Open House for Research | July
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At the start of July, our four speakers gave 6-minute talks on their current research projects. Up first was Prof. Wulf Livingston who told attendees about a Public Health Wales (PHW) project on cannabis use. PHW aims for the country to be smoke free by 2030: currently, 5% of the population are smokers.
The study was collaborative with Wrexham University researchers working with the University of Bath. The team conducted qualitative surveys and interviews with approximately 50- 60 people who regularly smoke cannabis. Participants stated that their primary reason for smoking cannabis was to help improve their mental health, e. g., to help cope with anxiety and life pressures. Cannabis was the drug of choice for this population. However, as much as cannabis helped the participants, they stated it also had contradictory effects of causing anxiety, risking mental health with overuse. Smoking was intrinsic to their drug use, as opposed to consuming cannabis in another way; therefore, it is unlikely that they would give up smoking.
Consequently, for public health, a better strategy might be to explore harm reduction by regulating cannabis use. This population of long-term cannabis users did not understand that smoking cannabis posed similar health risks to smoking only nicotine.
Next up, Julian Ayres from Education talked about research-informed teaching at Wrexham University, “From Farm to Table”. The principle underlying 'farm-to-table' entails establishing a direct relationship between producers and restaurants, aiming to promote the utilisation of locally-grown produce, provide support to growers, and contribute to sustainability and a sense of control—knowing the origin of one's food.
Julian explains that “in education at Wrexham University, while our previous concepts have been influenced by external scholars, our recent expansion in research and doctoral endeavours signals a shift. The aspiration is for research, informed by our understanding of the community, university stakeholders, and the goals of the academic environment, to be applied in a practical and beneficial manner."
The presentation sought to identify how Dr Sue Horder’s (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Social and Life Sciences) doctoral research in 2019 informed the subsequent doctoral research in 2023 by Julian Ayres, resulting in the creation and implementation of a resilience module in Higher Education. This module aims to support the retention and academic success of students starting their Foundation Year studies in 2024.
Dr Horder's doctoral research analysed the influence of student-teachers' epistemological beliefs on their conceptions of teaching and classroom practice. Source data included reflective blogs, student-teacher feedback, and interviews. Reflective blogs enabled student-teachers to critically reflect, inspiring the subsequent doctoral research by Julian Ayres on retention and resilience in education. Discussions with Dr Horder revealed a significant connection between the evidence gathered from the blogs and Julian Ayres' study, suggesting potential future utilisation.
The approach, validated by student-teacher feedback, proved successful in fostering deeper critical reflection, enhanced self-awareness, improved self-control, and goal setting for academic progress and professional development.
This research led to the trial of the reflective blogging method in various university modules, including EDS620 Professional Learning for PGCE trainee-teachers and FY305 Resilience in HE and Beyond for foundation year students, recently accredited by the university.
Thus, the farm-to-table approach becomes a means to pioneer new learning and teaching methodologies centred explicitly around supporting our learners, placing their needs at the core of any new approach.
Our third speaker was Dr Chris White, Lecturer in Mental Health and Wellbeing, who told us of his recent visit to the Senedd in Cardiff. Chris had completed an ‘Areas of Research Interest' form online (attaching his research papers) and was subsequently invited to present evidence in person on his specialist subject of Active Travel. Chris shared his thoughts on the visit, saying that the networking session after the presentations was invaluable, which has led to him becoming a member of the Active Travel committee. When reflecting on the key lessons from his research, Chris explained how different areas have opinions on Active Travel, and many wish to become involved, but few are successfully encouraged to take any real responsibility. This has led to stilted progress on Active Travel policies in England and Wales, as well as financial investment in the area. Another policy issue that Chris discussed was how Active Travel has moved away from Transport policy, and towards issues such as Public Health. However, Active Travel has yet to fare well when presented this way, as there are other impactful issues, such as tendencies to focus on treatment work over prevention. This has meant that Public Heath has traditionally featured lower in priorities amongst the wider health sector. It could therefore be argued that Active Travel being considered as a Public Health issue is akin to being placed at "the lowest rung of the lowest rung of the ladder". Chris recommended to the Senedd group that clearer lines of responsibility for Active Travel would really help to negate some of these processes.
Submitting evidence to the Senedd Areas of Research Interest is a great way to get your name known to members of the Senedd, and your work. Take a look at the current areas of interest.
Last up at this Open House for Research was Dr Jason Woolley, Reader in Employability and Lecturer in Creative Media. Jason reported on a current research project in collaboration with the Royal College of Music in Sweden. Jason is exploring the impact of 'over choice' on music production, particularly, digital tools in recording; is there too much choice and too many tools available to allow producers to make quick, effective decisions in the workplace?
The study consisted of an experimental design in the lab, where participants were instructed to create two tracks, one with limited workflow (i.e., only 8 plug-ins), and another with unlimited tools. All participants experienced both conditions and created two musical tracks. The research team analysed the mixes and followed-up with a qualitative survey. The team ran some descriptive statistics and analysed the qualitative data thematically; they found that the participants thought the 'unlimited' condition mix to be the hardest, with around 80% finding the limited choice condition easier. However, when asked what choice the participants preferred, they responded with the unlimited condition!
Thanks to all our July speakers and we look forward to the next Open House for Research.