Combining perspectives in multidisciplinary research on inequality in education

Laura Søvsø Thomasen: Tracing Ørsted – Interdisciplinary Research and Dissemination Perspectives from the Royal Danish Library’s Hans Christian Ørsted Archive
 2020 marks the 200th anniversary for Hans Christian Ørsted’s discovery of electromagnetism. In connection with the celebration of the bicentennial, the Royal Danish Library will publish online their entire Ørsted archive, which includes a substantial collection of letters to and from Ørsted, a large number of scientific papers on physics, chemistry and mathematics, as well as a plethora of different works on everything from language over politics to aesthetics. With the digitalisation of the archive, the library has created a number of teaching materials available for students in the Danish upper secondary school that showcase the interdisciplinary methods and works by Ørsted but also emphasises the interdisciplinary work required by the students to solve the problem sets. In the article, I explore how the digitalisation of the Ørsted archive opens up for new perspectives both in academic research as well as didactic perspectives in relation to the teaching materials accompanying the archive. In terms of new research perspective, the Ørsted archive showcases how Ørsted not only was interested in a variety of subjects in and around both the natural and cultural sciences, but that he also was truly interdisciplinary himself. Through source material from the archive I show how when approached from the interdisciplinary fields ‘Literature and Science’ and ‘Visual Culture of Science’ that Ørsted integrated both illustrations and literary components to communicate his scientific arguments.

The disproportionate incarceration of certain groups, racial minorities, and the less educated constitutes a social problem from the perspective of both policy makers and researchers. One aspect that is poorly understood is whether the public is similarly concerned about inequities in mass incarceration. Using a list experiment embedded in a framing experiment, we test for differences in attitudes towards mass incarceration by exploring three frames: race, education, and the United States in global context. We test whether social desirability bias causes people to over-state their concern about mass incarceration when directly queried. We find that mass incarceration is seen as a problem in the United States, whether the issue is framed by race, education, or as a global outlier. The list experiment reveals that public concern about mass incarceration is not quite as great as overtly-expressed opinion would suggest, and the framing experiment indicates that race-neutral frames evoke greater concern about mass incarceration than an emphasis on racial disparities.

Self-organization theory is an interdisciplinary scientific direction to improve the quality of acquired knowledge and skills. The article aims to study the development of interdisciplinary research activities among students based on self-organization theory. The study was conducted using an integrated approach, methods of analysis and synthesis, modeling, pedagogical experiments, and mathematical statistics. An elective course, “synergetic-interdisciplinary scientific theory”, and a model for preparing students for interdisciplinary research activities were developed and implemented. The knowledge and skills of 272 physics students in the Republic of Kazakhstan universities in control and experimental groups improved after the training. The knowledge highest level is observed among the experimental group students while studying the natural experiments’ theoretical aspects necessary for researching the natural objects’ sustainability. Experimental group students demonstrated better results in completing the task based on the acquired knowledge and skills. They rated the education quality significantly better on a short educational assessment scale. The results-developed course and the students’ preparing models for interdisciplinary research can be used in advanced courses for different specialties educators. Research perspectives could potentially contribute to the development of integrated subjects and interdisciplinary programs in natural sciences and humanities.

Introduction: Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention for controlling severe obesity, but psychosocial factors such as education and income can significantly influence postoperative outcomes, especially with regard to mental health. Objective: To analyze the influence of education and income on the psychopathological profile of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Methods: Cross-sectional study, with convenience sampling, involving 124 bariatric patients monitored by a multidisciplinary team. Validated instruments were used to assess symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, binge eating, and personality traits. Data collection was performed using an online questionnaire and the data were analyzed with statistical tests appropriate to the nature of the variables, adopting a significance level of 5%. Results: It was found that patients with lower education and income had significantly higher scores on dysfunctional psychological and behavioral symptoms. The presence of binge eating and traits of emotional isolation was more prevalent among individuals in situations of social vulnerability. Conclusion: The results point to the importance of considering the social determinants of health in the monitoring of post-bariatric patients. Psychosocial interventions should be incorporated systematically, with special attention to educational and economic inequalities, promoting comprehensive and equitable care.

Introduction.The article considers the educational failure of students as a social problem. Its relevance is due to the growth of educationally unsuccessful students and the need to overcome this phenomenon.The aimof the present article was to analyse the nature of the influence of the social context on the educational failure of students.Methodology and research methods.The research is based on the interdisciplinary methodology, which integrates the principles of sociological, psychological, socio-psychological, economic, and pedagogical approaches in the study of educational failure and ways to overcome it. The empirical basis of the article is the results of an interdisciplinary study using a qualitative mix strategy (2019–2020). The following methods were employed: semi-formal expert interviews, focus groups with school, college and university students, and the analysis of essays by high school students.Results and scientific novelty.The novelty of the research consists in the interpretation of educational failure, its social context, and in showing the limitations of the educational approach to the analysis of the phenomenon under consideration. The main results presented in the article involve the interpretation of educational failure as an educational and social phenomenon and its social context; the characteristics of the main contextual factors, which are analysed as social inequality in education, educational policy, the place of education in the system of social values and in the model of social success. The results of the empirical research reveal the understanding of educational failure as a social phenomenon, its social causes. It is concluded that the modern social context of Russian education limits the possibility of overcoming this phenomenon and needs to be changedPractical significanceof the article is the possibility to take into account the results of the research to improve social technologies for overcoming educational failure.

The objective of this review is to map the nature and extent of forgiveness facilitation intervention implemented and evaluated in palliative care contexts. Spiritual beliefs often include reconciliation and forgiveness, which are critical to patients and families in palliative care. Forgiveness facilitation can represent a valuable response as a multidisciplinary and non-pharmacological intervention to reduce suffering. Studies including palliative care patients aged 18 years or over and assisted by palliative care teams, including all healthcare professionals, chaplains, and volunteers, were included in this review. This scoping review is based on JBI methodology. The search was conducted in June 2017 and updated in December 2018 using international databases and gray literature in English, Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese. A total of 23 articles were included in this review. The results suggest a growing interest in forgiveness facilitation in palliative care in different spiritual and religious traditions. Most studies are based on a psychological perspective. Several activities related to the intervention have been identified, but few details or characteristics are described. Social workers, nurses, doctors, and psychologists were most identified as healthcare staff involved in forgiveness facilitation. The outcomes related to the intervention are mental, physical, and relational well-being; quality of life, decision-making and communication; self-esteem and hope; depression, anger, and anxiety; and inner peace. Forgiveness facilitation is critical in palliative care and is grounded in a multidisciplinary approach, but further evidence is needed to inform clinical implementation. These results open new perspectives for research and training on palliative healthcare staff.

We had two primary goals when we embarked on assembling this second edition. First, we aimed to summarize and synthesize recent research on children with incarcerated parents and their families that have been conducted across a variety of disciplines, including promising intervention approaches, for a range of audiences. And second, we sought to stimulate high quality, collaborative, interdisciplinary research that will generate information needed by families, practitioners and policymakers to prevent the development of problems and promote the health and well-being of the children with incarcerated parents and their families and communities. With these goals in mind, in this concluding chapter we tie together and elaborate upon the suggestions for research and intervention that have emerged in the preceding chapters. We present an agenda for future research around three conceptual issues: (1) the importance of infusing a social justice perspective that recognizes the importance of and attempts to ameliorate racial and economic disparities when investigating or intervening on the effects of mass incarceration on children and families, (2) the importance of adopting a developmental perspective in research and intervention with children with incarcerated parents, and (3) the need for interdisciplinary scholarship and intervention focusing on resilience processes not only in individuals but also in families. We suggest approaches to various challenges that arise in the areas of research, practice, and policy when working with this population that must be faced in future studies and applied work. We end by highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations for moving the field forward.

Resumo: Objetiva contribuir para a análise da relação entre antropologia, educação e desenvolvimento humano e aborda amplos panoramas do conceito de antropologia histórico-cultural. A antropologia inclui quatro paradigmas: o processo de hominização, o filosófico, o histórico e o cultural. Tais paradigmas correspondem a duas tendências contraditórias de desenvolvimento na globalização atual: uma é direcionada à uniformização, enquanto a outra se volta aos limites desse desenvolvimento e acentua as condições de diversidade cultural. Há uma dupla historicidade e culturalidade na antropologia que surge da historicidade e culturalidade das diferentes perspectivas de pesquisadores antropológicos e do caráter histórico-cultural dos conteúdos e dos temas de pesquisa. A relação entre pesquisa de uma única disciplina, interdisciplinar e transdisciplinar é uma questão fundamental na antropologia. Enquanto há muitas abordagens possíveis, a interdisciplinaridade e a transdisciplinaridade, como formas de organização, são particularmente adequadas para a pesquisa no campo da antropologia.

The research aims to explore the application and development of field surveys in interdisciplinary research. Initially, an overview of the historical background of field surveys is provided. Subsequently, the research discusses the significance of interdisciplinary research utilizing field surveys, primarily elucidating the importance from two perspectives: understanding the world and transforming it. Following this, the article proposes research pathways for interdisciplinary field surveys, encompassing problem orientation, bottom-up approaches, and holistic perspectives. This research aims to deepen understanding of field survey theory and offer a fresh perspective for interdisciplinary research.

This book chapter offers a systematic review of sociological research in Russia on the relationship between ethnicity and educational inequality between 1980 and 2016. Five major research perspectives are identified: (1) languages of school education; (2) school quality and ethnic background; (3) socio-cultural differences and education; (4) problems of migrants and receiving society and (5) students’ inter-ethnic relations, with research on ‘school quality and ethnic background’ and ‘problems of migrants and receiving society’ being the most dominant research traditions. Most of the research conducted in Russia employs a quantitative and critical, positivistic approaches and focuses on the educational problems various ethnic minority indigenous populations are encountering. Migration streams from former republics of the USSR are generally considered a new and hence, less researched problem for Russia. This body of research is written mainly in Russian and developed by sociologists in a context characterized by collaboration between the research community and the government in conducting policy relevant research in relationship to the challenges experienced by ethnic minorities and migrants in Russia. This research is carried out in the post-Soviet context that is characterized by the situational dynamics – from phases of so called “parade of sovereignties” with growing demands for cultural autonomy of various sub-national regions and ethnic minority groups to the stage of more centralized model of ethno-linguistic regime in educational domains.

Family Caregiver Partnerships in Palliative Care Research Design and Implementation.

Dear Reader, Welcome to this special issue of the Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning the journal of the Irish Learning Technology Association. This issue comprises a selection of papers based on submissions to the Next Generation: Digital Learning Research Symposium in November 2016. This symposium was held in partnership between theIrish Learning Technology Association, the Educational Studies Association of Ireland, and both theInstitute of Education andNational Institute for Digital Learning at Dublin City University. The Symposium was framed around the notion of building capacity in research in digital learning. The Symposium’s title not only alluded to generations of teaching and learning but also to learning futures and how we might ford the chasm of the great promise of the digital with evidence of its actual effects. The symposium sought to foster discussion, debate and above all a community of scholars by discussing and debating the big issues we face in digital learning research. The event gave voice to a wide range of Irish educators and researchers across all levels and sectors. The articles in this issue represent a selection of the highlights of presentations at the symposium in extended written form. Professor Gráinne Conole’s keynote served in many ways to set the scene for a broad gathering of educators and researchers from across all levels and sectors. Her article in this issue - Research through the Generations: Reflecting on the Past, Present and Future - traces a broad arc of research in educational technology framed around key technologies and methodological developments. She identifies five transformative technologies: the web/WI-FI; Learning Management Systems (LMSs); mobile devices, Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); and social media. Her piece considers the characteristics that made these developments transformative, along with the challenges to their usage. This examination is followed by an overview of the field of digital learning research and divides digital learning research into three main types: research around the pedagogies of digital learning, research on underpinning technologies, and research at an organizational level. Using this framework the reader is afforded an insight into how digital learning has emerged as a new interdisciplinary field. It is always at the tectonic plates of previously separate disciplines that new terrain emerges and Professor Conole’s piece will provide an invaluable contextual overview to readers both new to the field of digital learning research but also to those more experienced researchers who may be too close to see it. As such it is a richly rewarding read for Ed Tech visitors and residents alike. A second position paper in the issue by Tony Murphy also invokes Educational Technology futures. It examines a key area, and one the three broad themes identified by Conole, that of organizational forms in digital learning. Behind the provocative title of The future of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is in the hands of the anonymous, grey nondescript mid-level professional manager is an informative and insightful research-informed commentary on how technology confronts existing practices and boundaries in higher education. Key insights that this paper affords arises from how it draws on well developed concepts from literature of organizational forms outside of education and uses them to interrogate the emerging practices of work and professional roles for 21st century educators. The theme of contemporary professional practice is central to Exploring higher education professionals’ use of Twitter for learning by Muireann O’Keeffe. Using a Visitor and Resident typology this paper reports on research into how higher education professionals were involved in a range of types of participation (and nonparticipation) on Twitter. It shows how participants both use and sometimes fail to use social networking for professional learning and attempts to unpick the complexities of participation in online spaces. This paper makes an important contribution to the topical area of how we participate (or resist participation) in online spaces as a professional community. Professional practice is also to the fore in a fascinating research piece by Michael Hallissy that looks at practices in Synchronous Computer Mediated Conferencing (SCMC) which is, relative to asynchronous environments, an under researched area. Sharing Professional Practice – Tutors have their say reports on research into teaching in synchronous environments. Using Pedagogical and Content Framework (TPACK) in parallel with the Flanders Interaction Analysis Category the practices of teachers are explored with the aim of challenging and changing them. The findings of this research enjoin us as educators to share our practice critically and reflectively. Its core message is perhaps encapsulated in that both teaching and teaching development are a form of dialogue. Appropriately then, this article is written in a style that immediately engages the reader, draws them into a story and is a richly rewarding read. A number of current trends are captured in Barry James Ryan’s research article Near Peers: Harnessing the power of the populous to enhance the learning environment. This research investigated the impact of a tool called NearPod used in third level educational settings. Using a case study methodology it shows a practical implementation of some key trends in higher education and reports on its aims to enhance the student learning experience through the integration of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and flipped classroom learning. Methodologically this study is interesting for its use of student and teacher reflective forms of data and provides a valuable vignette of contemporary research informed teaching. To conclude it is hoped that the diverse array of articles in this issue offers something for every interested reader. Indeed this is reflective of the diversity of the Irish community that is engaged in practices informed, mediated or enabled by some kind of digital learning technology. Conole’s article sets this out from a research perspective and the picture has been painted elsewhere of what “Ed Tech” as an emergent discipline might look like. To this end it is hoped that this issue goes some way towards helping us build our community through the critical lens of research. On behalf of the Irish Learning Technology Association and the journal editorial team we wish you happy reading (and hope to see your work in a future issue). Best wishes, Eamon, Tom and Fiona [1] Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning Ireland, 2017. © 2017 E. Costello. The Irish Journal of TechnologyEnhanced Learning Ireland is the journal of the Irish Learning Technology Association, an Irish-based professional and scholarly society and membership organisation. (CRO# 520231) http://www.ilta.ie/. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

This chapter summarises the implications of the four sections for the sociology of risk and uncertainty. It analyses what these developments in methodology, methods, and research strategies have to offer for interdisciplinary risk research in general. The chapter will conclude with suggestions for further development and research.

Collaboration is fundamental to progress in the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research where interdisciplinary teams are involved in the requirements elicitation, design, implementation and evaluation of context‐sensitive digital solutions. Research collaboration harbors the potential for knowledge exchange, improving research impact and human development; it is often a requirement in grant applications for funding. Despite the known benefits and incentives, there is evidence that research collaborations between African countries are lacking compared to those with and between other geographic regions. Furthermore, research collaboration has been studied as a variable but theorisation of the concept is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to theorize research collaboration as an object with affordances based on the perspective of novice researchers (master's, doctoral and postdoctoral students) in South Africa. The data capturing from a survey and focus groups with ICT4D novice researchers from different universities in South Africa produced 39 responses to be captured, transcribed and analyzed with Atlas.ti 8 using thematic analysis. The main contribution is the theorisation of research collaboration as an object with properties and then an investigation of the affordances offered to novice researchers together with the facilitating conditions and conversion factors influencing the actualisation of those affordances. The practical contribution is the insight gained into the perspectives of novice researchers as representatives of the future generation of research collaborators.

Intergenerational Ambivalences: New Perspectives on Parent-Child Relations in Later Life. Karl Pillemer & Kurt Luscher (Eds.). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. 2004. 357 pp. ISBN 0-7623-0801-X. $90.00 (cloth). Karl Pillemer and Kurt Luscher's (2004) edited volume is a satisfying extension to the original introduction of the intergenerational ambivalence approach presented in JMF (Luscher & Pillemer, 1998). Readers desiring empirical proof from earlier theoretical discussions (see JMF, 64(3) for a five-paper symposium) will find tangible evidence of both personal and social ambivalences experienced between generations. Thirteen chapters divided into four sections provide an organized path tracing the theoretical roots, conceptual dilemmas, and methodological issues for assessing ambivalence in intergenerational relationships. Empirical results from a mixture of European and U.S. scholars were especially compelling as validation for the concept of intergenerational ambivalence, as was the promising glimpse into studies with young adult samples. Family researchers using the ambivalence framework will find the collection useful and thought provoking. Pillemer and Liischer's (2004) edited volume belongs to the Elsevier series of Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research. Consistent with most areas of gerontology, the volume presents work from a variety of disciplines including psychology, human development and family studies, sociology, and family therapy. The multidisciplinary approaches by the volume's contributors create different understandings of the ambivalence concept that at first appear problematic. The editors, however, believe that over time, the perspective is likely to become more clearly articulated and the field of study more integrated (p. 7). Regardless of multiple definitions, this volume advances the operationalization and methodological assessments of intergenerational ambivalences. The introduction written by the editors provides the rationale for needing a theory in family gerontology that addresses positive and negative features of intergenerational relationships. The editors maintain that they are not presenting a formal theory but rather illustrating a sensitizing concept for the study of parent-child ties in later life. Luscher's chapter follows with a historical sketching of ambivalence as a social science construct. Luscher is uniquely positioned to provide views on the origins of ambivalence because of his access to early and current German writings, which have a deep tradition in this field. The connections made between current-day theorizing and earlier positions from Bleuler, Freud, and Knellessen are particularly interesting. Readers familiar with Luscher's 2002 remarks in JMF and work with the Konstanz research group will recognize his heuristic model for dealing with intergenerational ambivalences, which are presented in detail (pp. 47-57). Chapter 4 written by Frank Lettke and David Klein is an alternate entrance point for the volume. This chapter begins the section on methodological issues and is a treasure of ideas for anyone planning or designing a study. A key feature of this chapter is the distinction between direct and indirect measurement of the ambivalence construct. Not surprising, different methodologies can yield results that are interpretable on various levels of the construct. Measurement issues are not entirely resolved in this chapter but instead are identified for the reader to consider. The next three chapters in the methodology section offer readers a selection of empirical studies that find compelling evidence for the individual experience of ambivalence in social relationships. Pillemer (Chapter 5) focused on a sample of older mothers and found that nearly 40% reported ambivalence with at least one adult child. Pillemer suggests from the measurement of ambivalence in his study that the concept is different from indicators of poor relationships. …