Assessment matters

This guide is intended as an introduction to current debates and issues in good assessment practice in higher education. It does not claim in any sense to be comprehensive - which would require several volumes, given the rapid expansion of research into assessment issues over recent years - but rather attempts to introduce some of the key debates around both the purposes of assessment and aspects of good practice in assessment, as identified and explored in recent research. It raises questions as much as it supplies answers, with the intention of encouraging tutors to think more carefully and deeply about the purpose and nature of their assessment activities

Dissertation: issues in guidance, supervision and assessment

This guide explores some key issues concerning the supervision and assessment of dissertations. It explores the definition of a ‘dissertation’ in this context, preparing students to undertake dissertation work, the supervision process itself and the preparation of supervisors. Finally, it explores some issues around the marking criteria and the assessment process. It argues primarily for clear guidance for both students and staff, particularly in relation to criteria for assessment, and for much closer attention to the interpretation of those criteria by assessors

Writing themselves in: a national report on the sexuality, health and well-being of same-sex attracted young people

This 1998 report is about young people who are attracted to their own sex. The need for accurate baseline figures about young people of non-heterosexual orientation has developed as part of a general concern about the spread of the HIV virus into the adolescent population and a specific concern around these young people’s emotional well-being. In the past three years, Australian adolescent research conducted by the National Centre in HIV Social Research, La Trobe University, has revealed that a significant minority of young people are not unequivocally heterosexual, with numbers ranging between 8 and 11% in recent research. Research which specifically targets this population has, until now, been conducted retrospectively and/or with people who identify as gay or lesbian recruited through gay and lesbian youth groups or the gay press. As researchers we know little about young people at pre-identity or pre-disclosure stages because their need for anonymity means they cannot be contacted through the usual channels. The young people represented in this project were accessed through an advertising campaign in National magazines, via radio and the Internet. A survey was available on a website and from the Centre for the Study of Sexually Transmissible Diseases. Surveys were also inserted in the gay and street press. These surveys sought information regarding sexual feelings and experiences as well as sexual and drug-taking practices in regard to STDs (including HIV) and related diseases. The source and adequacy of sexual health information for this group and their levels of support and experiences of abuse and discrimination were also elicited. The survey also charted young people’s perceptions of their quality of life and emotional well-being. In addition, participants were also asked to write stories about their experiences, including when they first knew about their sexual feelings, their relationships with family and friends, and their hopes for the future. &nbsp

Low grade Ductal Carcinoma in situ (DCIS): how best to describe it?

BACKGROUND: In the absence of definitive data about the natural history of DCIS the appropriateness of describing DCIS as cancer is controversial. METHODS: We conducted a survey amongst British Breast Group (BBG) members, to determine which descriptions of DCIS were deemed most accurate and appropriate. RESULTS: 54/73 (74%) attendees completed the survey: A majority (34/54; 63%) said they would be comfortable using the description that explained DCIS as abnormal cells in the milk ducts that had not spread into other breast tissue and which did not need urgent treatment as if it was breast cancer and this description was overall the most preferred (24/54; 44%). CONCLUSIONS: Little consensus exists regarding how best to explain low grade DCIS to patients

Situated Identities, Competing Cultural Models: Discourse Analysis of Policy Makers\u27 Views on Teaching

Because policymakers have a direct impact on schools, teachers, and therefore students, this study examined the discourse of policymakers in relation to their views on “quality” teaching. Findings from the study conclude the cultural models and discourses widely varied among policymakers. Their views were based on an idiosyncratic approach to teaching and learning. A fragmented understanding of quality teaching from policymakers as a whole emerged

Identification and characterisation of hemicellulases from thermophilic Actinomycetes

Magister Scientiae - MScTo ensure the sustainability of bioethanol production, major attention has been directed to develop feedstocks which provide an alternative to food-crop biomass. Lignocellulosic (LC) biomass, which is chiefly composed of industrial plant residues, is a carbon-rich reservoir that is presently attracting much attention. However LC material is highly recalcitrant to bioprocessing and requires a mixture of physical and enzymatic pretreatment in order to liberate fermentable sugars. Thermostable enzymes are extremely desirable for use in thermophilic fermentations due to their inherent stability. Hemicellulose, a core constituent of LC, requires a cascade of hemicellulases to stimulate the depolymerisation of its xylan backbone. α-L-arabinofuranosidase (AFase) increases the rate of lignocellulose biodegradation by cleaving arabinofuranosyl residues from xylan thereby increasing the accessibility of other hemicellulases. Twenty thermophilic Actinomycete isolates were screened for AFase activity using pnp-arabinofuranoside as the substrate. Three strains (ORS #1, NDS #4 and WBDS #9) displayed significant AFase activity and were identified as Streptomyces species with 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Genomic DNA was isolated from these strains and a cosmid library constructed in the shuttle vector pDF666. Subsequent functional and PCR-based screening revealed no positive clones.South Afric

Social Structures, Local Economic Development And Environmental Quality In Deprived Communities: The Case Of The Kpirikpiri Community In South-east Nigeria

As recently as late 2010, Africa sought a 20% increase in funding for its poor countries despite years of international aid. In 2002, Nigeria's Ebonyi State became part of the Community-Based Urban Development Project and, in 2005, joined the CommunityBased Poverty Reduction Project, both funded by the World Bank. Ebonyi focused all of the aid it received on three communities in its capital, Abakiliki. The three communities were chosen because they exhibited the lowest social, political and economic status and the highest levels of physical decay based on a survey in 2001. One of the three communities, Kpirikpiri, was surveyed again in 2010 as part of this research and in 2011, a sample of its residents participated in focus groups to evaluate how their lives had improved as a result of this funding. It was shocking to discover that the community still suffered from all five housing deprivations used by UN-Habitat to define slum conditions. Yet, the potential of these residents is high. The challenge is how to unlock their potential and establish community organisations that can apply for their own funding; develop a local economy through activities, such as home-based enterprises; negotiate with landlords, and start to improve their environmental conditions

Addressing overtreatment of screen detected DCIS; the LORIS trial

Abstract Overdiagnosis, and thus overtreatment, are inevitable consequences of most screening programmes; identification of ways of minimising the impact of overdiagnosis demands new prospective research, in particular the need to separate clinically relevant lesions that require active treatment from those that can be safely left alone or monitored and only need treated if they change characteristics. Breast cancer screening has led to a large increase in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) diagnoses. This is a widely heterogeneous disease and most DCIS detected through screening is of high cytonuclear grade and therefore likely to be important clinically. However, the historic practice of surgical treatment for all DCIS is unlikely to be optimal for lower risk patients. A clearer understanding of how to manage DCIS is required. This article describes the background and development of ‘The low risk’ DCIS trial (LORIS), a phase III trial of surgery versus active monitoring. LORIS will determine if it is appropriate to manage women with screen detected or asymptomatic, low grade and intermediate grade DCIS with low grade features, by active monitoring rather than by surgical treatment