability during the course of healing. A mid-shaft osteotomy of the tibia was performed in two groups of sheep and stabilized with either a rigid or semirigid external fixator, each allowing different amounts of interfragmentary movement. The sheep were sacrificed at 2, 3, 6, and 9 weeks postoperatively. The tibiae were tested biomechanically and histological sections from the callus were analyzed immunohistochemically with regard to CYR61 protein expression and vascularization. Expression of CYR61 protein was upregulated at the early phase of fracture healing (2 weeks), decreasing over the healing time. Decreased fixation stability was associated with a reduced upregulation of the CYR61 protein expression and a reduced vascularization at 2 weeks leading to a slower healing. The maximum cartilage callus fraction in both groups was reached at 3 weeks. However, the semirigid fixator group showed a significantly lower CYR61 immunoreactivity in cartilage than the rigid fixator group at this time point. The fraction of cartilage in the semirigid fixator group was not replaced by bone as quickly as in the rigid fixator group leading to an inferior histological and mechanical callus quality at 6 weeks and therefore to a slower healing. The results supply further evidence that CYR61 may serve as an important regulator of bone healing.

The Brisbane Cordon scheme : part A - preliminary investigation

It could be said that road congestion is one of the most significant problems within any modern metropolitan area. For several decades now, around the globe, congestion in metropolitan areas has been worsening for two main reasons. Firstly, road congestion has significantly increased due to a higher demand for road space because of growth in populations, economic activity and incomes (Hensher & Puckett, 2007). This factor, in conjunction with a significant lack of investment in new road and public transport infrastructure, has seen the road network capacities of cities exceeded by traffic volumes and thus, resulted in increased traffic congestion. This relentless increase in road traffic congestion has resulted in a dramatic increase in costs for both the road users and ultimately the metropolitan areas concerned (Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, 2007). In response to this issue, several major cities around the world, including London, Stockholm and Singapore, have implemented congestion-charging schemes in order to combat the effects of road congestion. A congestion-charging scheme provides a mechanism for regulating traffic flows into the congested areas of a city, whilst simultaneously generating public revenue that can be used to improve both the public transport and road networks of the region. The aim of this paper was to assess the concept of congestion-charging, whilst reflecting on the experiences of various cities that have already implemented such systems. The findings from this paper have been used to inform the design of a congestion-charging scheme for the city of Brisbane in Australia in a supplementary study (Whitehead, Bunker, & Chung, 2011). The first section of this paper examines the background to road congestion; the theory behind different congestion-charging schemes; and the various technologies involved with the concept. The second section of this paper details the experiences, in relation to implementing a congestion-charging scheme, from the city of Stockholm in Sweden. This research has been crucial in forming a list of recommendations and lessons learnt for the design of a congestion-charging scheme in Australia. It is these recommendations that directly inform the proposed design of the Brisbane Cordon Scheme detailed in Whitehead et al. (2011).

Crystal growth from undercooling melts under strong gradients of temperatures generating in short-duration microgravity

Crystal growth of bulk CdTe in short-duration microgravity is performed by the unidirectional cooling method. The largest growth grains in microgravity samples are 4X2mm. The cooling profiles indicate undercooling melts in microgravity. Cooling melt samples in microgravity generate strong gradient of temperature due to stop thermal convections. Temperature distribution in the melt is calculated by the one-dimensional equation of heat conduction, and about 100 K-undercooling is considered to occur at the cooling surface.

Schizophrenia and the progression of emotional expression in relation to others

Gaining an improved understanding of people diagnosed with schizophrenia has the potential to influence priorities for therapy. Psychosis is commonly understood through the perspective of the medical model. However, the experience of social context surrounding psychosis is not well understood. In this research project we used a phenomenological methodology with a longitudinal design to interview 7 participants across a 12-month period to understand the social experiences surrounding psychosis. Eleven themes were explicated and divided into two phases of the illness experience: (a) transition into emotional shutdown included the experiences of not being acknowledged, relational confusion, not being expressive, detachment, reliving the past, and having no sense of direction; and (b) recovery from emotional shutdown included the experiences of being acknowledged, expression, resolution, independence, and a sense of direction. The experiential themes provide clinicians with new insights to better assess vulnerability, and have the potential to inform goals for therapy.