Scientists and public: is the information flow direction starting to change?

Over half of the population of the UK own a smartphone, and about the same number of people uses social media such as Twitter. For the British Geological Survey (BGS) this means millions of potential reporters of real-time events and in-the-field data capturers, creating a new source of scientific information that could help to better understand and predict natural processes

Nitrous oxide emission sources from a mixed livestock farm

The primary aim of this study was to identify and compare the most significant sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils within a typical mixed livestock farm in Scotland. The farm area can be considered as representative of agricultural soils in this region where outdoor grazing forms an important part of the animal husbandry. A high temporal resolution dynamic chamber method was used to measure N2O fluxes from the featureless, general areas of the arable and pasture fields (general) and from those areas where large nitrogen additions are highly likely, such as animal feeding areas, manure heaps, animal barns (features). Individual N2O flux measurements varied by four orders of magnitude, with values ranging from −5.5 to 80,000 μg N2O-N m−2 h−1. The log-normal distribution of the fluxes required the use of more complex statistics to quantify uncertainty, including a Bayesian approach which provided a robust and transparent method for “upscaling” i.e. translating small-scale observations to larger scales, with appropriate propagation of uncertainty. Mean N2O fluxes associated with the features were typically one to four orders of magnitude larger than those measured on the general areas of the arable and pasture fields. During warmer months, when widespread grazing takes place across the farm, the smaller N2O fluxes of the largest area source – the general field (99.7% of total area) – dominated the overall N2O emissions. The contribution from the features should still be considered important, given that up to 91% of the fluxes may come from only 0.3% of the area under certain conditions, especially in the colder winter months when manure heaps and animal barns continue to produce emissions while soils reach temperatures unfavourable for microbial activity (<5 °C)

Higher education, mature students and employment goals: policies and practices in the UK

This article considers recent policies of Higher Education in the UK, which are aimed at widening participation and meeting the needs of employers. The focus is on the growing population of part-time students, and the implications of policies for this group. The article takes a critical perspective on government policies, using data from a major study of mature part-time students, conducted in two specialist institutions in the UK, a London University college and a distance learning university. Findings from this study throw doubt on the feasibility of determining a priori what kind of study pathway is most conducive for the individual in terms of employment gains and opportunities for upward social mobility. In conclusion, doubts are raised as to whether policies such as those of the present UK government are likely to achieve its aims. Such policies are not unique to the UK, and lessons from this country are relevant to most of the developed world

Gender, foundation degrees and the knowledge economy

This article questions the concept of ‘education for employment’, which constructs a discourse of individual and societal benefit in a knowledge‐driven economy. Recent policy emphasis in the European Union promotes the expansion of higher education and short‐cycle vocational awards such as the intermediate two‐year Foundation Degree recently introduced into England and Wales. Studies of vocational education and training (VET) and the knowledge economy have focused largely on the governance of education and on the development and drift of policy. Many VET programmes have also been considered for their classed, raced and gendered take‐up and subsequent effect on employment. This article builds on both fields of study to engage with the finer cross‐analyses of gender, social class, poverty, race and citizenship. In its analysis of policy texts the article argues that in spite of a discourse of inclusivity, an expanded higher education system has generated new inequalities, deepening social stratification. Drawing on early analyses of national quantitative data sets, it identifies emerging gendered, classed and raced patterns and considers these in relation to occupationally and hierarchically stratified labour markets, both within and without the knowledge economy

Identity and belonging in social learning groups : the importance of distinguishing social, operational and knowledge-related identity congruence

Collaborative learning has much to offer but not all learners participate fully and peer groups can be exclusive. The paper examines how belonging or 'congruence' in learning groups is related to identities of gender, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status. A study of student experiences of collaborative learning on three different blended learning courses illustrated how learners negotiate identity congruence with peer groups to belong and engage. An analytical framework that distinguishes social, operational and knowledge-related identity congruence has emerged. Contrary to received wisdom, the social aspect appears least important for learner engagement while knowledge-related identity congruence is fundamental. Some of the consequences of identity incongruence, particularly concerning gender and maturity, are discussed and the paper points towards the pedagogies which might enable identities of group members to shift so that collaborative learning can flourish

The Importance of Social Support Structures for Retention and Success

As a policy goal, widening participation is increasingly associated with retention and completion. For those who are concerned with equity or social mobility, it makes little sense to recruit new types of student if they do not then qualify for a graduate profession. There has been growing interest in retention and completion among researchers and policymakers, with much attention&nbsp;centring on the extent to which new students can be helped to integrate into the institution. Drawing on a study of undergraduates in the UK, this chapter explores the extent to which student support services and wider informal support networks feature in students' narratives of retention. Conceptually, we are interested here in the ways in which students feel themselves to be legitimate members of the &lsquo;imagined community' of higher education, a concept that we have adapted from Anderson's treatment of nationalisms (Anderson, 1991)

African Higher Education: Researching Absences, Equalities and Aspirations

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Childcare, choice and social class: Caring for young children in the UK

This paper draws on the results of two qualitative research projects examining parental engagements with the childcare market in the UK. Both projects are located in the same two London localities. One project focuses on professional middle class parents, and the other on working class families, and we discuss the key importance of social class in shaping parents' differential engagement with the childcare market, and their understandings of the role childcare plays in their children's lives. We identify and discuss the different "circuits" of care (Ball et al 1995) available to and used by families living physically close to each other, but in social class terms living in different worlds. We also consider parents' relationships with carers, and their social networks. We conclude that in order to fully understand childcare policies and practices and families' experiences of care, an analysis which encompasses social class and the workings of the childcare market is needed