Changing Mindsets: Effectiveness trial

The Changing Mindsets project aimed to improve attainment outcomes at the end of primary school by teaching Year 6 pupils that their brain potential was not a fixed entity but could grow and change through effort exerted. The programme, delivered by Portsmouth University, taught pupils about the malleability of intelligence through workshops. Teachers attended short professional development courses on approaches to developing a ‘growth mindset’ before delivering sessions to pupils weekly, over eight consecutive weeks. Teachers were encouraged to embed aspects of the growth mindset approach throughout their teaching—for example, when giving feedback outside of the sessions. They were also given access to digital classroom resources, such as a video case study of Darwin overcoming adversity in his own life, as a practical example of the importance of having a growth mindset. The project was a randomised controlled trial (RCT) and included 101 schools and 5018 pupils across England, assigned to either intervention or control groups. The trial ran from September 2016 to February 2017. The process evaluation involved interviews with teachers, focus groups with pupils receiving the intervention, lesson observations, and surveys of both treatment schools and control groups throughout the course of the intervention. Key conclusions 1. Pupils in schools that received the intervention did not make any additional progress in literacy nor numeracy—as measured by the national Key Stage 2 tests in reading, grammar, punctuation, and spelling (GPS), and maths—compared to pupils in the control group. This finding has high security. 2. This evaluation also examined four measures of non-cognitive skills: intrinsic value, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and selfregulation. The evaluation did not find evidence of an impact on these measures for pupils in schools that received Changing Mindsets. A positive impact was found for the intrinsic value measure, but the impact was small and was not statistically significant. 3. Among pupils eligible for free school meals (‘FSM pupils’), those in schools that received the intervention did not make any additional progress in literacy nor numeracy—as measured by the national Key Stage 2 tests in reading, GPS, and maths— compared to FSM pupils in schools that did not receive the intervention. 4. One explanation for the absence of a measurable impact on pupil attainment is the widespread use of the growth mindset theory. Most teachers in the comparison schools (that did not receive the intervention) were familiar with this, and over a third reported that they had attended training days based on the growth mindset approach

Improving Working Memory: Evaluation report and executive summary

This project tested the Improving Working Memory intervention (WM) and an adapted version, entitled the Working Memory Plus intervention (WM+). Working memory is the ability to remember and manipulate information over short time-frames. Previous research has suggested that working memory is a reliable predictor of numeracy outcomes. The Improving Working Memory intervention aimed to improve the numeracy skills of Year 3 pupils (aged 7-8) who were behind the class average in numeracy by improving their working memory capacity. The intervention, developed and previously tested by a team at Oxford University, combined the explicit teaching of working memory strategies by Teaching Assistants (TAs) and the independent practice of these strategies using web-based games. The intervention was delivered in ten one-hour sessions and lasted for one term. The Working Memory Plus intervention also had ten sessions, but only five were focused on working memory, whilst the other five were focused on arithmetic content. The project was a randomised controlled trial (RCT). 127 schools participated, being randomised at the school-level to one of three arms – the Improving Working Memory intervention, the Working Memory Plus intervention, or a business as usual control group. The primary outcome was maths attainment and the project also looked at working memory, and attention and behaviour in class as secondary outcomes. The process evaluation included fieldwork with eight intervention schools (four from each intervention), and an online survey of treatment and control schools. The trial took place between September 2016 and July 2017

The contribution of Further Education and skills to social mobility

Social mobility means being able to improve your and your family’s standard of living, through better education, employment and income. This report investigates how taking part in further education – such as an apprenticeship, work-based learning, community learning and adult education – helps people get better jobs and wages. It also looks at the effects further education has on the prospects for the children of learners. It is a review of published research from government, academics and think tanks

Behavioural insights into benefits claimants’ training.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the behavioural determinants of work-related benefits claimants’ training behaviours and to suggest ways to improve claimants’ compliance with training referrals. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 Jobcentre Plus staff and training providers, and 60 claimants. Claimants were sampled based on whether or not they had been mandated to training and whether or not they subsequently participated. Along with general findings, differences between these groups are highlighted. Findings Claimants’ behaviours are affected by their capabilities, opportunities, and motivations in interrelated ways. Training programmes should appreciate this to better ensure claimants’ completion of training programmes. Originality/value Whilst past papers have largely examined a limited number of factors that affect claimants’ training behaviours, this report offers a synchronised evaluation of all the behavioural factors that affect claimants’ training behaviours

Mathematical Reasoning: Evaluation report and executive summary

The Mathematical Reasoning programme aims to improve the mathematical attainment of pupils in Year 2 by developing their understanding of the logical principles underlying maths. The programme was previously tested in an EEF-funded efficacy trial (Improving Numeracy and Literacy in Key Stage 1) which suggested that it had a positive impact. The efficacy trial examined the programme under developer-led conditions. This report describes a follow-up effectiveness trial which examined the impact of the programme under everyday conditions in a large number of schools and with less involvement from the original developer. Mathematical Reasoning lessons focus on developing pupils’ understanding of number and quantitative reasoning. They cover principles such as place value and the inverse relation between addition and subtraction. The programme consists of ten units delivered to pupils by their teachers as part of their usual mathematics lessons. It is designed to be taught over a 12- to 15-week period, with each unit taking approximately one hour. Learning is supported by online games, which can be used by pupils both at school and at home. The intervention was originally developed by a team at the University of Oxford, led by Professor Terezinha Nunes and Professor Peter Bryant. The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) contributed to the development of the training model used in this trial and coordinated the delivery of the training through the network of Maths Hubs (partnerships of schools created to lead improvements to maths education). In this trial, the teacher training was delivered using a ‘train-the-trainers’ model through eight Maths Hubs. Each Maths Hub was asked to recruit two ‘Work Group Leads’. The University of Oxford programme developers trained these Work Group Leads who then trained the teachers in participating schools to deliver the programme. To prepare them to train the teachers, Work Group Leads received an initial day of training, used the materials in their own teaching, and then received a further two days’ training. Teachers delivering the programme then received one day of training from a Work Group Lead as well as a visit from the Work Group Lead during programme delivery. They were also able to seek additional support directly from the Work Group Lead or ask questions through an online Maths Hub community. The impact of the programme on maths attainment was evaluated using a randomised controlled trial involving 160 schools. Schools were randomly allocated either to receive Mathematical Reasoning or to be in the control group, the latter having the opportunity to take part in the programme in the following school year. A process evaluation used observations of training sessions, teacher interviews, lesson observations, and an online survey of treatment and control schools to examine implementation and the factors influencing impact. The trial began in August 2015 and analysis and reporting of the trial completed in December 2018. The project was co-funded by the Worshipful Company of Actuaries

Electrochemical Oxidation and Sensing of Methylamine Gas in Room Temperature Ionic Liquids

The electrochemical behaviour of methylamine gas in several room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), [C2mim][NTf2], [C4mim][NTf2], [C6mim][FAP], [C4mpyrr][NTf2], [C4mim][BF4], and [C4mim][PF6] has been investigated on a Pt microelectrode using cyclic voltammetry. A broad oxidation wave at approximately 3 V, two reduction peaks and another oxidation peak was observed. A complicated mechanism is predicted based on the voltammetry obtained, with ammonia gas as a likely by-product. The currents obtained suggest that methylamine has a high solubility in RTILs, which is important for gas sensing applications. The analytical utility of methylamine was then studied in [C4mpyrr][NTf2] and [C2mim][NTf2]. A linear calibration graph with an R2 value of 0.99 and limits of detection of 33 and 34 ppm were obtained respectively, suggesting that RTILs are favourable non-volatile solvents for the electrochemical detection of highly toxic methylamine gas