Chance Opportunities Research Articles

Students’ informal learning interactions in health professions education: insights from a qualitative synthesis

ABSTRACT Despite being recognised as complementary to formal learning, informal learning is not yet well understood. Using a qualitative synthesis approach, we systematically reviewed how students’ informal learning interactions are represented in health professions education research. Thirty-five articles were identified. Our three-stage analysis identified five themes: (1) conceptualisations and theoretical underpinning; (2) the what of informal learning; (3) contextualised and relational (the where and how); (4) enablers and threats; and (5) capabilities and dispositions that help make learning happen. The findings suggest that scholars need deeper engagement with concepts and theories related to informal learning; and greater attention is required to develop learner capabilities and dispositions, such as agency. Furthermore, there needs to be an increase in the connections between formal and informal learning, as the content often left to chance opportunities in informal learning contexts is too important not to be designed for and embedded in formal education.

Editorial: Toyota Production System practices asFast‐and‐Frugalheuristics

Editorial: Toyota Production System practices as<scp>Fast‐and‐Frugal</scp>heuristics

Making Healthcare Safe: The Story of the Patient Safety Movement

Making Healthcare Safe: The Story of the Patient Safety Movement

Cannus stannous

This classroom activity highlights how evolution by natural selection is nonteleological—that is, not guided by need, by organismal intent, by inherent progress, by an external ideal, or by any observable purposive agent. Rather, it is driven by chance opportunity, environmental context, and historical happenstance. Students simulate the evolution of a population of tin cans, based on temperature retention/loss in either arctic or hot desert habitats. Chance and necessity interact in separate lab groups (as isolated populations), based on similar starting organisms. The process demonstrates not only selection but also how even organisms in similar environments may not evolve with identical traits, depending on available mutations. It shows that even when selection occurs, it may not do so consistently or uniformly with each generation. It shows both divergence based on different contexts of selection and variability based on the vagaries of history.

Bilingualism and achievement in the Spanish second generation: A longitudinal study

ABSTRACT The current study contributes to the continuing debate about the advantages of bilingualism on life chance opportunities by examining whether bilingual children of immigrants achieve more or less in adulthood compared to monolinguals. Using longitudinal data from Spain, we find significant advantages among bilinguals in measures on educational attainment, occupational prestige, and familial income. We build on the existing literature of status attainment using structural equation modelling to show how the effect of bilingualism is longitudinal and reinforcing of adult outcomes. The study concludes with a discussion about the theoretical and practical implications of our findings, particularly about adaptation and incorporation of children of immigrants in receiving countries.

Clear as mud: the ecology and conservation of a secretive wetland fish (Neochanna cleaveri:Galaxiidae) in a heavily altered landscape

The rediscovery of presumed extirpated populations provides a second chance opportunity for species and habitat conservation. This study details the redetection of a westerly outlying population of a secretive wetland fish, the Australian Mudfish Neochanna cleaveri, as a positive note in the face of major environmental change. It also documents the basic ecology of the population to inform natural resource management and better understand the needs of similar habitat specialists. Nuclear genetic markers (allozymes) revealed the rediscovered population to be closely related to those in other parts of the range. Targeted sampling in the south east of South Australia indicated a robust population, occupying vegetated ephemeral wetlands and drains across two fragmented and contrasting systems. Movement sampling failed to detect migrating juveniles, which was supported by otolith trace elemental chemistry, that implied a wholly freshwater or at least non-marine lifecycle. Together these data indicate specific conservation management is warranted for a regionally disjunct and independent population and emphasises the importance of both remnant ephemeral wetlands and some artificial habitats for maintaining freshwater biodiversity across heavily altered landscapes.

Health in cities: Getting out and about as we age

Abstract Transportation influences health through its effects on people's access to goods, services, and life chance opportunities; social interactions; physical activity levels; air pollution exposures; and road injury risks. Given the ageing of populations, it is essential that decisions about land use and transportation systems are appropriate to meet the mobility needs of older people and support healthy ageing. Not all transportation options, however, may be accessible to older people. Factors that affect accessibility relate to the spatial and physical characteristics of places, personal and social contexts of individuals, and rules and norms underpinning planning and policy making. This research aimed to understand how different parts and processes of urban systems interact to influence transportation options for older people. Using the Greater Sydney area as a case, we drew on key informant interviews and public policy documents to identify the considerations that inform planning and policy making as they pertain to the nature of cities and the opportunities of older people to get out and about. We compared and integrated these findings with peer-reviewed literature of similar urban growth areas. Our analysis mapped the factors of the human-urban system that are central to enabling transportation mobility for older people, articulated their interrelationships, and identified the actors that influence them. Our results point to the involvement of actors from the public health, community development, transportation, and urban planning sectors at multiple levels of government. Each of these actors operate within their own remit to influence a part of the urban system relevant to older people's transportation, such as the zoning of land, the approval of housing developments, and the location of bus stops. However, these individual actions are constrained by others in the system. We interpret this complexity with a governance lens. Key messages Efforts to promote mobility in old age should move beyond ‘single solutions to single issues’ approaches toward those that reflect the complexity of cities and the ways that people move within them. For sustained realization of desired outcomes, age-friendly initiatives cannot occur in isolation, but rather must take into account the behaviours and dynamics of the urban system.

Benefits of Boredom: An ‘Interlopers’ Experience of Conducting Participant Observation on the Production Line

Embracing a lyrical style of writing, the paper discusses the advantages of conducting participant observation and calls for its increased use in business and management research, especially the field of human resource management (HRM). In a sector dominated by quantitative research methods, we are left with many unanswered questions about organisational life. While surveys have provided us with an abundance of ‘hard’ data, it has resulted in a lack of depth and understanding around the employee experience. Reflecting on a research project that explored the concept of high‐performance work systems (HPWS), the paper discusses a chance opportunity to undertake participant observation and how the experience not only changed the focus of the research project but provided a depth and understanding currently missing from the HRM/HPWS paradigm. Structured around ‘lessons learnt’, the paper calls for methodological eclecticism and hopes to encourage others to become ‘interlopers’ and embrace the benefits of conducting participant observation.

America's Paper Prisons: The Second Chance Gap

Over the last decade, dozens of states and the federal government have enacted “second chance” reforms that increase the eligibility of individuals arrested, charged, or convicted of crimes to shorten their sentences, clear their criminal records, and/or regain the right to vote. While much fanfare has accompanied the increasing availability of “second chances,” little attention has been paid to their delivery. This study introduces the concept of the “second chance gap,” which it defines as the difference between eligibility and delivery of second chance relief; explores its causes; and approximates its size in connection with several second chance laws and initiatives. Using administrative and other data, it finds that among a host of petition-based second chance opportunities, to shorten sentences, restore one’s vote, and clear one’s criminal convictions, only a small fraction (less than 10 percent) of those eligible for relief actually received it. Extrapolating based on a novel analysis of around sixty thousand criminal histories of persons primarily seeking gig-economy work and of the expungement laws governing nonconvictions of all fifty states applying the nonconviction expungement laws of all fifty states to around sixty thousand criminal histories of persons primarily seeking gig-economy work, this study estimates that at least twenty to thirty million American adults, or 30–40 percent of those with criminal records, fall into the “second chance expungement gap,” living burdened with criminal records that persist despite appearing to partially or fully clearable under existing law. These findings suggest that tens of millions of Americans are stuck in a paper prison, held back by deficiencies in the administration of second chances that have left them incarcerated, disenfranchised, or burdened by convictions beyond what the law requires. Some of the barriers to relief are structural and related to debt, overburdened bureaucracies, and the contested nature of second chance rules that unwind past judgments and policies. But others are harder to see and stem from administrative failures like unworkable standards, missing and incomplete criminal justice information (“dirty data”), a lack of awareness of second chance opportunities, and costly and complex processes. Fixing them—by moving administrative burdens from the defendant and onto the state and algorithms through automation, standardization, and ruthless iteration—can narrow the gap. Leveraging them, “Clean Slate” initiatives to automatically clear eligible criminal records can have the potential to help the millions of Americans in the second chance expungement gap. However, the ability of such second chance initiatives to improve outcomes depends on how they are implemented. Debt-related barriers and dirty data can contribute to incomplete automation, leading to “second second chance gaps.” In the realm of expungement, application of the expungement criteria to minor but not major offenses can also have the effect of exacerbating, not narrowing, existing racial disparities within the population of people with records, while improving them within the general population. Further research is needed to understand the impact of automated clearance under different scenarios, such as when the defendant is not notified of the relief received or there is a risk of statistical discrimination making things worse, not better. Overall, however, though other hurdles may remain, automation can remove the unfair collateral punishments, not steel bars, holding back tens of millions of Americans.

Unemployment, well-being, and the moderating role of education policies: A multilevel study

This article aims to investigate if education policies moderate the association between unemployment and well-being among young adults. Based on the capability approach, we argue that education policies mitigate the negative effects of unemployment by providing opportunities for education and thus ways to exit unemployment. Education policies can strengthen capabilities, enhance the control that individuals have over their situation, and thereby reduce the stress associated with unemployment. We estimated cross-level interactions between education policies and unemployment status using multilevel methods and data from the European Social Survey. Results showed that policies that increase educational opportunities—such as generous second chance opportunities—were associated with smaller negative effects of unemployment on well-being and that this moderating impact was stronger for young adults with low education. Further analyses show that education policies are also associated with perceived capabilities among unemployed, supporting the proposed mechanism.

Transitions from Unemployment to Education in Europe: The Role of Educational Policies

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate cross-country variability in transition rates from unemployment to further education among young adults, as well as how barriers in educational systems affect these transition rates. Previous research on adult further education has largely neglected the role of policies, and has not taken unemployed people into account.Two dimensions of educational policies are investigated. (1) Barriers facing prospective students with regard to previous academic achievements (e.g. second chance opportunities); and (2) financial barriers (e.g. high costs). It is hypothesized that low barriers are associated with higher transition rates into education, especially for unemployed young adults with lower levels of education.The aim is approached by investigating how differences in transition rates across countries are linked to the design of educational policies. Cross-country standardised individual-level panel data from 29 European countries are taken from EU-SILC. Multilevel multinomial models are fitted.Results show that lower barriers in the education system are associated with higher probabilities that unemployed young adults leave unemployment to re-enter further education, although only partial support is found for the hypothesis that unemployed young adults with lower levels of education gain relatively more from low barriers. Low barriers are sometimes associated with lower transition rates into employment.

A második esély problematikája az oktatási rendszerben

This paper reviews second chance opportunities in the education system of Hungary. It revises early school leaving data, changes in second chance schools in recent decades, and the questions of equivalence of the qualifications achieved in adulthood. If early school leavers do not receive a second chance their marginalisation is inevitable.

The Second Chances Gap

Over the last decade, all fifty states and the federal government have enacted “second chance” reforms that increase the eligibility of individuals arrested, charged, or convicted of crimes to shorten their sentences, clear their criminal records, and/or regain the right to vote. While much fanfare has accompa- nied the increasing availability of “second chances,” little attention has been paid to their delivery. This study introduces the concept of the “second chance gap,” which it defines as the difference between eligibility and delivery of second chance relief; explores its causes; and approximates the size of the gap in connection with several second chance laws and initiatives. Using administrative and other data, it finds that among a host of petition-based second chance opportunities, to shorten sentences, restore one’s vote, and clear one’s criminal convictions, only a small fraction (less than 10 percent) of those eligible for relief actually received it. Extrapolating based on a novel analysis of around sixty thousand criminal histories of persons primarily seeking gig- economy work and of the expungement laws governing nonconvictions of all fifty states, this study estimates that at least twenty to thirty million American adults, or 30–40 percent of those with criminal records, fall into the “second chance expungement gap,” living burdened with criminal records that persist despite appearing to be partially or fully clearable under existing law. These findings suggest that tens of millions of American are stuck in a paper prison, held back by deficiencies in the administration of second chances that have left them incarcerated, disenfranchised, or burdened by convictions beyond what the law requires. Some of the barriers to relief are structural and related to debt, overburdened bureaucracies, and the contested nature of second chance rules that unwind past judgments and policies. But others are harder to see and stem from administrative failures like unworkable standards, missing and incomplete criminal justice information (“dirty data”), a lack of awareness of second chance opportunities, and costly and complex processes. Addressing them—by moving administrative burdens from the defendant and onto the state and algorithms through automation, standardization, and ruthless iteration—can narrow the second chance relief gap. Leveraging them, “Clean Slate” initiatives to automatically clear eligible criminal records can have the potential to help the millions of Americans in the second chance expungement gap. However, the ability of such second chance initiatives to improve outcomes depends on how they are implement- ed. Debt-related barriers and dirty data can contribute to incomplete automation, leading to “second second chance gaps.” In the realm of expungement, application of the expungement criteria to minor but not major offenses can also have the effect of exacerbating, not narrowing, existing racial disparities within the population of people with records, while improving them within the general population. Further research is needed to under- stand the impact of automated clearance under different scenarios, such as when the defendant is not notified of the relief received or there is a risk of statistical discrimination making things worse, not better. Overall, however, though other hurdles may remain, automation can remove the unfair collateral punishments, not steel bars, holding back tens of millions of Americans.

British Ornithologists’ Union Union Medal

British Ornithologists’ Union Union Medal

My Life in Clinical Neuroscience: The Beginning.

This chapter recounts the author's life from childhood until he opened his research laboratory as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1976. It emphasizes the importance of chance opportunities and generous mentoring in the initiation of his career in neuroscience and psychiatric research.

An Appreciative Inquiry into an Urban Drug Court: Cultural Transformation

The purpose of this study was to use an appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical research perspective and change methodology to transform the working relationships and cultural expectations of members through the discovery of their positive core leading to an optimistic and confidence - based future for an urban drug court. This study describes how participants through their participation in the first two stages of an AI 4 - D cycle (Discovery and Dream) transformed their working relationships and organizational culture. Participants included an urban drug court magistrate, manager, and purposively selected staff [15 participants]. The urban drug court is designed as a last chance opportunity for substance abusers. As a result of participation in the appreciative inquiry process, participants (a) discovered a resiliency and willingness to overcome challenges, (b) reaffirmed a sense of purpose in their work and (c), discovered a positive core of successful experience. Our study demonstrates the creative possibilities when applying AI to groups mired in deficit thinking. In doing so, we advanced the research in AI, positive organizational psychology, and learned optimism.

Building the links between surveillance, research, and policy and practice – dental public health experiences in Australia

To identify how to translate dental public health surveillance and broader research into policy and practice. Via a literature review to identify both the potential uses of surveillance data and key elements in the policy making process. Then through a consideration of Australian dental public health examples to identify ways to build links between this research and policy making. The development of dental public health policy can be complex. Different notions of evidence are held by researchers and policy makers. A cultural gap divides these two groups. Translation of research into policy is more likely if an issue is moved up the policy agenda through judicial articulation of the problem with an associated policy proposal and where political factors are positive. If these elements exist, a policy outcome is more possible when a 'policy window' opens. Five ways to build the links between surveillance, research and policy and practice are to communicate across the cultural gap; be prepared for chance opportunities to transfer knowledge; undertake policy relevant research; don't abuse research evidence by making exaggerated claims; and provide timely dissemination of surveillance and research findings. Structural barriers to academics having greater engagement with policy agencies also need to be addressed. Translating surveillance and broader research evidence into policy requires active management rather than expecting passive diffusion. Researchers need to understand and act on the external factors that are likely to affect the uptake of their research if they want their research to influence policy and practice.

The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure (review)

Reviewed by: The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure Dan K. Utley The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure. By Monte Akers. (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2010. Pp. 240. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780896727083, $29.95 cloth.) An attorney by training and a historian by inclination, Monte Akers has great enthusiasm for the past, and he mines his broad interests effectively to tell remarkable stories, explore the margins of history, and have a good time in the process. With a well-honed sense of humor and an engaging, self-effacing style, he understands how to bring the reader along on his personal journey. His journey is one with no preconceived boundaries that encompasses a healthy range of curiosity extending from archival research and heritage tourism to reenacting and relic hunting. Along the way, the author asks important and provocative questions about the past that challenge conventional historical thinking, and then offers his own unique set of answers based on his experiences and focused insights. Akers’s personal search is both entertaining and enlightening, providing elements reminiscent of both Antiques Roadshow and History Detectives. There is serious history in the book, no doubt, but there are also healthy doses of irony and humor, and they serve to keep the reader in eager anticipation of the next surprise moment. Akers’s special tongue-in-cheek perspective is clearly evident from the opening pages, when he writes about his early experimentation with Civil War reenacting. Describing his chance opportunity to serve as a battle scene extra in the 1980s television mini-series, North and South, Book II, he noted: Charlie [Sullivan] and I were unfettered, unattached, and undisciplined. We each possessed both Federal and Confederate uniforms, we knew that most re-enactment units welcomed additional warm bodies, and we were not shy about asking, or begging, to be allowed to join up with any unit we believed might get on camera that day. We made it our goal for the week to get filmed firing the shots that killed us (8). Akers cuts a wide swath through history with his quandaries about such seemingly disparate topics as Robert E. Lee’s bald pate, sexism on the reenactor battle-field, the poignant relationship between a celebrated general and a five-year-old child, encounters with con men peddling dubious artifacts, the story of a reported Alamo survivor, the value of old letters, and the veracity of recorded rebel yells. The cast of characters he encounters—both past and present—is equally diverse, and they provide important cultural dimensions to the stories. Few of them are a challenge to the author himself, who chronicles with more than a small measure of objectivity his own interesting life in pursuit of the past, which includes well-intentioned efforts at poetry, songwriting, acting, genealogical context, and even a run at local politics. [End Page 207] Akers has a skill for presenting well-told stories, unresolved mysteries, and noteworthy characters, and the results make for compelling reading. In the postscript to the book, he provides a fitting summation of his arguments before the general court of readers: “History—family, local, national and world—moves forward and on, and we must move with it as long as we can, then enjoy the next great adventure in the great cycle. Perhaps then we’ll learn the truth about what really happened, told us by the folks, or spirits, who were there and who knew the value of preserving a good tale” (209). Dan K. Utley Texas State University-San Marcos Copyright © 2011 The Texas State Historical Association

Collection Of Vertebrate Faeces By The Orchid Bee Eulaema cingulata Fabricius

In one of those unique chance opportunities the author observes in detail a rarely, if ever, recorded activity of this elusive Central American bee. Contact: opj@talk21.com.

Key educational experiences and self-discovery in higher education

This study investigates key educational experiences in higher education. Key experiences are short and intense instructional episodes that students remember to have had a decisive effect on their lives. Data comes from a sample of 3045 key educational experiences, focusing on the 11.6% that relate to higher education. The paper uses a qualitative analysis to describe different features of key experiences in higher education. The results suggest that key experiences involve a process of self-discovery where students find features about themselves they knew nothing of previously. They also help to characterize three main contexts for self-discovery in higher education. First, key experiences take place in academically challenging circumstances that get students to embark on identity adventures. Second, challenging circumstances also provided ripe ground for sage advice that professors provided their students with. These words of wisdom became leitmotifs for students’ lives henceforth. Finally, the results indicate the importance of second chance opportunities for self-discovery and identity rehabilitation in higher education.