Teacher and child talk in active learning and whole-class contexts : some implications for children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds

This paper reports the experiences of 150 children and six primary teachers when active learning pedagogies were introduced into the first year of primary schools. Although active learning increased the amount of talk between children, those from socio-economically advantaged homes talked more than those from less advantaged homes. Also, individual children experienced very little time engaged in high-quality talk with the teacher, despite the teachers spending over one-third of their time responding to children's needs and interests. Contextual differences, such as the different staffing ratios in schools and pre-schools,may affect how well the benefits of active learning transfer from preschool contexts into primary schools. Policy-makers and teachers should pay particular attention to the implications of this for the education of children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds

Live arts/arts alive : starcatchers research report 2011

Starcatchers is an innovative project which works in partnership with artists, arts venues child-care settings and families to experiment artistically with audiences of very young children, to encourage their participation and to develop exciting, inspiring performing arts experiences for children aged 0-4. Four artists in residence have worked for a year in a theatre venue in Scotland to engage children and families in a range of arts related performance experiences. Four accompanying researchers were each attached to one venue and have collaborated with the artists to observe children’s engagement, provide feedback, discuss ongoing work, and record the processes of project development. This report presents the findings from the analysis of the wide range of data collected and it suggests a number of conclusions and recommendations about developing the arts with very young children

Quantifying and alleviating subsoil compaction in arable soils.

Modern agricultural machinery and the intensity of arable field operations has increased the risk and incidence of subsoil compaction. There is potential to improve the management of subsoil compaction through addressing the current spatial and temporal limitations of characterisation methods and determining the potential of alternative alleviation approaches. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to determine the suitability of alternative methods to quantify and alleviate subsoil compaction in arable soils. A combination of literature, field and laboratory studies were used to consider the appropriateness of different methods. The long-term, repeated use of a cover crop in rotation with winter wheat improved subsoil physical properties compared to a control. Cultivation treatments had a significant interaction with this, where reducing the intensity and depth of cultivation resulted in the greatest subsoil benefits. Combining alternate season cover cropping and non-inversion, shallow depth cultivation produced the largest advantage to subsoil properties. High subsoil compaction had a significant negative effect on arable crop performance under controlled conditions. Although both brassica and graminaceous cover crops increased root proliferation in compacted subsoil compared to a control, neither significantly improved arable crop performance after two consecutive seasons. Electromagnetic conductivity soil scanning presented significant spatial and temporal advantages for use at a large spatial scale. However, data interpretation requires further development for application to subsoil compaction. Visual soil evaluation using the SubVESS approach provided the greatest detail on the position of compact subsoil layers and the underlying cause but was limited by the time-consuming methodology. A combination of characterisation methods was most applicable to provide the highest level of detail for subsoil management. Overall, the work presented in this thesis indicated that the characterisation and alleviation of subsoil compaction may be improved through the adoption and further investigation of the alternative approaches presented.Morris, N. (Associate) Otten, Wilfred (Associate)PhD in Environment and Agrifoo

Exploring the effectiveness of a screening measure to identify subtle cognitive and functional problems in a sample of acquired brain injury patients admitted to a neurological hospital in the UK: A feasibility study.

Patients considered asymptomatic after acquired brain injury (ABI) may be exhibiting undetected cognitive deficits which can lead to problems with everyday tasks. Current screening tools focus on cognitive deficits and not functional impact. This cross-sectional feasibility study aimed to explore the use of a bedside screening tool: Cognitive Functional Performance Measure (CFPM). Drawing on occupational therapy theory and principles, the CFPM offers the multi-disciplinary team a unique tool to trigger referral to occupational therapy. A sample of patients with ABI (n = 34) were recruited and their CFPM scores were compared with scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Kettle Test. Spearman’s rank and Chi-square were used to analyse the data. A moderate correlation was found between the MoCA and CFPM. There was no significant association between the type of ABI and performance on the CFPM. The unique design of the CFPM offers an alternative to existing screening tools, placing emphasis on the identification of cognitive impairment and functional deficits with the ultimate goal to develop a tool that is ecologically valid. Further studies exploring the feasibility and validity of the CFPM is recommended

Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties

This is an electronic version of an article published in Lindsay, Geoff and Dockrell, Julie and Mackie, Clare (2008) Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23 (1). pp. 1-16. European Journal of Special Needs Education is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/0885625070179120

Social Mpower: An Educational Game for Energy Efficiency

A number of serious games have been developed for energy systems that act as an educational tool and help energy consumers to better understand concepts such as resource allocation, electricity prices and grid sustainability. In such gamified environments, players use technology to solve environmental problems including greener environment, optimised energy and water infrastructure, sustainable resources and reduced energy use. Social Mpower game is a representation of an autonomous energy community for local power generation and distribution in which the participants have to avoid a collective blackout by individually reducing their energy consumption by synchronising and coordinating their actions. Our experimental hypothesis is that collective awareness can be enhanced by appropriate features of the game interface, and therefore to increase the opportunities and prospects for successful collective action (e.g to avoid a blackout)