Open Research Exeter - University of Exeter
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Exploring the Application of Self-Determination Theory in Teaching and Learning: Engaging Children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities
No full textThis study explores motivation within the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000) for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Guided by the work of Atkin and Lorch (A&L) (2016), the methodology emphasises the importance of capturing behavioural data within natural, face-to-face interactions. This approach acknowledges the ecological factors of both the environment and the developmental context, capturing signalling behaviours authentically and examining the intentionality behind responses, despite limitations posed by motor and perceptual impairments.
The study involved six non-verbal students aged between 10 and 14 with cognitive ages of approximately 13 months. Each participant displayed complex conditions, including autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and rare genetic disorders, and all required extensive one-to-one support. Data were collected using an adapted Motivational Assessment Scale (MAS), which was tailored for non-verbal learners with PMLD by eliminating verbal cues and focusing on Sensory, Attentional, and Tangible engagement.
Each SDT condition was designed to trigger specific motivational inclinations in real-world classroom contexts. In the Autonomy condition, participants chose activities from pictorial prompts to simulate decision-making in a controlled, supportive environment, while minimising adult involvement. The Competence condition engaged students in progressively challenging cooking activities requiring fine motor skills; sustained engagement indicated task satisfaction and perceived mastery. Finally, the Relatedness condition involved music-based group play, encouraging participants’ sense of belonging by observing their interactions with both peers and adults. By evaluating behaviours at a micro-level, as A&L (2016) suggested, the study distinguished between more significant signalling efforts and minor responses, identifying behavioural expressions that can reliably indicate motivation.
Before implementing the three SDT psychological needs-based experimental conditions of Autonomy, Relatedness and Competence (ARC), baseline behavioural data were collected alongside the MAS) and A&L (2016) measures to contextualise typical engagement patterns, facilitating a more accurate interpretation of each child’s unique responses to experimental activities.
The findings reveal nuanced motivational preferences among the PMLD students, demonstrating that even highly vulnerable children exhibit inclinations aligned with SDT’s core principles. Notably, participants showed a preference for Autonomy and Relatedness, with individual and subgroup variations. Children in permanent care, for instance, exhibited stronger Relatedness preferences than their peers, possibly reflecting a potential heightened need for connection. Children with autism displayed a marked preference for Autonomy, potentially suggesting that motivational drives may vary based on specific conditions. Interestingly, Competence, the drive to master skills and build self-efficacy, was not as motivating, likely due to the considerable cognitive demands of skill recognition and development.
The study contributes to the field of educational and developmental psychology by extending the applicability of SDT to a profoundly under-researched population. By operationalising the core constructs of SDT in a highly adapted, ecologically valid framework, the research provides compelling evidence that motivational inclinations can be meaningfully identified in learners with profound cognitive and communicative disabilities. The findings challenge assumptions about the absence of agency in this group and offer a novel methodology for capturing authentic engagement, thereby opening new avenues for inclusive pedagogical design and motivation-sensitive assessment in specialist educational settings.</p
Defeating Cap-and-Trade: Contrarian Access, Organised Disinformation, and the Influence of Fossil Fuel Money in Congress
No full textThis dissertation examines how the fossil fuel industry and the broader climate change counter-movement influenced the U.S. congressional debate over cap-and-trade legislation between 2003 and 2010. While extensive scholarship has traced the ideological and institutional foundations of climate denial, less attention has been paid to how organised disinformation and vested economic interests shaped the legislative process itself. By integrating theories of interest group influence with frameworks on climate disinformation, this research investigates three interrelated questions: the extent of contrarian witness representation at congressional hearings, the rhetorical strategies employed to undermine cap-and-trade, and the behavioural responses of committee members to fossil fuel industry contributions.
The dissertation combines large-scale text analysis of congressional hearing transcripts with quantitative data on lobbying, campaign contributions, and committee member backgrounds. Using natural language processing and machine learning methods, contrarian policy claims were systematically identified and linked to measures of legislative engagement.
The analysis reveals three main findings. First, contrarian witnesses, often aligned with the fossil fuel industry, were disproportionately invited to testify, distorting the scientific consensus within the legislative record. Their presence was significantly and positively correlated with lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions, suggesting that financial resources and organised disinformation were closely intertwined in shaping the legislative debate on cap-and-trade. Second, testimony analysis documents a shift from overt denial to ``solutions-focused scepticism'': claims portraying climate policy as harmful, ineffective, or unnecessary. These rhetorical strategies peaked during key legislative periods and were concentrated among contrarian and industry witnesses. Third, while fossil fuel industry funding did not affect general engagement such as attendance or participation, it was associated with an increase in contrarian claim-making among aligned Republican legislators, reinforcing partisan opposition and shaping the discourse around cap-and-trade in ways that framed reform as less viable.
Taken together, the findings demonstrate how economic resources and organised disinformation were closely linked to the obstruction of U.S. climate legislation. The study adds to work on interest group influence and climate politics, showing how entrenched industries can help maintain the policy status quo.</p
The triadic dilemma in the criminalisation and prosecution of corporate tax fraud and corruption in the United Kingdom
No full textWhile corruption in the public sector has been covered widely, corporate tax fraud/evasion, tax related fraud enabling corruption or tax corruption enabling fraud in the private sector have been given scant attention. This article fills this gap by a critical analysis of the legal regime in the United Kingdom (UK) for these complex offences. We identified a triadic dilemma in corporate tax fraud/evasion and tax corruption. The triadic dilemma involves: (1) ambiguity in the definition and scope of tax crimes; (2) the criminalisation challenges of tax crimes; and (3) the prosecution challenges of tax crimes for corporations under the UK corporate criminal liability model. The triadic dilemma is complicated when applied to corporate offences, since recent cases reveal that corporate accountability under the failure to prevent model under corporate criminal liability is difficult to achieve.</p
Development of a patient-level multi-objective optimisation model for screening strategies for childhood type 1 diabetes
No full textObjectiveTo develop a patient-level simulation model of type 1 diabetes (T1D) covering both childhood and adulthood. The goal is to identify and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of optimal screening for pre-symptomatic T1D.MethodsWe developed a Python-based simulation model to track 100,000 participants screened in childhood, capturing a subset of those at risk and transitioning to T1D, to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness per life year gained of screening versus no screening. Our multi-objective optimisation approach sought to minimise three objectives: incremental cost effectiveness ratio, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) events at onset and the maximum number of screening tests a child can have with the healthcare system. The NSGA-II algorithm is used to explore the set of possible screening strategies from combinations of genetic risk score (GRS) and islet autoantibody (IA) measurements at different ages and frequencies during the first 15 years of life. Data for transition probabilities include large scale screening studies such as The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young, TrialNet, published risk functions, clinical trials and epidemiologic studies.ResultsWe illustrate the use of multi-objective optimisation in patient-level simulations by estimating an optimal subset of T1D screening strategies in the USA. We identify four screening strategies with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios that meet commonly cited cost-effectiveness thresholds, which require, respectively, a maximum of 1, 2 3 and 4 islet autoantibody (IA) tests.ConclusionsThis article and corresponding model code can be used as a reference for implementing a multi-objective optimisation pipeline in patient-level simulation models.</p
Ten talking points for organising for change: An academic-practitioner exchange
No full textThis paper summarises the opening plenary talk presented at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Network conference (September 2024). It takes practical lessons from Organising For Change (Bristol University Press), by the authors, and presents them as Ten Talking Points easily accessible to practitioners. It posits that careful resourcing, collaboration and multi-pronged tactical approaches are co-constitutive and crucial for delivering desirable, or preventing undesirable, social change. Panel respondents’ perspectives are presented in an accompanying paper.</p
Cryptic coral reef microhabitats and the functional role of brittle stars in biogenic sediment generation
No full textRecent studies have highlighted the ecological importance of cryptic habitat space on coral reefs. These microhabitats, ranging from framework cavities to intra-branch space within marine macroalgae, can harbour diverse and ecologically relevant taxa. Here we show that brittle stars, ubiquitous across such cryptic habitats (reported densities exceeding 100 ind. m −2 ), represent an important, but previously neglected, source of skeletal sediment on reefs. Reef-derived carbonate sediment is generated by a range of reef biota and represents a critical geo-ecological process, contributing to reef structural development and vertical accretion via framework infilling, and the development and maintenance of lagoonal and shoreline habitats. Our sediment production estimates are based on skeletal carbonate content data for differently sized specimens of common brittle star morphotypes, combined with field-based density assessments from widespread microhabitat types (framework cavities, sub-rubble space and intra-algal skeletal branches) on Mexican Caribbean reefs. Resulting estimates suggest that brittle stars can make substantial contributions to reef sediment production (averaging 110 g m⁻ 2 yr⁻ 1 ; 95% CI 59–161). Spine-bearing taxa contribute disproportionately due to their high skeletal mass (> 6 g in large individuals) and high abundance (accounting for over 80% of sub-rubble populations). Resultant biogenic sediments are high-Mg calcite (15.6 ± 0.1 mol% MgCO₃) and predominantly disarticulate into fine to coarse-grained sand material (125 µm–2 mm). These findings highlight the underappreciated role of brittle stars in reef carbonate cycling. With many reef systems undergoing rapid changes in benthic ecology and microhabitat space availability, identifying and characterising links to biogenic sediment sources is central to understanding future reef sediment production regimes.</p
From production to consumption in the assembled countryside. Colonialisms, mobilities, and peripheralisation
No full textThis chapter critically interrogates the shift from the productive countryside, to economies based on consumption, to consider how peripheries shape and are shaped by global social, political, and economic processes. Using an analytical perspective drawn from assemblage thinking, the chapter decentres European Studies into co-evolutionary socio-economic, cultural, and historical global networks. It shows how peripheries are heavily connected to flows of matter, people, and ideas, drawing links between the settler colonialisms of past epochs, to the neo-colonialisms of the contemporary global economy. In so doing, the chapter highlights how far from being peripheral, peripheries are at the heart of global processes.</p
Women’s work: Punch and Judy
No full textPunch & Judy is perhaps the most iconic English puppet tradition that simultaneously conjures images of beach holidays, laughter and ice cream alongside irreverent images of violence, misogyny, abuse and sometimes racism. Punch, a transnational figure, is a popular trickster who gleefully counters authority, commits violent crime and gets away with it all. The form’s popularity has waxed and waned, yet it continues to have cultural resonance. Its 360-plus year-old historiography is a singular story of men’s performance tradition, yet its practice is significantly more nuanced and complex. This paper celebrates the lesser-known work of three contemporary women artists whose work in Punch & Judy forges new pathways for environmental, gender and feminist resistance while playing within and subverting this beloved puppet tradition. The artists interrogated are: Professor Queen Bee who performs Punch & Judy with an environmental twist and embodies Punch in walk about performances in which Punch offers on-the-spot marriage counseling and parent-baby classes. (https://www.professorqueenbee.co.uk/punch-judy) Nenagh Watson’s investigations of puppet and puppeteer/life and death/male and female as she embodies deceased Punch “Professor” Joe Beeby and engages with his puppets. Sarah Nolen’s "Judy Saves the Day" a feminist re-staging for young and family audiences in which Judy takes the lead and “goes on a quest for respect, justice, and a well-deserved nap.” (https://www.puppetshowplace.org/judy-saves-the-day) Their art practices invite questions about transmission and subversion, what constitutes “traditional” narratives, and how performance is used for social criticism (by and for whom) across time.</p
Air quality sensors for energy-saving and self-diagnostics of a local exhaust ventilation system with self-powered airflow controller
No full textAir quality (AQ) is crucial in the industry for financial as well as health and safety reasons. Thus, it is imperative to monitor and control workspace AQ. This paper proposed the integration of a smart AQ sensor system with self-powered autonomous airflow controllers (AACs) in a local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system. The AQ sensor system is integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) to improve sensing performance and reliability. The airflow energy harvester of the AAC could provide a local power source to meet the energy demand for sensing and AI. Sensor readings can be used to set appropriate airflow velocities for effective pollutant removal with optimized energy consumption of the LEV system. High volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) levels after a long period of operation could be a sign of a faulty system. This improves the efficiency, resilience, and reliability of the LEV system as well as worker health and safety.</p
How cultural diversity drives innovation: surnames and patents in US history
No full textThis paper examines the impact of cultural diversity on innovation. Focusing on the United States from 1850 to 1940, we develop a novel surname-based measure of cultural diversity and combine this with patent data. Leveraging quasi-random variation in counties' surname compositions driven by historical immigration, we find that rising diversity increased both the quantity and quality of innovation within counties and for individual inventors. Examining mechanisms, we provide evidence suggesting that greater surname diversity accelerated innovation both by expanding the range of ideas, skills and perspectives available for recombination and by fostering the diverse social interactions that facilitate idea sharing.</p