From Predictability to the Theories of Change

This is a call for contributions to a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical dedicated to cluster algebras in mathematical physics. Over the ten years since their introduction by Fomin and Zelevinsky, the theory of cluster algebras has witnessed a spectacular growth, first and foremost due to the many links that have been discovered with a wide range of subjects in mathematics and, increasingly, theoretical and mathematical physics. The main motivation of this special issue is to gather together reviews, recent developments and open problems, mainly from a mathematical physics viewpoint, into a single comprehensive issue. We expect that such a special issue will become a valuable reference for the broad scientific community working in mathematical and theoretical physics. The issue will consist of invited review articles and contributed papers containing new results on the interplays of cluster algebras with mathematical physics.Editorial policyThe Guest Editors for this issue are Philippe Di Francesco, Michael Gekhtman, Atsuo Kuniba and Masahito Yamazaki.The areas and topics for this issue include, but are not limited to: discrete integrable systems arising from cluster mutationscluster structure on Poisson varietiescluster algebras and soliton interactionscluster positivity conjectureY-systems in the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz and Zamolodchikov's periodicity conjectureT-system of transfer matrices of integrable lattice modelsdilogarithm identities in conformal field theorywall crossing in 4d N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories4d N = 1 quiver gauge theories described by networksscattering amplitudes of 4d N = 4 theories3d N = 2 gauge theories described by flat connections on 3-manifoldsintegrability of dimer/Ising models on graphs.All contributions will be refereed and processed according to the usual procedure of the journal.Guidelines for preparation of contributions The deadline for contributed papers is 31 March 2014. This deadline will allow the special issue to appear at the end of 2014.There is no strict regulation on article size, but as a guide the preferable size is 15–30 pages for contributed papers and 40–60 pages for reviews. Further advice on publishing your work in Journal of Physics A may be found at iopscience.iop.org/jphysa.Contributions to the special issue should be submitted by web upload via ScholarOne Manuscripts, quoting ‘JPhysA special issue on cluster algebras in mathematical physics’. Submissions should ideally be in standard LaTeX form. Please see the website for further information on electronic submissions.All contributions should be accompanied by a read-me file or covering letter giving the postal and e-mail addresses for correspondence. The Publishing Office should be notified of any subsequent change of address.The special issue will be published in the print and online versions of the journal.

This is a call for contributions to a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical dedicated to cluster algebras in mathematical physics. Over the ten years since their introduction by Fomin and Zelevinsky, the theory of cluster algebras has witnessed a spectacular growth, first and foremost due to the many links that have been discovered with a wide range of subjects in mathematics and, increasingly, theoretical and mathematical physics. The main motivation of this special issue is to gather together reviews, recent developments and open problems, mainly from a mathematical physics viewpoint, into a single comprehensive issue. We expect that such a special issue will become a valuable reference for the broad scientific community working in mathematical and theoretical physics. The issue will consist of invited review articles and contributed papers containing new results on the interplays of cluster algebras with mathematical physics.Editorial policyThe Guest Editors for this issue are Philippe Di Francesco, Michael Gekhtman, Atsuo Kuniba and Masahito Yamazaki.The areas and topics for this issue include, but are not limited to: discrete integrable systems arising from cluster mutationscluster structure on Poisson varietiescluster algebras and soliton interactionscluster positivity conjectureY-systems in the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz and Zamolodchikov's periodicity conjectureT-system of transfer matrices of integrable lattice modelsdilogarithm identities in conformal field theorywall crossing in 4d N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories4d N = 1 quiver gauge theories described by networksscattering amplitudes of 4d N = 4 theories3d N = 2 gauge theories described by flat connections on 3-manifoldsintegrability of dimer/Ising models on graphs.All contributions will be refereed and processed according to the usual procedure of the journal.Guidelines for preparation of contributions The deadline for contributed papers is 31 March 2014. This deadline will allow the special issue to appear at the end of 2014.There is no strict regulation on article size, but as a guide the preferable size is 15–30 pages for contributed papers and 40–60 pages for reviews. Further advice on publishing your work in Journal of Physics A may be found at iopscience.iop.org/jphysa.Contributions to the special issue should be submitted by web upload via ScholarOne Manuscripts, quoting ‘JPhysA special issue on cluster algebras in mathematical physics’. Submissions should ideally be in standard LaTeX form. Please see the website for further information on electronic submissions.All contributions should be accompanied by a read-me file or covering letter giving the postal and e-mail addresses for correspondence. The Publishing Office should be notified of any subsequent change of address.The special issue will be published in the print and online versions of the journal.

Nothing about me without me: The central role of program beneficiaries in developing theories of change

Aims:There are a growing number of organisations working to address theconnections between climate change and health. This article introduces theconcept of ‘theories of change’ – the methodology by which organisations ormovements hope to bring about social change – and applies it to the currentclimate change and health movement in England. Through movement mapping, thearticle describes and offers reflections on the climate change and healthecosystems in England.Methods:Organisations working on climate change and health in England were identifiedand publicly available information was collated to map movementcharacteristics, target stakeholders and methodologies deployed, using aninductive, iterative approach.Results:A total of 98 organisations working on health and climate change (and/orsustainability) were initially identified, of which 70 met the inclusioncriteria. Most organisations target two or more stakeholders, withhealthcare workers, management structures, and government being mostcommonly cited. Methodological approaches identified include Formaleducation programmes; Awareness-raising; Purchasing-procurement power;Advocacy; Financial; Media-messaging; Networking; Knowledge generation; andPolicy making, of which education, awareness-raising, and advocacy are mostcommonly used.Conclusion:There is a tendency for climate change and health organisations in England tofocus on individual level and sectoral change over system change. More couldbe made of the potential for the healthcare professions’ voice and messagingfor the wider climate movement. Given the rapid boom of climate change andhealth organisations in recent years, a mind-set shift that recognisesdifferent players as part of a cohesive ecosystem with better coordinationand collaboration may reduce unnecessary work, and facilitate more cohesiveoutcomes.

How and why are Theory of Change and Realist Evaluation used in food security contexts? A scoping review

This chapter explores evaluation about and for system change within a case study of The Rippel Foundation's ReThink Health initiative. Their work involves field building to understand and shift what constrains current systems influencing health and well‐being and place‐based efforts to change systems carried out with regionally focused stewards. Guiding questions addressed how ReThink Health envisions, supports, and evaluates system change. Data included document review and group and individual interviews with staff members followed by iterative cycles of descriptive pattern coding and analysis. Seven, interrelated findings depict system change as (1) reframing problems and (2) cultivating stewardship supported by (3) adapted and new tools. Additionally, evaluation (4) fuels learning, (5) uses a developmental theory of system change, (6) assesses changes to system conditions, and (7) seeks to continuously develop value. Authors identify considerations for others engaged in system change evaluation.

Studies of teacher professional development (PD) have found that PD is more effective when it coheres with teacher beliefs and local policy contexts. Recently, however, many states and districts have experienced sudden policy shifts that pose a challenge to PD alignment. Legislation and other efforts to ban critical race theory and so-called divisive concepts have created a hostile environment for teachers to engage in equity-oriented work. How should PD respond to the growing possibility that school and district policy contexts may not align with teachers’ commitments to serve all students and the public good? In this essay, we describe how our recent PD experience prompted us to rethink traditional conceptualizations of PD−context alignment, using insights from complexity theory. We offer a revised PD theory of change that recognizes contexts, not as external influences, but rather as central to PD design, malleable, and able to be influenced by teachers themselves.

Equity-related ‘knots’ in theory of change development: Conceptualization and case illustrations

Sports-based positive youth development (SB-PYD) programs are health promotion programs that intentionally use sports to build life skills and leadership capacity among young people at risk of social exclusion. The defining characteristics of SB-PYD programs are that they are strengths-based, holistic, and use sports as a vehicle to maximize young people’s health, social, and educational outcomes. SB-PYD programs aim to enhance modifiable social determinants of health (such as social inclusion) by explicitly addressing three Ottawa charter action areas; strengthening community action, developing personal skills, and creating supportive environments. These programs have been increasingly implemented since the early 2000s to address the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Despite their growth, research indicates that SB-PYD programs are often designed, implemented, and evaluated without evidence-based theories of change. An evidence-based theory of change is a visual depiction of a program’s assumptions, activities, contextual factors, and outcomes supported by scientific findings. A lack of evidence-based theory of change becomes problematic at the implementation phase when practitioners are trying to determine if their programs should be adapted or fixed. Without an evidence-based theory of change, practitioners are making changes based on their intuition, which limits program outcomes. However, the process of developing a theory of change is time-consuming and resource intensive. Multiple calls to action have been made for SB-PYD practitioners who have successfully developed evidence-based theories of change to share their process with others in the field. This will provide a blueprint for other SB-PYD practitioners to develop and articulate their own theories of change to optimize program development and adaptation. Traditional translational research models assume the development of an evidence-based theory of change is the first step in a linear process of developing a sustainable health promotion program. However, in the 2010s, researchers started to observe that the development and adaptation of health promotion programs was rarely a linear process in reality, and that case studies are needed to provide empirical support for this claim. It is valuable for SB-PYD practitioners to consider the benefits of using translational research to develop and revise evidence-based theories of change for programs at any stage of implementation to maximize their public health impact.

Chapter 6 - Applications of Scaling to Developmental Research

Qualitative teacher education research is concerned with understanding the processes and outcomes of teacher preparation in ways that are useful for practitioners, policymakers, and the teaching profession. Complexity theory has its origin in the biological and physical sciences, where it applies to phenomena that are more than the sum of their parts—where the “higher order” form cannot be created by just putting together the pieces that it is made from. Complexity theory has moved to social science, and to education, because many social phenomena also seem to have this property. These phenomena are termed “complex systems.” Complexity theory is also a theory of learning and change, so it is concerned with how complex systems are learning and changing. This means that methods to investigate complex systems must be able to identify changes in the system, termed “emergence,” and must also account for change over time and the history of the complex system. Longitudinal designs that involve the collection of rich data from multiple sources can support understanding of how a complex system, such as teacher education, is learning and changing. Comparative analysis, narrative analysis, extended case studies, mapping of networks and interactions, and practitioner research studies have all been used to try to bring complexity theory to empirical work in teacher education. Adopting a complexity theory approach to research in teacher education is difficult because it calls into question many taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of research and what is possible to find. Linear, process-product thinking cannot be sustained in a complexity framework, and ideas like “cause,” “outcome,” “change,” and “intervention” all have to be re-thought. A growing body of work uses complexity thinking to inform research in teacher education.

Background STEM higher education has been undergoing instructional changes, such as shifting from traditional lecturing to active learning, transitioning from physical classrooms to online or blended settings, and integrating transformative educational technologies. These instructional changes tend to be systemic (e.g., instructional changes across multiple STEM departments or institutions), yet research on such changes is limited. Change theories have been advocated to guide research on instructional changes, but their inappropriate or insufficient application partly contributes to the challenges in successfully adopting these changes. This study applies two change frameworks, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) and the Four-Category Barrier Framework (FCBF), to investigate a systemic instructional change and explore change processes and barriers at both individual and contextual levels. We used STEM instructors’ adoption of active learning during the abrupt transition to online learning as a case, conducting focus groups with 32 STEM instructors at U.S. higher education institutions. Results Regarding the change processes identified through CBAM, participants’ behaviors were primarily categorized as initial steps toward using active learning in online settings, although their concerns ranged from handling logistics to the impact of the abrupt transition on their students. In terms of barriers identified using FCBF, participants faced personal issues related to time, comfort, and control over their classes, as well as contextual barriers related to students (e.g., student participation), teaching (e.g., instructional support), and institutional factors (e.g., policies regarding support and teaching modes). We synthesized the results of the two change frameworks, finding that specific participants’ behaviors and concerns were intricately connected with contextual and individual barriers, which differed at various stages in the change process. This work, with concrete evidence from the synthesized results, demonstrates STEM instructors need tailored support and personalized assistance, especially when faced with abrupt systemic instructional changes. Conclusions: Applying two change frameworks enables us to investigate STEM instructors’ adoption of systemic instructional changes through the lenses of change processes and individual and contextual barriers, offering insightful and comprehensive findings. We recognize and advocate for using multiple change theories to take advantage of each framework and conduct thorough research on instructors’ adoption of systemic instructional changes.

Communities in coastal areas of Canada, including the Great Lakes, face a number of challenges, including increased water level variability and extreme weather events, causing flooding and localized erosion. To effectively respond to these coastal risks requires structured, deliberative approaches with the aim of fostering resilience and contributing to sustainability. A collaborative engagement process was used to explore community challenges. This included a project launch, key informant interviews, meetings, focus groups (agriculture, tourism, youth), and on-line methods (shoreline residents). Participatory social network analysis and theory of change were used for overall sense-making. As a result, community members identified six impact pathways moving forward with climate action: partnerships and collaboration; strategic engagement; water and watersheds; ecosystem-based adaptation; shoreline protection; and education. These themes are consistent with current theory on sustainability and theory of change development.

This annual conference was established at the National Nuclear Research University – Moscow Engineering Institute in the year 2012. The scope was initially on mathematical physics and mathematical modelling, while since this year theoretical physics was also included. The Conference was organized by three leading departments of the MEPhI in the field of theoretical and mathematical physics.Each year, more than 100 participants from different countries including Belorussia, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Japan, Moldova, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the USA take part in the Conference with oral talks.The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers with interests in: Analytical Theory of Differential Equations, Interaction of Radiation With Matter and Physics of Extreme Light, Nuclear Physics and Theory of Elementary Particles, Optimization Problems, Solid Mechanics, Soft Matter and Interdisciplinary Physics, Fluid Mechanics, Mathematical Modelling, Time Series.Nikolay A. KudryashovOleg V. NagornovSergey V. Popruzhenko

Introduction: In 2008, Canterbury was delivering traditional hospital-centric care, with a weak primary-secondary interface. This did not meet the needs of the population, was financially unsustainable, and was adversely affecting patient care. Practice change implemented: Multiple integrated care system changes were designed, implemented, embedded and monitored using HealthPathways: consensus clinical guidance for general practice teams and hospital clinicians. Aim and theory of change: HealthPathways provides online information to consistently assess and manage medical conditions, as well as how to request local health services. It aims to improve the quality and range of services and care in the community, reduce unwarranted variation, and minimise patient waiting times. Targeted population and stakeholders: The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) funds and provides the majority of health care for 540,000 people. HealthPathways has involved hundreds of local clinicians in its development. Timeline: The first pathways were produced in 2008. The Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-11 heightened the need for efficient, integrated use of health care resources. There are now approximately 620 clinical condition pathways, and 220 request pages, which document referral options, criteria and wait times. Highlights: By investing in primary and community services, and managing care at the interface between hospital and community services, Canterbury has decreased acute medical bed days by 7% by managing acute conditions in the community, increasing elective efficiency and managing follow-ups. For example, an integrated falls prevention programme and pathway has saved 32,008 fractured neck of femur bed days (figures will be presented). Sustainability: HealthPathways is now highly regarded, with eighty per cent of Canterbury general practice teams using HealthPathways more than 6 times a week as a manual in consultation with patients. There are approximately 1,500,000 annual page views (1). Transferability: HealthPathways has been implemented across 30 health districts in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, covering a total population base of over 22 million. Pathways have particular potential for Ireland, which has similar population levels, mixed public-private health care and general practice consultation fees to New Zealand. Conclusions: HealthPathways is both the enabler and end product of health system change. It was recognised by the King’s Fund as ‘one of Canterbury’s most innovative and most effective changes’ (2). Discussions: The Canterbury health system continues to address problem areas, quake-damaged and dated facilities, and unmet need measured at 4.3% (in publication). Nonetheless, by first documenting business as usual, pathways identify service gaps and enable new integrated care models to be developed. The results of these will be discussed. Lessons learned: Build relationships: getting clinicians who might not normally interact into the same room allays suspicion and ‘patch protection’, and helps foster new ways of working. Pathways don’t have to be perfect from their inception. Pathways are an iterative process of constant change and improvement. A robust and secure electronic-referral system alongside pathways is key to communication at the interface.