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1 – 10 of 183Jason Colman, Jim Briggs, Louise Turner and Alice Good
The purpose of this paper is to report a pilot experiment to test if multi-player online video games could provide a measurable cognitive therapeutic benefit for brain-injured…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report a pilot experiment to test if multi-player online video games could provide a measurable cognitive therapeutic benefit for brain-injured people.
Design/methodology/approach
Single-subject research design with n=3 brain-injured participants. Four alternating intervention and non-intervention weeks. Battery of cognitive tests taken at the start of the experiment and at the end of each week.
Findings
Widely varying results with large standard deviation overall.
Research limitations/implications
The experimental design was heavily reliant on multiple participants logging in at the same time. Server logs showed that this happened relatively rarely.
Practical implications
Implications for the next iteration of the experiment are to refine the game design to avoid the need to synchronise the participants. The findings presented may be of practical use to other researchers in this area.
Social implications
Acquired brain injury has been described as an epidemic, and is rising, with stroke being a leading cause. Traumatic brain injury (e.g. due to road traffic accident) has increasing prevalence in low-middle income countries. This research aims to provide a form of therapy to people for whom physical access to rehabilitation services is limited.
Originality/value
The use of multi-player online video games as rehabilitation is a relatively unexplored area. A positive result in an experiment of this nature would indicate the potential for a new, complimentary form of cognitive therapy for brain-injured people.
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It has been at least twenty years since I was first alerted to the notion that my interest in a research topic arises from my unconscious. More recently, feminist theorists have…
Abstract
It has been at least twenty years since I was first alerted to the notion that my interest in a research topic arises from my unconscious. More recently, feminist theorists have developed the insight by arguing that integration of experience is helpful in defining research questions, as a source of data, to test findings and, in the words of Jean Bethke Elshtain, in assisting them to be less removed from the ‘wellsprings’ of their own ‘thought and action’. My aim in this article is to reconnect my experience with constructions of teachers in Australian children’s literature and to explore ways in which they are imagined in the literature. In my initial foray into this topic, I used Maurice Saxby’s historical review of Australian children’s literature as a guide for data gathering. This linear, chronological approach, while probably a helpful place to start, is not one I can sustain with any passion. In this article, I am returning to my experience to find a starting point, acknowledging that history is a ‘process of intellectual production as well as discovery’
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Mike Rowe, Elizabeth Turner and Geoff Pearson
The authors consider current policy debates in the UK about the professionalisation of the police to respond to changing patterns of crime and, specifically, the suggestion that…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors consider current policy debates in the UK about the professionalisation of the police to respond to changing patterns of crime and, specifically, the suggestion that officers be educated to degree level. Drawing on the ethnographic evidence, the purpose of this paper is to focus attention on how officers learn, and continue to develop the applied, that is the craft aspects of the work of uniformed constables.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on a long-term ethnographic project observing officers during the course of their duties. The focus is on the use of discretion and of particular powers. But in the course of the research, the authors also observe the way officers behave and the way they talk about their job.
Findings
The authors suggest that, while there may be a role for degree qualifications, attention needs to be paid to the practices the authors observe, practices that have long been the core craft skills of uniformed officers.
Originality/value
The authors suggest that, despite the emergence of cybercrime and other new forms of crime/threat, the evidence suggests that much has not. Not least, crime is not the only focus of police work.
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The influence of extralocally produced texts, such as professional standards and systems of accreditation, on the ruling relations that govern teachers’ work and their learning…
Abstract
The influence of extralocally produced texts, such as professional standards and systems of accreditation, on the ruling relations that govern teachers’ work and their learning about that work is a matter of concern in Australia, as it is in Canada, UK, and USA. This chapter explains how a dialogic analysis and the construction of individual maps of social relations were employed to reveal the influences that governed teachers’ learning about their work at the frontline. A dialogic analysis of research conversations about learning, based on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, revealed the existence of both centralizing, hegemonic discourses associated with a managerial agenda and contextualized, heterogeneous discourses supportive of transformative learning. It also revealed the uneven influence of extralocally produced governing texts on both the locally produced texts and the “doings” of individuals. The production and use of “individual” maps represents a variation on the way “mapping” has generally been used by institutional ethnographers. From these informant specific maps, we can begin to observe some broad patterns in relation to the coordination of people’s “doings” both within a given context and from one context to another.
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David Murphy, Emma-Louise Bush and Ignazio Puzzo
Whilst individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represent a relatively small proportion of patients detained in high-secure psychiatric care (HSPC), previous research…
Abstract
Purpose
Whilst individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represent a relatively small proportion of patients detained in high-secure psychiatric care (HSPC), previous research suggests that such individuals present with difficulties and needs significantly different from non-ASD patient groups. However, to date, there has not been any formal examination of how individuals with an ASD are represented in records of key risk management actions (i.e. seclusions and incompatibilities with other patients). The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
An observation of hospital data examining two key risk management actions for a group of individuals with an ASD is detained in one HSPC hospital. These include the number of formal incompatibilities with other patients and the number of, and hours in, seclusion. Both actions require extra staff and security provisions and can decelerate the rehabilitation and recovery process.
Findings
In addition to suggesting an overall increase in the general prevalence of ASD within the hospital compared to previous estimates, individuals with an ASD appear to have a disproportionately higher number of incompatibilities with other patients compared to those patients without an ASD and experience more and longer periods of seclusions.
Originality/value
Although the methodological limitations of the study are acknowledged, explanations for the findings are discussed along with future research and recommendations as to how ASD patients might be best managed in the hospital. It is argued that the findings add further support for a specialist ASD service within HSPC.
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Louise Stoll, Tim Swanwick, Julia Foster‐Turner and Fiona Moss
An innovative programme of “Darzi” Fellowships in Clinical Leadership provides doctors in postgraduate training with a unique opportunity to engage in improving systems of health…
Abstract
Purpose
An innovative programme of “Darzi” Fellowships in Clinical Leadership provides doctors in postgraduate training with a unique opportunity to engage in improving systems of health care and develop their capability as future clinical leaders. The purpose of this paper is to report an impact evaluation of the programme, highlighting transferable design principles.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and quantitative data were used iteratively and included a review of literature, analysis of background documents and internal evaluation results, face‐to‐face and telephone interviews, observation of educational events, online questionnaires and representative case studies.
Findings
Impact was found at the level of the fellows' learning, their organisations and the wider health system. Identified influencing factors included: clarity of purpose and aims, mutuality of workplace and external learning, learning for transformational change, ambitious but “do‐able” projects, a committed and learning‐oriented sponsor, a supportive organisational culture, high‐quality mentoring, a network of supportive peers, diversity of participants, ongoing monitoring and adaptation, planning for sustainability and the tracking of impact over time.
Research limitations/implications
The extent to which results are generalisable needs to be considered within the constraints of this programme evaluation.
Practical implications
The “Darzi” Fellowship programme is effective and impactful, spawning clinical leadership development throughout a wider system. Whole system engagement of trainee doctors in leadership will require more than a Fellowship programme alone, but it is a start.
Originality/value
The evaluation adds to what we know about leadership development generally and provides a rare study in the medical context generating helpful principles for the design of leadership development programmes, particularly in the clinical setting.
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Maria Gebbels, Ioannis S. Pantelidis and Steven Goss-Turner
This paper aims to examine the interplay between self-efficacy and career inheritance and its influence on career commitment in the hospitality sector. High labour turnover…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the interplay between self-efficacy and career inheritance and its influence on career commitment in the hospitality sector. High labour turnover, unclear career paths and the transient nature of the work available in hospitality render it a suitable industry context that allows us to explore career commitment patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on life history methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospitality professionals holding a relevant degree but no longer employed in the hospitality industry.
Findings
The findings revealed the interplay between self-efficacy, career inheritance and career commitment, as well as the speed of decline of career commitment, visualised as patterns of the leaving process. Although an infinite number of variations are possible, data unveiled the three main patterns.
Research limitations/implications
The schematic illustrations of the patterns of the leaving process are not representative. The purposive sample comprises only ex-hospitality professionals, and generalisations can be considered in future studies.
Practical implications
This newly conceptualised understanding of career commitment enables researchers to reconsider the fundamental reasons why individuals leave the hospitality industry, whilst also offering hospitality managers deeper insights into how the three identified patterns could inform recruitment and selection.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature through its meaningful theoretical extension in the context of career development studies. The unique concept of the leaving process addresses the prevalent issue of turnover and generates important implications.
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