Category / BU research

Women’s World Cup Forum hosted by Sport and Physical Activity Centre (SPARC)

BU research, Events, Featured, Research Centres, Research news

Against the backdrop of the Women’s World Cup, the Sport & Physical Activity Centre (SPARC) hosted the Women’s World Cup (WWC) Forum on July 17th.

Featuring presentations from Dr Beth Fielding-Lloyd (Sheffield Hallam University), Anika Leslie-Walker (Nottingham Trent University) and Dr Rafaelle Nicholson (Faculty of Media & Communication, BU), the forum set out to explore the contemporary nature of women’s football and how academic work aligns to the apparent pace of growth. Attendees were invited back the following day and spent a productive day unpacking issues raised at the Forum and explored potential areas for further academic exploration.

One week prior to the event, former England International Karen Carney, authored an Independent Report for DCMS, titled Raising the Bar: Re-Framing the Opportunity in Women’s Football. The report offers a comprehensive review of the growth opportunities for the game at professional and grassroots level, but also highlights the significant challenges facing the game. The report, and indeed the SPARC Forum, invited us to look behind the mask of the landmark event and how narratives of ‘progress’ at such landmark events (attendances, media interest, coverage, taglines: the WWC for example is branded ‘Beyond Greatness’) can present a false picture of progress, highlight myths of women’s empowerment and indeed mask new/existing expressions of power.

In particular, discussion at the Forum focussed on developing a sustainable and inclusive fan base for the game (beyond landmark fixtures, average Women’s Super League (WSL) attendance stands at 2,800), funding and diversity issues within the talent pathway, safe fan experience/spaces (marked by religion, gender and race), gender pay disparities, the lessons of prior mergers and governance structures, and broadcasting rights (the UK’s domestic broadcasters offered just 8% of that which they paid for the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar) and media representations (that oft tended to reinforce, as opposed to challenge, dominant gender power relations). Indeed, and even as the Forum was in full-swing, the Australian team (The Matildas) broadcast a video highlighting pay disparities, the England team expressed their disappointment over a lack of agreement over their bonuses, figures from the Carney report suggested that 71% of attendees at WSL games reported their experience was ‘short of expectation’, and highlighted that there exists a significant lack of understanding of minority ethnic fans.

As the women’s game grows and transitions from a Football Association-owned entity to a new independently owned management structure (currently named New Co.) this is indeed an exciting time for women’s football. However, the Forum & workshop reinforced the need to peek behind the shiny spectacle of the World Cup and address some of the challenges that continue to be faced in the development of a sustainable, equitable and inclusive ‘product’. After two long, yet productive, days participants left with a compelling commitment to engage with key stakeholders and undertake a programme of work that aims to address inequalities in the game and influence policy, practice and strategy.

Conversation article: ChatGPT isn’t the death of homework – just an opportunity for schools to do things differently

BU research, Featured, Research communication, the conversation

Professor Andy Phippen writes for The Conversation about how educate can adapt to AI technology…

ChatGPT isn’t the death of homework – just an opportunity for schools to do things differently

Daisy Daisy/Shutterstock

Andy Phippen, Bournemouth University

ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) platform launched by research company Open AI, can write an essay in response to a short prompt. It can perform mathematical equations – and show its working.

ChatGPT is a generative AI system: an algorithm that can generate new content from existing bodies of documents, images or audio when prompted with a description or question. It’s unsurprising concerns have emerged that young people are using ChatGPT and similar technology as a shortcut when doing their homework.

But banning students from using ChatGPT, or expecting teachers to scour homework for its use, would be shortsighted. Education has adapted to – and embraced – online technology for decades. The approach to generative AI should be no different.

The UK government has launched a consultation on the use of generative AI in education, following the publication of initial guidance on how schools might make best use of this technology.

In general, the advice is progressive and acknowledged the potential benefits of using these tools. It suggests that AI tools may have value in reducing teacher workload when producing teaching resources, marking, and in administrative tasks. But the guidance also states:

Schools and colleges may wish to review homework policies, to consider the approach to homework and other forms of unsupervised study as necessary to account for the availability of generative AI.

While little practical advice is offered on how to do this, the suggestion is that schools and colleges should consider the potential for cheating when students are using these tools.

Nothing new

Past research on student cheating suggested that students’ techniques were sophisticated and that they felt remorseful only if caught. They cheated because it was easy, especially with new online technologies.

But this research wasn’t investigating students’ use of Chat GPT or any kind of generative AI. It was conducted over 20 years ago, part of a body of literature that emerged at the turn of the century around the potential harm newly emerging internet search engines could do to student writing, homework and assessment.

We can look at past research to track the entry of new technologies into the classroom – and to infer the varying concerns about their use. In the 1990s, research explored the impact word processors might have on child literacy. It found that students writing on computers were more collaborative and focused on the task. In the 1970s, there were questions on the effect electronic calculators might have on children’s maths abilities.

In 2023, it would seem ludicrous to state that a child could not use a calculator, word processor or search engine in a homework task or piece of coursework. But the suspicion of new technology remains. It clouds the reality that emerging digital tools can be effective in supporting learning and developing crucial critical thinking and life skills.

Get on board

Punitive approaches and threats of detection make the use of such tools covert. A far more progressive position would be for teachers to embrace these technologies, learn how they work, and make this part of teaching on digital literacy, misinformation and critical thinking. This, in my experience, is what young people want from education on digital technology.

Children in class looking at tablets.
Young people should learn how to use these online tools.
Ground Picture/Shutterstock

Children should learn the difference between acknowledging the use of these tools and claiming the work as their own. They should also learn whether – or not – to trust the information provided to them on the internet.

The educational charity SWGfL, of which I am a trustee, has recently launched an AI hub which provides further guidance on how to use these new tools in school settings. The charity also runs Project Evolve, a toolkit containing a large number of teaching resources around managing online information, which will help in these classroom discussions.

I expect to see generative AI tools being merged, eventually, into mainstream learning. Saying “do not use search engines” for an assignment is now ridiculous. The same might be said in the future about prohibitions on using generative AI.

Perhaps the homework that teachers set will be different. But as with search engines, word processors and calculators, schools are not going to be able to ignore their rapid advance. It is far better to embrace and adapt to change, rather than resisting (and failing to stop) it.The Conversation

Andy Phippen, Professor of IT Ethics and Digital Rights, Bournemouth University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Welcome to the Bournemouth University Research Staff Association (RSA)

BU research, Research communication, research staff, RKE development framework, Uncategorized

Welcome to the Bournemouth University Research Staff Association (RSA)

 

 

What is it?

An association run by BU researchers from all faculties who want to make BU a great place to work and do research. We aim to ensure that researchers are supported to realise their full potential and to develop and produce research of the highest quality. (There are Research Staff Associations throughout UK universities and one of our BU RSA representatives is also a member of the UK RSA).

 

Who is it for?

Almost everyone! Postdoctoral researchers, research fellows, research assistants as well as anyone else who is actively engaged in research (or planning to be): postgraduate researchers; staff on teaching and research, or teaching contracts; clinicians; professional support staff; technicians.

 

What are our aims?

To help make BU a great place for researchers to work and progress in their careers.

 

To support BU researchers to produce excellent research by enabling them to thrive, personally and professionally through informal peer support / friendship with other researchers and encouraging BU to provide

      • a well-designed induction
      • a caring and helpful mentor
      • support to develop research and professional skills
      • increased job security
      • a university culture of inclusion, kindness, care, and support
      • opportunities to network, collaborate, share, and learn

 

How do we do that?

We support researchers through:

 

  1. Signposting you to the BU teams or individuals who can help you with issues such as: employment and contracts, work conditions, fairness and equity, discrimination, unions, professional development, careers advice, support for mental health and well-being.

 

  1. Offering peer support – opportunities to meet, socialise, network, share ideas, and collaborate with researchers from different faculties. We run informal online get-togethers and coffee mornings in faculties. We are also developing a series of university-wide events (in partnership with the Early Career Network) on topics such as career progression, funding, wellbeing.

 

  1. Representing you – raising concerns, lobbying, and advocating for researchers at the:
    • Research Concordat Steering Group. This group is responsible for helping BU translate the ideals of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers into improved researcher career development and effective policies.  The steering group can then highlight responsibilities across university departments from line managers and HR to the Vice Chancellor and the Executive Team.

 

    • Faculty Research & Professional Practice Committees (FRPPC) – where we can highlight specific initiatives and the vital role that line managers and senior academics play in facilitating the development of researchers in their department.

 

    • University Research & Professional Practice Committee (URPPC) where we can share the combined voice and experiences of research staff to shape the development of University wide research-based policy and procedures.

 

What do we need to succeed? 

You!  We need to know what the important issues, concerns, challenges, and aspirations of BU researchers are. We can then try to provide informative sessions which address the issues that are important to you, advocate for change – as well as letting BU know when they are getting it right! We would also like to get to know you and learn from your experiences – doing research can be lonely and being in contact with other researchers enriches our day.

 

When does the RSA meet?

The RSA meets regularly throughout the year. Everyone is welcome to attend or share issues that you would like raised with your faculty rep

 

How do I get involved/get in touch with the RSA representative for my faculty?

 

Your current reps are:

 

Faculty of Health & Social Science                         Sophia Amenyah samenyah@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                             Gladys Yinusa yinusagg@bournemouth.ac.uk

 Faculty of Science & Technology                           Kimberley Davies daviesk@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                            Sarah Elliott  selliott@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Faculty of Media & Communications                   No representative at present.

BU Business School:                                                   No representative at present.

 

 

 

Institutional Reps:                                                      Chaoguang Wang   wangc@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                            Anastasia Vayona   avayona@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                           Rejoice Chipuriro          rchipuriro@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Academic Reps:                                                           BUBS-Rafaelle Nicholson rnicholson@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                           BUBS-Julia Hibbert jhibbert@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                           FST-Derek Pitman dpitman@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                           FST-Michelle Heward mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

                                                                                          FST-Ruijie Wang rwang3@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

Lyle Skains wins Hayles Prize for monograph

BU research, Research news, research staff

Bournemouth University and FMC researcher Lyle Skains has been awarded the N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature for her book Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction, released from Bloomsbury in January 2023. The award was announced at the annual Electronic Literature Organisation (ELO) Conference on 13 July 2023 in Coimbra, Portugal, alongside winners of the Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature, the Marjorie C. Luesebrink Career Achievement Award, and the Maverick Award.

The ELO is the foremost international professional body for scholars and practitioners working in the field of electronic literature, and has been awarding works of scholarship on electronic literature since 2014. The organisation notes that “The N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature is an award given for the best work of criticism, of any length, on the topic of electronic literature… recognise[ing] excellence in the field.” The award includes a plaque, one-year’s associate membership of the ELO, and prize money of $1000USD.

In selecting Dr. Skains’ Neverending Stories for the Hayles Prize, the jury made the following statement:

The judges of the 2023 N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature have unanimously recognized Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction by [R.] Lyle Skains as the winning entry. The book is a granular exploration of both the evolution of digital fiction and its impact on (and positioning in) popular culture. The author’s focus on marginalized authors/creators, as well as reframing accepted aspects of digital fiction, sets their work apart.

Skains does more than justice to a complex topic with her ambitious work spanning over half a century of digital literature development. Her analysis of multiple digital narrative forms – covering everything from text-based adventure games to creepypasta participatory fiction to ‘archontic’ fiction – is comprehensive and perceptive. The book navigates appreciable tensions between avant-garde and popular forms of digital fiction while seeking to recover hidden contributions of women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ authors. The included case studies also provide invaluable insights into trends that are shaping the future of digital fiction, making the book a must-read for scholars, creators, and fans.

The judges wish to express that the task of selecting the winners for this year’s N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature was exceptionally challenging due to the exemplary standard of entries received. The depth and diversity of perspectives presented in the entries made the deliberation process both stimulating and demanding. The judges extend our appreciation to all the entrants for contributing to the enrichment of the field, and for setting a remarkable benchmark for future submissions.

Portrait - Lyle SkainsDr. Skains joins Jessica Pressman, Mark Marino, Jeremy Douglass, and Lai-Tze Fan in winning this prestigious prize. She adds that, in addition to the acknowledgements made in the book, she wants to thank the support she’s had in the field from generous mentors and peers, including Astrid Ensslin, Dene Grigar, Caitlin Fisher, Mark Marino, Stuart Moulthrop, Anastasia Salter, John Murray, and María Mencía, who edited the fantastic collection #WomenTechLit that inspired so much of Neverending Stories.

UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) – Free Webinar

BU research, Publishing, Research Integritiy, research staff

UKRIO LogoJoin UKRIO for their latest free webinar “Correcting the scholarly record, and dispelling myths around corrections” on Wednesday 20th September from 10:00 – 11:00 BST. 

A core part of publication ethics is the correction of published research affected by errors or misconduct.

This webinar aims to explain both the process of fixing errors and misconceptions about corrections, focusing on journal articles, and to answer the questions:

  • Who decides what needs to be corrected?
  • What are the responsibilities of editors, journals, research institutions, and authors?
  • How are corrections done and what form do they take?
  • How do readers know when work has been corrected?
  • What are the barriers to correcting the scholarly literature – and, hopefully, the solutions to these problems?

Lead by expert speakers, this session will draw on their experience in handling corrections and developing editorial policies.

SPEAKERS

  • Lauren Flintoft, Research Integrity Officer, IOP Publishing
  • Gráinne McNamara, Research Integrity/Publication Ethics Manager, Karger Publishers

As BU subscribes to UKRIO services, UKRIO webinars are free and open to anyone who may be interested in research integrity and ethics, good research practice and improving research culture and misconduct.

To register – please click here (takes you to external website).

BU Professor’s research contributes to House of Commons report

BU research, Impact, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, NHS, parliament, policy, Research communication, Research news

Written evidence provided to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee by Prof. Ann Luce, FMC, has been cited in the “Progress in improving NHS mental health services” report released today. Luce’s research around suicide risk to NHS mental health staff and the impact that has on care, served as the underpinning evidence for one of six recommendations the committee has made.

The Public Accounts Committee heard concerning evidence of increasing pressures on NHS mental health staff at a time of spiking demand. In the report published today, it warns that increased workload is leading to burnout for remaining staff, which contributes to a higher rate of staff turnover and a resulting vicious cycle of more staff shortages.

17,000 staff (12%) left the NHS mental health workforce in 2021-22, up from pre-pandemic levels of around 14,000 a year. Those citing work-life balance reasons for leaving increased from 4% in 2012-13 to 14% in 2021-22, and the percentage of days lost from the workforce due to psychiatric reasons doubled in a decade. NHS England told the PAC that, in common with all NHS staff, mental health problems are one of the biggest drivers of sickness among staff.

Staff shortages are holding back NHS mental health services as a whole from improving and expanding. The PAC calls on the NHS to address the fact that staff increases are being outpaced by the rise in demand for services. The NHS mental health workforce increased by 22% overall between 2016-17 and 2021-22, while referrals to these services increased by 44% over the same period. The PAC’s inquiry found that staff vacancy rates in acute inpatient mental health services are at approximately 20% or more.

Good data and information is necessary to manage and improve NHS services, as well as to deliver them impactfully and cost-effectively. The Government and NHS England (NHSE) acknowledged to the PAC that mental health services are lagging behind physical services in this area to a particularly concerning degree. Of 29 integrated care boards surveyed by the National Audit Office, only four said they had all or most of the data they needed to assess patient and user experiences, and none of them felt this in relation to patient outcomes.

Another area of particular concern for the PAC is a continuing lack of progress in the area of treating mental health services with equal priority as physical services – or ‘parity of esteem’. Despite the Government setting this ambition in 2011, and the PAC itself calling four years ago for a clear definition of how to measure progress to get there – a recommendation accepted at the time by the Government – there is still no such clear definition.

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The findings of our inquiry must serve as a warning to the Government that mental health is still in danger of not being treated with the same urgent priority as physical health. NHS mental health staff deal with some of the most challenging care needs there are. Staff in this space deserve not just our heartfelt gratitude for the job they do, but concrete support and training to work as part of well-staffed workplaces. Our report warns of a vicious cycle, in which staff shortages and morale both worsen in self-reinforcing parallel.

“The short-term actions being taken by the Government and NHS England to tackle ongoing pressure are welcome. But these numbers are still going in the wrong direction, as demand for care well outpaces the supply of staff to provide it. The Government must act to pull services out of this doom loop. Invaluable care for some of our most vulnerable cannot and must not be provided at the expense of the welfare of the workforce carrying it out.”

NHS England and the Government now have six months to respond.

________________________________________

If you are interested in submitting written evidence based on your research to a Parliamentary Inquiry, please reach out to impact@bournemouth.ac.uk who can help you with putting together your submission. Contributions to inquires are a good pathway to impact for impact case studies for the REF, and can lead to policy change and influence.

BU case study included in knowledge exchange repository shared by Knowledge Exchange Concordat

BU research, Featured, Knowledge Exchange, Research communication

The Knowledge Exchange Concordat (KEC) Advisory and Operational group has produced a repository of resources to support higher education providers improve their knowledge exchange (KE) practices.

The repository has been created in partnership with the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) and features good and innovative practice in knowledge exchange across eight different KE principles, including a set of toolkits and guides available for use by HE institutions.

BU’s IP Policy, Research Intellectual Property Strategy and Evaluation Committee (RIPSEC), and the IP commercialisation management framework are among the case studies being shared. Our approach was chosen specifically as an example of good practice and innovation in the sector.

The repository, which includes a set of knowledge exchange toolkits and guides available for use by higher education institutions, will be launched at the KEC Repository of Good Practice Launch event tomorrow (20th July 2023).

The event will be hosted on Zoom between 10am-11:15am. Lesley Hutchins, Research Commercialisation Manager at BU, will be a guest speaker at the event. You can register for the event on the Knowledge Exchange Concordat website.

Read the BU case study – Research and Intellectual Property (IP) Policy

Broadening horizons: Network Science at Utrecht Summer School

BU research, Postgraduate Research, Research Training, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network

We are thrilled to announce that Assemgul Kozhabek, one of our  PhD candidates, recently had the opportunity to participate in the Utrecht Summer School on “Data Science: Network Science” from July 10-14, 2023. Assemgul’s research, under the guidance of Dr. Wei Koong Chai, is centered around understanding and optimizing urban road networks. By attending this course, she was able to gain a deeper understanding of network science and its relevance to her research goals. The course covered various topics, including network modeling, analysis techniques, and practical application of network science in real-world scenarios.
The Utrecht Summer School provided Assemgul with a unique learning experience. Through interactive lectures, hands-on workshops, and networking opportunities with experts in the field, she was able to broaden her knowledge and enhance her skills in analyzing urban road networks. She expresses her gratitude to Dr. Wei Koong Chai for his support and guidance throughout this journey. Assemgul also immensely grateful for the OpenBright Award that made this opportunity possible.
Assemgul’s participation in the Utrecht Summer School on “Data Science: Network Science” has undoubtedly equipped her with valuable insights and tools that will contribute to her ongoing research. Stay tuned for exciting updates on her research journey!