Reflexive learning in pre-service training of primary school teachers: from experience to assimilation of contents

This article presents an educational experiment carried out in the Primary School Teaching Degree at the University of Barcelona. Specifically, the article analyses the application of the “Work Corners” approach in a core subject. In a three-year action research process, trainers put into practice an innovation which enabled them to boost cooperative work and reflexive learning among trainees. Firstly, the theoretical model underpinning the project and guiding many of the actions carried out by the training team is presented. After providing detailed information on the practical development of the experiment, the data-gathering process and its results are shown. Various information-gathering strategies were used in assessing the project, such as a questionnaire, participant observation, and teachers’ diaries. The results demonstrate, amongst other things, that “work corners” offer viable and appropriate educational conditions for the articulation of theoretical and practical knowledge, for building professional knowledge, and therefore, the beginnings of a reflexive teaching practice.

Empowerment, Quality of Life and Service Satisfaction: comparisons between hospitalised continuing care patients and deinstitutionalised patients

Objectives: Recent advances in mental health care policy and service delivery have lead to the development of community care initiatives which have enabled those individuals traditionally cared for in hospital environments to be resettled successfully in community living arrangements that foster an ethos of empowerment and recovery. This study sought to identify differences between a hospital continuing care group (n = 16) and a community placement group (n = 20) in relation to quality of life, satisfaction and levels of empowerment. Method: The study was a cross-sectional design. It follows up a cohort of individuals identified as the ‘hospital continuing care group’ (365+ consecutive days in psychiatric hospital care) by Homefirst Community Trust in Northern Ireland. A proportion of this population has been resettled into community care environments and some continue to reside in hospital. Patients both in the hospital continuing care group and the community placement group completed two standard questionnaires that covered a number of variables including empowerment, quality of life and service satisfaction. Results: There were significant differences between the hospital continuing care and community placement groups across scores on service satisfaction, quality of life, and empowerment in the current study. Hypotheses relating to service satisfaction (z = -4.117; p

An architecture for agent-enhanced network service provisioning through SLA negotiation

This paper focuses on two main areas. We first investigate various aspects of subscription and session Service Level Agreement (SLA) issues such as negotiating and setting up network services with Quality of Service (QoS) and pricing preferences. We then introduce an agent-enhanced service architecture that facilitates these services. A prototype system consisting of real-time agents that represent various network stakeholders was developed. A novel approach is presented where the agent system is allowed to communicate with a simulated network. This allows functional and dynamic behaviour of the network to be investigated under various agent-supported scenarios. This paper also highlights the effects of SLA negotiation and dynamic pricing in a competitive multi-operator networks environment.

Distance and Proximity in Service to the Empire: Ulster and New Zealand between the Wars

This essay uses the concepts of ‘distance’ and ‘proximity’ to investigate and assess perceptions of community, nation and empire in inter-war New Zealand and Ulster (as well as Ireland and Northern Ireland) within a British imperial context, and explores the extent to which service of the empire (for example in the First World War) promoted both notions of imperial unity and local autonomy. It focuses on how these perceptions were articulated in the inter-war years during visits to Northern Ireland by three New Zealand premiers – Massey, Forbes and Coates – and to New Zealand by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Craigavon. It discusses the significant ways in which distance from their ‘home base’ and proximity to expatriate communities (in Craigavon's case) and Irish unionists and nationalists (in the case of the New Zealand premiers) inflected public statements during their visits. By examining these inter-war visits and investigating the rhetoric used and the cultural demonstrations associated with them, the factors of both distance and proximity can be used to evaluate similarities and difference across two parts of the empire. Thus, we can throw some light on the nature and dynamics of British imperial identity in the early twentieth century.

Strengthening an in-service reinforcement concrete bridge with prestressed CFRP bar

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars were prestressed for the structural strengthening of 8 T-shaped reinforced concrete (RC) beams of a 21-year-old bridge in China. The ultimate bearing capacity of the existing bridge after retrofit was discussed on the basis of concrete structures theory. The flexural strengths of RC beams strengthened with CFRP bars were controlled by the failure of concrete in compression and a prestressing method was applied in the retrofit. The field construction processes of strengthening with CFRP bars—including grouting cracks, cutting groove, grouting epoxy and embedding CFRP bars, surface treating, banding with the U-type CFRP sheets, releasing external prestressed steel tendons—were introduced in detail. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this strengthening method, field tests using vehicles as live load were applied before and after the retrofit. The test results of deflection and concrete strain of the T-shaped beams with and without strengthening show that the capacity of the repaired bridge, including the bending strength and stiffness, is enhanced. The measurements of crack width also indicate that this strengthening method can enhance the durability of bridges. Therefore, the proposed strengthening technology is feasible and effective.