The reaction of young secondary pupils to their primary French

Current theories of curriculum development emphasise the need for clearly defined objectives. The teaching of Primary French was shown to have been largely lacking in such objectives. Yet the importance of favourable attitudes emerged in relation to both the teaching of French and to the specific goals of British Primary Education. Against such a background the study set out to evaluate the extent to which such favourable attitudes towards French were being fostered in primary schools. Two areas - County Durham and the London Borough of Havering were selected to be studied in depth and the development and the nature of the provision of Primary French in these areas were explored. A Likert-type attitude scale was constructed as part of a questionnaire administered to over 8,700 first year pupils in the two areas, immediately upon entry into their secondary schools. The aim was to assess the reactions of the children towards the learning of languages and Primary French in particular, as well as towards France and the French people. The responses of children with past experience of Primary French were compared with those of children without French, as well as the responses of boys with girls. An attempt was made to link the attitude scale scores with features of the primary school experience of the children and also with their school subject preferences. A 'cluster analysis' technique was used to identify six 'types' of reaction in Durham and five in Havering. It was found, within the limitations of the samples involved, that Primary French did not improve the children's attitudes as expressed on the questionnaire in the areas studied and that girls displayed more favourable attitudes than boys. In addition to other, associated conclusions, certain organisational proposals were put forward concerning primary-secondary liaison in French

Neighbours matter and the weak succumb: Ash dieback infection is more severe in ash trees with fewer conspecific neighbours and lower prior growth rate

The epidemiology and severity of ash dieback (ADB), the disease caused by the ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has been linked to a variety of site conditions; however, there has been a lack of analysis at an individual tree scale.Symptoms of ADB were scored on ca. 400 trees of Fraxinus excelsior (ash) in permanent sample plots during two successive years in a UK natural woodland reserve. Using comprehensive plot records maintained since 1945, and detailed spatial records updated since 1977, we assembled an array of potential explanatory variables, including site environment factors, ash tree density, previous and present tree condition and near neighbourhood summary statistics (NNSS), such as species mingling and size dominance. Their impact on the severity of ADB of focal ash trees was tested with generalised linear mixed effects models (GLMM).The severity of ADB was much greater in the lower slope parts of the site with moister soils and least in a managed area subject to tree thinning in the previous 35 years. Severity of ADB had a negative association with focal ash tree prior relative growth rate over a period of a decade immediately before the disease was detected at the site. Greater ADB severity was also significantly associated with smaller diameter at breast height of ash trees. Additionally, ADB was significantly positively associated with a greater proportion of heterospecific trees amongst the six nearest neighbours of the focal tree.Synthesis. The relationship of the severity of ADB disease with site environment, tree condition and neighbourhood is complex but nevertheless important in the progression of the disease. The findings suggest some silvicultural interventions, such as thinning to increase the vigour of retained ash trees, might reduce the impact of ADB

The effect of oxygenate fuels on PN emissions from a highly boosted GDI engine

Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines are increasingly available in the market. Such engines are known to emit more Particulate Matter (PM) than their port-fuel injected predecessors. There is also a widespread use of oxygenate fuels in the market, up to blends of E85, and their impact on PN emissions is widely studied. However the impact of oxygenate fuels on PN emissions from downsized, and hence highly-boosted engines is not known. In this work, PN emissions from a highly boosted engine capable of running at up to 35 bar Brake Mean Effective Pressure (BMEP) have been measured from a baseline gasoline and three different oxygenate fuels (E20, E85, and GEM – a blend of gasoline, ethanol, and methanol) using a DMS500. The engine has been run at four different operating points, and a number of engine parameters relevant to highly-boosted engines (such as EGR, exhaust back pressure, and lambda) have been tested – the PN emissions and size distributions have been measured from all of these. The results show that the oxygenate content of the fuel has a very large impact on its PN emissions, with E85 giving low levels of PN emissions across the operating range, and GEM giving very low and extremely high levels of PN emissions depending on operating point. These results have been analysed and related back to key fuel properties

The UK, interrogation and Iraq, 2003-8

The UK’s interrogation operations during the conflict in Iraq (2003-8) are often portrayed by the media as involving significant amounts of mistreatment. The article demonstrates that these practices are not necessarily representative of the UK’s interrogation operations across this conflict. In doing so it contributes to the limited literature on the practice of interrogation and on the UK’s combat operations in Iraq. The UK’s interrogation capability, and therefore its intelligence-gathering capability, is shown to have rested primarily with the military’s Joint Forward Interrogation Team (JFIT). The JFIT suffered from limitations to the number, training and experience of its interrogators and interpreters. It is argued that maintaining a permanent, higher level of preparedness, for interrogation by the British armed forces is desirable

Reimagining Christian Education: Cultivating Transformative Approaches

From Crossref via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2019-11-21, issued 2019-11-2

Crossings and Crosses: Borders, Educations, and Religions in Northern Europe

From Crossref via Jisc Publications Router

Learning across boundaries: Developing trans-professional understanding through practitioner enquiry

This book chapter is not available through ChesterRep.This book chapter examines the value of practitioner inquiry in the development of common language and shared understanding for a group of mid-career professionals from a variety of public service backgrounds brought together in order to formulate and disseminate responses to the Every Child Matters (2003) agenda for integrating services for children

The Design, Development and Pilot Study of a Marine Ecological Simulation for Education of Environmental Changes on Marine Life

A “serious game” simulating examples of marine life found at the artificial reef ex-HMS Scylla has been developed to demonstrate the impact of environmental changes. The game has been adapted from prior research into agent-based models of marine ecologies. The design of the game considers the abstraction and presentation of marine life, and the effect of environmental changes. Two simulations are performed: one exposing the ecology to the effects of climate change, and another which simulates the introduction of microplastics. A pilot study measured knowledge-recall for simulations with open and closed-ended questions, user awareness of environmental issues and future game design preferences. This research contributes by both demonstrating the conversion of a complex marine simulation to a game format, and also emphasises the potential of the simulation journey to learning and engagement