Joanne Harris talks novels with newview - Sheffield Hallam University

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10 Can your food determine your fortune? Is love on the menu? By Joe Field If you want to know what kind of person your date is, you should pay attention to what they order from the menu, according to a new study by a Sheffield Hallam student. The study, by psychology PhD student Catherine Day, asked 150 volunteers to try out a range of pasta sauces, from plain tomato to spicy arrabiata. She found that our eating habits often reflect our personalities. The results showed that more adventurous, ‘novelty-seeking’ personality types preferred the stronger flavours, like sour, spicy or sweet. More reserved personality types favoured the blander sauces. Catherine said, ‘The study suggests that anxious, uncertain individuals tend to show dislike for sour and spicy tastes. In contrast adventurous, thrill-seeking types show high preference for the stronger tastes.’ Catherine also found that certain personality types are more likely to overeat. She said, ‘Dependent, anxious individuals show a tendency to eat beyond their calorific need. These types are potentially more likely to struggle with weight loss and dieting. ‘The study shows that personality can influence dietary preferences and eating behaviour. This has clear implications in terms of marketing and advertising, and could be used to combat the global obesity epidemic.’ research round-up Research looks at the right support for expanding profession Looking after the next generation of social workers Finding the right training for today’s new generation of social workers is more important than ever as the demand grows for them to have a wider variety of skills and experience. Their role has expanded beyond all recognition in the past 20 years with an increasing call for social workers in less traditional environments such as prisons, hospitals and women's refuges. Recent restructures to social work education means that students spend half of their education – up to 200 days – in work placements. Whilst this helps students gain valuable and relevant experience, it is equally important that the quality and relevance of training is of the highest standard. A new initiative is underway to study the placements of student social workers to make sure that they are gaining the right experience. The Skills for Care and Children’s Workforce Development Council, which aim to improve adult and children’s social care services across England, has commissioned researchers from Sheffield Hallam to assess whether the practice sites are providing the right kind of support for student’s practice learning. Professor Mark Doel of the Centre for Health and Social Care at Sheffield Hallam said, ‘Good practice begins with good training and education, so it’s crucial at this stage that we are confident students are getting the right kind of experience and support. We’ll be looking at sites that were first studied three years ago to see whether they have been able to sustain and develop innovative approaches to practice learning, as well as investigating new approaches to learning. We are also eager to find new placements in different kinds of settings such as schools and children's centres, prisons, hospitals, and women's refuges.’ Part of the research includes the study of 30 practice sites and projects within the categories of education, criminal justice, health, service user and carer-led sites, black and minority sites, and other non-traditional sites such as the voluntary and independent sectors. Professor Doel leads an experienced team from Sheffield Hallam’s social work unit which includes Pete Nelson, Elaine Flynn and Caroline Mulrooney New technology puts paid to wrecked specs A new process developed by engineers at Sheffield Hallam is quietly revolutionising the durability of our everyday objects. Simple items such as a pair of spectacles or mobile phone can get the same treatment as a Formula One engine to extend their life indefinitely by receiving a special coating. Other everyday items such as bathroom taps, door handles and light pulls can also be given the treatment which can even be made in a range of fashionable colours. The process, known as physical vapour deposition (PVD), is a new technology created to put high quality coatings on parts to protect them from the environment. The PVD coating system has huge implications for industry as it is very high quality and much more versatile than most existing coatings. The process has already been applied in the automotive industry to increase the life of piston rings and in textiles where production has been increased by coating combing rollers so the needles stay sharper for longer. One of the most remarkable applications is in the medical industry where biomedical implants such as knee and hip joints are coated so they are resistant to wear and have less chance of being rejected by the body. Arutiun Ehiasarian, senior researcher from the University’s Nanotechnology Centre for PVD said, ‘We are very proud of our achievement in creating this process. The first laboratory tests began in the year 2000 so it has taken quite some time and a lot of hard work and cooperation with other partners to develop this process to an industrial scale. The potential uses for this system are endless, and it is already licensed to five companies around Europe.’ The University led the development and holds the patent on the PVD coating system but has also worked closely with power supplier HÜTTINGER Electronic on developing the necessary power supply to an industrial scale. Part of the process involved creating a new method called high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) which is a ‘plasma’ technique where the coating is produced by bombarding the surface to be coated with carefully prepared atoms and metal ions. The University, along with Netherlands company Hauzer Techno Coatings which supplies the coating machinery, has produced the first machine to operate HIPIMS automatically as a turnkey solution. This has now become a product in its own right because it makes it much easier for a wider range of companies to offer a premium coatings process service. The Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, officially opened the University’s world renowned PVD research lab in July 2007. In 2006 we generated the most research income of all post-1992 universities - around £18.4 million. Learning to lead from the front on citizenship Changing the way early years professionals are taught and understand citizenship could have a real influence on empowering children, according to new research. Researchers from the University’s Early Childhood Studies Unit have looked into how students’ own knowledge and understanding of citizenship can lead to real improvements in teaching the new wave of early years professionals. A case study was carried out amongst students as part of a wider project, ‘Active Learning, Active Citizenship’, examining how teaching and learning strategies help students develop their understanding. As part of their study of children’s rights, students worked in groups to examine their own attitudes towards citizenship. Using videos and seminars they were encouraged to integrate their own ideas into the learning process, improving their ability to criticise and evaluate issues and broadening their understanding of how to actively encourage citizenship once they are working with children. Project leader Janet Kay said, ‘The study was aimed at helping practitioners of the future to be active in meeting children’s emotional needs and wellbeing. ‘We now have a clearer understanding of what works best for our students and in turn they understood that they could have a real influence on empowering children. It has enabled us to improve the quality of our BA in Early Childhood Studies and has proved of real advantage in increasing confidence and furthering understanding, particularly among some of our younger students.’ The study has led to the course being rewritten to incorporate more practical learning. Staff have reduced the number of lectures and have worked with students in smaller groups with the aim of giving them the confidence to be more innovative in their approach. Details of the findings are available in a paper entitled From Rome to Athens? Developing Participatory Concepts of Citizenship in Early Years Professionals’, written by Caroline Bath and Janet Kay. It is due to be published in the summer by Routledge as part of a book on relational pedagogy edited by Janet Moyles. 11
12 Researchers at Sheffield Hallam have completed a three year study examining the effectiveness of intensive support for families at risk of homelessness as a result of antisocial behaviour. The study, carried out on behalf of Communities and Local Government and the Home Office, found that taking action to address the underlying causes of problem behaviour resulted in very positive outcomes. The study, one of the few pieces of independent research examining the experiences of families, found that in the longer term seven out of ten families had experienced positive changes since leaving the Intensive Family Support Project (IFSP) and complaints about antisocial behaviour had stopped. The risk of homelessness had also been significantly reduced. The study formed part of a three year evaluation involving over 256 families who had been referred to six IFSP’s after their behaviour or that of their visitors had resulted in them being threatened by eviction and homelessness. The interim research report, published in Oct 2006, found that in the short term these projects were a cost effective way to reduce problem behaviour, prevent family breakdown and avoid homelessness for the families involved. This final piece of work confirms that in the longer term families were able to sustain the progress they had made once they were living independently in the community. In seven out of ten families positive change had been sustained and family members now enjoyed an increased sense of social inclusion and well being. A small minority of families however, continued to experience considerable difficulties and their lives remained dominated by complaints about antisocial behaviour, managing ongoing support research round-up Offering intensive support to families is the key to tackling antisocial behaviour in our neighbourhoods Intensive family support projects help crack antisocial behaviour By Clare Morris needs, homelessness, risk of eviction and/or family breakdown. A key characteristic shared by virtually all of these families was ongoing concerns about the criminal behaviour of one child or young person. Families who had been referred for help from the IFSP were connected with a wide range of different types of antisocial behaviour. While some allegations involved criminal behaviour, the majority of cases concerned low level but persistent nuisance behaviour mainly youth nuisance. The families also shared key characteristics – many had three or more children and were reported as having multiple support needs. Very high levels of family violence were also reported and the percentage of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was higher than the national average. The projects were said to be more effective compared to other forms of enforcement Picture posed by models action in changing behaviour and bringing relief to communities which had been troubled by persistent antisocial behaviour. The key to the success was early intervention and for families to still have access to specialist support after leaving the project. Judy Nixon, principal lecturer in Housing Policy led the project. She said, ‘Family Intervention Projects have developed a new way of working with families at risk of losing their home as a result of antisocial behaviour, and such projects are increasingly recognised by policy makers and practitioners as providing a highly cost effective service in both the short and longer term. The findings from the final element of the evaluation programme illustrate the beneficial outcomes associated with the provision of intensive support.’ The full report can be seen at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/hou sing/familysupportprojectssummary Technology could hold the key to swimming success New computer software could enable Britain’s swimmers to improve a key aspect of their technique more quickly and effectively than previously possible – and so help them win more medals in major championships in future. The software, being developed with input from Sheffield Hallam, provides instant, in-depth feedback on a swimmer’s glide technique. Swimmers glide following starts and turns, when a swimmer is not moving their arms or legs but is just using their momentum to travel through the water. As well as supplying data on head position and body posture/alignment, the software actively suggests ways a swimmer can improve their posture to minimise resistance and pinpoints the optimum moment to begin kicking. The new system offers two key benefits beyond the capabilities of any other currently used in elite swimming training. First, the feedback it generates is available immediately, so swimmers and coaches can use it at the poolside and implement its recommendations while a training session is still in progress; this will speed up the whole process involved in improving glide technique. Second, it generates data of unprecedented quality in terms of detail and accuracy. Ultimately, the result will be faster times in races. Gliding more efficiently, with less ‘drag’, can cut vital fractions of a second from a swimmer’s time. The difference between winning an Olympic title and finishing out of the medals is often measured in hundredths of a second, so this innovative software could give British swimmers a valuable edge in their quest for glory. The software is being developed by sports scientists at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Aquatics Research and Education (CARE) with additional input from Sheffield Hallam University, and funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in collaboration with UKSPORT. Once tested and validated, it should be available to swimmers throughout the UK within around 12 months. Government ‘should phase out grammar schools’ Academics at the Centre for Education and Inclusion Research have carried out the first full survey of secondary school admissions in England since 2001. The team, led by the centre’s assistant dean Professor John Coldron, worked with the National Centre for Social Research to ask parents about their experience of the current process and to gauge the effectiveness of the system. The findings sparked a huge amount of media coverage after researchers found that parents were largely happy with schools their children attended. But they also warned that many schools – especially grammars and faith schools – were socially exclusive and took more pupils from wealthier backgrounds. It backed wider use of lotteries to allocate school places and suggested that the government phase out England’s 164 remaining selective grammars. Writing in the Yorkshire Post, Professor Coldron said, ‘If most parents are satisfied, why does segregation matter? It matters because it adversely affects overall standards of attainment. Segregated school systems perform worse overall than those less segregated. Further, a child’s educational success is enhanced if they go to a school where the children are mostly from higher socio-economic groups and decreased if the majority of children are from less affluent groups. In other words, some children are gaining a better education directly at the expense of others. This explains the poorer overall performance of segregated systems and is morally indefensible.’ The report states, ‘Fair and just policies on school admissions are an important mark of commitment by governments to equality of opportunity. Selection by prior attainment is also largely selection by social background. One option would be to phase out selective schools. Another is to require the admissions authorities for grammar schools to ensure equal social representation among those who qualify on the 11-plus test.’ The report recommends that the best way to promote equal opportunity is with a variety of methods including an independent body to set or apply the admission criteria for all schools in an area, fair banding, subsidised travel for lower income families, measures to ensure balanced intakes to grammar schools, random allocation and removing the ability to select a proportion by aptitude. 13
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Joanne Harris talks novels with newview - Sheffield Hallam University

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