Higher Education as a public good: pushing forward, pushing boundaries

This paper reports on a project which has embedded Open Educational Resources (OER) into the teaching and learning of students who are undertaking professional degrees in social work and nursing. It raises profound questions regarding the role and purpose of Higher Education by asking to whom does knowledge belong and who is permitted and able to produce knowledge in Higher Education? Historically professional training has been configured, led and taught by the professions themselves with little input from those outside. This paper will argue that a more democratic production and dissemination of knowledge is imperative in the changing context of Higher Education. The presentation will incorporate examples of OER developed by a range of non-traditional educators, such as students, practice assessors and service users/patients, and will explain how these are being used in learning and teaching to provide an inclusive, rich, diverse and varied learning environment

A model for analysing the challenges and opportunities in co-production

This interactive workshop will analyse the challenges and opportunities of working collaboratively with ‘students as co-producers’. The presenters’ draw on their experience of extensive collaboration with students on different projects in the School of Health and Social Care, to introduce a theoretical model that explores co-production. In particular, the model seeks to facilitate reflection, discussion and understanding about who ‘drives’, or controls, the co-production of knowledge in such partnerships, given the apparent differences in power and status between students and academics. Inherent within this analysis is an examination of the nature of key relationships within co-production including reference to ‘apprenticeship’ and ‘partnership’ models of knowledge production. A fifteen minute presentation will introduce key concepts relating to co-production and will present a theoretical model for analysis. Participants will be given approximately thirty minutes to discuss and test the model and to relate it their own experiences and plans for working with students as producers. It is envisaged that this collaborative, interactive approach will produce further knowledge and insights leading to refinement of the model. A fifteen minute plenary and conclusion will assist participants to reflect further on the challenges and opportunities of co-production. From this workshop participants will gain an enhanced understanding of working with students’ as co-producers of knowledge and will analyse some of the core issues that impact on co-production. Additionally, they will be introduced to an evolving theoretical model which explores some of the contradictions inherent within co-production and invited to contribute to the debate

Luminescence investigations at Quendale (Broo Peninsula, Shetland)

This report is concerned with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) investigations of sediment samples collected from ongoing University of Southern Maine archaeological excavations at the Links of Quendale, southern Shetland, investigating the early-modern township of Broo. 11 sediment samples were submitted to the luminescence laboratory at SUERC for OSL dating by Ian Simpson. This report summaries the protocols, and laboratory analysis, employed in quartz single aliquot regenerative (SAR) OSL dating, as used to construct an OSL chronology for wind-blown sands in proximity to the Broo excavations, in association with archaeological structures (5 samples), and for sands in the coastal and inland dune systems (6 samples). The chronology established for the inland sands, in contexts associated with the Broo 2 building and enclosure, spans from AD1540 ± 40 (SUTL2441) through to AD1810 ± 25 (SUTL2519), encompassing the archaeological period of interest. The dates obtained for sands within the enclosed and unenclosed areas to the immediate east and southwest of the excavated Broo site, are AD1760 ± 30 - AD1760 ± 25, and AD1810 ± 25 (SUTL2517-2518 and 2519, respectively), are consistent with the expectation that the clean sands which infill these structures, post-date the period in which the Broo township was abandoned. The coastal sand accumulations, as so far dated, yielded luminescence ages of 2380 ± 230 BC (SUTL2526), 1510 ± 270 BC (SUTL2527), AD 1030 ± 80 (SUTL2528), AD 1690 ± 50 (SUTL2529), AD 1720 ± 20 (SUTL2530) and a mixed-age sample with youngest component at AD 1955 ± 15 (SUTL2531), implying periods of sand mobilisation, synchronous with sand deposition in Orkney and northern Scotland, in the late Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age, the Norse period, the early-modern, and modern periods. This work suggests that the present-day physio-geographical setting of the Quendale Links, comprised of the coastal sand barrier, and the inland dune fields, is a product of a prolonged history of sand mobilisation, erosion and deposition from the Neolithic to the present day. Furthermore, the emerging temporal framework, coupled with the spatial distribution of dune forms across the Links, raises questions as to whether Little Ice Age storms were responsible for deposition, or erosive destruction of older dune-forms, and the re-mobilisation of this sediment. To test these ideas, profiling methods, both field- and laboratory- based, could be employed to obtain a more complete temporal and spatial characterisation of the dune systems and excavated sequences. Further OSL sampling and dating would be needed to define the vertical and lateral chronostratigraphies of the environmental features in the landscape and their relationships to archaeological structures

Managed care models are hurting the UK’s mental health system

They create middle managerial jobs at the expense of clinical ones and encourage the pursuit of ‘targets’, argues Ian Simpso

Illusions of consensus : New South Wales stakeholders\u27 constructions of the identity of history

This article analyses the relationships between the perspectives of stakeholders involved in the development of the 1998 New South Wales Stages 4&ndash;5 history syllabus. It examined four key issues that emerged in the debates about history education during the review and found that stakeholders\u27 views diverged significantly on three of these issues. While loose coalitions formed around particular issues, stakeholders provided different rationales for their positions, and coalitions re-formed on other debates. The analysis highlights the divergence between stakeholders and between the Commonwealth and state governments and stakeholders on the desirable content and goals of history education. The findings indicate that consultation might not produce consensus, and that even the appearance of consensus can be grounded in substantively and philosophically different premises. In practical terms, the findings suggest that if the purpose of consultation as a method of curriculum development is to produce a syllabus that reflects the diverse perspectives held by stakeholders, then the syllabus structure needs to make provision for content options as well as common core areas of study.<br /

Teaching social work in times of change

Social Work, a profession with explicit academic and practice links to social policy, is undergoing profound change and transformation. ( DOH 2009) As part of this ongoing critique, the teaching of social work is being increasingly questioned by the general public, employers and government. Over the last two years innovative research at the University of Lincoln, jointly undertaken by a team of academic researchers and former social work students, has been analysing the efficacy of teaching methods and university support systems. In particular, the effectiveness of the social work undergraduate degree programme in equipping graduates for the demands of front line practice is being evaluated. The paper draws on key themes identified by the research and shares findings relating to; • Good practice in teaching and learning; including what students value most from lecturers and how academics can best support students • The use of students in research; opportunities and pitfall