Twenty-Five Years of Peer-Assisted Learning: A Review of Philosophy Proctoring at the University of Leeds

What happens when a peer-assisted learning scheme becomes “business as usual” rather than innovation? The proctoring scheme in undergraduate philosophy programmes at the University of Leeds has been running for over 25 years, making it one of the oldest (and possibly the single oldest) continuously running higher education peer-assisted learning schemes in the country. Over time, the centrality of the scheme in the teaching environment has changed, particularly in the shared understanding of philosophy learning and teaching and in the practical constraints of curriculum and timetable space. Using the insights of teachers, students, and graduates, this report identifies the extent of success for proctoring in fostering philosophical learning and developing academic community, the two major objectives for the scheme. We also identify the conditions for success of peer-assisted learnings schemes, which our results suggest. An unexpected outcome of this project is found in identifying a challenge around “value” resulting from the fee-paying environment in higher education where peer-assisted learning may be (mis)understood as “teaching on the cheap.” These findings raise important questions for all higher education peer-assisted learning schemes about how schemes are embedded, sustained, and remain central to the learning environment in a rapidly changing education environment

Faiths together? : Muslim-christian co-working on a publicly funded project in Beeston Hill, south Leeds

The academic study of inter-faith dialogue has been dominated by textual, theological, philosophical and historical studies such as those of John Hick and Gavin D'Costa. In this thesis a new approach is taken, suggested by the work of Jacques Waardenburg and Hugh Goddard, which looks at the reality of dialogue in a religiously diverse neighbourhood in the UK. The primary focus is dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and particularly the relationship between what Gerd Baumann terms the `demotic' discourse of local residents, and the `dominant' discourse of those who have leadership roles, either locally or nationally, in the community. `Faith Together in Leeds 11' is a unique project in Beeston Hill, Leeds, UK, where Muslim, Christian and secular partners have worked together to address the needs of the neighbourhood. Having considered the national, local and religious context of this co-working, and the methodological and theoretical context of the research, the thesis then discusses the main issues arising from the fieldwork. The nature of `identity' and `community' in dialogue between Muslims and Christians, the role of religion in the public square, and the relationship between formal and informal models and experiences of inter-faith dialogue, are discussed as both theoretical and practical concerns. The conclusions of this thesis are surprisingly varied, reflecting as they do the range of analytical methods and approaches required, but also the complexity of the small scale and the local. However, one conclusion is found to be relevant throughout: that in Beeston Hill individual attitudes and beliefs rest as much, if not more, on demotic experience as on dominant teachings. This challenges dominant theological discourses of inter-faith dialogue, and is of significance for policy agendas which seek to capitalise on the resources of faith communities.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Faiths together? Muslim-christian co-working on a publicly funded project in beeston Hill, South Leeds

The academic study of inter-faith dialogue has been dominated by textual, theological, philosophical and historical studies such as those of John Hick and Gavin D'Costa. In this thesis a new approach is taken, suggested by the work of Jacques Waardenburg and Hugh Goddard, which looks at the reality of dialogue in a religiously diverse neighbourhood in the UK. The primary focus is dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and particularly the relationship between what Gerd Baumann terms the `demotic' discourse of local residents, and the `dominant' discourse of those who have leadership roles, either locally or nationally, in the community. `Faith Together in Leeds 11' is a unique project in Beeston Hill, Leeds, UK, where Muslim, Christian and secular partners have worked together to address the needs of the neighbourhood. Having considered the national, local and religious context of this co-working, and the methodological and theoretical context of the research, the thesis then discusses the main issues arising from the fieldwork. The nature of `identity' and `community' in dialogue between Muslims and Christians, the role of religion in the public square, and the relationship between formal and informal models and experiences of inter-faith dialogue, are discussed as both theoretical and practical concerns. The conclusions of this thesis are surprisingly varied, reflecting as they do the range of analytical methods and approaches required, but also the complexity of the small scale and the local. However, one conclusion is found to be relevant throughout: that in Beeston Hill individual attitudes and beliefs rest as much, if not more, on demotic experience as on dominant teachings. This challenges dominant theological discourses of inter-faith dialogue, and is of significance for policy agendas which seek to capitalise on the resources of faith communities

Profiling Australian visitors to Norfolk Island

This paper reports on research undertaken to establish a socio-demographic profile of Norfolk Island. Prior to this research the Island's tourism industry has not had available a detailed profile of its visitors or their motivations for travelling to the destination and had in the absence of data of this nature relied on assumptions about the market. Before conducting a visitors survey members of the Island's tourism industry were interviewed and the assumptions they relied on for developing marketing strategies were identified. Many of the assumptions were not valid. As one example the industry assumed that\ud most visitors had visited the Island previously. Findings indicated that only 18% of the survey respondents fell into this category

The value of visitor surveys: the case of Norfolk Island

This article reports on research undertaken to establish a socio-demographic profile of Australian tourists visiting Norfolk Island, an Australian Dependency located in the South Pacific Ocean. Prior to this research the island’s tourism industry has not had available a detailed profile of its visitors or their motivations for travelling to the destination and, in the absence of data of this nature, had relied on their collective assumptions about the market. Before conducting a visitors survey, members of the island’s tourism industry were interviewed and the assumptions they relied on for developing marketing strategies were identified. Many of the assumptions were not valid. As one example, the industry assumed that most visitors had visited the island previously. Findings indicated that only 18 per cent of the survey respondents fell into this category. The article highlights the need for accurate quantitative research data as the basis for market segmentation and marketing strategy development