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Monitoring and Evaluation Report for University of Limerick's Academy for Children
No full text2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Limerick Access Office (Access at 20, 2019). In that time the Access Office has supported, encouraged and advocated for pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education at the University of Limerick.One of the most important initiatives undertaken by the Access Office in University of Limerick is the Academy for Children. The Academy for Children project has sought to build on our previous pre-entry school activities at second level through working with pupils in DEIS primary schools in some of Limerick’s most disadvantaged electoral areas. This is in keeping with our belief that the seeds of ambition and commitment to attend university need to be planted, nurtured, and developed from an early age to allow primary school children to reach their potential.In 2020 the Academy for Children offered a pilot programme to one school and has since grown to involve twelve schools, offering a variety of programmes for pupils, and their parents/guardians, to interact with the University of Limerick.As part of the project, the Academy for Children designed a Monitoring and Evaluation programme, supported by Rethink Ireland and Mainlevel Consulting, to research the effectiveness and achievements of the Academy for Children and disseminate this information to all the stakeholders involved. The findings from that research are outlined in this report.</p
Transformative collaboration: shaping the future of information literacy at the University of Limerick
No full text"This talk describes how developments at UL in 2023, both in the Library and outside of it, brought about collaborations that changed how the Library provides information literacy instruction to undergraduate programmes.The developments were: a) UL Library recruited a permanent Learning Designer. b) A new university VLE (Brightspace) was introduced and the Library was involved at all stages in its rollout. c) The Library was asked to collaborate on a re-design of a module for all 1st year BA Arts students. This talk will describe how Librarians collaborated with the new Learning Designer to design and develop a series of information literacy learning resources for the institutional VLE. The addition of the Learning Designer role ensures that the resources are developed using effective pedagogical and instructional design principles. The development of the learning resources in the VLE facilitates integration of the Library’s resources into the curriculum. This embedded approach has fostered collaborative teaching with faculty, with the Library contributing to the delivery of a first-year BA Arts module earlier this year. This enables the Library to take a more active approach to information literacy instruction. Overall, the talk will focus on the benefits gained and the change enacted by the Glucksman Library through a joined-up approach to the design and delivery of information literacy instruction." </p
Adolescents with Rett syndrome at critical care pathway junctures: Examining clinicians’ decision to initiate invasive long-term ventilation
No full textBackground: The initiation of invasive long-term ventilation (I-LTV) for an adolescent with Rett Syndrome (RTT) involves many serious bioethical considerations. In moving towards a more inclusive model of patient participation, transparency surrounding the main influencing factors around this decision is important. Objective: We aimed to identify the main drivers influencing a clinician’s decision to support initiation of I-LTV for an adolescent with RTT. Method: We used an anonymous online vignette-based factorial survey. The survey was distributed internationally through eight professional multi-disciplinary organisations to reach clinicians working in paediatrics. Results: We analysed 504 RTT vignettes completed by 246 clinicians using mixed effect regression modelling. The main three significant influencing factors identified were: parental agreement with the decision to support initiation, the family’s support network, and proximity to a tertiary care centre. Additional comments from participants focused on family support, and the importance of on-going communication with the family. Conclusion: As the rights of those with disabilities improve and participation of adolescents in decision-making becomes more established, effective communications with the family around goals of care and particular sensitivity and reflective practice around methods of consensus building will likely contribute to a positive decision-making process at this difficult time.</p
Island girl, universal woman: Peig: a scéal féin (1998) as narrative of class, labour and femininity
No full textThis article reappraises the Irish-language autobiography, Peig, as a unique account of the experience of life and work by a woman of the rural Irish speaking subsistence class. Peig is a seminal Irish language text, both as a depiction of class and gender-based conflict, and as an Irish language work that describes intersectional issues of justice, labour, rights and femininity from childhood to old age. I examine the narrative through the lenses of home, poverty, housing, work, marriage, children, friends, foes and loss. Peig depicts great resilience in the face of structural inequalities and localised injustice. The sustaining nature of intergenerational female friendships plays the central role in Peig’s account of her life. Arguing that the text belongs to the shared histories of women across the world, from China to the Middle East and Africa, I conclude that Peig is one of the most emotionally rich books in modern Irish. The article opens new ground in examining the question of class in Irish language literature, concluding that its universal themes continue to resonate in a contemporary multi-ethnic Ireland.</p
Active afforestation of drained peatlands is not a viable option under the EU Nature Restoration Law
No full textThe EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) is critical for the restoration of degraded ecosystems and active afforestation of degraded peatlands has been suggested as a restoration measure under the NRL. Here, we discuss the current state of scientific evidence on the climate mitigation effects of peatlands under forestry. Afforestation of drained peatlands without restoring their hydrology does not fully restore ecosystem functions. Evidence on long-term climate benefits is lacking and it is unclear whether CO2 sequestration of forest on drained peatland can offset the carbon loss from the peat over the long-term. While afforestation may offer short-term gains in certain cases, it compromises the sustainability of peatland carbon storage. Thus, active afforestation of drained peatlands is not a viable option for climate mitigation under the EU Nature Restoration Law and might even impede future rewetting/restoration efforts. Instead, restoring hydrological conditions through rewetting is crucial for effective peatland restoration.</p
Reaction dynamics and early-time behaviour of chemical decontamination
No full textWhen a hazardous chemical soaks into a porous material such as a concrete floor, it can be difficult to remove. One approach is chemical decontamination, where a cleanser is added to react with and neutralise the contaminating agent. The goal of this paper is to investigate the reaction dynamics and the factors that affect the efficacy of the decontamination procedure. We consider a one-dimensional porous medium initially saturated with an oil-based agent. An aqueous cleanser is applied at the surface, so the two chemicals are immiscible and a boundary forms between them. A neutralising reaction takes place at this boundary in which cleanser and agent are consumed and reaction products are created. This is a Stefan problem, and the boundary between the cleanser and agent moves as the reaction proceeds. Reaction products formed at the interface may dissolve in one or both liquids. This may temporarily prevent cleanser and/or agent from reaching the reaction site, so diffusion of the chemical species, in particular the diffusion of product from the interface, plays a key role. The scenario described above was considered previously by Dalwadi et al. (2017, Mathematical modelling of chemical agent removal by reaction with an immiscible cleanser. SIAM J. Appl. Math., 77, 1937–1961) in the limit where the depth of the porous medium is large compared to the length scale over which concentrations vary inside the medium. Here, we present results that are valid for any ratio between these length scales and an analysis of agent removal times for various dimensionless parameter regimes. We also highlight the emergence of a boundary layer associated with diffusion in the oil phase for early times, where the thickness of the boundary layer is directly proportional to the square root of the time variable.</p
Strategic attitude expressions as identity performance and identity creation in interaction
No full textWe assess the strategic alignment of attitudes and the active construction of attitude-based identity across two studies. Study one assessed the twitter response (hashtags in English) to the war in Ukraine for five months after Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine 2022 (N = 8149). Results demonstrated that individuals publicly expressed hashtags similar to others close to them in the followership network, showing their support for Ukraine and condemnation of the Russian invasion in qualitatively different ways. Study two was a preregistered Prolific experiment with geographical European participants ran in September, 2022 (N = 1368). Results demonstrated that attitude interaction with ingroup members motivated interactants towards attitude alignment, and attitude alignment strengthened the identification that motivated the alignment in the first place. Results suggest that attitude expression is performative and constrained by one’s group relationship with one’s audience and the definition of social identity can be constrained by opinion-based identity performance.</p
Exploring the introduction of the Framework for Junior Cycle: A longitudinal study. Interim report No. 3 (2024)
No full textThis interim report is the third of a series of reports from a longitudinal study exploring the implementation, enactment, and impact of the Framework for Junior Cycle (FJC) in post-primary schools in Ireland. This third report presents findings from the second phase of school principal interviews conducted in a representative sample of schools and the data from the teacher survey across the sample of 100 schools.</p
A global survey exploring tackle training knowledge, attitudes and practices of women’s rugby union coaches
No full textThe coaching and performance context in women’s rugby is not well understood, despite growing popularity worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes and tackle training practices of women’s rugby coaches in relation to tackle safety and performance. A globally distributed online survey exploring coaches’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards tackling women’s rugby was completed by 357 coaches (mean age 41 ± 0.6 years) from 58 countries. The cross-sectional survey was distributed from March 2023 to June 2023. Survey development was guided by the Health Action Process Approach and informed by coaching experts, research evidence synthesis, and guidelines for international tackle safety programmes. Coaches believed that the risk of tackle injury in women’s rugby is high and that proper tackle technique for safety is very important. More than 75% of coaches had never completed a tackle-specific training course, with only 39% aware of the availability of such courses. Time spent on controlled-contact and full-contact activities varied from 0 to 40+ min per week, averaging 10–20 min for both types of training. Barriers to the effectiveness of tackle training related to sociocultural factors, coach knowledge gaps, training environments, and player training considerations. Coach education, improved infrastructures, and physical development were ranked the highest priorities for improving tackle safety and performance. These findings inform future implementation strategies for tackle safety and performance in the context of women’s rugby, highlighting the need to involve coaches in providing practical solutions, and the role of education and institutional/organisational support in facilitating such improvements.</p