Nursing faculty intention to use service learning as pedagogy in higher education

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that motivate nursing faculty to use service learning. The study was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which implies that the target behavior of intention to use service learning in higher education is influenced by the predictor variables of behavior beliefs (attitude), normative beliefs (peer influence), and control beliefs (confidence and resources). External variables were also considered (years of teaching experience, tenure status, and the type of curriculum). Group interviews and a pilot test were conducted to create the instrument for the study, and Cronbach alpha were calculated for survey item reliability. The participants were full time undergraduate nursing faculty members (n=-160) in the Southeastern United States who taught in universities with accredited nurse education programs. Demographic data as well as scores on scaled survey responses were used to evaluate the intention of nursing faculty to use service learning in their classes. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and path analysis were applied to the data. The correlation findings indicated that there were statistically significant relationships between behavior beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs and nursing faculty intention to use service learning. The path analysis also indicated that behavior beliefs and normative beliefs were significant, while control beliefs were not a strong influence on intention to use service learning. Normative beliefs showed the strongest direct influence. The use of a community based curriculum also had a positive influence on intention, and faculty with tenure status were more likely to have positive behavior beliefs (attitude) towards service learning. Finally, as teaching experience increased, positive attitudes towards the intention to use service learning decreased. Seventy-nine percent of the variation in the intention to use service learning was explained by the theory of planned behavior, the type of curriculum, teaching experience, and tenure status. These results will assist nursing administration and faculty to design strategies to facilitate the implementation of service learning pedagogy, as well as a community based curriculum which will help meet the 21st century goals set forth from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Children's learning of anxiety sensitivity : a preliminary study using a sample of youths referred for anxiety disorders

The purpose of the present study was to examine the origins of anxiety sensitivity (AS) by assessing youths' learning experiences in relation to their AS symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 33 youths between 7 to 13 years old (M = 9.39 years, SD = 2.01). Youths were assessed using a structured interview and self-report measures. Chi-square analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in the proportions of boys vs. girls, Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic, and married vs. non-married. Pearson correlation analyses revealed that youths' AS learning experiences were significantly related to youths' AS and to youths' anxiety symptoms scores. Partial correlations between youths' learning experiences associated with AS symptoms in relation to AS scores controlling for anxiety symptoms effects were statistically significant. Findings were consistent with theory and suggest that learning mechanisms may be involved in AS acquisition and maintenance. The findings' implications are discussed regarding possible learning experiences' role in the development of AS.

Learning leadership: a resource for aspiring nurse leaders

Background/purpose – Nurse leaders play a key role in the growth of the nursing profession; hence the development of future leaders is essential. Despite its importance, opportunities for leadership development can be limited. The purpose of the practicum project was to develop a comprehensive, yet concise resource to assist aspiring nurse leaders in their journey towards effective leadership. Methods – The methods used to achieve the practicum objectives were: (a) explore the literature and complete a comprehensive review (b) conduct expert consultations with current nurse leaders, and (c) develop a learning resource for aspiring nurse leaders. Results – The literature review and expert consultations highlighted the importance of effectively developing aspiring nurse leaders. The information obtained allowed for the development of a comprehensive learning resource. A detailed background, leadership theory, leadership framework, leader competencies and learning activities are presented throughout the resource. Conclusion – In order to for the nursing profession to continue to advance, effective nurse leaders are of paramount importance. However, it is essential that aspiring leaders are given appropriate opportunities for development. The learning resource was developed to provide aspiring leaders with a comprehensive tool to enhance their leadership development.

The first time delivery of the first link learning series using Skype and YouTube

Introduction: This case study documented the experiences of informal and service providers who participated in the first time delivery of the First Link Learning Series from May–August 2013 in Newfoundland and Labrador. The aim of this study was to understand how informal caregivers of people with dementia experience this Internet mediated health resource, and how Skype and YouTube can be used as tools for the Alzheimer Society of Newfoundland and Labrador to effectively deliver the First Link Learning Series. Methods: Sources of data included key informant interviews (n=3), pre- study and post-study interviews with informal dementia caregivers (n=2), institutional documentation, field notes, and YouTube analytics. Framework Analysis was used to make meaning of the qualitative data, and descriptive statistics were used to report on quantitative outcomes. Findings: Between 3% and 17% of registered First Link clients attended the learning series sessions, however only two caregivers participated using Skype or YouTube. Framework Analysis revealed three shared themes: access, connection and privacy. Discussion: The themes helped to begin building theory about barriers and facilitators to Internet mediated health resources for informal dementia caregivers. Experiences of service providers using the Internet to support clients served to begin building a case for the appropriateness of these media. A modified version of Dansky et al.’s (2006) theoretical framework for evaluating E-Health research that situates the person/user in the model, helped guide discussion and propose future directions for the study of Internet based health resources for informal dementia caregivers.

The Significance of Critical Theory for Restorative Justice in Education

Restorative Justice (rj), a distinctive philosophical approach that seeks to replace punitive, managerial structures of schooling with those that emphasize the building and repairing of relationships (Hopkins 2004) has been embraced in the past two decades by a variety of school systems worldwide in an effort to build safe school communities. Early studies indicate rj holds significant promise, however, proponents in the field identify that theoretical and evidence-based research is falling behind practice. They call for further research to deepen the current understanding of rj that will support its sustainability and transformative potential and allow it to move from the margins to the mainstream of schooling (Braithwaite 2006; Morrison & Ahmed 2006; Sherman & Strang 2007).

Learning from a deceptively spacious policy discourse

In this chapter, the way in which varied terms such as Networked learning, e-learning and Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) have each become colonised to support a dominant, economically-based world view of educational technology is discussed. Critical social theory about technology, language and learning is brought into dialogue with examples from a corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of UK policy texts for educational technology between1997 and 2012. Though these policy documents offer much promise for enhancement of people’s performance via technology, the human presence to enact such innovation is missing. Given that ‘academic workload’ is a ‘silent barrier’ to the implementation of TEL strategies (Gregory and Lodge, 2015), analysis further exposes, through empirical examples, that the academic labour of both staff and students appears to be unacknowledged. Global neoliberal capitalist values have strongly territorialised the contemporary university (Hayes & Jandric, 2014), utilising existing naïve, utopian arguments about what technology alone achieves. Whilst the chapter reveals how humans are easily ‘evicted’, even from discourse about their own learning (Hayes, 2015), it also challenges staff and students to seek to re-occupy the important territory of policy to subvert the established order. We can use the very political discourse that has disguised our networked learning practices, in new explicit ways, to restore our human visibility.

Engineering the future! Innovation in learning & teaching:an empirical approach

Learning and teaching approaches to engineering are generally perceived to be difficult and academically challenging. Such challenges are reflected in high levels of student attrition and failure. In addressing this issue, a unique approach to engineering education has been developed by one of the paper authors. This approach, which is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate levels, brings together pedagogic and engineering epistemologies in an empirically grounded framework. It is underpinned by three distinctive concepts: Relationships, Variety & Alignment. Based upon research, the R + V + A approach to engineering education provides a learning and teaching strategy which in enhancing the student experience increases retention and positively impacts student success. In discussing the emergent findings of a study into the pedagogical value of the approach the paper makes a significant contribution to academic theory and practice in this area.

'Lines of flight': digital musical instruments, inclusive music bands, meaningful engagement in music-making and learning

In this study I examine the development of three inclusive music bands in Cork city. Derived from Jellison’s research on inclusive music education, inclusive music bands involve students with disabilities coming together with typically developing peers to make and learn music that is meaningful (Jellison, 2012). As part of this study, I established three inclusive music bands to address the lack of inclusive music making and learning experiences in Cork city. Each of these bands evolved and adapted in order to be socio-culturally relevant within formal and informal settings: Circles (community education band), Till 4 (secondary school band) and Mish Mash (third level and community band). I integrated Digital Musical Instruments into the three bands, in order to ensure access to music making and learning for band members with profound physical disabilities. Digital Musical Instruments are electronic music devices that facilitate active music making with minimal movement. This is the first study in Ireland to examine the experiences of inclusive music making and learning using Digital Musical Instruments. I propose that the integration of Digital Musical Instruments into inclusive music bands has the potential to further the equality and social justice agenda in music education in Ireland. In this study, I employed qualitative research methodology, incorporating participatory action research methodology and case study design. In this thesis I reveal the experiences of being involved in an inclusive music band in Cork city. I particularly focus on examining whether the use of this technology enhances meaningful music making and learning experiences for members with disabilities within inclusive environments. To both inform and understand the person centered and adaptable nature of these inclusive bands, I draw theoretical insights from Sen’s Capabilities Approach and Deleuze and Guatarri’s Rhizome Theory. Supported by descriptive narrative from research participants and an indepth examination of literature, I discover the optimum conditions and associated challenges of inclusive music practice in Cork city.

Next generation e-learning platform: virtual laboratory simulations

Bioscience subjects require a significant amount of training in laboratory techniques to produce highly skilled science graduates. Many techniques which are currently used in diagnostic, research and industrial laboratories require expensive equipment for single users; examples of which include next generation sequencing, quantitative PCR, mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques. The cost of the machines, reagents and limited access frequently preclude undergraduate students from using such cutting edge techniques. In addition to cost and availability, the time taken for analytical runs on equipment such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) does not necessarily fit with the limitations of timetabling. Understanding the theory underlying these techniques without the accompanying practical classes can be unexciting for students. One alternative from wet laboratory provision is to use virtual simulations of such practical which enable students to see the machines and interact with them to generate data. The Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Westminster has provided all second and third year undergraduate students with iPads so that these students all have access to a mobile device to assist with learning. We have purchased licences from Labster to access a range of virtual laboratory simulations. These virtual laboratories are fully equipped and require student responses to multiple answer questions in order to progress through the experiment. In a pilot study to look at the feasibility of the Labster virtual laboratory simulations with the iPad devices; second year Biological Science students (n=36) worked through the Labster HPLC simulation on iPads. The virtual HPLC simulation enabled students to optimise the conditions for the separation of drugs. Answers to Multiple choice questions were necessary to progress through the simulation, these focussed on the underlying principles of the HPLC technique. Following the virtual laboratory simulation students went to a real HPLC in the analytical suite in order to separate of asprin, caffeine and paracetamol. In a survey 100% of students (n=36) in this cohort agreed that the Labster virtual simulation had helped them to understand HPLC. In free text responses one student commented that "The terminology is very clear and I enjoyed using Labster very much”. One member of staff commented that “there was a very good knowledge interaction with the virtual practical”.

The Transformative Potential of Feminist Critique in Consumer Research

Given the importance of gender in consumer research, one might expect feminist perspectives to be at the forefront of critical engagement with consumer behaviour theory. However, in recent years, feminist voices have been barely audible. This paper explores the value of, and insights offered by, feminist theories and feminist activism, and how feminist theory and practice has altered our understanding of gendered consumption. It then argues that postmodern and postfeminist perspectives have diluted feminism's transformative potential, leading to a critical impasse in marketing and consumer research. In conclusion, we suggest that feminist perspectives, notably materialist feminism, might open up fresh new possibilities for critique, and interesting and worthwhile areas for transformative research in consumer behaviour.

‘Learning to be Zen’: Women travellers and the imperative to happy

This paper follows the emotional management of lone, independent women travellers as they move through tourist spaces, based on my doctoral research Embodiment and Emotion in the experiences of independent women tourists (2012). Specifically, this paper will focus on ‘gendering happiness’ by arguing that women travellers are significantly compelled to feel and display characteristics of happiness, humour and ‘learning to be Zen’ in order to be successful travellers. The imperative to become, and remain, happy and humorous in the face of embodied, emotional and gendered constraints is a key feature of women’s reflections of their travelling experiences, mirroring the recent emergence of literature into happiness and positive thinking within feminist theory (Ehrenreich 2010, Ahmed 2010). Negotiating ‘bad’ emotions provides a powerful insight into the perceptions of women travellers; to remain happy can mask problematic power relations and other forms of resistance. This is not to say that emotional negotiation is not partly a form of effective resistance, rather, I wish to make room for the freedom to be unhappy and angry in travelling space without feeling failure for not achieving a successful travelling identity.

Learning Environments in Design Studio Culture

The paper reports on a study of design studio culture from a student perspective. Learning in design studio culture has been theorised variously as a signature pedagogy emulating professional practice models, as a community of practice and as a form of problem-based learning, all largely based on the study of teaching events in studio. The focus of this research has extended beyond formally recognized activities to encompass the student’s experience of their social and community networks, working places and study set-ups, to examine how these have contributed to studio culture and how there have been supported by studio teaching. Semi-structured interviews with final year undergraduate students of architecture formed the basis of the study using an interpretivist approach informed by Actor-network theory, with studio culture featured as the focal actor, enrolling students and engaging with other actors, together constituting an actor-network of studio culture. The other actors included social community patterns and activities; the numerous working spaces (including but not limited to the studio space itself); the equipment, tools of trade and material pre-requisites for working; the portfolio enrolling the other actors to produce work for it; and the various formal and informal events associated with the course itself. Studio culture is a highly charged social arena: The question is how, and in particular, which aspects of it support learning? Theoretical models of situated learning and communities of practice models have informed the analysis, with Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and his interrelated concepts of habitus, field and capital providing a means of relating individually acquired habits and modes of working to social contexts. Bourdieu’s model of habitus involves the externalisation through the social realm of habits and knowledge previously internalised. It is therefore a useful model for considering whole individual learning activities; shared repertoires and practices located in the social realm. The social milieu of the studio provides a scene for the exercise and display of ‘practicing’ and the accumulation of a form of ‘practicing-capital’. This capital is a property of the social milieu rather than the space, so working or practicing in the company of others (in space and through social media) becomes a more valued aspect of studio than space or facilities alone. This practicing-capital involves the acquisition of a habitus of studio culture, with the transformation of physical practices or habits into social dispositions, acquiring social capital (driving the social milieu) and cultural capital (practicing-knowledge) in the process. The research drew on students’ experiences, and their practicing ‘getting a feel for the game’ by exploring the limits or boundaries of the field of studio culture. The research demonstrated that a notional studio community was in effect a social context for supporting learning; a range of settings to explore and test out newly internalised knowledge, demonstrate or display ideas, modes of thinking and practicing. The study presents a nuanced interpretation of how students relate to a studio culture that involves a notional community, and a developing habitus within a field of practicing that extends beyond teaching scenarios.

Bootcamp EMMA MOOC Assessment for learning in practice

Formative assessment or assessment for learning is a relevant theme for teachers and educationalists. Formative assessment is a valuable tool for supporting the learning process. It is applied during learning and offers you more and better opportunities to guide your students. Formative assessment allows for more individual and/or personalised guidance. In this MOOC Assessment for learning in practice we will provide you with theory and guidelines for knowledge construction on the topic of formative assessment while offering support in designing assessments that can be applied as a tool for learning and training of competences. In this MOOC you can learn what formative assessment is, learn to differentiate between summative and formative assessment, and how formative assessment can contribute to the learning of your pupils or students. Design of rubrics, the role and functions of feedback, the use of technology for formative assessment are the topics of the MOOC.

Education and self-regulation of learning for gifted pupils: Systemic design and development.

Gifted pupils differ from their age-mates with respect to development potential, actual competencies, self-regulatory capabilities, and learning styles in one or more domains of competence. The question is how to design and develop education that fits and further supports such characteristics and competencies of gifted pupils. Analysis of various types of educational interventions for gifted pupils reflects positive cognitive or intellectual effects and differentiated social comparison or group-related effects on these pupils. Systemic preventive combination of such interventions could make these more effective and sustainable. The systemic design is characterised by three conditional dimensions: differentiation of learning materials and procedures, integration by and use of ICT support, and strategies to improve development and learning. The relationships to diagnostic, instructional, managerial, and systemic learning aspects are expressed in guidelines to develop or transform education. The guidelines imply the facilitation of learning arrangements that provide flexible self-regulation for gifted pupils. A three-year pilot in Dutch nursery and primary school is conducted to develop and implement the design in collaboration with teachers. The results constitute prototypes of structured competence domains and supportive software. These support the screening of entry characteristics of all four-year old pupils and assignment of adequate play and learning processes and activities throughout the school career. Gifted and other pupils are supported to work at their actual achievement or competency levels since their start in nursery school, in self-regulated learning arrangements either in or out of class. Each pupil can choose other pupils to collaborate with in small groups, at self-chosen tasks or activities, while being coached by the teacher. Formative evaluation of the school development process shows that the systemic prevention guidelines seem to improve learning and social progress of gifted pupils, including their self-regulation. Further development and implementation steps are discussed.

Learning for self-regulation: Improving instructional benefits for pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society at large

Compulsory education laws oblige primary and secondary schools to give each pupil positive encouragement in, for example, social, emotional, cognitive, creative, and ethical respects. This is a fairly smooth process for most pupils, but it is not as easy to achieve with others. A pattern of pupil, home or family, and school variables turns out to be responsible for a long-term process that may lead to a pupil’s dropping out of education. A systemic approach will do much to introduce more clarity into the diagnosis, potential reduction and possible prevention of some persistent educational problems that express themselves in related phenomena, for example low school motivation and achievement; forced underachievement of high ability pupils; concentration of bullying and violent behaviour in and around some types of classes and schools; and drop-out percentages that are relatively constant across time. Such problems have a negative effect on pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society alike. In this address, I would therefore like to clarify some of the systemic causes and processes that we have identified between specific educational and pupil characteristics. Both theory and practice can assist in developing, implementing, and checking better learning methods and coaching procedures, particularly for pupils at risk. This development approach will take time and require co-ordination, but it will result in much better processes and outcomes than we are used to. First, I will diagnose some systemic aspects of education that do not seem to optimise the learning processes and school careers of some types of pupils in particular. Second, I will specify cognitive, social, motivational, and self-regulative aspects of learning tasks and relate corresponding learning processes to relevant instructional and wider educational contexts. I will elaborate these theoretical notions into an educational design with systemic instructional guidelines and multilevel procedures that may improve learning processes for different types of pupils. Internet-based Information and Communication Technology, or ICT, also plays a major role here. Third, I will report on concrete developments made in prototype research and trials. The development process concerns ICT-based differentiation of learning materials and procedures, and ICT-based strategies to improve pupil development and learning. Fourth, I will focus on the experience gained in primary and secondary educational practice with respect to implementation. We can learn much from such practical experience, in particular about the conditions for developing and implementing the necessary changes in and around schools. Finally, I will propose future research. As I hope to make clear, theory-based development and implementation research can join forces with systemic innovation and differentiated assessment in educational practice, to pave the way for optimal “learning for self-regulation” for pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society at large.