The field of inter-organizational relations : a jungle or an Italian garden?

Each chapter in this Handbook contains an explicit assessment of priorities for future research that would extend and deepen an understanding of IOR. Given the diversity of contributions to this volume, it is perhaps not surprising that recommendations for future research are varied. And because the three sets of contributions start from different points-empirical manifestations, theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, and thematic interests-so the recommendations, too, might be expected to lead along different paths, 'cutting' and framing future research topics in different ways. Nevertheless, as others have suggested (Brass et al. 2005) it is possible to see some points of convergence across all three parts of the Handbook. We begin our discussion of the contributions and suggestions for the future by focusing on these points of convergence. We then look in turn at the specific ideas that emerge from, and relate to, the specific framings of each of the parts. Finally, we draw together insights about methodological issues

Tipping out the Boot Grit:the use of on-going feedback devices to enhance feedback dialogue

This project is premised on a belief in the importance of understanding feedback as a dialogue between students and teachers. In addition it considers the importance of feedback as an ongoing and multi-faceted part of students’ engagement with a course, rather than a singular process that occurs at only one point. On this basis the project looks in-depth at two different moments in the learning cycle where feedback can be encouraged in a more dialogical way. Insights into these feedback approaches, at these moments, can then be used to inform the development of other forms of dialogue through the learning cycle

Firewood usage and indoor air pollution from traditional cooking fires in Gazi Bay, Kenya

Mangroves are increasingly being recognised for the important ecosystem services they provide, including carbon fixation, shoreline protection and fisheries habitats. In addition, they provide typical forest goods such as timber and firewood; harvesting these can cause forest degradation and loss. In Kenya, a large proportion of the rural population cook using firewood on traditional, inefficient three-stone fires. Although harvesting mangrove wood is illegal, the high poverty rate, absence of alternative fuels and lack of law enforcement mean it is likely to remain widespread, with consequent pressure on the forests. The use of three-stone fires has been associated with high levels of indoor air pollution, causing adverse health impacts. The current project aimed to determine a baseline of wood usage and health burden caused by indoor air pollution at a mangrove dependent community in Gazi Bay, southern Kenya. Basic information about fuel usage and perceived health problems related to indoor air pollution was collected using a questionnaire. Wood usage patterns were recorded for 28 days to establish the average daily wood consumption and main species used. Passive diffusion tubes were used to assess CO concentrations over 24 hours. Particulate pollution for the size fraction PM2.5 was measured during cooking using a DustTrak aerosol monitor. Mean daily per capita wood consumption was 1.2 kg although this varied significantly depending on household size, with larger households using less per capita wood. The mangrove Rhizophora mucronata made up 10% of wood used and people spent, on average, 22 hours per month collecting wood. The mean 24-hour CO concentration was 5.9ppm. The average level of PM2.5 during cooking was 10 mg/m3 respectively. Chronic exposure at those levels is expected to cause significant health impacts of the kinds indicated by symptoms reported from the questionnaires. Improved cookstove introduction in Gazi is recommended as feasible as participants showed not only interest in improved cookstoves and awareness of the health implications from indoor air pollution, but also were willing to invest financially in improved cookstoves

Communities of practice or communicative rationality? A study of autonomous peer assisted learning

Defined as ‘networks of learning relationships among students and significant others’, peer assisted learning takes a bewildering array of forms in higher education. A useful way to conceptualise these is to draw from ideas of communities of practice and communicative rationality, with the degree of student autonomy a third key element. We illustrate this approach with a study of Kuppi, an example of peer assisted learning initiated and organised entirely by students. We interviewed undergraduate participants from six state universities in Sri Lanka and found strong support for this model of peer assisted learning from student learners and student tutors. These classes are characterised by informality and discussion, flexibility in timing and location and a focus on assessments. Students determine the content and who teaches, whilst tutors give their time without payment, out of fraternity and to improve their own learning and skills. The theory of communicative rationality helped explain much of the attraction of this form of peer assisted learning. There was evidence for a strong community of practice; however apart from peer tutors aspiring to become academics, this involved mostly reinforcement of student identity rather than transformation into emerging roles. The high levels of engagement and student autonomy shown by Kuppi challenge suggestions that peer assisted learning must be organised by tutors if it is to be effective

Sharing control:a partnership approach to course design and delivery

This project considers issues and practices around student engagement in curriculum design and delivery. The starting point is the observation of Trowler and Trowler (2010) that much of the literature on student engagement in the structure and process of higher education has been in the realm of governance and leadership (eg committee representation) rather than direct involvement in curriculum design and delivery. This project is also the realisation of our long-held interest in issues of power and social justice within higher education; ranging from the general conceptual level of the purposes of higher education (eg. McArthur, 2011) to the details of classroom activities and participation (eg. Huxham, 2005)

Oral versus written assessments: a test of student performance and attitudes

Student performance in and attitudes towards oral and written assessments were compared using quantitative and qualitative methods. Two separate cohorts of students were examined. The first larger cohort of students (n = 99) was randomly divided into ‘oral’ and ‘written’ groups, and the marks that they achieved in the same biology questions were compared. Students in the second smaller cohort (n = 29) were all examined using both written and oral questions concerning both ‘scientific’ and ‘personal development’ topics. Both cohorts showed highly significant differences in the mean marks achieved, with better performance in the oral assessment. There was no evidence of particular groups of students being disadvantaged in the oral tests. These students and also an additional cohort were asked about their attitudes to the two different assessment approaches. Although they tended to be more nervous in the face of oral assessments, many students thought oral assessments were more useful than written assessments. An important theme involved the perceived authenticity or ‘professionalism’ of an oral examination. This study suggests that oral assessments may be more inclusive than written ones and that they can act as powerful tools in helping students establish a ‘professional identity’

Diversity, biomass and ecosystem processes in the marine benthos.

Recent studies in terrestrial, plant-dominated systems have shown that reductions in diversity can affect essential ecosystem processes, especially productivity. However, the exact form of the relationship between diversity and ecosystem functions remains unknown, as does the relevance of these studies to other systems. We studied the relationships between macroinvertebrate species richness and ecosystem functions in a soft-bottom, intertidal system. We also considered, as a separate variable, the effects of macroinvertebrate biomass on ecosystem functions. A field experiment was conducted at Blackness, a mudflat in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, United Kingdom, using cages with different mesh sizes (195, 300, and 3000 ?m) to establish low, medium, and high species richness treatments through differential colonization of defaunated sediments. Low, medium, and high biomass treatments were established by enclosing differing amounts of ambient sediment in defaunated plots. Other treatments controlled for the effects of defaunation and caging. The experiment ran for six weeks in the summer of 1999. All treatments contained species within the same five main functional groups of macroinvertebrate, but species' identity varied both within and between treatments (thus species richness was considered a random, rather than fixed, variable). A total of 27 macroinvertebrate species were sampled across all treatments; 37% of these occurred in the low, 52% in the medium, and 74% in the high diversity treatments.At the end of the experiment, the following physical variables were measured as indicators of ecosystem functions such as sediment stabilization and nutrient fluxes: sediment shear strength (a measure of sediment cohesiveness), water content, silt/clay content, organic content, redox potential (a measure of anoxia), nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and ammonium fluxes, and community respiration. Changes in biomass and species richness were found to have significant effects on oxygen consumption; these relationships were driven in particular by the presence of the largest species in our study, Nephtys hombergii. All other variables were not significantly affected by the treatments. These results support the null hypotheses of no relationship between ecosystem functions and diversity and biomass. However, our experiment was necessarily limited in both spatial and temporal scale; the implications of this when scaling up to larger scale generalizations are discussed. Our results suggest that diversity/biomass/ecosystem function relationships in the soft sediment benthos are likely to be very complex and may depend more on functional groups than species richness

Factors influencing primary school children's knowledge of wildlife

We examined the wildlife knowledge of primary (aged 4-12) schoolchildren. In particular, we examined the effects of children’s age and gender, and the taxonomy and origin (indigenous versus exotic) of wildlife, on the degree of knowledge about different species. We used illustrated ‘flashcards’ of mammals, birds and arthropods, drawn randomly from a species pool. Each indigenous example was paired with an exotic animal. Wildlife knowledge overall increased steadily with age, although the ability to identify species peaked at age 9 then declined slightly. Boys had significantly greater wildlife knowledge than girls, and children of both sexes identified more indigenous than exotic species. Knowledge of birds and arthropods was significantly worse than of mammals. Knowledge of some very common indigenous species, such as sparrow and earwig, was very poor. We conclude that the potential for primary school wildlife education using very common and easily accessible species of birds and arthropods is not fully realised, and that girls in particular lack knowledge of local species