The Difference That Makes a Difference 2015 (DTMD 2015) Information and values: ethics, spirituality and religion

Dear colleague,

The Difference That Makes a Difference 2015 (DTMD 2015) is the third in a series of biennial workshop on the nature of information. The theme of this event is Information and values: ethics, spirituality and religion. It forms part of a larger summit on information organised by the International Society for Information Studies, held on the 3rd-7th June at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria. DTMD 2015 is organised by The Open University, UK.

This workshop starts from the premise that information and values coexist in a relationship of tension, and that they engage in a dialectical process in certain key areas of human society. Within these areas, information and values co-construct a synthesis which includes but transcends both aspects. This synthesis is particularly expressed in the fields of ethics, spirituality and religion.

Particular inspirations for this workshop include the work by West Churchman on The Systems Approach and its Enemies, which argued for a dialectical relationship between the rationalist ‘hard’ systems approach and perspectives such as morality, politics, religion and aesthetics which are apparently opposed to it. Ethics and religion have also been long-standing interests in various areas of cybernetics, which is the starting point for this exploration of information, and were central concerns in the later work of Norbert Wiener, Heinz von Foerster and Gregory Bateson. In this sense the workshop is continuing an ongoing stream of work.

As well as leading to new insights into ethics, spirituality and religion, this work also acts as a further lens through which to explore the nature of information. The language of information is increasingly used in many different disciplines, and comparing the usage in different fields contributes to a better understanding of information in its own right. The areas of spirituality, ethics and religion are somewhat less examined in the context of information than many other disciplines, and so this workshop will continue the ongoing process of exploring multi-disciplinary aspects of information.

This workshop follows two international workshops held in Milton Keynes, UK, in 2011 and 2013, both entitled The Difference that Makes a Difference. These workshops explored the nature of information in a range of disciplines (including physics, biology, sociology, computing, systems thinking, philosophy, geography and art, among others). Proceedings of both workshops can be found at http://www.dtmd.org.uk/.

Key questions which the workshop will address include:

• Can newly-emerging insights into the nature of information inform ethics, spirituality and religion? And does our understanding of ethics, information and religion contribute to a new understanding of the nature of information?
• If information is the new language of science as Von Baeyer suggests, can it also be a new language of ethics, spirituality and religion?
• If we are re-ontologising the world as an infosphere, does that make information ethics the new universal macroethic, as Luciano Floridi suggests?
• Is the language of information effective in talking about spirituality?
• Can we interpret the theologies, mythologies and praxis of religion using the language of information? How do religions use information and informational concepts? Conversely, what might it mean to think about information as theological or mythological?
• Can a theory of information provide a weltanschauung to replace or supplement religion as the motivation for ethics, spirituality and community, and if so, is such a replacement necessary and / or desirable?

The workshop organisers welcome submissions which address themselves to the above and related questions through the medium of art as well as traditional academic formats – DTMD 2013 had a major focus around the interplay between art and information, and we hope to continue this in the current workshop.

Submission deadline (extended abstracts of 750-2000 words): 27 February 2015
Notification of acceptance: 20 March 2015

Workshop organisers (all at The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK):

David Chapman, Magnus Ramage, Chris Bissell and Mustafa Ali (Department of Computing and Communications)
Derek Jones (Department of Engineering and Innovation)
Graham Harvey and Paul-Francois Tremlett (Department of Religious Studies)

Online version of call for papers: http://summit.is4is.org/calls/call-for-papers/the-difference-that-makes-a-difference-2015
...

Hope to see you in Vienna in June!

David

the GE METRY of CARE and C NTRACTS

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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Image source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Circle_-_black_simple.svg/500px-Circle_-_black_simple.svg.png

#entanglement

NW England: UCLAN - Postgraduate Student Conference 2015 Designing and Delivering Research to Inform Clinical Practice

School of Health

Monday 26th January 2015 

9am to 4pm Adelphi Conference Room

A series of short talks to stimulate and inform those contemplating, planning and undertaking research

Supporting UCLan’s postgraduate students

8.30 Registration. 9.00 Start.  

9.00 – Welcome by Professor Tim Thornton, Professor of Philosophy and Mental Health. Why do we need different research methods?  Chair: Professor Caroline Watkins, UCLan School of Health Director of Research.  

9.20 – Dr Louise Connell, NIHR Career Development Research Fellow. Developing a health research career.  

9.40 – 10.20 Session 1 - Systematically reviewing the evidence.  
• Dr Stephanie Jones, Senior Research Fellow & Colette Miller, Research Assistant. Searching the literature to explore what impact training health professionals has on patient outcome. 
• Dr Gill Thomson, Senior Research Fellow Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture Unit (MAINN). Metasynthesis – why and how we do it. 

10.20 - 10.30 Questions 

BREAK – 10.30– 11.00 (30 minutes tea/coffee/networking) 

11.00 – 12.00 Session 2 - Clinical Trials and complex interventions. 
• Dr Chris Sutton, Principal Lecturer and Associate Director Lancashire Clinical Trials Unit. The role of feasibility trials in the development and evaluation of complex interventions. 
• Dr Michael Leathley, Post Doctoral Research Fellow/Principal Lecturer (Research). Health economics in feasibility trials. 
• Dr Lois Thomas, Reader in Health Services Research. What do process evaluations contribute to trials of complex interventions?  An example from the ICONS: Identifying Continence OptioNs after Stroke Trial.  

12.00– 12.20 Questions  

LUNCH 12.20 until 13.20 networking. Sandwich lunch provided  

13.20 Chair: TBC  13.20 – 14.20 Session 3 - Implementation science and service user involvement. 
• Dr Rob Monks, Senior Lecturer and John Billington. Experienced-based co-design. 
• Dr Mick McKeown, Principal Lecturer, Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing. & Fiona Jones, Community Futures.  Activism, action and alliances: meaningful involvement in research.  

14.20 – 15.00 Session 4 Qualitative research to answer health and social care questions. 
• Dr Janine Arnott, Research Fellow, Children’s, Families and Transitions. Data collection from children. 
• Prof Soo Downe, How qualitative research can influence national and global policy in maternal and child health.  

15.00 – 15.20 Questions  

15.20 – Dr Alexis Holden, Head of UCLan Funding Development and Support. ‘UCLan Research and Innovation Office (RIO) – How can we help you?’  

15.40 – Final session - TBC.  

16.00 CLOSE

...

Adelphi Building, Preston (Adelphi Conference Room, UCLan's Adelphi Building, Adelphi Street, Preston, PR1 7AY

[ I only learned of this event yesterday afternoon and have managed to secure leave and a place - there are a few more left. ]

ERCIM News No. 100 Special theme: "Scientific Data Sharing and Reuse"

Dear ERCIM News Reader,

ERCIM News No. 100 has just been published at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en100
Join us in celebrating the 100th issue and post a message at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/guestbook

ERCIM NEWS 100

Special Theme: "Scientific Data Sharing and Reuse"
http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en100/special/

Keynote by Carlos Morais, European Commission: "e-Infrastructures Enabling Trust in the Era of Data-Intensive Science"

This issue is also available for download in:
pdf:  http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN100/EN100-web.pdf
epub: http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN100/EN100.epub

Next issue: No. 101, April 2015 - Special Theme: "The Internet of Things & the Web of Things"
(see Call for articles at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/call)

Thank you for your interest in ERCIM News. Feel free to forward this message to others who might be interested.

Best regards,
Peter Kunz
ERCIM News central editor

Calling Dewey and the care domains

In Education for work: background to policy and curriculum Corson (1991) considers the workplace, workers, satisfaction and the constraints that operate there. From almost a century ago Dewey is cited and resonates with nursing and Hodges' model:

The result was a redesign of workplaces to lessen the constraints and to satisfy worker's desires from achievement, recognition and interest: to offer them meaningful work. For Dewey work of this kind plays a critical role in self-fulfillment and in continuing education: it becomes a vocation or a calling:

A calling is of necessity also an organizing principle for information and ideas; for knowledge and intellectual growth. It provides an axis which runs through an immense diversity of detail; it causes different experiences, facts, items of information to fall into order with another (Dewey, 1916, p.362). p.173.

Corson, D. (1991) Introduction: Studies in Work Across the Curriculum, In. CORSON, D. (ed.) Education for work: background to policy and curriculum.Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. p.173.

Dewey, J. (1916) Democracy and Education. Macmillan: New York.

Book review: Quinn's Principles and Practice of Nurse Education [ 6th Edition ]

I owned the 3rd edition of this book and approached the publisher for a copy of the most recent, which is gratefully received. This review is quite delayed in fact, I've a few other reviews to get on with too.

From the outset while a book on nurse education, the text serves general students and practitioners in education in parts one and two. I completed my PG Cert almost twenty years ago and this book would be an asset to current students (see the content listing for parts 1-2 below). There are many technical concepts within what is a comprehensive text; for example, there are 54 index entries related to 'assessment'.

Much of the book's value is accentuated for readers here in the UK. Here is an established and high quality textbook that provides a UK perspective. As a 7th edition the references for each chapter are expansive taking in key historical sources and more recent publications. There are many illustrations in the form of flowcharts and figures. Following each chapters references, suggested further reading is provided. Review exercises at the end of chapters serve the added purpose of sign-posting content. The information architecture and design of the book makes for a logical, clear and readable experience. Even if the content were lacking, which it is not, the book is fairly substantial at 550 pages. The book is well produced, the paper quality (lending to the weight) and the binding works! Yes, the binding serves to secure the pages and works well when the book is opened flat. This is an obvious requirement and yet so frequently it is a struggle.

As to specifics: Parts 1 and 2 are a welcome refresh. The discussion on thinking and critical thinking are sufficiently detailed and of special interest (pp.58-66) to me. Intuition receives a 'nod' with a dedicated paragraph on p.66, sufficient no doubt to give our students a troubling 'prod' in their future and ongoing careers? I wonder if pages 51-59 might benefit from review and more references, acknowledging what is a well-executed historical account within part 1? An educational challenge I am pondering at present is that of values within nursing. How can we teach these (including the 6Cs)? Amongst what is new to the book is that it meets NMC standards. It would be easy to produce a list of omissions, but I would expect to see abuse, safeguarding, whistleblowing, and vulnerability in this book. How students encounter these concepts and subsequently learn about such sensitive topics must be critical to their insight (life experience to date), self-awareness and skills development. Reflection is very well represented throughout the parts of the book which encourages my efforts with Hodges' model.

I mentioned the book's relevance to current PG Cert Education students and must add that I have referenced the text in a paper for my current studies in technology enhanced learning. On this front the publishers clearly recognise the extended potential of additional e-learning services through CourseMate. An Instant Access Card accompanies the book. Part 4 extends this relevance to continuing professional development and lifelong learning. Chapter 11 is very helpful for its practical dimension, describing placement learning, link lecturers, mentoring and the challenge of the failing student. Sometimes ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages is a factor and 'language' could be noted more specifically. This is not a matter for student selection but should be ongoing and would also be addressed within the public (equality and diversity pp.129-134). In mental health I am acutely aware of the importance of communication skills. This comprehensive treatment includes supervision, sign-off mentoring, practice educators plus triennial review.

If I have a bad habit it's looking through the index of a book and asking: What might I expect to see here? The bad aspect is it's tantamount to reviewing by exclusion. And I'm already guilty too. The book fulfills its purpose and does not need to reflect the whole nursing curriculum. But... I would have hoped to see 'open source', Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS), the role of mobile e-learning, learning management systems - Blackboard is mentioned but not Moodle. Perhaps there are commercial considerations at work? 'Threshold levels' are mentioned but not 'threshold concepts'. This is understandable as we are only just on the cusp of a special interest group in health and social care (more on that to follow I hope). For those like myself who are on the service-practice side chapter 8 is insightful, on marking and providing student feedback beyond the student-mentor relationship. There is constructive support and encouragement for new lecturers and advice on quality and evaluation in higher education.

A year ago I reviewed an even larger textbook on Nursing Informatics, and in truth informatics still has a long way go to prove itself to most of the nurses I meet and work with. I keep doing the sales pitch and this includes acknowledging the student's awareness of coding and classification, or  pointing them (usually 1st and 2nd years) to this knowledge. Health Informatics is represented in the text and the glossary (pp.539-541). In terms of professional accountability it is vital that as nurses we are aware of what happens to the data we help to create. Students are also the researchers of tomorrow and as such they need to be aware of diagnostic schemas and ongoing issues in this area. It is true that this is the curriculum and yet the authors do right by including classification in the context of the library, and coding as in the types of fractures (figure 3.6, p.77); some mention of coding and classification within nursing and healthcare surely seems justified?

Nursing has struggled to make itself visible - for the right reasons for many years. As we look to our students to resolve this are they to rely upon some form of reverse-magic* alone? Despite this proverbial bee, I can highly recommend this book - it is a great resource.

1 Introduction: Nurse Education in the university and the clinical setting
PART ONE – THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
2 Adult learning theory
3 Perspectives on teaching and learning
PART TWO – LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT
4 Curriculum theory and practice
5 Planning for teaching
6 Teaching strategies
7 Assessment of learning
8 Student feedback / feed-forward
9 Teaching study skills
10 Evaluation
...

*It is of course customary to marvel at the visible becoming invisible.

HUGHES, S.J. & QUINN, F.M. (2013) Quinn's principles and practice of nurse education. 6^th Edition. Andover, Hampshire: Cengage Learning.

I would like to extend my thanks to Mr Matthew Keown at Cengage for my copy of this book.
 

Reflecting on Nortin Hadler's "Missing the Forest For the Granularity"

I read Nortin Hadler's Missing the Forest For the Granularity (July, 2014) on The Health Care Blog with great interest. The article draws attention yet again to the risks and preoccupation with processes and systems. This provides me with another opportunity to highlight the 4P's within Hodges' model: Process, Policy, Practice and Purpose and add some of the points that Dr Hadler addresses.

The 4Ps by themselves might have meaning but they can't do work. For that we need a context and several perspectives. As Dr Hadler points out big data intrudes on the clinical encounter determining not just what is collected, but how it is captured and structured.

There are frequently two datasets at the practitioner level: one is administrative and managerial in form and purpose; the other is clinical - patient, person centered. Effective communication already presents a challenge. On top of that then how relevant are the IT systems. The holy grail of IT systems still seems to be benefits for clinicians and patients - the public. Until then will the IT continue to push the patient-clinical relationship as if it is some wobbly toy? You bet it will!

Where exactly should the “Physician’s Dashboard” reside? Is it a case of "the ayes have it" but only on the right?

Nortin also refers to the United States postponing ICD-10. From Wigan Pier I clearly do not understand the issue, but this seems from here more like a very prolonged delay. A delay that perhaps says more; not just about the healthcare 'system(s)', but the many interfaces to be found there.

Many thanks to Dr - Prof. Hadler for his article:
https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2014/07/11/missing-the-forest-for-the-granularity/

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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“cognitive” specialists, the care of the patient revolves around the “granularity” of the narrative. PURPOSE individual attention and focus ability to share purposes  Using individual differences and idiosyncrasies	patients as widgets (here)? Can you see the dashboard here? PROCESS  data gathering big data, ICD-10 Electronic Medical Record -  templates and “smart sets”
PRACTICE Patient - BIG DATA - Doctor relationship  empathy 'NOISE' empathy life-course (“social”) epidemiology	POLICY Europe, health care systems, United States, health economists, hospital administrators, patients as “units of care”, physicians as “providers”, clinical demand = “throughput.” common denominators invoicing

Emphasising 'naivety' and collections of things: The Serving Library

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

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NAÏVE SET THEORY
by Anthony Huberman

1. A total absence of information about a given subject usually solicits no curiosity: without an awareness of its existence, we can’t possibly care about it.

....

7. Eventually, we have a dictionary definition.

See the pdf below and the title link for many other items within this journal:
http://www.dextersinister.org/MEDIA/PDF/NaiveSetTheory.pdf

My source: Visit to The Serving Library exhibition at Tate Liverpool

Image source: Goodreads.com

The mining of meaning: copper - in and out of the ground

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

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	West O'okiep Mine, Okiep (1862 to the early 1970s) 284,000 tonnes of copper extracted
Communities	$ £ ...

Image source and with thanks to Dillon Marsh
http://dillonmarsh.com/copper02.html

My original source: New Scientist 6 Sept 2014 pp. 24-25.