NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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New Materialism, Ethnography, and Socially Engaged Practice: Space-Time Folds and the Agency of Matter
No full textThis article is an investigation of the agency of matter and an exposition of the new materialist methods I have been developing as part of a muti-sited trans-national ethnography that features socially engaged arts practices alongside more traditional ethnographic and qualitative techniques. I think through the agency of matter and consider the temporality of matter as part of its agency, understanding these agents as constitutive features of the research assemblage. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from the United Kingdom, I examine how matter’s space-time can impact processes of making the social. I develop theoretical resources for moving the field forward
Making other worlds possible: why the Zapatistas matter to us
No full textIrish-themed reflection on the Zapatista Journey for Life to Europe. English-lang original of the Spanish-lang contribution to the 27-pamphlet series "Al Faro Zapatista", supporting the Journe
Virtual Libraries and New Beginnings 2021 CILIP Ireland/LAI annual joint conference. 15–16th April 2021.
No full textThe theme of the 2021 virtual conference was Virtual Libraries and New Beginnings. The conference highlighted
how all sectors of the profession have not only risen to the challenge of COVID-19, but have also thrived
An examination of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme: Origin, Policy and Practice - A Contextual, Relational, Discursive and Spatial Analysis Employing a Critical Theory Approach.
No full textThe purpose of this study is to examine the Leaving Certificate Applied programme (LCA) as it is lived
out and experienced today and to investigate whether or not these experiences continue to marry
with the original aims of the programme. The Leaving Certificate Applied Programme is a distinct, self-contained two-year Leaving Certificate programme. It is modular based and ‘emphasises forms of
achievement and excellence which the established Leaving Certificate has not recognised in the past.
It offers a specific opportunity to prepare for and progress to further education and training’. (PDST,
Leaving Certificate Applied, Teacher Handbook, 2019, p.7). The central research question asks how
the policy of the LCA programme is being lived out in practice today and whether this lived experience
continues to marry with the original aims and rationale upon which the programme was conceived
and developed. This study will examine the LCA programme from the perspective of those who live
the programme, namely students and teachers, as well as from the perspective of policy makers and
school leaders. The study will place these voices at the heart of the analysis
Haciendo otros mundos posibles: por qué los zapatistas nos importan
No full text“La Gira Zapatista es un verdadero regalo para nosotros […] Nos alegra tenerlos aquí, paseando con nosotros, haciéndonos preguntas, aprendiendo mutuamente de nuestras luchas”. Así cierra este libro su autor, al tiempo que le dice a lxs zapatistas: “gracias por venir”. En diálogo con ellos y con todxs lxs lectorxs de este texto
On top or underneath: where does the general factor of psychopathology fit within a dimensional model of psychopathology?
No full textBackground: Dimensional models of psychopathology are increasingly common and there is evidence for the existence of a general dimension of psychopathology (‘p’). The existing literature presents two ways to model p: as a bifactor or as a higher-order dimension. Bifactor models typically fit sample data better than higher-order models, and are often selected as better fitting alternatives but there are reasons to be cautious of such an approach to model selection. In this study the bifactor and higher-order models of p were compared in relation to associations with established risk variables for mental illness.
Methods: A trauma exposed community sample from the United Kingdom (N = 1051) completed self-report measures of 49 symptoms of psychopathology.
Results: A higher-order model with four first-order dimensions (Fear, Distress, Externalising and Thought Disorder) and a higher-order p dimension provided satisfactory model fit, and a bifactor representation provided superior model fit. Bifactor p and higher-order p were highly correlated (r = 0.97) indicating that both parametrisations produce near equivalent general dimensions of psychopathology. Latent variable models including predictor variables showed that the risk variables explained more variance in higher-order p than bifactor p. The higher-order model produced more interpretable associations for the first-order/specific dimensions compared to the bifactor model.
Conclusions: The higher-order representation of p, as described in the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, appears to be a more appropriate way to conceptualise the general dimension of psychopathology than the bifactor approach. The research and clinical implications of these discrepant ways of modelling p are discussed
Using in-situ process monitoring data to identify defective layers in Ti-6Al-4V additively manufactured porous biomaterials
No full textAdditive manufacturing processes, such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), facilitates the manufacture of porous biomaterials structures, which can be used for example to enhance bone tissue regeneration. In-situ process monitoring techniques such as meltpool emission monitoring are increasingly being applied for the monitoring of the l-PBF processes. This paper investigates the use of statistical anomaly detection to analyse in-situ process monitoring data obtained during l-PBF.
In this study a Renishaw 500M was used to produce porous structures, using Ti-6Al-4 V feedstock powder. During the l-PBF process, a co-axial photodiode-based process monitoring system was utilised to generate data relating to both the meltpool and the operational behaviour of the laser. Porous structures were created with intentionally defective layers, whereby the laser power was selectively reduced at specific layers. Control samples were also created where no intentionally defective layers were created. In addition, an un-intentionally defective sample was also analysed. The Generalized Extreme Studentized Deviate (GESD) test was employed to identify any defective layers within the structures. When this approach was applied to data generated during the processing of the structures with reduced input energy layers, the number of defective layers identified corresponded exactly with the known amount. When the test was run on the meltpool data, corresponding to the un-intentional defective structure, 30 layers were identified as defective. When examined, the identified layers corresponded to the physical location of the defect within the sample.
The results obtained in this study indicate that the GESD test is an effective and computationally inexpensive method of identifying defective layers created during the l-PBF process
On-Line Retrieval of Health Information Based on Language Complexity, Information Customization and Information Quality
No full textA patient, nowadays, acquires on-line health information mainly by means of a search engine. Generic search engines have been shown to be limited and unsatisfactory, at times, because of their generic searches that overload users with the amount of results. Moreover, they are not able to provide customized information to different types of users. At the same time, specific search engines mostly work on medical literature and provide extracts from medical journals that are mainly useful for medical researchers and experts. As a consequence, the found health information may or may not help a user (mainly a non-expert one) for a full comprehension of what he/she is looking for (e.g., a condition, a therapy or a drug). This may negatively affect his/her empowerment process and the interaction with healthcare professionals such as doctors. This work presents a custom search engine, FACILE, that allows to overcome the limitations discussed above by facilitating finding and comprehension of on-line information and thus positively affecting the empowerment process and communication/interaction with healthcare professionals. A user, both a medical expert or non-expert, can specify his/her information requirements in terms of language level, specific information searched, and information quality. FACILE will provide the links to the web pages that comply with such requirements. In particular, FACILE will provide links to web pages with different language levels (simple or complex) and, for each link, the response page will show the requested specific information (condition, therapy, drug, etc.) and a graphical indication (0–5 stars) of the information quality
Leaning into Love and Compassionate Care in my Early Years Practice.
No full text‘What does education need now?’
My research suggests the violence children are subject to is at an all-time high. The
need for children to experience Love and Compassionate Care within our early years
education system is needed now more than ever. Our policies favour terminology such
as ‘whole systems approach’ and ‘economicus’. The standardisation of children’s
learning is facing a worldwide crisis of outcome-driven goals. Emphasising literacy and
numeracy with the effect of pushing down ‘schoolifcation’ on our young children. The
purpose of this study was to examine myself both professionally and personally by
exploring my ‘Living Contradictions’ with the intention of improving my own practice.
Relational and holistic care are central to my values. I aspired to intensify my
knowledge and professional practice by means of practical environmental interventions
and observing the impact of the adult/child and child/child relationships. This research
challenges the somewhat deficit-based lenses of trauma-informed practices. Rather
viewing the research through a relationship-based lens seeking to buffer the effect of
trauma on a person’s life outcomes. My self-study project employed qualitative
research using Korthagen’s action research cycle and this was extended by using
Brookfield’s lenses to allow the participants, theoretical richness and meaningful voices
to be understood. Data was collected through reflective journaling, anecdotal evidence,
reflecting mapping and experiential questionnaires. My results established innovative
guiding principles for our preschool ecosystem. Our relational-based holistic pedagogy
encompasses the self, the physical and affective environment which extends to the
transformative effects of myself, my colleagues, and the children. The overarching
themes emerging from my research were the ‘Good Enough Educator’, ‘Holistic Curriculum’ and ‘The Ripple Effect. The conclusion explains the benefits of radical
love as a revolution. Bringing forth multiple fields to seek the same goal. Defining what
how predominant values are in decision making and how we need to pull them apart
and interrogate them. Allowing innovate teaching and practice to emerge It explores
what came from my dissatisfaction of the literature. Radical love promoting human
kindness and compassionate care. The research end with recommendations for future
practice including links to policy.
Key Words: Self-study, Action Research, Critical Reflection, Love, Compassion,
Relationships, Transformational Education, Schoolification. Good Enough
