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Prototyping a Multisensory Braille Interface for Visually Impaired and Blind Children
No full textBraille is a tactile reading system for visually impaired and blind (VIB) people, which involves distinguishing raised dots arranged in a 2x3 matrix, with a standardized dot height of ~0.5 mm, and a diameter of ~1.5 mm (UK Association for Accessible Formats, 2020). Braille literacy is associated with positive outcomes for VIB learners, but uptake is relatively low, partly due to a lack of engaging learning support. In this report, we present our initial work in the development of a multisensory digital Braille learning device for children, which we intend to further develop as a platform to support the development of Braille learning applications, including games and immersive, interactive experiences. In particular, we wish to explore the design space around accessible XR technologies for learning. Our initial work has incorporated feedback from visually impaired and blind (VIB) children, adolescents, and adults, as well as sighted Braille teachers.
Currently, our focus is on the device's multisensory features, and playful affordances, designed to enhance Braille learning experiences and make Braille more accessible by engaging multiple
senses for VIB individuals
All-Parliamentary Party Group Report on Mental Health ‘Beyond Pills’: An Opportunity for Youth Work
No full textJon Ord responds to the All Parliamentary Party Group report on mental health 'Beyond Pills', signposting the opportunities for youth work in this emerging non-medicalised space.
In May 2024 the ‘Beyond Pills’ All-Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) published a report on mental health, entitled ‘Shifting the Balance Towards Social Interventions: A Call for an Overhaul of the Mental Health System. Myself, and many others it seems, in the youth work field were unaware this government inquiry was taking place, and those involved in the production of the report have not given much thought as to the possibility, nor the importance, of youth work interventions around issues of mental health. The important recommendations in the report do, however, cohere with a youth work approach to supporting, ameliorating and preventing young people’s mental health problems. This article reflects on the current mental health ‘crisis’, discussing recent research on some of young people’s mental health problems. It then discusses the reframing of mental health and assesses the role of youth work within this. It concludes that whilst it is frustrating that the report does not highlight youth work, the new approach recommended within it provides an opportunity for youth work to grasp, in creating supportive developmental opportunities for young people ‘beyond pills’
Associations between Big-5 personality traits, cognitive ability, and climate beliefs and behaviours: Results from a longitudinal UK birth cohort
Full text linkAnthropogenic climate change is an existential threat to both humans and wider biodiversity. However, cumulatively, individuals’ actions can help to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Understanding the factors which shape individuals’ beliefs about climate change, and their environmental behaviours, is therefore crucial. Here, we explore whether individual differences—Big-5 personality traits and cognitive ability—are associated with climate beliefs and behaviours, using longitudinal data from a UK birth cohort study. Individual differences were measured when the participants were teenagers (aged 13 to 15 years), with climate beliefs and behaviours assessed at approximately age 30 years. These climate beliefs and behaviours included: belief that the climate is changing, concern over climate change, whether humans are to blame for climate change, whether individual actions can mitigate climate change, and whether they were undertaking a range of pro-environmental behaviours for climate reasons (e.g., reducing air travel, reducing meat/dairy consumption). Regression models were used to explore the associations between individual differences and climate belief and behaviour outcomes, adjusting for a range of relevant sociodemographic confounders. Overall, we found consistent positive associations between agreeableness, openness to experience and cognitive ability scores and environmental knowledge and action. Weaker, and more inconsistent, associations were reported for extraversion, conscientiousness and emotional stability. These results suggest that individual differences may shape an individual’s beliefs and actions regarding climate change, and potentially indicates groups where climate information campaigns could be targeted
Reply to “Exploring the long-term effects of biologic initiation in severe asthma: Insights from the International Severe Asthma Registry”
No full textVisual reconstructions of endometriosis pain: An interdisciplinary visual methodology for illness representation
Full text linkObjectives: Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which tissue resembling the endometrium grows outside of the womb, causing severe chronic pain. Research demonstrates the physical, emotional and quality of life impact on people with endometriosis, but pain is reportedly difficult to communicate, resulting in lengthier diagnosis. This work aimed to gain insight into the value of imagery production as a pain communication strategy through a novel synergy of psychological and linguistic/socio-semiotic approaches.
Design: A qualitative, multimodal, participant-generated imagery study.
Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and conceptual metaphor and metonymy analysis were utilized to examine visual representations of endometriosis pain. Data were collected in two focus groups with four and six women, respectively; all with a diagnosis of endometriosis, aged 25-40 years old (M = 34.5, SD = 4.2) and a mean diagnosis delay of 8.4 years (SD = 3.6).
Results: The overarching theme across visual representations was 'Pain as Physical Violence' with 'colour as emotional representation', 'texture as sensory qualities' and 'materials as sensation' as sub-themes. These are realized through metaphorical and metonymical relations in both the visual representations as well as the accompanying linguistic representation of the process.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates the value of a creative mixed-methodologies approach to capture experiential aspects of pain and its impact that are not verbalized in linguistic accounts alone. This can facilitate a deeper understanding of one's pain, acting as a medium for therapeutic adjustment to occur, while facilitating effective and empathic patient-professional conversations surrounding pain
How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the underexplored link between entrepreneurship education (EE) and graduate employability in the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/methodology/approach: The study draws on a thematic content analysis of semi�structured interviews with 45 professionals in UK HE, representing the “supply” side of EE.
Findings: The findings demonstrate a unidirectional link between EE and employability outcomes. This link is affected by societal, stakeholder-related, and teaching and learning-related factors.
Originality: Based on human capital theory, many policymakers regard EE as a vehicle through which the relationship between investments in HE and career success on a micro level and economic growth on a macro level can be nurtured. Challenging this logic, the study highlights the potential of institutional theory to explain a contextualization of the link between EE and employability on a national level.
Research limitations/implications: Although the value of universities’ initiatives connecting EE and employability for economic development is emphasized, the study does not provide direct empirical evidence for this effect. Macroeconomic research is needed.
Practical implications: EE and employability would benefit from knowledge exchange between universities’ stakeholders and a broader understanding of what constitutes a valuable graduate outcome.
Social implications: The study reveals the benefits of EE on a micro level. Participation in EE supports the connection between individual investments in HE and employability
How do new runners maintain their running, and what leads to others stopping? A qualitative, longitudinal study
Full text linkMany people who start running do not maintain their behaviour change. We used qualitative, longitudinal methods to explore and interpret the experiences of new runners and answer the question, “What experiences explain how new runners maintain their running or explain why they stop?” We interviewed 20 new runners (all White British, 14 women, 6 men) about their experiences; we interviewed 10 until they stopped running and 10 until they maintained running for 6–12 months (65 interviews in total). We also conducted nine participant observations at a running club, invited external reflections at a running club, and analysed six sets of participant diaries. Four themes were constructed using a reflexive thematic analysis: (1) Identifying a meaningful “why”; (2) “Life gets in the way” of running; (3) Learning that I can run; and (4) Opportunities are unequal and experiences contrast. The runners’ reasons for running helped us to interpret changes in their experiences through time. Meaningful reasons helped runners to learn that they can run, prioritise running, and prevent life getting in the way. These reasons tended to be reasons to run, as opposed to reasons to be physically active, and they related to their identity, values, special memories, relationships, enjoyment of running, or a personal goal. Nevertheless, social inequalities like gendered experiences, wealth, and health differences meant that opportunities and experiences of running differed, creating more barriers for some runners. When runners faced substantial barriers, having a meaningful reason was helpful but it was sometimes insufficient for maintenance. The analysis illustrates how people’s reasons for exercise influence their experiences through time, the dynamic nature of people’s exercise barriers and facilitators, and the unequal nature of opportunities and experiences
Illustrated Stories of Severe Asthma: A Case Study
No full textThis is a critical account of a project in which Illustration and oral history students developed demonstration graphic medicine artworks in response to interviews with people with severe asthma. The people with severe asthma collaborated with the students to produce the illustrated narratives as comics. The graphic medicine outputs tell the stories of how two lives changed due to new medications. This paper uses the student projects as a case study to explore the novel methodological approach. The comics demonstrate a shift in narrative authority towards the interviewees and the reader, and away from the artists who had no medical expertise or the medical experts who had no lived experience of the disease. Vernacular medical knowledge was used to capture unique perspectives, and students’ active participation in the interviews was of critical significance in providing new insights into the lived experiences of medical intervention. The paper reflects on the visual and narrative techniques employed by the students to communicate these stories, the value of this process for students and the possibility of using this approach within a formal research study.
All expressed significant value from the experience
Impact of the initial teacher training market review in England on schools in areas of educational isolation
No full textWhile the BERA–RSA report recognised the place-based differences of the UK’s four nations, it did not identify
place-based inequities that exist within nations, or how educational isolation can affect school access to resources, particularly teachers (Ovenden-Hope & Passy, 2019). In England in recent years there were signs of government awareness of the importance of place for teacher recruitment and retention (such as DfE, 2018), but this was not evident in the initial teacher training (ITT) market review (DfE, 2019, 2021). The review was aspatial and reduced opportunities for teacher education in educationally isolated areas (Brooks & Perryman, 2024)
The Senior Golf Movement Assessment (SGMA) as a predictor of Clubhead Speed in amateur senior male golfers.
Full text linkGolf popularity among older adults is driven by its perceived benefits as a low-intensity activity which promotes health [1]. However, the golf swing poses injury risks, especially for those lacking physical conditioning. Ageing golfers experience performance declines, reflected in increased handicap and reduced clubhead speed (CHS) [2], alongside declines in balance, strength, and flexibility [3]. Movement screens, commonly used to predict performance issues or injury risks [4], have shown positive associations with performance in younger golfers (such as the Golf Movement Screen [5] and the Titleist Performance Institute movement screen [6]). However, similar screening tools are unexplored among senior golfers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the Senior Golf Movement Assessment (SGMA) and CHS in older amateur male golfers