NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Restorative justice during and after COVID-19
No full textRestorative justice services and practitioners have not stopped working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather, they have adapted their practices and training to be suitable for online, telephone and socially distant delivery. They are also using their skills to provide support for colleagues, students and community members and to offer a path towards healing in the aftermath of the pandemic.
This article outlines some activities of restorative justice services and practitioners during the pandemic. It is based on information gathered during Marder’s monthly facilitation of a meeting of (mostly European) restorative services and practitioners and Rossner’s one-on-one conversations with restorative practitioners across Europe, the US and Australia. The European meetings each involved around 30 persons from 12 jurisdictions, with more than 60 people from 19 jurisdictions attending the four meetings from April to July 2020 (Marder, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d). They discussed various issues, including preparing for and facilitating victim-offender dialogue online, using restorative practices to support citizens and professionals during and following lockdowns, readying restorative services to return to face-to-face work, and the potential for transitional justice to help respond to societal trauma and grief. Rossner’s one-on-one conversations with restorative services focused largely on delivering restorative justice training and practices online. This Note also draws on the reflections of restorative justice practitioners and leaders published by the European Forum for Restorative Justice
The nature and prevalence of diagnostic testing in mathematics at tertiary-level in Ireland
No full textIn this study, we conducted a survey of all tertiary level institutions in Ireland to find out how many of them use diagnostic tests, and what kind of mathematical content areas and topics appear on these tests. The information gathered provides an insight into what instructors expect students to know on entry to university and what they expect students to have difficulty with. In total, 12 diagnostic tests from 11 Irish institutions were collected during the study. An item-by-item analysis was carried out on each diagnostic test to determine the content areas and topics that are assessed on the diagnostic tests and to identify any additional knowledge required for successful completion. We compare the tests administered in the university sector and the Institute of Technology (IT) sector of the Irish tertiary level education system. In addition, current diagnostic tests are compared with two tests from the 1980s to see if the level of mathematical preparedness expected of first-year students has changed over time. Our analysis is situated in a discussion of previous research on diagnostic testing both nationally and internationally
Inaugural Report on Maynooth University’s Teaching & Learning’s Engagement with Sustainability and the SDGs
No full textThis inaugural report on Maynooth University (MU) teaching & learning’s engagement with
sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is prepared by the three MU
Teaching and Learning Committees of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science
and Engineering, and the Faculty of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy, arising from an
online questionnaire issued in May 2021.
The three MU Teaching and Learning Committees and the Faculties sincerely thank the Heads
of Departments, Centres, Schools, and Institutes, Teaching and Learning Committee
Departmental representatives, and individual staff who gave up their time to complete this
questionnaire and, in some cases, to submit significant extra content. All content is archived
pending further analysis following the feedback from the University Teaching and Learning
Committee and the University Faculties
Natural Environments, Psychosocial Health, and Health Behaviors during COVID-19 – A Scoping Review
No full textThe COVID-19 outbreak has led to major restrictions globally, affecting people’s psychosocial health
and their health behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this scoping review was to summarize the available
research regarding the nature-health-association in the COVID-19 context. Keywords related to natural
environments and COVID-19 were combined to conduct a systematic online search in six major
databases. Eligibility criteria were a) published since 2020 with data collected in the COVID-19 context
b) peer-reviewed, c) original empirical data collected on human participants, d) investigated the
association between natural environments and psychosocial health or health behavior, and e) English,
German, or Scandinavian language. Out of 8,568 articles being obtained, we identified 82 relevant
articles representing 80 unique studies. Most studies focused on adults in the general population and
were predominantly conducted in the USA and Europe. Overall, the findings tentatively indicate that
nature mitigates the impact of COVID-19 on psychological health and physical activity. Through
thematic analysis of the extracted data, three primary themes were identified: 1) type of nature assessed,
2) psychosocial health and health behaviors investigated, and 3) heterogeneity in the nature-health
relationship. Research gaps in the COVID-19 context were identified regarding I) nature characteristics
that promote psychosocial health and health behaviors, II) investigations of digital and virtual nature,
III) psychological constructs relating to mental health promotion, IV) health behaviors other than
physical activity, V) underlying mechanisms regarding heterogeneity in the nature-health relationship
based on human, nature, and geographic characteristics, and VI) research focusing on vulnerable groups.
Overall, natural environments demonstrate considerable potential in buffering the impact of stressful
events on a population level on mental health. However, future research is warranted to fill the
mentioned research gaps and to examine the long-term effects of nature exposure during COVID-19
Unveiling the gravitational universe at μ-Hz frequencies
No full textWe propose a space-based interferometer surveying the gravitational wave (GW) sky
in the milli-Hz to μ-Hz frequency range. By the 2040s, the μ-Hz frequency band,
bracketed in between the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and pulsar
timing arrays, will constitute the largest gap in the coverage of the astrophysically
relevant GW spectrum. Yet many outstanding questions related to astrophysics and
cosmology are best answered by GW observations in this band. We show that a
μ-Hz GW detector will be a truly overarching observatory for the scientific community
at large, greatly extending the potential of LISA. Conceived to detect massive
black hole binaries from their early inspiral with high signal-to-noise ratio, and
low-frequency stellar binaries in the Galaxy, this instrument will be a cornerstone
for multimessenger astronomy from the solar neighbourhood to the high-redshift
Universe
SumHEIs Summer School Development Programme for European HEIs. Training Needs Analysis Synthesis Report
No full textThis document is part of Capacity building
Programme for Academic and Administrative Staff
regarding the learning methodologies on in-person,
virtual and blended learning environment. The TNA
report’s (IO2 of the SumHEIS project) main goal is
to develop the training material needed to design
and manage a successful summer school model. It
consists of the TNA methodology, the findings from
national reports (Greece, Italy, Ireland, Latvia), the
actual needs of the summer school staff and the
training plan
The Development of the Framework for Research Ethics in Terrorism Studies (FRETS)
No full textThis article introduces readers to the Framework for Research Ethics in Terrorism Studies (FRETS). FRETS has been developed to assist IRB/HREC chairs and reviewers in completing reviews of terrorism studies ethics proposals, in as objective a manner as possible. The framework consists of a series of yes/no questions for chairs and reviewers to answer before completing their reviews. These questions are divided into six different sections: participant’s right’s, safety and vulnerability; informed consent; confidentiality and anonymity; researcher’s right’s, safety and vulnerability; data storage and security-sensitive materials; and the ethical review process. This framework was developed as a result of critical analysis of the literature in terrorism research and analogous fields
“I came, I saw, I conquered”: reflections on participating in a PhotoVoice project
No full textAbstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide first-hand reflective narratives from participants of their
involvement in the overall process, with particular reference to the benefits and challenges of
engagement.
Design/methodology/approach – Five participants agreed to write a reflective piece of approximately
500 words on their involvement in the PhotoVoice project.
Findings – The reflective narratives in this paper demonstrate the personal and professional benefits of
sustained and meaningful engagement, while challenges such as power imbalances, identity
management, time and cost commitments are discussed.
Practical implications – PhotoVoice is a methodology that has the potential to democratise knowledge
production and dissemination.
Originality/value – There are scant examples in the PhotoVoice literature of the inclusion of participants
involvement in dissemination activities. The reflective narratives in this paper demonstrate the personal
and professional benefits of sustained and meaningful engagement, while challenges such as power
imbalances, identity management, time and cost commitments are discussed.
Keywords Mental health, Advocacy, Alternative interventions, PhotoVoice, Service user engagement,
Public and patient involvement
Paper type Case study
Forgive us our Trespasses: Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland
No full textThe Irish state and Catholic Church established Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland. These institutions forcibly housed unwed women who became pregnant, the last of which closed in 1996. It is estimated that 35,000 women were forced into these institutions and 6,000 babies died in their care. In 2014, a mass grave of babies and children was found in the septic tank at Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. The following year, a commission was created to investigate these establishments. This visual essay explores the stories of these women and their babies as well as the reaction of a shocked nation
Perception of Substance Use Disorder Training: a Survey of General Psychiatry Residents in Nigeria
No full textObjective Substance use disorder (SUD) is a global concern. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that SUD training for psychiatry residents is less than optimal but it is unknown whether the situation is different in low-/middle-income settings. This study assessed psychiatry residents’ perception of their SUD training. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among general psychiatry residents in Nigeria from November 2018 to May 2019. Data were collected through self-completion of an English-language questionnaire with multiple-choice and open-ended questions administered face-to-face and online. Results A total of 51 participants completed the questionnaire, mean age 33.6 years and 76.5% men. Most participants (70.6%)expressed interest in addiction psychiatry, and 47.1% perceived their SUD training as inadequate. When asked to rate satisfaction with the SUD training they have received so far, 52.9% were unsatisfied, and the absence of in-house SUD training (29.4%) was the leading cause of dissatisfaction. For those who were satisfied, the most common reasons were availability of SUD training and treatment-related factors (31.4%). The most frequent suggestions for making addiction psychiatry subspecialty attractive to psychiatry residents were provision of SUD treatment units, structured SUD training, and continuity of such training. Equipping existing SUD treatment units and creating more treatment units were the most common suggestions for improving current SUD training. Conclusion This study demonstrated a high level of interest in addiction psychiatry, but satisfaction with SUD training was mixed. Addressing causes of dissatisfaction and areas suggested for improvement would be necessary to sustain interest