Blitzer and the graminivorous quadruped: Oddities, myths and mysteries of the average and the normal

Introductory paper for the third issue of 'Practice and Research in Education' the University of Bolton education research student journa

Surveying an institution's assessment mechanisms towards new measures of success

Widening participation can create challenges of student retention, an issue being constantly addressed by such initiatives as increased student support. Supposedly 'elite' universities, it has been argued, attract 'better' students, a term largely defined in terms of academic success. The research presented here argues that 'better' is entirely misleading and invites reflection as to whether a change from traditional didactic assessment approaches to more innovative modes could enhance achievement, success and therefore retention by recognising and recording the qualities of a student populace with widely varying experiences and talents without undermining academic rigour. An analysis of the types of assessment within a widening participation university as recorded on the validated module database against the highest weighting level revealed a wide variety of imaginative approaches to measuring student engagement reflecting the commitment and professionalism of staff in providing an educational context that is varied and meaningful. Whilst acknowledging this strength, it is argued that further flexibility is required to more exactly measure student abilities, both in assessment timing and form, the emphasis presently being very much upon tutor-led modes with insufficient attention given to recognising the potential of students to contribute to the assessment process. Present assessment modes can therefore perhaps be viewed as an additional barrier and there is a need to reflect upon form to recognise more fully student ability

The 14-19 Diplomas and universities. A marriage of convenience?: Edge Hill University Research Exchange Seminar Series

The Diplomas being introduced from September 2008 will soon need to be carefully evaluated as an entry qualification to university. They represent a move towards a more competency based structure of assessment with an attempt to provide a link between preparing for employment, skill acquisition and more traditional academic study. Such a wide remit it is argued provides significant pedagogical challenges for universities particularly as the Advanced Diploma is to be accredited as an equivalent to three and a half A-levels. It is suggested the change might create a new shift towards training which raises challenging questions as to how universities might reappraise their approaches to teaching and learning. The ambitious timescale for their implementation is noted and the ideological context which is felt to be driven by government perceived economic imperatives is briefly outlined

An appraisal of the 2008 University of Bolton summer schools

This report provides an appraisal of the 2008 University summer schools to determine their efficacy as an instrument to meet students? developmental needs. Their introduction is not a new approach but one that has been encouraged to be developed to further increase retention rates

"You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone": The decline and marginalisation of adult education

This paper provides a short overview of characteristics frequently associated with adult education such as independence, informality, discovery and self-expression and provides a brief historical overview of some of the main developments. It is argued that the twentieth first century adult educational agenda is informed by narrow economic determinants with the short term aim of enhancing employment skills, pragmatism replacing aesthetics, which is in direct contrast to early pioneers who saw it as a movement towards enhancing democratic principles, a context for challenging hegemonic norms and as a process for self and societal enhancement. It is felt that such reductionism is a sad loss and reflects a new agenda of educational reductionism

So, wot is edukashun?

All of us have tales to tell of our educational experiences, in the author's case now stretching over 52 years. Education has been and presumably remains a significant part of our lives, but what is it? A light hearted approach is taken which includes references to a small number of fictional texts, philosophers and Government reports. A popular political mantra, repeated ad nausea during the election campaigning, is the intent to 'raise standards'. It is argued this is vague and unhelpful and actually only refers to gaining qualifications, the better the school's SATS results the better the school, the more 'firsts' the better the university. The agenda informing such criteria is suggested as education now has moved towards skills and employability and its present definition is therefore linked to training with the aim of such an ?education? as producing a compliant workforce and national economic prosperity. The paper's theme is that such a definition is reductionist and ignores the intrinsic features of the possibility of education to be a process for self emancipation coupled to the simple joyous experience of exploring the unknown. Better to travel than arrive

Scotland’s beginnings: Scotland through time.

Did you know that Scotland began under an iceberg-laden sea near the South Pole hundreds of millions of years ago? The journey north of the land we now call Scotland is an astounding tale of great mountains, subtropical rainforests, coral reefs, howling deserts, ammonite-inhabited seas, high lava plateaus and scouring ice caps. The evidence for this journey is recorded in rocks, peat-bogs and lake muds. When the glaciers withdrew the new land was colonised by animals and plants but when hunters and farmers moved in mass extinction began. This beautifully illustrated guide, full of drawings, paintings and photographs, is an excellent introduction to Scotland’s earliest history

Mental health first aid training of the public in a rural area: a cluster randomized trial [ISRCTN53887541]

BACKGROUND: A Mental Health First Aid course has been developed which trains members of the public in how to give initial help in mental health crisis situations and to support people developing mental health problems. This course has previously been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial in a workplace setting and found to produce a number of positive effects. However, this was an efficacy trial under relatively ideal conditions. Here we report the results of an effectiveness trial in which the course is given under more typical conditions. METHODS: The course was taught to members of the public in a large rural area in Australia by staff of an area health service. The 16 Local Government Areas that made up the area were grouped into pairs matched for size, geography and socio-economic level. One of each Local Government Area pair was randomised to receive immediate training while one served as a wait-list control. There were 753 participants in the trial: 416 in the 8 trained areas and 337 in the 8 control areas. Outcomes measured before the course started and 4 months after it ended were knowledge of mental disorders, confidence in providing help, actual help provided, and social distance towards people with mental disorders. The data were analysed taking account of the clustered design and using an intention-to-treat approach. RESULTS: Training was found to produce significantly greater recognition of the disorders, increased agreement with health professionals about which interventions are likely to be helpful, decreased social distance, increased confidence in providing help to others, and an increase in help actually provided. There was no change in the number of people with mental health problems that trainees had contact with nor in the percentage advising someone to seek professional help. CONCLUSIONS: Mental Health First Aid training produces positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour when the course is given to members of the public by instructors from the local health service

Mental health first aid training in a workplace setting: A randomized controlled trial [ISRCTN13249129]

BACKGROUND: The Mental Health First Aid training course was favorably evaluated in an uncontrolled trial in 2002 showing improvements in participants' mental health literacy, including knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence and help provided to others. This article reports the first randomized controlled trial of this course. METHODS: Data are reported on 301 participants randomized to either participate immediately in a course or to be wait-listed for 5 months before undertaking the training. The participants were employees in two large government departments in Canberra, Australia, where the courses were conducted during participants' work time. Data were analyzed according to an intention-to-treat approach. RESULTS: The trial found a number of benefits from this training course, including greater confidence in providing help to others, greater likelihood of advising people to seek professional help, improved concordance with health professionals about treatments, and decreased stigmatizing attitudes. An additional unexpected but exciting finding was an improvement in the mental health of the participants themselves. CONCLUSIONS: The Mental Health First Aid training has shown itself to be not only an effective way to improve participants' mental health literacy but also to improve their own mental health. It is a course that has high applicability across the community