Young children’s use of an augmented reality sandbox to enhance spatial thinking

ABSTRACT

Augmented reality (AR) technology is being introduced in educational settings for its ability to overlay virtual information onto physical environments. The AR Sandbox is a conventional sandbox with depth coloured representations projected onto the sand’s surface. This research investigates how 4- and 5-year-old Australian children use an AR Sandbox to enhance their spatial thinking through play. Participants were four children, their two educators and the first author as a participant-observer researcher. Data were collected over an 8-week period during 2015 and included observation, child conferencing, photography, educators’ perspectives, and the researcher’s perspectives. Vignettes are presented to demonstrate how children’s spatial thinking was enhanced through exploration and representation in the AR Sandbox. Children’s active and dynamic manipulation of the space of the AR Sandbox, along with a range of socio-cultural contexts and tools, assisted in enhancing their spatial abilities.     

Seismic Vulnerability of Historical Masonry Aggregate Buildings in Oriental Sicily

ABSTRACT

The seismic vulnerability assessment of historical UnReinforced Masonry (URM) buildings is a very complex task since it is strongly related to a great variety both of geometrical layouts and of masonry mechanical characteristics. In this article, some results of a Catania University research project, denomined “FIR 2014”, focused on the seismic vulnerability estimation of historical buildings, built in Catania after the 1963 earthquake, are presented. First, a detailed typological analysis of the considered urban fabric, characterized by typical residential masonry buildings, has been performed. Such analysis allowed recognizing an elementary structural modulus, which has been studied according to different geometrical layouts representative of isolated or aggregate buildings. The results of nonlinear static analyses, performed by applying an innovative macro-element approach, allowed for the assessment the seismic vulnerability of typical URM buildings coherently to the Italian seismic code. The adopted macro-element strategy for the seismic assessment of aggregate masonry buildings, although related to a specific historical center, may be applied to similar urban fabrics and can also be used for the calibration and validation of fast seismic assessment strategies, particularly useful for the evaluation of the seismic risk at urban scale.     

Strangers and estrangement: young people’s renegotiations of birth and foster family relationships as they transition out of care and the implications for the state as parent*

ABSTRACT

Many young people ageing out of state care continue to experience very poor life outcomes. Based on research following 21 care leavers aged 15–18 over three years, this article charts how children’s experiences in troubled birth families are often compounded in care by multiple placement moves, the gradual disintegration of sibling units over time and troubling relationships with the adults charged with their care. It considers the effects of living with strangers and of transient relationships with carers and professionals, and explores young people’s feelings of rejection by, and responsibility for, their birth families. The capacity of the ‘corporate parent’ model to ensure adequate attention is paid to relationships in young people’s lives is questioned. Hollingsworth’s theory of foundational rights, incorporating considerations of relational autonomy, is utilised to reconsider the state’s obligations towards children for whom it has taken on the parental role, both during and beyond their legal minority.     

Promoting tourism through the EU LEADER programme: understanding Local Action Group governance

ABSTRACT

For many European rural areas, the rural development programmes based on the LEADER approach constitute the main policy for promoting tourism. Going a step further than a rural development programme, LEADER represents an ideal method for overcoming some of the challenges involved in rural tourism development, such as the integration of tourism supply through public-private organizations or the coordination of multi-level policies. Despite its potential, there are difficulties involved in putting this approach into practice. This article aims to provide in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by some managers responsible for developing tourism strategies through the LEADER approach. To do this, semi-structured in-depth interviews have been held with Local Action Groups managers from Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The main findings reveal that the actions of regional governments lead to the limitation and strangulation of the principle of subsidiarity according with the LAG manager? opinion.