Inquiry Into Research Articles

Engaging With Living Waters: An Inquiry Into Children’s Relations With a Local Austin Creek

This article focuses on the inclusion of local environmental education for a class of kindergarten children in Austin, Texas. The purpose is to inspire educators to include local waterways as a compelling source for children to learn alongside environmental challenges in their immediate contexts, to learn how to live in reciprocal relations with water, and to care for water as essential to all life on earth.

:Concordia Ecclesiae: An Inquiry Into Tension and Coherence in Philipp Melanchthon’s Theology and Efforts for Ecclesiastical Unity, Especially in 1527–1530

:<i>Concordia Ecclesiae: An Inquiry Into Tension and Coherence in Philipp Melanchthon’s Theology and Efforts for Ecclesiastical Unity, Especially in 1527–1530</i>

政策実現手段としての設置認可行政 : 高等教育計画の実施過程における機能を中心に(II 研究報告)

政策実現手段としての設置認可行政 : 高等教育計画の実施過程における機能を中心に(II 研究報告)

Devozione: A Poetic Inquiry Into Some Italian American Women’s Devotion to St. Rita

The devotion of saints in many Italian American households is as natural as breathing. One need not be particularly “religious” in the strict sense of the word. There is a mystical quality, especially among the women that I know and have known. In the following poems, I use poetic inquiry to show a vividness of experience that has an ineffable quality that would be more difficult to render in narrative and to “. . . use poetic representation as a means to evoke emotional response in readers and listeners in an effort to produce some shared experience between researcher, audience and participant.”

Systems Thinking and Systems-Based Practice Across the Health Professions: An Inquiry Into Definitions, Teaching Practices, and Assessment

ABSTRACTPhenomenon: Systems thinking is the cornerstone of systems-based practice (SBP) and a core competency in medicine and health sciences. Literature regarding how to teach or apply systems thinking in practice is limited. This study aimed to understand how educators in medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant, nursing, and speech-language pathology education programs teach and assess systems thinking and SBP. Approach: Twenty-six educators from seven different degree programs across the five professions were interviewed and program descriptions and relevant course syllabi were reviewed. Qualitative analysis was iterative and incorporated inductive and deductive methods as well as a constant comparison of units of data to identify patterns and themes. Findings: Six themes were identified: 1) participants described systems thinking as ranging across four major levels of healthcare (i.e., patient, care team, organization, and external environment); 2) participants associated systems thinking with a wide range of activities across the curriculum including quality improvement, Inter-professional education (IPE), error mitigation, and advocacy; 3) the need for healthcare professionals to understand systems thinking was primarily externally driven; 4) participants perceived that learning systems thinking occurred mainly informally and experientially rather than through formal didactic instruction; 5) participants characterized systems thinking content as interspersed across the curriculum and described a variety of strategies for teaching and assessing it; 6) participants indicated a structured framework and inter-professional approach may enhance teaching and assessment of systems thinking. Insights: Systems thinking means different things to different health professionals. Teaching and assessing systems thinking across the health professions will require further training and practice. Tools, techniques, taxonomies and expertise outside of healthcare may be used to enhance the teaching, assessment, and application of systems thinking and SBP to clinical practice; however, these would need to be adapted and refined for use in healthcare.

The Feasibility and Clinical Utility of Conducting a Confidential Inquiry Into Suicide in Southwestern Ontario

Given the effectiveness of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI) in the UK, the present study evaluated this approach in Southwestern Ontario. A systematic confidential examination of suicides in Ontario was developed to guide quality improvement of services and suicide prevention. A 3-year case series of consecutive suicides in Southwestern Ontario identified by the Office of the Chief Coroner was compiled. Clinicians who provided care to suicide decedents completed an online confidential suicide questionnaire offered through a secured portal. A total of 476 suicide cases were analyzed. In all, 270 invitations to clinicians were sent, 237 (87.8%) responded to the invitation and 187 (69.3%) completed the online questionnaire. The majority of the suicide decedents (54.6%, n = 260), were between the ages of 40 and 64 (x = 47.2, SD = 17.1), White (91.4%, n = 416), single (34.2%, n = 439), and male (74.4%, n = 476). Of the 86 cases of self-poisoning, prescription medications were used in 66.3%. Almost two thirds of decedents visited the clinician in the month prior to their death. The results of the survey were drawn from suicides in Southwestern Ontario and generalizing these findings should be done with caution. This study highlights (a) the value of the clinicians' survey to identify gaps in clinical services and (b) the necessity of improvements in suicide risk assessment/management and restriction of prescription medications.

Eight Events for Entering a PhD: A Poetic Inquiry Into Happiness, Humility, and Self-Care

These two poetry clusters comprised a total of eight poems that offer (a) reflective, “past” event poetry and (b) hopeful “humbling” event pieces for future use. Inspired by scholarship examining novice academics’ emotions upon entering graduate school, each poem outlines a potential path to accessing happiness, humility—an especially important quality in graduate school, particularly while writing—and ideas for self-care. As such, through poetic inquiry, which encourages “poetic living,” this article offers avenues for engaging with authorial voice through “vox autobiographia/autoethnographia,” to confront emotional “messiness,” with a “tender” poetic approach.

Gifted Students’ Perceptions of Gifted Programs: An Inquiry Into Their Academic and Social-Emotional Functioning

The aim of the present study was to examine elementary and middle school students’ ( N = 49) perceptions of their gifted and talented program using eight focus group interviews. Qualitative analyses revealed several themes regarding students’ academic and social-emotional functioning and how teachers influenced students’ experiences within their gifted program. Findings indicated that there were differences between elementary and middle school students’ perceptions of how the gifted program affected their academic and social-emotional functioning. Suggestions for educators are provided about the importance of understanding gifted students’ experiences of schooling to support the development of these students within gifted and talented programs.

Capturing the Social Location of African American Mothers Living With HIV: An Inquiry Into How Social Determinants of Health Are Framed.

The disparate health outcomes of African American mothers living with HIV are considerable. Multidimensional approaches are needed to address the complex social and economic conditions of their lives, collectively known as the social determinants of health. The purpose of this study was to explore the social determinants of health for African American mothers living with HIV by examining how mothers describe their social location at the intersection of gender, race, and class inequality; HIV-related stigma; and motherhood. How they frame the impact of their social location on their health experiences is explored. This exploratory study included in-depth, semistructured interviews with 18 African American mothers living with HIV at three time points. We used an intersectional framework and frame analysis to explore the meaning of these constructs for participants. Findings from 48 interviews include a description of the intersecting social determinants functioning as systems of inequality and the heterogeneous social locations. Three frames of social location were used to organize and explain how African American mothers living with HIV may understand their social determinants of health: (a) an emancipatory frame, marked by attempts to transcend the negative social connotations associated with HIV and socially constructed identities of race, gender, and class; (b) a maternal frame, marked by a desire to maintain a positive maternal identity and maternal-child relations; and (c) an internalized frame, marked by an emphasis on the deleterious and stigmatizing effects of HIV, racial, gender, and class inequality. The findings offer knowledge about the heterogeneity in how demographically similar individuals frame their social location as well as how the intersections of social determinants influence participant's health experiences. Potential health implications and interventions are suggested for the three frames of social location used to describe intersecting social determinants of health. The study offers an analytic approach for capturing the complexity inherent in intersectional methodologies examining the role of social determinants in producing health inequities.

Processfolio: Uniting Academic Literacies and Critical Emancipatory Action Research for Practitioner-Led Inquiry Into EAP Writing Assessment

This article reports on the design and implementation of an alternative form of writing assessment in a UK English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pre-sessional course. The assessment, termed processfolio, was a response to research inquiry into how writing assessment in a local context negated student agency and inculcated disempowering models of teaching and learning academic writing. The project merged an Academic Literacies approach to writing (Lea and Street, 1998) with a Critical Emancipatory Action Research (Carr and Kemmis, 1986) framework and a Critical Realist (Bhaskar, 1989) perspective. Data collected from interviews with students and teachers on their experiences of the processfolio found that a small scale intervention has potential for agency to be exercised within the highly constrained context of a UK EAP pre sessional. New directions in research are proposed which can engage students and teachers to work for change in EAP within their internal and external constraints.

A Narrative Inquiry Into Pre-Service English Teachers’ Temporal Investments in Their Initial Education Curriculum

This paper originates from a narrative inquiry into English teachers’ identity carried out with 24 undergraduates at an Argentinean university English as an international language teacher education program. Grounded in a narrative conceptualization of identity, this enquiry gathered participants’ storied field texts that were analyzed narratively. This paper explores how students’ narratives disclosed the exercise of their agency concerning the program’s curriculum by deciding how and when (not) to invest, reinvest, or divest their personal time in scheduled courses. We problematize these categories originating in undergraduates’ narratives, connecting them to literature in the field of curriculum. The conclusion suggests the implications these situated findings entail for English as an international language teacher education curriculum and research.

A Mixed-Methods Inquiry Into Trans* Environmental Microaggressions on College Campuses: Experiences and Outcomes

ABSTRACTThe experiences, including with environmental microaggressions, and well-being of trans* collegians remain an under-researched topic. In this mixed-methods study of a survey sample of 152 trans* collegians, multivariable regression findings suggest that the frequency of experiencing select trans* environmental microaggressions (e.g., not having access to comfortable bathrooms as a trans* person) are associated with increased risk for poorer academic outcomes (e.g., developmental challenges) but are not associated with mental health outcomes. Furthermore, interviews with 18 trans* collegians suggest that students face several systemic microaggressions, including difficulties advancing trans* inclusion. Various reactions, including paths of resistance, were identified. Implications are discussed.

Support for Relatives Bereaved by Psychiatric Patient Suicide: National Confidential Inquiry Into Suicide and Homicide Findings.

International suicide prevention strategies recommend providing support to families bereaved by suicide. The study objectives were to measure the proportion of cases in which psychiatric professionals contact next of kin after a patient's suicide and to investigate whether specific, potentially stigmatizing patient characteristics influence whether the family is contacted. Annual survey data from England and Wales (2003-2012) were used to identify 11,572 suicide cases among psychiatric patients. Multivariate regression analysis was used to describe the association between specific covariates (chosen on the basis of clinical judgment and the published literature) and the probability that psychiatric staff would contact bereaved relatives of the deceased. Relatives were not contacted after the death in 33% of cases. Contrary to the hypothesis, a violent method of suicide was independently associated with greater likelihood of contact with relatives (adjusted odds ratio=1.67). Four patient factors (forensic history, unemployment, and primary diagnosis of alcohol or drug dependence or misuse) were independently associated with less likelihood of contact with relatives. Patients' race-ethnicity and recent alcohol or drug misuse were not associated with contact with relatives. Four stigmatizing patient-related factors reduced the likelihood of contacting next of kin after patient suicide, suggesting inequitable access to support after a potentially traumatic bereavement. Given the association of suicide bereavement with suicide attempt, and the possibility of relatives' shared risk factors for suicide, British psychiatric services should provide more support to relatives after patient suicide.

Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Into iPad Use in Grade 3 Classrooms: Mobilizing Knowledge Through a Long-term School-University Partnership

In this paper, we report on a longitudinal case study exploring Grade 3 teachers’ implementation of iPads in the Language Arts classroom. A school-university partnership was formed based on a collaborative teacher inquiry model. We examined factors that shaped our collaboration. The project resulted in greater teacher sharing of iPad implementation strategies and growth in leadership skills among the teachers. A surprising finding was the degree of reciprocal learning about digital pedagogy that the university researchers experienced during the study and were able to share with their Pre-service Education classes. We emphasize the potential of school-university partnerships for narrowing the current gap between theory and practice in technology-enhanced learning.

Moving Collaborations: A Critical Inquiry Into Designing Creative Interactive Systems for Choreography

The use of technology in choreographic process has been encumbered by the richness of data in live human movement and the constraints of computation. While technology is often considered a tool in choreographic process, with developments it can participate as a collaborator by transforming and elici

A Co-operative Inquiry Into Generating, Describing, and Transforming Knowledge About De-escalation Practices in Mental Health Settings

De-escalation is concerned with managing violent behaviour without resorting to coercive measures. Co-operative Inquiry provided the conceptual basis for generating knowledge regarding de-escalation practices in acute mental health care settings. The research included service users and staff members as co-researchers and knowledge was generated in dynamic research cycles around an extended epistemology of knowing: experiential, presentational, propositional, and practical. Through this process, co-researchers became de-escalation learners, implementing de-escalation practices while transforming violence management. Neighbouring mental health communities’ involvement strengthened the transformation process and assisted in validating the research results.

Book Note: Dying From Improvement: Inquests And Inquiries Into Indigenous Deaths In Custody, by Sherene H. Razack

Book Note: Dying From Improvement: Inquests And Inquiries Into Indigenous Deaths In Custody, by Sherene H. Razack

Books: The Soul Of The Marionette: A Short Enquiry Into Human Freedom &amp; Are You An Illusion?

The Soul Of The Marionette: A Short Enquiry Into Human Freedom John Gray Allen Lane, 2015, HB, 192 pp, £17.99, 978-1846144493 Are You An Illusion? Mary Midgley Routledge, 2014, PB, 176pp, £14.99, 978-1844657926 Every day we see patients whom we believe matter, because people matter. They often make real choices that we disagree with but we believe them to have dignity, worthy of our respect and care. But what if we are making a mistake? What if we humans are really just machines or ordinary animals, with nothing special about our humanity? What if our job was really no different from that of a vet, or a car mechanic? Is there anything special about being human? The big question is about the nature of human consciousness, and whether our actions are to some extent free. In the 1880s Thomas Huxley suggested that our thoughts and feelings are simply the idle side effects of our actions. They are like the whistle on the steam train: they attract our attention but do not drive the train. We are but ‘conscious automata’. By this account our consciousness is a mere epiphenomenon of the deterministic actions of our brain. There is nothing new in these ideas; they are major themes of Martin Luther, David Hume, …

A Comparative Inquiry Into The Legal Regime Of Mortis Causa Donations In Some Continental-European And Common Law Legal Systems

Abstract The mortis causa donation is a particular form of donation, made in the anticipation of death. Its regime was subjected to particular different norms in some continental-European legal systems, such as the French and the Romanian ones, and in some common law legal systems, such as the English and the American ones. This article investigates in a comparative manner the different legal solutions regarding the status of mortis causa donations in French and Romanian legal systems, on one hand, and in the English and American legal systems, on the other. Although in the history of French law the donation mortis causa was recognized under the customary norms of the ancien droit, contemporary continental-European legal systems do not recognize an intermediary gratuitous act between testamentary provisions and donation contracts, while in the common law legal systems the mortis causa donation is recognized as a particular form of gratuitous transfer, but it has different legal effects in English and American legal systems.

Active Learning: Qualitative Inquiries Into Vocabulary Instruction in Chinese L2 Classrooms

AbstractActive learning emerged as a new approach to learning in the 1980s. The core concept of active learning involves engaging students not only in actively exploring knowledge but also in reflecting on their own learning process in order to become more effective learners. Because the nonalphabetic nature of the Chinese writing system makes learning to read and write Chinese characters extremely time‐consuming for native English speakers, this qualitative study was intended to identify instructional strategies, methods, and activities for promoting active learning among beginning learners of Chinese as a second language and to investigate students' perceptions of the identified strategies, methods, and activities with regard to their effectiveness in engaging students in meaningful learning.