Outside the Voucher: Evaluating the Creative Voucher Scheme

This chapter seeks to elaborate on what one might have expected to be the straightforward task of delivering and evaluating Creativeworks London’s (CWL) Creative Voucher scheme.1 What made the project difficult was that the notion of the “creative” voucher has not been used before; it was not a policy developed from a direct evidence base. Moreover, the Creativeworks London project was premised on the delivery of three funding streams of which the vouchers were one; indeed something approaching half of these funds were targeted to resource creative vouchers. This chapter offers a discussion of how we implemented the creative vouchers, the product of which makes up most of this volume. It also raises the question of what and how one might evaluate vouchers; something, we argue, that does not gain from a reduction to a limited set of quantitative indicators. Indeed, our reflections on the process projected us into a far more exploratory and nuanced narrative account of the vouchers; hence the chapters of this book which represent a range of different facets and experiences of the creative voucher scheme. Traditional evaluations of innovation and knowledge transfer are based upon simplistic mono-causal models whereby the dominant notion is that knowledge will naturally diffuse from high concentrations to low concentrations: like a gas; this of course is a social physics model. The failure to diffuse evenly, it is normally hypothesized, must be due to some “blockage” or “barrier.” In keeping with mechanical analogies, much policy action is focused on “fixing the plumbing” that is the leaky knowledge pipelines. The challenge is that the logic behind knowledge transfer, let alone policies such as vouchers, are seldom explicitly stated, but rather assumed as common sense. As we experience the transformation from mass production economies to those based on what are variously termed service economies, knowledge economies, or even cultural economies the physical movement of goods, innovation and ideas materialized as “solutions” (as “technology” has commonly been) has been replaced by weightless or virtual goods: ideas. Physicalist analogies might have been helpful in an old manufacturing economy; it is clear that they are less helpful in either dematerialized production, or the realm of ideas exclusively. Moreover, the Creativeworks London project was explicitly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with a view to demonstrating the role of what the arts and humanities can contribute to the processes of knowledge transfer between universities and the creative economy (see Chapter One). It is obvious that the arts and humanities favor different approaches to knowledge than that of the sciences; in particular the humanities focus on the nature of human experience and ideas—one might argue that it is the ideal type of knowledge transfer. The humanities has a rather more nuanced and relational perspective on knowledge and human experience than the sciences, focused as they often are on physical processes and outcomes. We saw it as our task to explore and reflect on creative vouchers and meanings. Whereas the individual voucher stories provide a rich narrative of what the knowledge exchange process “looks like” and at times what it might “feel like,” and what meanings it produces for those involved, this chapter attempts to examine a linked story across the voucher process. It is not seeking to generalize or summarize, rather it explores the voucher process. In this sense we resist the traditional notion of evaluation, arguing that it is necessary to understand the process before we can possibly evaluate it against objectives, personal, institutional or political

Teachers as mediators: an exploration of situated English teaching

Within the context of lower secondary English teaching in South West England, this study identifies in broad terms the competing goals between which English teachers mediate and the explicit and hidden tensions that result. To understand the interactions of competing goals, teachers’ goal-oriented behaviours are referenced to a set of idealised ‘role types’ based on the dimensions of goals, norms, discourses and practices. It is asserted that competing goals, significant to particular educational circumstances, emanate from various sometimes contradictory local, national and perhaps broader social and cultural influences on practice. Yet the teachers observed moved smoothly between goal-oriented behaviours in a continuous and comfortable style, easily and without reflecting any tensions between them. Thus, this article elaborates an account of situated English teaching

Far O\u27er The Deep Blue Sea

[Verse 1]The moon is beaming brightly love, Upon the deep blue seaA trusty crew is waiting near,For thee, dear girl, for thee!Then leave thy downy couch, my love, And with thy sailor flee;His gallant bark shall bear thee safe,Far o\u27er the deep blue sea,Far o\u27er the deep, the deep blue sea. [Verse 2]The storm-bird sleeps upon the rockNo angry surges roarNo sound disturbs the slumb\u27ring deepNot e\u27en the dipping oar:No watchful eye is on thee now,Then,dearest, hie with me,And share a daring sailor\u27s love,Far o\u27er the deep blue sea. [Verse 3]She comes! she comes! with trembling stepOh! happy shall we beWhen safely moor\u27d, on other shores,From ev\u27ry danger free!Now, speed thee on my trusty bark,Our hopes are all on theeBear, bear, us to our peaceful homeFar o\u27er the deep blue sea

Viscous Hydrodynamics and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

The matter created in relativistic heavy ion collisions is fairly well described by ideal hydrodynamics, and somewhat better described by viscous hydrodynamics. To this point, most viscous calculations have been two-dimensional, based on an assumption of Bjorken boost invariance along the beam axis. Here, first results are presented for a fully three-dimensional viscous model. The model is described and tests of the numerical accuracy of the code are presented. Two- and three-dimensional runs are compared, and modest changes are observed for mid-rapidity observables at the highest RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) energies.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Canonical and Microcanonical Distributions for Fermi Systems

Recursion relations are presented that allow exact calculation of canonical and microcanonical partition functions of degenerate Fermi systems, assuming no explicit two-body interactions. Calculations of the level density, sorted by angular momentum, are presented for Ni-56 are presented. The issue of treating unbound states is also addressed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Effect of Antiferromagnetic Interlayer Coupling on Current-Assisted Magnetization Switching

We compare magnetization switching in Co/Cu/Co nanopillars with uncoupled and dipole-field coupled Co layers. In uncoupled nanopillars, current-driven switching is hysteretic at low magnetic field H and changes to reversible, characterized by telegraph noise, at high H. We show that dipolar coupling both affects the switching current and causes the switching to become reversible at small H. The coupling thus changes the switching to reversible, hysteretic, and then reversible again as H increases. We describe our results in terms of current-assisted thermal activation.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

New multi-channel electron energy analyzer with cylindrically symmetrical electrostatic field

This paper discusses an electron energy analyzer with a cylindrically symmetrical electrostatic field, designed for rapid Auger analysis. The device was designed and built. The best parameters of the analyzer were estimated and then experimentally verified.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Collaborative leadership strategies: A look into the funding models of Alternative Service and Nonprofit Organizations

This project will address the current issues of the funding environments of Alternative Service and Nonprofit Organizations. The material highlights major components of a healthy organization. This includes, but is not limited to, attracting and maintaining the interest of donors, volunteers, and staff as well as collaborating through knowledge, expertise, and resources and sharing successes that both organizational types may cooperatively lead their respective missions into the future. The overall approach was to discover organizational problems and enable both organizational types to develop and sustain through organizational tips that strengthen vital processes inside and outside of the workplace. The findings display how high impact organizations manage their funds and look for new alternatives to create or maintain their current pace. Successful organizations know their market, advocate for the changes they wish to see and serve numerous communities to reach their goals

A Study of Personnel Practices Related to Teacher Aide Programs

A growing number of school districts have used teacher aides or paraprofessionals. State Boards of Education have voiced concern that directors and administrators develop and follow sound personnel policies in the hiring of teacher aides. It was the purpose of this study to propose guidelines for (1) selection of teacher aides, (2) training of teacher aides, (3) supervision of teacher aides, and (4) evaluation of teacher aides. The increasing use of teacher aides has focused attention on a need for an organized program related to the problem. This study investigated programs which proposed guidelines administrators and teachers could use in the selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of teacher aides