NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Effectiveness of Different Training and Testing Parameters on the Formation and Maintenance of Equivalence Classes: Investigating Prejudiced Racial Attitudes
No full textThis study aimed to verify the role of three parameters on the formation of equivalence classes between Black faces and a positive symbol, in children who demonstrated negative bias toward Black faces in a pretest Maintenance was also verified 6 weeks after equivalence tests. Forty-six children (11 Black; 27 girls) who demonstrated racial bias in a pretest were divided into four groups. All groups first learned AB relations (A1 and A2 were, respectively, a positive and a negative symbol, and B were abstract stimuli) and then BC relations (Cl was a Black face and C2 was an abstract stimulus). The Control Group then advanced immediately to equivalence tests (AC, and CA, without differential consequences). For the Mixed Training Group, a block of trials mixing AB and BC relations, with differential consequences, preceded equivalence tests. For the Feedback Reduction Group, equivalence tests were preceded by a trial block mixing AB and BC relations, but with feedback in 50% of trials. The Symmetry Group received symmetry tests after training of each baseline relation. Thirty-three children showed class formation relating Black faces and the positive symbol, and 27 maintained at least one of the equivalence relations after 6 weeks. Average biases toward Black faces were positive in a posttest, for participants who formed equivalence classes, and remained negative for those that did not form classes. The Control Group showed less pronounced bias reduction and maintenance of relations after 6 weeks, suggesting that these outcomes may be affected by training parameters
Modelling Excess Zeros in Count Data: A New Perspective on Modelling Approaches
No full textWe consider the analysis of count data in which the observed frequency of zero counts is unusually large, typically with respect to the Poisson distribution. We focus on two alternative modelling approaches: over-dispersion (OD) models and zero-inflation (ZI) models, both of which can be seen as generalisations of the Poisson distribution; we refer to these as implicit and explicit ZI models, respectively. Although sometimes seen as competing approaches, they can be complementary; OD is a consequence of ZI modelling, and ZI is a by-product of OD modelling. The central objective in such analyses is often concerned with inference on the effect of covariates on the mean, in light of the apparent excess of zeros in the counts. Typically, the modelling of the excess zeros per se is a secondary objective, and there are choices to be made between, and within, the OD and ZI approaches. The contribution of this paper is primarily conceptual. We contrast, descriptively, the impact on zeros of the two approaches. We further offer a novel descriptive characterisation of alternative ZI models, including the classic hurdle and mixture models, by providing a unifying theoretical framework for their comparison. This in turn leads to a novel and technically simpler ZI model. We develop the underlying theory for univariate counts and touch on its implication for multivariate count data
Developing Children’s Vocabulary and Expressive Language Skills Through Play
No full textThis thesis outlines a self-study action research project which follows my journey of developing the vocabulary and expressive language skills of my junior infants class in an urban co-educational Dublin school. I decided to devote this action research journey to the development of oral language skills through play as a result of my core teaching values and my own school experience. Having been lucky enough to experience a teacher who taught through playful methodologies, this experience is something which has followed and directed me through my initial teacher education and early career. My core teaching values are centred upon respect, trust, compassion and creativity. Thus, I wanted to engage in an action research project which was not only personal to me, but which allowed me to develop my practice and teach in a way which was representative of these values. With the introduction of the new Primary Language Curriculum in 2019, which is open to and inclusive of playful methodologies, I felt it important to highlight the multitude of benefits that result from these playful methodologies in relation to children’s learning and, in particular, on their oral language skills.
I designed a playful, evidence-based and cross-curricular intervention for teaching vocabulary and expressive language skills through play in my junior infants classroom. The intervention had three key components: the integration of play into two specific curricular areas – Literacy and Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE), pre-teaching vocabulary alongside the use of stories and the use of the early childhood Aistear framework. Action research was chosen as the methodology for the study as it enabled me to critically examine my own practice while also enhancing it. Throughout the action research process, I collected a large amount of both qualitative and quantitative data through the use of the following data collection instruments: a reflective journal, student-teacher conferencing, teacher observations, samples of my students’
work, vocabulary checklists, an expressive language rubric, my own original data collection tool - the ‘Highlights Chair’ and feedback from a critical friend.
My engagement with the reflective process enabled me to generate a living theory. This living theory then allowed me to identify the ways in which I could align my practice more closely to my values. The findings that emerged from this study were centred upon:
• Collaborative learning as a way to extend vocabulary and expressive language
• The impact that enjoyment has on the development of vocabulary and expressive language skills
• The role of adults in expanding children’s vocabulary and expressive language skills
Playful teaching methodologies can have a profound impact on children’s learning as a whole, but particularly in relation to the development of their oral language skills. As teachers, we owe it to our students to incorporate age-appropriate and child-led teaching methodologies which demonstrate active learning and an awareness of the individual needs of our students. The findings from this research showcase the vast benefits of including playful methodologies in the primary school classroom and highlight a successful three-part intervention for the introduction of play into the classroom. This research has also resulted in a significant change in how I approach the teaching of vocabulary and the development of my students’ expressive language skills and will continue to do so for years to come. Not only has it allowed me to align my practice with my core teaching values but it has also enabled me to teach in a way which is representative of my educational beliefs and positive school experience. Play comes naturally to children from a young age and I believe that it is our responsibility as teachers to promote this intrinsic concept which, when nurtured, can last a child’s whole life
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High‐quality data from a forensically relevant single‐cell pipeline enabled by low PBS and proteinase K concentrations
No full textInterpreting forensic DNA signal is arduous since the total intensity is a cacophony of signal from noise, artifact, and allele from an unknown number of contributors (NOC). An alternate to traditional bulk- processing pipelines is a single-cell one, where the sample is collected, and each cell is sequestered resulting in n single-source, single-cell EPGs (scEPG) that must be interpreted using applicable strategies. As with all forensic DNA interpretation strategies, high quality electropherograms are required; thus, to enhance the credibility of single-cell forensics, it is necessary to produce an efficient direct-to- PCR treatment that is compatible with prevailing downstream labo-ratory processes.We incorporated the semi-automated micro-fluidic DEPArray™ technology into the single-cell laboratory and optimized its implementation by testing the effects of four laboratory treatments on single-cell profiles. We focused on testing effects of phosphate buffer saline (PBS) since it is an important reagent that mitigates cell rup-ture but is also a PCR inhibitor. Specifically, we explored the effect of decreasing PBS concentrations on five electropherogram-quality metrics from 241 leukocytes: profile drop- out, allele drop-out, allele peak heights, peak height ratios, and scEPG sloping. In an effort to improve reagent use, we also assessed two concentrations of proteinase K. The results indicate that decreasing PBS concentrations to 0.5X or 0.25X improves scEPG quality, while modest modifications to proteinase K concentrations did not significantly impact it. We, therefore, conclude that a lower than recommended pro-teinase K concentration coupled with a lower than recommended PBS concentration results in enhanced scEPGs within the semi-automated single-cell pipeline
Students' engagement with technology-enhanced resources in first year non-specialist undergraduate mathematics modules
No full textWhile students undertaking first-year undergraduate mathematics modules report using technology-enhanced resources (YouTube, Khan Academy, Wolfram Alpha) for their studies, and lecturers invest time and effort into developing such resources using tools such as GeoGebra and Matlab, there has been little research on the factors that encourage students to engage with particular technology-enhanced resources or in what ways students use these resources to support their learning. While a recent OECD report found that an increase in the use of computers in mathematics in schools correlated negatively with students’ performance in mathematics, there are suggestions that the effectiveness of educational technology is not being adequately determined due to the lack of frameworks of evaluation. Additionally, more information regarding the implementation of the resources is required.
I worked as part of a team of academics from four higher education institutes in Ireland, who developed a suite of resources, called Technology-enhanced Resources for Mathematics Education (TeRMEd), for first-year non-specialist mathematics modules. My specialist role within the team was to evaluate the resources developed or implemented. The main aim of my research was to explore why, and in what way, first-year students engaged with these resources to support their learning for non-specialist mathematics modules and to determine what factors of the implementation environment impacted on this engagement. This research consisted of five stages: (1) literature review; (2) research design; (3) analysis of the TeRMEd evaluations; (4) development of the TeRMEd classification framework; and (5) supplementary investigations of first-year engineering students’ engagement with Matlab and other technology-enhanced resources. The outcomes of this research will inform mathematics educators on appropriate evaluation of technology-enhanced resources and on how best to implement them to ensure appropriate student engagement. The research will increase our knowledge on how students engage with technology-enhanced resources and will inform practice in the field
Political ecologies of infrastructural and intestinal decay
No full textIn March 2007, when Cryptosporidium contaminated water supplies in Galway City, Ireland, political authorities responded quickly to upgrade water treatments plants. This response framed the crisis as a solely technical problem of infrastructural decay, obscuring legacies of urban and
agricultural (over)development. In this paper, we examine dominant responses to infrastructural contamination that depoliticize and re-inscribe divisions among bodies, nature, infrastructure, rural and urban. The temporality of the Galway outbreak and the speedy response by the state is
not replicated throughout Ireland. In parts of rural Roscommon, the neighbouring county to Galway, microbiological risks to the drinking water supply have been left unattended for more than eight years. The interplay of social, political, economic, and ecological factors produces
uneven exposures to health risks that are situated within and mediated through water infrastructure. Drawing on postcolonial insights, the unevenness of infrastructural provision across Ireland does not just tell a story of exclusion and othering, but also provides space for different infrastructural projects to unfold. While the response to contamination within the public water
supply replayed well-known technical fixes, the work of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the representative body of community managed water systems in rural Ireland, illustrates a different form of infrastructural practice that negotiates legacies of institutional abandonment and acknowledges the wider hydro-social cycle as part of, rather than ancillary to, water infrastructure. By blending political ecologies of health and postcolonial approaches to infrastructure, we analyse the unevenness of responses to infrastructural contamination and trace its relationship to legacies of uneven development and imaginaries of urban and rural Irelan
Asymmetries of Terror and Violence in the Space of Exception: The Colonised Other, the Two- Tiers of Sovereignty in International Law and the Emergence of Islamic State (IS)
No full textThis thesis aims to investigate the link between a plurality of factors and events that led
to the establishment of the Caliphate by Islamic State (IS) in 2014, examining the link
between the phenomenon of imperialism and the ultimate rise of Islamic State. Given the
devastation that has caused by terrorist activities, the source of terrorism and their
grievances should be an urgent and pressing debate for states. Rather, the discourse has
focussed on the prevention of terrorist attacks and the introduction of legislation to deal
with terrorists and terror suspects, sometimes in contravention of human rights laws, as
demonstrated by the war on terror. It is significant to note that the legacy of colonisation
on terrorism is not widely considered in the theories about the origins of terrorism. The
aim of this thesis is to examine mechanisms of control and exclusion that deprived the
non-European world of 'Western' sovereignty and which continue to persist and endure
in the international legal system, to the benefit of Western economic interests. Quasi-
sovereignty, i.e. a lack of full sovereign rights over a state’s economic, political and
cultural affairs, provides a very useful paradigm through which to develop a nuanced
understanding of the ramifications of the violation of sovereignty in the Middle East. The
assertion of the thesis is the system of law that emerged from the colonial experience has
been instrumental in the formation of the international legal framework. The thesis begins
with an examination of the rise of Islamic State by tracing the influence of Christianity
and European culture on the evolution of international law, claiming that the modern
international legal system is reflective of a framework that served to legitimise European
colonial practices and interests, and while it operated universally, its meaning and
application were dictated by those in power. Colonialism was therefore central to the
formation of international law and the legacy of the governance of non-European people
by European powers, that manifested in the League of Nations Mandate System and the
ultimate creation of Iraq and Syria. The practices of “cultural subordination, and
economic exploitation played an extraordinarily prominent role in shaping the
relationship between international law and colonialism”.1 It is the argument of this thesis
that these practices were not eradicated by decolonisation or the Mandate System, but
continue to play an enduring and crucial role in international law, issues that are examined
through the 1953 Iranian Coup, the 1991 Gulf War and the War on Terror. The Mandate ix
System devised a set of legal structures and technologies that cemented and normalised
the two-tier system of full- and quasi-sovereignty, denying equilibrium to non-Western
states, issues that this thesis argues include multiple cause factors and form part of a
plurality of events and issues from which the rise of Islamic State and the establishment
of the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria was the consequence. As observed by Seumas Milne
“the roots of the global crisis which erupted on September 11 lie in precisely the colonial
experiences and the quasi-imperial system that succeeded them”
Dual-Transcriptomic, Microscopic, and Biocontrol Analyses of the Interaction Between the Bioeffector Pythium oligandrum and the Pythium Soft-Rot of Ginger Pathogen Pythium myriotylum
No full textBiological control is a promising approach to suppress diseases caused by Pythium
spp. such as Pythium soft rot of ginger caused by P. myriotylum. Unusually for a single
genus, it also includes species that can antagonize Pythium plant pathogens, such as
Pythium oligandrum. We investigated if a new isolate of P. oligandrum could antagonize
P. myriotylum, what changes occurred in gene expression when P. oligandrum
(antagonist) and P. myriotylum (host) interacted, and whether P. oligandrum could control
soft-rot of ginger caused by P. myriotylum. An isolate of P. oligandrum, GAQ1, recovered
from soil could antagonize P. myriotylum in a plate-based confrontation assay whereby
P. myriotylum became non-viable. The loss of viability of P. myriotylum coupled with how
P. oligandrum hyphae could coil around and penetrate the hyphae of P. myriotylum,
indicated a predatory interaction. We investigated the transcriptional responses of
P. myriotylum and P. oligandrum using dual-RNAseq at a stage in the confrontation
where similar levels of total transcripts were measured from each species. As part
of the transcriptional response of P. myriotylum to the presence of P. oligandrum,
genes including a subset of putative Kazal-type protease inhibitors were strongly
upregulated along with cellulases, elicitin-like proteins and genes involved in the repair
of DNA double-strand breaks. In P. oligandrum, proteases, cellulases, and peroxidases
featured prominently in the upregulated genes. The upregulation along with constitutive
expression of P. oligandrum proteases appeared to be responded to by the upregulation
of putative protease inhibitors from P. myriotylum, suggesting a P. myriotylum defensive
strategy. Notwithstanding this P. myriotylum defensive strategy, P. oligandrum had a strong disease control effect on soft-rot of ginger caused by P. myriotylum. The newly
isolated strain of P. oligandrum is a promising biocontrol agent for suppressing the
soft-rot of ginger. The dual-RNAseq approach highlights responses of P. myriotylum
that suggests features of a defensive strategy, and are perhaps another factor that
may contribute to the variable success and durability of biological attempts to control
diseases caused by Pythium spp