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We investigated youth participation in three Community and Citizen Science (CCS) programs led by natural history museums in out-of-school settings. Using second generation Activity Theory, we looked at repeated participation over time, collecting and then qualitatively analyzing ethnographic fieldnote observations on focal youth participation and components of the activity systems. We found each program provided multiple and unique access points for youth to participate in environmental science. Further, when facilitators emphasized the scientific goals of the programs clearly and repeatedly, youth participation in the scientific processes of the CCS programs deepened. Access to scientific tools, facilitation in using them, and repeatedly applying them in authentic research, enabled youth to participate in different aspects of CCS, from exploring to submitting biological data. Repeated participation in CCS activities provided the opportunities for youth to try the same type of participation multiple times (intensification), as well as provided the opportunity for youth to try different types of participation (diversification). Our findings suggest that repeated participation in authentic scientific research in CCS contexts fosters youth development of new roles and possible development of environmental science identities.

Issue Addressed: International competencies for health promotion education require ethical practice that is supported by reflexive health promotion practitioners, yet professional bodies do not codify how health promotion curriculum should support students' skill development in reflexive practice. Methods: Reflexivity in teaching and learning was scaffolded through short, progressive reflective blogs assessments, supportive feedback/feedforward mechanisms, and nested assessment design. Results: Student feedback is offered to demonstrate the impact of reflexive pedagogy in health promotion education. Conclusion: Reflexivity in teaching and learning supports students in learning the role of health promotion in planetary health and developing skills in planetary health advocacy. So What: Explicitly teaching the practice and process of critical reflexivity can help students develop personal insight, support professional practice, and promote positive change in the health of people and our planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertility, health, education, and other out comes of interest to demographers are the product of an individual's genetic makeup and their social environment. Yet, gene x environment (GxE) research deploys a limited toolkit on the genetic side to study the gene--environment interplay, relying on polygenic scores (PGSs) that reflect the influence of genetics on levels of an out come. In this article, we develop a genetic summary measure better suited for GxE research: variance poly genic scores (vPGSs), which are PGSs that reflect genetic contributions to plasticity in out comes. First, we use the UK Biobank (N ~ 408,000 in the analytic sample) and the Health and Retirement Study (N ~ 5,700 in the analytic sample) to compare four approaches to constructing PGSs for plasticity. The results show that widely used methods for discovering which genetic variants affect out come variability fail to serve as distinctive new tools for GxE. Second, using the PGSs that do capture distinctive genetic contributions to plasticity, we analyze heterogeneous effects of a UK education reform on health and educational attainment. The results show the properties of a useful new tool for population scientists studying the interplay of nature and nurture and for population-based studies that are releasing PGSs to applied researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Anderson's notion of 'imagined community' to argue that how people think about the publicness of their school system provides insight into the functioning and flourishing of communities, societies and nations. We focus on the privatisation of public schooling in Alberta, Canada and Northern England to highlight tensions between the provision of public schooling today and a romanticised, historical imagining of the public school providing equality and emancipation for all. We use data collected from 47 semi-structured interviews of education bureaucrats, union officials, school personnel and advocacy group members that asked about what constitutes 'publicness' within their system. Our analysis shows a tension between the realities of public systems opened up through market-oriented policies of 'autonomous' provision and stakeholders who still strongly believed in a public school system that was in the service of society, rather than the more individualist orientation of school choice and autonomy imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The overall aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training Image-Guided Radiotherapy (VERT™IGRT) as a teaching and assessment tool for 3D image matching competency within the radiotherapy clinical setting and explore radiographer perceptions, experiences and integration of VERT™IGRT as an imaging tool. Materials and methods: A mixed-methods study was utilised to measure clinical image matching competencies in the first quantitative phase through means of a workbook and imaging assessment. Phase II used qualitative semi-structured interviews to explore radiographer perceptions. Results: Workbooks enabled participants to prepare for image assessments. Interview findings were highlighted in three distinctive themes: (1) The need for supervision, guidance and feedback; (2) Experience and practice leads to confidence and competence and (3) Technology supports process but not evaluation. Findings: VERT™IGRT provides a sound platform for training therapeutic radiographer image matching skills, but needs to be delivered with continuous feedback to develop individual decision-making skills. The technology provides opportunities for staff to increase confidence in utilsing image matching technology, but analytical and evaluation skills require supervision and continuous feedback which should be embedded in any educational training programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 and rising student numbers are affecting healthcare education, particularly access to clinical placements. As healthcare education is increasingly supported by technology and non-traditional teaching methods, educational experiences gained through clinical placement also require new approaches. This article explores and discusses the use of a simulated clinical placement for a dietetic student cohort. During this virtual placement, students were able to explore and experience a virtual clinical setting and immerse themselves in a placement experience. A vast range of virtual resources were linked to the online placement portal, including statutory and mandatory training, dietetic resources, patient journeys and interprofessional communication. Advantages of this approach include that all students experience a given situation, unlike in traditional placements where workloads, variety and engagement vary; there is also no risk to patient safety. The aim is to enhance the learning experience to create effective, efficient clinicians. This virtual placement for dietetics is part of a bigger project to develop and evaluate the use of a virtual placement framework in a range of professions. The concept of virtual placement may have been brought forward by the COVID-19 crisis but was inevitable with the move to more technology-enhanced learning tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Led by an Australian team who witnessed the proliferation of local and global private companies, foundations and semi-government services seeking to 'partner' with schools, this special issue seeks to unpack global patterns in the 'outsourcing' of curricula. More specifically, using the 'problems' of obesity and mental health, the project aims to understand: the rationales and experiences of schools and teachers with external providers; factors that influence the appeal and opportunities for external providers; the nature, extent and effects of networks that exist between external providers and other agencies; and the intellectual authorities that external providers use to frame their products and services. Theoretically, we draw on the concepts of neoliberalisation, networks and governance, and Bernstein's message systems, the latter providing a framework to understand how curricula are shaped by agents and agencies whose remits lie outside the traditional education message systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Hematopathology (HP) is a rapidly changing field with insufficient data to provide guidance to program directors (PDs), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or the American Board of Pathology.Methods: Two surveys were performed-one for HP PDs and one, given twice, for HP diplomates doing Maintenance of Certification/Continuing Certification reporting in 2017 to 2018.Results: Bone marrow (BM), lymph node (LN), and flow cytometry interpretations and peripheral blood/fluid reviews are performed by more than 80% of hematopathologists and are the areas with the greatest amount of training. A smaller proportion of hematopathologists is involved in other HP-related activities. Most PDs believed fellows should perform BM procedures. Interpretation of 400 or more LNs and 500 BMs was PDs' median expectations for fellows. PDs and HP diplomates considered coagulation and benign RBC disorders overemphasized on the certification examination.Conclusions: These results highlight how varied the practice of HP is and can provide guidance to HP PDs, those responsible for assessing HP programs, and the American Board of Pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Processed seafood products are not readily identifiable based on physical characteristics, which leaves the industry vulnerable to high levels of product mislabelling (globally estimated at 5–30% mislabelled). This is both a food safety issue and a consumer protection issue as cheaper species could be substituted for more expensive species. DNA barcoding is proving to be a valuable tool for authentication of fish products. We worked with high school students to perform a market survey and subsequent species assessment via DNA barcoding to investigate the accuracy of fish product names used by retailers in Sydney, Australia. Methods: Sixty-eight fish samples, sold under 50 different common names, were purchased anonymously from two retailers in Sydney. Each product name was recorded and reconciled with the Australian Fish Names Standard (AFNS). Samples were DNA barcoded and resulting sequences were deposited in the online Barcode of Life Data system using the simplified Student Data Portal interface. Results: Forty percent of the fish names did not comply with the AFNS, however, half of these were either spelling errors or vendors supplied more information than the standard requires. The other half of the non-compliant samples were given common names not listed on the AFNS. Despite this lack of standardization, DNA barcode data confirmed the retailers’ identifications for 93% of samples and 90% of species sampled. Discussion: The level of mislabelling we report for Sydney retailers (7% of samples or 10% of species) compares favorably with the global rates of 5–30%, but unfavorably with the only previous DNA barcode fish authentication study for Australia, which found no confirmed mislabelling in Hobart. Our study sampled mostly Australian produce, only two retailers and no restaurants. Results of our limited sample suggest that although many Sydney fish retailers attempt to implement the voluntary fish name standards, the standards are inadequate. As Australia imports 75% of its seafood, and in other countries restaurants generally show lower levels of compliance than retailers, broader surveys are needed before generalizing these results. DNA barcoding is a powerful yet simple method supported by accessible online analytical tools. Incorporation of fish barcoding into high school science classes provided students with valuable firsthand experience in scientific research and drew together different strands of the NSW curriculum relating to genetics and sustainability. Given the techniques, equipment, and reagents are now readily accessible, we expect to see greater uptake of DNA barcoding technology by high schools, citizen scientists and consumer groups in Australia in future. However, there remains much scope for further development of DNA barcode diagnostics (both data and analytical methods) for commercial fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]