Experienced Practitioners Research Articles

"Jumping on the Blood Pressure Bandwagon": Nurse, GP, and Patient Perspectives of a General Practice Nurse-Led Hypertension Management Intervention.

To explore the perceptions and experiences of general practice nurses, general practitioners, and patients who participated in a nurse-led intervention to improve blood pressure control. Given the impact of hypertension on rates of premature death and disability, it is important that interventions be evaluated to reduce blood pressure. A key component of such evaluation is understanding the experiences of participants and clinicians. Understanding these experiences can provide insight into acceptability and feasibility that informs future research and implementation. Qualitative descriptive study within a mixed methods project. Semi-structured interviews were conducted post-intervention with six patients, five nurses, and three general practitioners. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The COREQ checklist guided reporting. Three themes around the need for change, navigating change, and sustaining change were revealed. In highlighting the need for change, participants recognized that it was time to actively work toward improved blood pressure control. In navigating change, general practice nurses were perceived as ideally placed to communicate risks around uncontrolled blood pressure and support lifestyle change. The final theme, sustaining change revealed the feasibility of the intervention in practice, however, clinician participants identified that appropriate funding is required to ensure sustainability. Nurse-led intervention to improve blood pressure control in general practice is feasible in practice and acceptable to patients. This highlights an opportunity for nurses to play a more proactive role in hypertension management within general practice. To ensure sustainability, however, issues such as funding, teamwork, and collaboration need to be addressed. Trial Registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12618000169246.

Integrating computing techniques in preserving Makassar’s Pakarena dance heritage

This interdisciplinary study bridges the cultural heritage of the Pakarena dance, a key element of Makassar ethnicity, with contemporary computing and informatics to examine its social implications, particularly in terms of identity formation, community transmission, and narrative preservation. Emphasizing the dance’s crucial role within the Makassar community, the research employs digital technologies for comprehensive data collection, analysis, and dissemination. Utilizing a qualitative framework supplemented by digital ethnography, the methodology includes in-depth interviews and participant observation, enriched with advanced data analysis and virtual reality (VR) presentations. This innovative approach facilitates the digital capture of the narratives and experiences of dance practitioners, cultural experts, and community members, ensuring the preservation of the dance’s cultural narrative and expression. The study reveals that the Pakarena dance is not only a bearer of the Makassar community’s history and traditions but also a platform for individual creativity and cultural identity, adapting while preserving its core in the face of societal shifts. The findings highlight the potential of computing and informatics in cultural preservation, suggesting new methods for documenting, analyzing, and promoting intangible cultural heritage. The study advocates for the use of technology to enhance and perpetuate cultural heritage, especially for younger generations, in our increasingly digital era.

The security implications of using feminist methodologies to study gender-based violence in Yemen

IntroductionThis paper examines the political and security implications of gender-based violence (GBV) research in Yemen during the period (2019–2023). As various radical groups are gaining power over Yemeni land, radical views toward women and gender equity and equality shape the experiences of GBV survivors, practitioners, and researchers in the North of Yemen. Policing Houthi ideologies in Yemen have curtailed GBV research and subjected feminist research to myriad risks. If this situation continues, experiences of women and girls in Yemen will not be captured by research. Their stories and needs will not be captured by humanitarian and peace-building actors.MethodologyFindings of this study are based on primary data from key informant interviews with 25 GBV researchers actively engaged in Yemen. Sampling followed the snowballing technique.ResultsThe findings examine political and security power dynamics after the Houthi radical group took control in the north of Yemen, and implications on GBV research design. Anti-feminist ideologies coupled with extreme security measures have impacted quality of GBV study methodologies as well as researchers' safety and mobility. Donors of previously established GBV programs and research were harassed to change research topics or lose permission to speak to local communities or collect data from aid beneficiaries. Researchers who do not follow new rules of engagement with the community are detained, harassed and their devices and databases are confiscated. Terms like “gender” and “GBV” are not deemed acceptable as these are western concepts that do not align with new community values. The findings highlight the need to use conflict-sensitivity and Do No Harm principles in settings where GBV work is scrutinized. It also challenges the orthodox definition of “GBV evidence” and explores the ethical implications of the use of alternative means to collecting data. Findings also provide insight into valuable alternative methodologies that allow local and national researchers to continue studying GBV in conflict impacted areas without exposing themselves to actual or perceived risk. The paper proposes concrete approaches that can mitigate political and security risk on both researchers and GBV survivors.

School-based support for children bereaved due to parental intimate partner homicide

ABSTRACT Internationally, there is growing recognition of the scale and consequences of intimate partner homicides (IPH). A significant, though often neglected consequence is how many children are impacted by these tragic events. In such challenging circumstances, children need stability, continuity and trusted people they can rely on for support. This paper aims to understand how best to provide school-based support for children following parental IPH by investigating the experiences of affected children, their caregivers and professionals with experience of working with these children. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 35 participants in Australia, the UK and Ireland (11 with lived experience, 12 caregivers and 12 professionals). We developed two key themes through the data analysis process: (1) School as a supportive place and (2) Limited access to a trusted, supportive adult at school. We found that schools can potentially be supportive, safe, stable, and consistent places for affected children, and teachers and counsellors can help provide trusted, supportive relationships for them; however, there needs to be effective resourcing within an overall policy structure. Schools are in a strategic position to identify the effects of trauma in the children’s lives and can also provide a valuable link between children and relevant specialist services. There are limitations, however, regarding both the accessibility and availability of suitable skilled and experienced practitioners who can support the children, their caregivers, and school staff. Ongoing care teams need to be established to provide the comprehensive, individualised services these children need.

Affinity spaces

This poster (Padlet ‘Collaborative reflection on AI’) showcases a professional development approach that uses Padlet as an affinity space (Gee, 2004; Honeychurch, 2023) for educators to collaboratively explore and reflect on their experiences with Generative AI (GenAI) in education. Following Vallor’s distinction between ease of creation (a key affordance of AI) and challenges of creative expression (a solely human capacity), we found that Padlet was an accessible tool for creating virtual affinity spaces, and that the Padlet format offers a visual representation of a collaborative method of co-creating that ASCILITE attendees can interact with, using a range of multimodal creation tools, including AI-based features available in Padlet (image creator, text-to-speech, and a poll creator). This poster may function as a catalyst for conference attendees to reflect on their own position in this rapidly developing space, and as a model of practice that educators can adapt to their own contexts to design GenAI-integrated learning experiences. Educators need novel ways to make sense of the changing nature of education with GenAI (Vallis et al., 2023) and advance both research and practice in technology-enabled learning. Drawing on a paradigm for academic development that is centred on the notions of construction and co-construction as a process of learning (Pimmer et al., 2016, p. 495), this inquiry used Padlet to provide an affinity space for this sense-making. Affinity spaces differ from communities of practice in having a flat hierarchy instead of a periphery of less experienced practitioners around a core of experts; people enter an affinity space as interactants (“affines”), rather than members (Gee, 2005). In this inquiry, a Padlet provides a “portal” (Calder et al., 2021, p. 448) to an affinity space, a space where contributors who have varying levels of (GenAI) expertise can bond around a shared endeavour (for a comparable use of Padlet to house a ‘thinktank’ for a scholarly project in teaching and learning, see Coleman, 2023). The Padlet serves as both an interactive platform for educators to engage with various perspectives on generative AI in higher education and a model for future learning activities. The aim is to facilitate knowledge sharing and community building around GenAI in education: as Timperley (2008, p.19) states, “participation in a professional community with one’s colleagues is an integral part of professional learning that impacts positively on students”. The collaborative aspect of this inquiry sparked conversations, introduced collaborators to new tools, and stimulated reflection. It encouraged a patchwork of contributions in a variety of formats to provoke more perspectives. It allowed expression of sociotechnical imaginaries about GenAI (Costello, 2024; Dishon, 2024), including themes of “overwhelm to excitement”; “creative potential to concerns of control”; and perceptions of GenAI from “uncanny to real”, and demonstrated that sharing creative practices in a virtual space allows educators to develop new knowledge about their experiences, concerns, and insights about integrating AI into their educational practices.

Old meets New

Virtual reality (VR) has been used for various experiential purposes in tertiary education. This technology is valued for its capacity to simulate experiences close to real-life, for example, providing virtual hands-on experiences (e.g. Agbonifo et al, 2020; Pande & Jepson, 2025) or interactive vision of focal locations (e.g. Dobricki et al, 2021). Despite three decades since VR was recognised at a rudimentary point of development (Moore, 1995), it is not yet broadly used in higher education despite potential to do more to facilitate situated learning (Schott & Marshall, 2021). As an immersive technology, VR offers an avenue for engaging learning through situated Indigenous storytelling. VR has recently proven valuable for transporting school students to Australian Indigenous places otherwise not easily visited and experienced (Education Group, 2024), while a university VR initiative enables delving deep into history to experience the Australian Indigenous landscapes of pre-colonial times (Morse, 2024). VR Indigenous experiences can be valued for their fidelity, especially when created by mob such as Brett Leavy’s virtual songlines (Hardy, 2020). Nevertheless, there are noted global cultural issues, such as risks in adopting a Eurocentric approach and falling short of the fidelity required for Indigenous storytelling (Tubby, 2022). In Australian contexts, ongoing concerns include what can be shared online compared to what is sacred (Yarn Marketplace, 2024), and the need for engaging Aboriginal community to ascertain cultural protocols for designing interactive technology (Loban, 2022). This poster introduces a work-in-progress innovation project at RMIT University, on designing an immersive VR storytelling experience for university practitioners to engage with local Indigenous perspectives. The project aims to contribute to cultural capability growth, and to develop responsible practice in action, and thus navigate the terrain for creating innovative and culturally respectful learning spaces through technology. For contributing to cultural capability growth, the projects’ VR resource enables university staff to experience culture and ways of learning in innovative and engaging ways, to broaden their understanding of local Indigenous perspectives (the Kulin Nation and surrounds) and equip them with the cultural intelligence to underpin effective and empathetic interactions that value Aboriginal perspectives. For responsible practice in action, the project sought a culturally respectful way to learn through community consultations, to inform this and future project processes. The development of the resource was made possible through the efforts of a diverse team from different cultural backgrounds working towards creating a culturally safe environment, including with Indigenous staff members who actively contributed individual personas for the pilot. Development beyond the pilot extends this approach “With mob”, via “respectful partnership” (AIATSIS, 2022) with local Aboriginal community. Consultations respectfully seek guidance, permissions, and potential further Indigenous personas to enrich the resource, and advice on how the VR experience is shared and “the types of tasks” it is used for, given these are complex and “because each facet of culture can simultaneously influence a range of processes” (Littlejohn & Margaryan, 2006, p.270). The project will continue to champion Indigenous culture and refer to community guidance on reusability in other contexts (such as student-facing).

Exploring challenges and politics of knowledge production in the global South - Evidence from Bangladesh’s aid and development sector

This article takes Bangladesh as a case study and explores the motivations (or lack of), challenges, and politics of knowledge production with a particular focus on development scholarship and practice. This piece is based on qualitative research methods and draws from 25 semi structured interviews with highly experienced and senior Bangladeshi development practitioners and academics. Empirical evidence and consequent analysis presented in this work contribute to the debates around the schism in access to resources, politics of aid, and power over knowledge production. This article also reveals local cultural contexts as consultancy works are perceived to be more financially rewarding. This is manifested through current practices that have created a condition where local researchers and practitioners feel they have no time (or incentive and motivation) to engage in knowledge production. Moreover, this article explores whether one’s race and/or nationality play any role in knowledge production, and how the respondents reflect about these issues based on their lived experience. In doing so, findings of this study further the arguments of structural inequality and colour-blind approach within aid and global development landscape. This article offers a rich account of how existing practices favour staff members from the donor countries and exclude Bangladeshi researchers and practitioners from knowledge production processes. This article also brings forward an important issue which highlights that, as perceived by the respondents of this study, one’s institutional affiliation with prestigious Western institutions might matter more in knowledge production (as we know it) than the content, ideas and credibility of knowledge that are generated in the global South. This article contends that by excluding, rejecting, side-lining, and subjugating knowledges produced in the global South development policies and practices will continue to manufacture a particular type of knowledge that will circumvent equity in knowledge production and perpetuate Western hegemony.

Exploring the experiences of traditional practitioners while managing hypertension in Rwanda

BackgroundHypertension (HTN) is a major global health concern, affecting approximately 1.28 billion adults worldwide. In Rwanda, hypertension contribute to 2.81 of the disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and 1.87% of hypertensive heart disease mortality. Traditional medicine remains popular in Africa with some herbal remedies which have shown antihypertensive properties. However, no study was done to explore traditional Practitioners’ approach to hypertension in Rwanda.ObjectiveTo explore the experience of traditional Practitioners while managing hypertension in Rwanda.MethodologyThis qualitative study utilized an ethnographic approach to explore the experience of traditional Practitioners (TPs) while managing HTN in Rwanda. Semi- structure interviews were conducted with 20 traditional Practitioners from three districts known for their popular use of traditional medicine in Rwanda. Participants were purposively selected, and interviews were guided by a pretested semi-structured interview guide in local language. Thematic analysis was used to generate the key themes.ResultsThree main themes emerged from analysis: first, traditional medicine is often undervalued by modern medical providers, resulting in limited collaboration and communication between traditional Practitioners and modern medical providers. Despite this, TPs are trusted by the community, often receiving referrals from patients dissatisfied with modern treatment. Second, TPs face challenges in diagnosing HTN due to lack of diagnostic tools, often relying on their observation, patients’ description of symptoms and patient’s response to treatment. TPs expressed desire for collaboration with modern medicine and access to diagnostic tools. Third, lack of legal framework and standardized practices for traditional medicine remains a challenge.ConclusionThe study highlights the need to promote collaboration between traditional and modern medicine in Rwanda. To enhance HTN management, we recommend training of traditional Practitioners, setting standardized practice and legal framework to guide traditional Practitioners in Rwanda as well as improving their access to HTN diagnostic tools.

Beyond Meditation: Understanding Everyday Mindfulness Practices and Technology Use Among Experienced Practitioners

Mindfulness, a practice of bringing attention to the present non-judgmentally, has many mental and physical well-being benefits, especially when practiced consistently. Many technologies, such as mobile apps, live streams, virtual reality environments, and wearables, have been invented to support solo or group mindfulness practice. In this paper, we present findings from an interview study with 20 experienced mindfulness practitioners about their everyday mindfulness practices and technology use. Participants identify the benefits and challenges of developing long-term commitment to mindfulness practice. They employ various strategies, such as brief mindfulness exercises, social accountability, and guidance from teachers, to sustain their practice. While conflicted about technology, they adopt and appropriate a range of technologies in their practice for reminders, emotion tracking, connecting with others, and attending online sessions. They also carefully consider when to use technology, when and how to limit its use, and ways to incorporate technology as an object for mindfulness. Based on our findings, we discuss expanding the definition of mindfulness and the tension between supporting short- and long-term mindfulness practice. We also propose a set of design recommendations to support everyday mindfulness, including through the lens of metaphor, reappropriating non-mindfulness technology, and bringing community support into personal practice.

Veterinary medicine under COVID-19: a mixed-methods analysis of student and practitioner experiences in Austria

BackgroundThis study aimed to provide a detailed analysis of the pandemic’s impact on the veterinary profession and education in Austria.MethodsTwo online surveys were conducted from November 2022 to January 2023, inviting all veterinarians and veterinary students in Austria to share their experiences on the impact of the pandemic on their veterinarian work and education in a free text question.ResultsA total of n = 289 veterinarians and n = 272 veterinary students provided an answer. In summary, 39.8% of veterinarians reported no impact by the pandemic, while others experienced changes in workload (19.7%), changes in client behavior (14.9%), implementation of safety measures (13.1%), and organizational changes (13.1%). Additional impacts included effects on mental health, private life, finances, as well as physical health. Changes were more frequently mentioned in veterinarians working with pets compared to those working with livestock. In the student panel, only a minority reported no significant impact (8.1%) but 44.9% reporting changes due to online and hybrid learning. Key issues included impaired learning conditions (34.9%), and social distancing (34.6%) leading to social isolation. Some students appreciated increased flexibility and reduced commuting (10.7%), while others experienced mental health challenges (10.7%). Further impacts were related to the implementation of safety measures (5.5%), organizational changes (4.8%) and impaired physical health due to infection (1.1%). Negative changes related to distance learning were mainly reported by students in the final study phase, whereas those in the first study phase reported more positive aspects related to online/hybrid learning.ConclusionOverall, this study highlights the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterinary education and professional practice in Austria, revealing diverse challenges for students and relatively lower but still notable effects on practicing veterinarians. Future research should monitor these impacts longitudinally and explore the integration of beneficial practices into standard veterinary education and care, such as effective digital learning platforms and appointment-based systems.

“A New Way of Teaching and a New Way of Reaching Students”: Building Critical Awareness About Technology Through a Practitioner Inquiry Community

The growing presence of technology in Adult Foundational Education (AFE) represents affordances as well as challenges for marginalized student populations. Utilizing technologies in ways that foster and support AFE students’ agency requires opportunities for practitioners to reflect on problems of practice in their classrooms and make connections to broader structural issues in the field. This qualitative study explored the experiences of AFE practitioners from a large Northeast U.S. city during an 18-month professional development initiative focused on technology integration. Findings explore the practitioners’ range of social practices during the project, including adaptiveness and vulnerability, re-framing students’ digital literacies, and questioning normative assumptions about technology platforms. Understanding how these social practices emerged over time can spark efforts in AFE and other adult education contexts to engage in critically oriented explorations of students’ engagements with technology, ultimately supporting more asset-based approaches to using digital platforms.

Green career education and guidance through the perceptions and experiences of career practitioners in English secondary schools.

The transition to a low carbon economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration are expected to lead to a transformation of economic sectors. This will require a growth in green skills, a receptiveness to green roles and an understanding of the potential greening of all sectors. Plant suggests that green career education and guidance could provide the bridge between the emerging greener labour market and career development in schools. This article presents inductive qualitative research, using semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) to explore the perceptions of career practitioners in English secondary schools revealing a broad spectrum of understanding and approach. A nascent green career education and guidance framework has emerged from a synthesis of existing literature and the research findings.

General dental practitioners' and dental hygienists' perspectives on the guideline for periodontal screening, diagnostics, and treatment in general practice

In January 2021, the guideline 'Periodontal screening, diagnosis, and treatment in general practice' was introduced as a successor to the so-called paro protocol. Simultaneously, the Dutch Periodontal Screening Index was replaced by the Periodic Periodontal Screening. The experiences of general dental practitioners and dental hygienists with the new guideline were evaluated in the autumn of 2022. Random groups of 1,000 general dental practitioners and 400 dental hygienists were invited to answer an online questionnaire on this topic: 125 (12.5%) general dental practitioners and 102 (25.5%) dental hygienists responded. By the end of 2022, a large majority of both groups were using the Periodic Periodontal Screening. Both professional groups were satisfied with the new guideline. Dental hygienists used the Periodic Periodontal Screening in more cases than general dental practitioners and were also more frequently satisfied with the new guideline. Both oral healthcare professionals believed that the Periodic Periodontal Screening offers better opportunities to involve the patient in periodontal care compared to the Dutch Periodontal Screening Index.

Securing meaningfulness in corporate social responsibility: Exploring meaning-making mechanisms via economies of worth

The current literature on meaningful work has attempted to capture the dynamic interplay between individuals’ subjective perception of the meaningfulness of their work and the broader societal and cultural context, employing tensional and temporal approaches. Yet, understanding of how individuals develop their justifications for the worthiness of their work by transcending subjective and social accounts of meaningful work remains limited. To enrich the justification approach to individuals’ tensional and dynamic experiences of meaningful work, we rely on the economies of worth (EW) framework to explore how individuals engage in meaning-making within their work when its worthiness is challenged. Focusing on the experiences and meaning-making of 46 practitioners working in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) field in Vietnam, we identified three meaning-making mechanisms (prospective deferring, localizing, and diverging) enacted in three morally challenging situations experienced by CSR practitioners (self vs belonging, self vs societal perceptions, and self vs external stakeholders’ changing interests). The study makes three contributes: (1) it enriches the meaning-making literature by advancing a justification approach via the EW framework; (2) it clarifies the micro-dynamics of compromise-building mechanisms at different career stages within organizational studies of the EW framework; and (3) it expands micro-CSR research by unpacking the relational tensions and meaning-making experiences of CSR practitioners.

Experiences of mental health practitioners after clients' suicide: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

The objective of this qualitative systematic review will be to understand the experiences of mental health practitioners after clients' suicide. Mental health practitioners inevitably encounter client suicide during their careers, which can significantly affect their personal lives and professional outcomes. A deeper understanding of mental health practitioners' experiences in the aftermath of clients' suicide is necessary to provide effective support and assist with adaptation to this situation. This systematic review will consider qualitative studies that explore the experiences of mental health practitioners, including psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychological counselors, clinical psychologists, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, and social workers following clients' suicide. Experiences may include emotional responses, coping strategies, changes in social relationships, and reflections on practice. This review will follow the JBI methodology for qualitative systematic reviews. The databases to be searched will include PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Embase, PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), SocINDEX (EBSCOhost), Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Bibliographia Medica Čechoslovaca, and Bibliographia Medica Slovaca. Gray literature sources will include Google Scholar, and ProQuest. Studies in English, Czech, Slovak, and Chinese will be assessed for inclusion regardless of publication date. Studies that are initially selected will be assessed for methodological quality using the JBI critical appraisal tool for qualitative studies. Then, findings with illustrations will be extracted for subsequent meta-aggregation and ConQual assessment. All the above steps will be conducted by 2 independent reviewers. PROSPERO CRD42023410523.

Editorial policy and procedure

The Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) recognises the need for critical engagement through studies in TVET and Adult and Continuing Education and Training, and for encouraging critical scrutiny of this expansive knowledge area on the African continent. The voices and experiences of practitioners, reflecting on all aspects of teaching and learning within vocational education and adult education settings, should be heard through publication of empirical and robust research. While the journal clearly wishes to take forward academic scholarship, it also seeks to strengthen opportunities for reflective practice that makes a scholarly contribution to the field. New knowledge emerging out of complex developmental contexts has significant value and needs to be showcased beyond existing geographical and political boundaries. The journal is therefore committed to also supporting the development of emerging researchers by providing them with a space to present and defend their research among a network of global scholars. Within the field of vocational and continuing education there is substantive ‘grey literature’ that remains in project report form. The journal is potentially a vehicle for the translation of this important work into an academic contribution to a wider community of practice and thereby enhancing its value. The JOVACET will appear at least once a year. Unsolicited articles are welcome for consideration and should be uploaded onto the JOVACET’s website online journal or else emailed to the journal’s managing editor. The editors are accountable for everything published in the journal and should therefore:• work towards improving the contents of the journal;• adopt peer-review methods best suited for the journal and the research communityit serves;• ensure that all manuscripts have been reviewed by appropriate reviewers;• ensure quality assurance processes are in place for the material that is published; and• uphold the highest standards of integrity, intellectual rigour and ethics. The editors will not disclose any information about the submitted manuscripts or their authors to anyone other than the author(s) and reviewer(s), as appropriate. Submitted articles will be reviewed by two anonymous external referees in a ‘blind’ peer-review process. Appropriate papers will be reviewed according to their significance and soundness. Articles that have been submitted must not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere. The editors are responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published. The editors’ decision to accept or reject a manuscript should be based on the importance of the manuscript, its originality and clarity, the validity of the study and its relevance to the journal’s scope. Considerations will also include current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. Submissions may not exceed the 8 000-word limit and must contain a title, abstract of not more than 200 words and be correctly and completely referenced according to the Harvard system of referencing. Footnotes should be kept to a minimum. Tables should be positioned where they are referred to and not be submitted separately. Authors are requested to consult the author’s guidelines on the website. The article should not contain any identification of the author and should be anonymised as far as possible. The name(s) and affiliations of the author(s), as well as their email address, should appear on a separate page. The Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal committed to disseminating the latest research in post-school education to the global community as widely as possible. The journal content is freely and openly available after publication on the website, www.jovacet.ac.za, and can be read, downloaded, copied, distributed and printed without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training, Volume 7, Issue 1 2024

The Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training The Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training (JOVACET) recognises the need for critical engagement through studies in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and adult and continuing education and training, and for encouraging critical scrutiny of this expansive knowledge area on the African continent. The voices and experiences of practitioners, reflecting on all aspects of teaching and learning within vocational education and adult education settings, should be heard through the publication of empirical and robust research. While the journal wishes to take forward academic scholarship, it also seeks to strengthen opportunities for reflective practice that makes a scholarly contribution to the field. New knowledge emerging out of complex developmental contexts has significant value and needs to be showcased beyond existing geographical and political boundaries. The journal is therefore committed to also supporting the development of emerging researchers by providing them with a space to present and defend their research amongst a network of global scholars. Within the field of vocational and continuing education there is substantive ‘grey literature’ that remains in project report form. The journal is potentially a vehicle for the translation of this important work into an academic contribution to a wider community of practice, thereby enhancing its value. (c) 2024 Journal of Vocational, Adult and Continuing Education and Training

How do rest-pause and sarcoplasma stimulating training models affect metabolic and psychoaffective responses in bodybuilding athletes compared to traditional training?

Strength training (ST) is a strategy to enhance quality of life through increased strength, muscle hypertrophy, and functional capacity. Training systems are associated with manipulation of volume and intensity, generating different stimuli, such as Rest-Pause (RP) and Sarcoplasmic Stimulating Training (SST). These systems induce greater mechanical and physiological stress, leading to increased strength and muscle hypertrophy. However, the metabolic and psycho-affective effects of advanced systems in experienced practitioners remain inconclusive. The purpose of the study is to analyze the acute effects of RP, SST, and Traditional (TMS) systems on metabolic and psycho-affective responses in adult men. This experimental crossover study assessed 15 subjects (30.38 ± 2.06 years; 88.40 ± 6.50 kg; 1.74 ± 0.07 cm) experienced in ST, evaluated under TMS, RP, and SST during flat bench press and leg press 45° exercises. Body composition, muscular strength via 1-RM testing, lactate concentration (LAC), and psycho-affective measures (Rating of Perceived Exertion-RPE; Visual Analog Scale-VAS; Feeling Scale-FS) were determined. Statistical analysis was performed using the Minitab software, with p ≤ 0.05, IC-95%). The finals results showed SST exhibited a 38.10% lower LAC concentration post-training session compared to TMS, while RP showed 37.20% lower LAC concentration than TMS post-session. Average RPE values for RP and SST were higher (8.50 ± 1.10 and 8.60 ± 0.90, respectively) than TMS (6.00 ± 1.10). VAS displayed higher average values for RP and SST (8.00 ± 2.00 and 8.00 ± 1.00, respectively) compared to TMS (5.00 ± 1.00), with affective ratings indicating positive values for TMS and values between 0 and -5 for RP (40%) and SST (60%) post-training sessions, suggesting that RP and SST induced less affective response than TMS. The results lead to the conclusion that manipulation of training volume and intensity led to higher RPE and pain (VAS). The data suggest that inappropriate prescription of these systems could lead to greater displeasure, leading us to hypothesize that a higher likelihood of discontinuation from strength training programs would occur, suggesting that greater repetition volumes (RP and SST) should be targeted at individuals with a higher training level.

Lyme disease in UK primary care: a knowledge, attitude and practice survey.

Lyme disease (LD) cases in the UK most commonly present within the primary care setting. Despite an upward trend of incidence, little is known regarding general practitioner (GP) experience with diagnosis and treatment. This study aims to describe baseline primary care clinician Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) in Scotland and England. Online KAP survey on Lyme disease for UK based practising GPs. An online KAP questionnaire was developed for use in UK primary care. The survey was distributed through UK based research networks, professional societies and via social media. 191 complete responses were analysed (England n=130, Scotland n=61). The Scotland-based respondent group had more relevant consultations in the previous 3 years. Respondents from Scotland demonstrated a greater awareness that erythema migrans (EM) is pathognomonic for Lyme disease and that serological testing of this patient group is not indicated. Less common cardiac and neurological symptoms were not as well associated with Lyme disease by both respondent groups for the former and England-based respondents for the latter. Prescribing according to the National institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance was identified in 70% of Scotland and 42% of England-based GP responses. Targeted resources may improve clinician confidence on exposure risk, symptom recognition, testing limitations and treatment dose and duration. Scotland-based respondents' better survey performance potentially reflects greater clinical exposure and public awareness of the disease, due to high endemicity within the nation.

Political practitioners poorly predict which messages persuade the public

Do political practitioners have good intuitions about how to persuade the public? Longstanding theories that political elites' messages have large effects on public opinion and the large sums spent to secure some practitioners' messaging advice suggest they should. However, findings regarding the surprising limits of expert forecasts in other domains suggest they may not. In this paper, we evaluate how well political practitioners can predict which messages are most persuasive. We measured the effects of [Formula: see text] messages about 21 political issues using a large-sample survey experiment ([Formula: see text] respondent-message observations). We then asked both political practitioners ([Formula: see text] practitioners, [Formula: see text] predictions) and laypeople ([Formula: see text] respondents, [Formula: see text] predictions) to predict the efficacy of these messages. The practitioners we surveyed ranged widely in their experience and expertise with persuasive message design. We find that: (a) political practitioners and laypeople both performed barely better than chance at predicting persuasive effects; (b) once accounting for laypeople's inflated expectations about the average size of effects, practitioners did not predict meaningfully better than laypeople; (c) these results held even for self-identified issue experts and highly experienced practitioners; and (d) practitioners' experience, expertise, information environment, and demographics did not meaningfully explain variation in their accuracy. Our findings have theoretical implications for understanding the conditions likely to produce meaningful elite influence on public opinion as well as practical implications for practitioners.