Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the pub... more Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the public expectation of Forensic Evidence and the Criminal Justice system have been skewed, (Cole and Dioso-Villa, 2007). Studies concerning Law Enforcement Officers perceptions in regard to the ‘CSI Effect’ have been researched in the USA, Canada and Australia, however this study aims to examine UK Officers perceptions. A questionnaire created by Stinson, Patry and Smith (2007) was used to asses these beliefs. Results suggested perceptions of Officers were not affected by the amount of Crime shows they watched per week. In which Forensic Professionals (43) and Non-Forensic Professionals (247) believed these shows affected the expectations of the public and victims of crime. Moreover, it was discovered that some Law Enforcement Officers may be changing the way they investigate and interact with the public due to these shows.
The importance of Mathematics has been a large UK Government focus for some time now, with an eve... more The importance of Mathematics has been a large UK Government focus for some time now, with an ever increasing demand to raise results; not only for the UK to compete in the Global Common Market and be internationally competitive, but also for the benefits of students’ life skills and competence within a work environment. However negative attitudes have been found within students towards Mathematics, which in turn can cause disengagement and poor performance (Nardi & Steward, 2003). Mobile Technology – such as mobile phones or tablets – is a methodology being utilised by teachers within sessions to support connections between Mathematic concepts and real world problems, as well as increase positive attitudes towards Mathematics (Sawaya & Putnam, 2015). This study examined whether the use of mobile technologies had an impact on attitudes towards mathematics, as well as students’ perceptions towards the mobile technology. This study aimed to achieve this through an extensive research on current literature and the implementation of practical research. A mixed-methods design was implemented examining the Micro, Meso and Macro allowing different levels of analysis. Participants were students from a UK Vocational College, enrolled on a study programme including either Functional Skills Mathematics of GCSE Mathematics, of a variety of ages yet mainly 16-19years (N= 84). Students initial attitudes to Mathematics were recorded, then students participated within four (GCSE) or three (FS) sessions using mobile technology. This research supported literature about initial attitudes towards Mathematics not being positive, however this study found that attitudes were not as negative as expected. Students’ evaluation of the sessions using the mobile technology were in general positive, as well as in the majority increased over sessions (apart from GCSE session 4). With student choosing the positive adjectives of; ‘Fun’, ‘Useful’ and ‘New’ to describe the use of the mobile-tablets within the sessions. Themes from the student Focus groups found that satisfaction towards certain activities and using the mobile device were high as well as finding it useful to understand different mathematical concepts, however not all students found the device easy to use with some stating a pen and paper was easier to draw diagrams. This research produced a key finding that was not supported by the majority of previous literature as a change in attitude was found through paired-sample t-tests in the factors of Value, Enjoyment and Attitude to Learning Mathematics with Mobile Technology. Course difference in initial and post-test attitudes were also present, with more positive attitudes from those on a Functional Skills Mathematics course than those on a GCSE course. The main conclusions drawn from this study were students’ have a positive perception towards using mobile-technology within their mathematics sessions, with signs of improvement in attitude after the use of mobile-technology within sessions. Some differences were found between FS and GCSE students. Further research is required to examine this difference, as the study was a small time frame with results differing from previous literature.
Safety within your own home alone at night is seen as a right; nobody should have a higher fear t... more Safety within your own home alone at night is seen as a right; nobody should have a higher fear than another. Through this study a relationship between social class and how safe participants feel in their own home is explored, due to the fact of conflicting evidence in which on one hand it is supported that the higher class have better social ties within their neighbourhood so would feel safe, (Conklin, 1975) yet all classes have services available that are free to make them feel more safe in their homes (HomeSafe, HomeWatch). Females report high amounts of fear of crime repeatedly, and it is generally reported the higher the worry of being victimised the less safe feel within the home. Using data from the British Crime survey, in which 19, 411 answered, bivariate correlations were carried out between social class and fear within the home, gender and fear within the home, and five worry variables against how safe feel within the home with gender differences noted. Results indicated if you are of higher social class you feel safer within the home, if you worry about being victimised you feel less safe in the home, males feel safer in general than females within the home however a difference was shown between males and females on which worries had a stronger correlation with feeling safe within the home. One implication of this study is that the focus is on groups of people and has not looked at the individualistic aspect, which is much harder to examine.
Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the pub... more Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the public expectation of Forensic Evidence and the Criminal Justice system have been skewed, (Cole and Dioso-Villa, 2007). Studies concerning Law Enforcement Officers perceptions in regard to the ‘CSI Effect’ have been researched in the USA, Canada and Australia, however this study aims to examine UK Officers perceptions. A questionnaire created by Stinson, Patry and Smith (2007) was used to asses these beliefs. Results suggested perceptions of Officers were not affected by the amount of Crime shows they watched per week. In which Forensic Professionals (43) and Non-Forensic Professionals (247) believed these shows affected the expectations of the public and victims of crime. Moreover, it was discovered that some Law Enforcement Officers may be changing the way they investigate and interact with the public due to these shows.
As part of my Research Awareness and Support Skills unit, this task involved choosing a peer-revi... more As part of my Research Awareness and Support Skills unit, this task involved choosing a peer-reviewed article and completing a critical evaluation. Through the review, I start with an introduction to why I personally chose this article, and then continue onto the critique. I started with examining the general aspects of the article, such as the title, abstract, language and structure before moving onto the literature review. In evaluating the Literature review I considered many important characteristics that are essential to produce a coherent and well flowing introduction. The method of this article I found particularly interesting and included an in depth discussion on the purpose, methods, procedure and participants. Although ethical considerations was not mentioned within this article, I have outline briefly this gap and relevance. The results were considered in areas such as the analysis and how these were presented to the reader. Then finally the discussions and further research were broached and considered whether they were in depth and relevant. Overall I concluded this task with considering the main strengths and limitations of the article.
Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the pub... more Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the public expectation of Forensic Evidence and the Criminal Justice system have been skewed, (Cole and Dioso-Villa, 2007). Studies concerning Law Enforcement Officers perceptions in regard to the ‘CSI Effect’ have been researched in the USA, Canada and Australia, however this study aims to examine UK Officers perceptions. A questionnaire created by Stinson, Patry and Smith (2007) was used to asses these beliefs. Results suggested perceptions of Officers were not affected by the amount of Crime shows they watched per week. In which Forensic Professionals (43) and Non-Forensic Professionals (247) believed these shows affected the expectations of the public and victims of crime. Moreover, it was discovered that some Law Enforcement Officers may be changing the way they investigate and interact with the public due to these shows.
The importance of Mathematics has been a large UK Government focus for some time now, with an eve... more The importance of Mathematics has been a large UK Government focus for some time now, with an ever increasing demand to raise results; not only for the UK to compete in the Global Common Market and be internationally competitive, but also for the benefits of students’ life skills and competence within a work environment. However negative attitudes have been found within students towards Mathematics, which in turn can cause disengagement and poor performance (Nardi & Steward, 2003). Mobile Technology – such as mobile phones or tablets – is a methodology being utilised by teachers within sessions to support connections between Mathematic concepts and real world problems, as well as increase positive attitudes towards Mathematics (Sawaya & Putnam, 2015). This study examined whether the use of mobile technologies had an impact on attitudes towards mathematics, as well as students’ perceptions towards the mobile technology. This study aimed to achieve this through an extensive research on current literature and the implementation of practical research. A mixed-methods design was implemented examining the Micro, Meso and Macro allowing different levels of analysis. Participants were students from a UK Vocational College, enrolled on a study programme including either Functional Skills Mathematics of GCSE Mathematics, of a variety of ages yet mainly 16-19years (N= 84). Students initial attitudes to Mathematics were recorded, then students participated within four (GCSE) or three (FS) sessions using mobile technology. This research supported literature about initial attitudes towards Mathematics not being positive, however this study found that attitudes were not as negative as expected. Students’ evaluation of the sessions using the mobile technology were in general positive, as well as in the majority increased over sessions (apart from GCSE session 4). With student choosing the positive adjectives of; ‘Fun’, ‘Useful’ and ‘New’ to describe the use of the mobile-tablets within the sessions. Themes from the student Focus groups found that satisfaction towards certain activities and using the mobile device were high as well as finding it useful to understand different mathematical concepts, however not all students found the device easy to use with some stating a pen and paper was easier to draw diagrams. This research produced a key finding that was not supported by the majority of previous literature as a change in attitude was found through paired-sample t-tests in the factors of Value, Enjoyment and Attitude to Learning Mathematics with Mobile Technology. Course difference in initial and post-test attitudes were also present, with more positive attitudes from those on a Functional Skills Mathematics course than those on a GCSE course. The main conclusions drawn from this study were students’ have a positive perception towards using mobile-technology within their mathematics sessions, with signs of improvement in attitude after the use of mobile-technology within sessions. Some differences were found between FS and GCSE students. Further research is required to examine this difference, as the study was a small time frame with results differing from previous literature.
Safety within your own home alone at night is seen as a right; nobody should have a higher fear t... more Safety within your own home alone at night is seen as a right; nobody should have a higher fear than another. Through this study a relationship between social class and how safe participants feel in their own home is explored, due to the fact of conflicting evidence in which on one hand it is supported that the higher class have better social ties within their neighbourhood so would feel safe, (Conklin, 1975) yet all classes have services available that are free to make them feel more safe in their homes (HomeSafe, HomeWatch). Females report high amounts of fear of crime repeatedly, and it is generally reported the higher the worry of being victimised the less safe feel within the home. Using data from the British Crime survey, in which 19, 411 answered, bivariate correlations were carried out between social class and fear within the home, gender and fear within the home, and five worry variables against how safe feel within the home with gender differences noted. Results indicated if you are of higher social class you feel safer within the home, if you worry about being victimised you feel less safe in the home, males feel safer in general than females within the home however a difference was shown between males and females on which worries had a stronger correlation with feeling safe within the home. One implication of this study is that the focus is on groups of people and has not looked at the individualistic aspect, which is much harder to examine.
Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the pub... more Television shows such as CSI have caused a phenomenon known as the ‘CSI effect’, in which the public expectation of Forensic Evidence and the Criminal Justice system have been skewed, (Cole and Dioso-Villa, 2007). Studies concerning Law Enforcement Officers perceptions in regard to the ‘CSI Effect’ have been researched in the USA, Canada and Australia, however this study aims to examine UK Officers perceptions. A questionnaire created by Stinson, Patry and Smith (2007) was used to asses these beliefs. Results suggested perceptions of Officers were not affected by the amount of Crime shows they watched per week. In which Forensic Professionals (43) and Non-Forensic Professionals (247) believed these shows affected the expectations of the public and victims of crime. Moreover, it was discovered that some Law Enforcement Officers may be changing the way they investigate and interact with the public due to these shows.
As part of my Research Awareness and Support Skills unit, this task involved choosing a peer-revi... more As part of my Research Awareness and Support Skills unit, this task involved choosing a peer-reviewed article and completing a critical evaluation. Through the review, I start with an introduction to why I personally chose this article, and then continue onto the critique. I started with examining the general aspects of the article, such as the title, abstract, language and structure before moving onto the literature review. In evaluating the Literature review I considered many important characteristics that are essential to produce a coherent and well flowing introduction. The method of this article I found particularly interesting and included an in depth discussion on the purpose, methods, procedure and participants. Although ethical considerations was not mentioned within this article, I have outline briefly this gap and relevance. The results were considered in areas such as the analysis and how these were presented to the reader. Then finally the discussions and further research were broached and considered whether they were in depth and relevant. Overall I concluded this task with considering the main strengths and limitations of the article.
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This study examined whether the use of mobile technologies had an impact on attitudes towards mathematics, as well as students’ perceptions towards the mobile technology. This study aimed to achieve this through an extensive research on current literature and the implementation of practical research. A mixed-methods design was implemented examining the Micro, Meso and Macro allowing different levels of analysis. Participants were students from a UK Vocational College, enrolled on a study programme including either Functional Skills Mathematics of GCSE Mathematics, of a variety of ages yet mainly 16-19years (N= 84). Students initial attitudes to Mathematics were recorded, then students participated within four (GCSE) or three (FS) sessions using mobile technology.
This research supported literature about initial attitudes towards Mathematics not being positive, however this study found that attitudes were not as negative as expected. Students’ evaluation of the sessions using the mobile technology were in general positive, as well as in the majority increased over sessions (apart from GCSE session 4). With student choosing the positive adjectives of; ‘Fun’, ‘Useful’ and ‘New’ to describe the use of the mobile-tablets within the sessions. Themes from the student Focus groups found that satisfaction towards certain activities and using the mobile device were high as well as finding it useful to understand different mathematical concepts, however not all students found the device easy to use with some stating a pen and paper was easier to draw diagrams. This research produced a key finding that was not supported by the majority of previous literature as a change in attitude was found through paired-sample t-tests in the factors of Value, Enjoyment and Attitude to Learning Mathematics with Mobile Technology. Course difference in initial and post-test attitudes were also present, with more positive attitudes from those on a Functional Skills Mathematics course than those on a GCSE course.
The main conclusions drawn from this study were students’ have a positive perception towards using mobile-technology within their mathematics sessions, with signs of improvement in attitude after the use of mobile-technology within sessions. Some differences were found between FS and GCSE students. Further research is required to examine this difference, as the study was a small time frame with results differing from previous literature.
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This study examined whether the use of mobile technologies had an impact on attitudes towards mathematics, as well as students’ perceptions towards the mobile technology. This study aimed to achieve this through an extensive research on current literature and the implementation of practical research. A mixed-methods design was implemented examining the Micro, Meso and Macro allowing different levels of analysis. Participants were students from a UK Vocational College, enrolled on a study programme including either Functional Skills Mathematics of GCSE Mathematics, of a variety of ages yet mainly 16-19years (N= 84). Students initial attitudes to Mathematics were recorded, then students participated within four (GCSE) or three (FS) sessions using mobile technology.
This research supported literature about initial attitudes towards Mathematics not being positive, however this study found that attitudes were not as negative as expected. Students’ evaluation of the sessions using the mobile technology were in general positive, as well as in the majority increased over sessions (apart from GCSE session 4). With student choosing the positive adjectives of; ‘Fun’, ‘Useful’ and ‘New’ to describe the use of the mobile-tablets within the sessions. Themes from the student Focus groups found that satisfaction towards certain activities and using the mobile device were high as well as finding it useful to understand different mathematical concepts, however not all students found the device easy to use with some stating a pen and paper was easier to draw diagrams. This research produced a key finding that was not supported by the majority of previous literature as a change in attitude was found through paired-sample t-tests in the factors of Value, Enjoyment and Attitude to Learning Mathematics with Mobile Technology. Course difference in initial and post-test attitudes were also present, with more positive attitudes from those on a Functional Skills Mathematics course than those on a GCSE course.
The main conclusions drawn from this study were students’ have a positive perception towards using mobile-technology within their mathematics sessions, with signs of improvement in attitude after the use of mobile-technology within sessions. Some differences were found between FS and GCSE students. Further research is required to examine this difference, as the study was a small time frame with results differing from previous literature.