The benefits of residential fieldwork for school science : insights from a five-year initiative for inner-city students in the UK

International audienceThere is considerable international interest in the value of residential fieldwork for school students. In the UK, pressures on curriculum time, rising costs and heightened concern over students' safety are curtailing residential experiences. Collaboration between several key providers across the UK created an extensive programme of residential courses for 11-14 year olds in London schools from 2004-2008. Some 33,000 students from 849 schools took part. This paper draws on the evaluation of the programme that gathered questionnaire, interview and observational data from 2706 participating students, 70 teachers and 869 parents / carers from 46 schools mainly in deprived areas of the city. Our findings revealed that students' collaborative skills improved and interpersonal relationships were strengthened and taken back to school. Gains were strongest in social and affective domains; behavioural improvements occurred for some students. Individual cognitive gains were revealed more convincingly during face-to-face interviews than through survey items. Students from socially deprived backgrounds benefitted from exposure to learning environments which promoted authentic practical inquiry. Over the five year programme, combined physical adventure and real-world experiences proved to be popular with students and their teachers. Opportunities for learning and doing science in ways not often accessible in urban school environments were opened up. Further programmes, building upon the provision of mixed curriculum-adventure course design, have been implemented across the UK as a result of the London experience. The popularity and apparent success of these combination courses suggest that providers need to consider the value of developing similar programmes in the future

What contribution can residential field courses make to the education of 11-14 year-olds?

In this article we evaluate the effects that residential field courses had for 428 KS3 (11-14 year-old) students from 10 London schools in 2004. Teachers and students reported that levels of motivation and participation were very high, particularly where activities were adventure-based rather than purely academic. Many students surpassed their own expectations of achievement during the courses, and both students and teachers felt that the general levels of trust in others and the self-confidence shown by the students on the courses were higher than in school. Teachers were very impressed overall by the development of teamwork skills amongst the students and the vast majority of students maintained or built positive relationships with each other, with teachers and with centre staff. However, although students generally recognised that they had used or learnt new subject-specific skills, few teachers had planned how to monitor the effectiveness of the learning opportunities or how to follow them up in the longer term

Long-run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative data base that plausibly allows for selectivity correction by microeconometric matching methods. We identify the effects of different types of training programmes over a horizon of more than seven years. Using bias corrected weighted multiple neighbours matching we find that all programmes have negative effects in the short run and positive effects over a horizon of about four years. However, for substantive training programmes with duration of about two years gains in employment probabilities of more than 10% points appear to be sustainable, but come at the price of large negative lock-in effects.Active labour market policy, matching estimation, programme evaluation, panel data.

Long-run effects of public sector sponsored training in West Germany

"Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative data base that plausibly allows for selectivity correction by microeconometric matching methods. We identify the effects of different types of training programmes over a horizon of more than seven years. Using bias corrected weighted multiple neighbours matching we find that all programmes have negative effects in the short run and positive effects over a horizon of about four years. However, for substantive training programmes with duration of about two years gains in employment probabilities of more than 10% points appear to be sustainable, but come at the price of large negative lock-in effects." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Arbeitsförderung, Kurzarbeit, Arbeitsbeschaffung, Vorruhestand, Weiterbildung, Umschulung, Rehabilitationsmaßnahme, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme - Erfolgskontrolle, IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe, prozessproduzierte Daten, Teilnehmerauswahl, Teilnehmerstruktur, Teilnehmer, Beschäftigungseffekte, Lock-in-Effekte, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

School Based Induction Tutors: a challenging role

Since September 1999, all Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in England who wish to teach in the maintained sector have to complete an induction period. In the light of the introduction of this statutory policy, this paper critically examines the key role of the school based induction tutor in managing the process. It draws upon an analysis of the government’s induction circulars (DfEE/S 1999;2000;2001) and uses empirical data from a large, national DfES-funded project which evaluated the implementation of the policy. We argue that, for the majority of schools the work of the induction tutor within the whole school context, including management by the headteacher, is the major factor in the success of the policy. Further, we argue that there remain some tensions in the policy between the professional development and the assessment agenda

Utilization of community resources in the primary grades.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

[my]-Hydroxido-bis[(2,20-bipyridine)-tricarbonylrhenium(I)] perrhenate

The title compound, [Re2(OH)(C10H8N2)2(CO)6][ReO4], is a mixed-valence rhenium compound containing discrete anions and cations. The ReI atoms are in a slightly distorted octahedral environment, whereas the ReVII atoms show the typical tetrahedral coordination mode. The dihedral angle between the two bipyridine groups is 34.3 (7)°. Key indicators: single-crystal X-ray study; T = 173 K; mean σ(C–C) = 0.044 Å; R factor = 0.093; wR factor = 0.262; data-to-parameter ratio = 13.9

Adapting the Single-Request/Multiple-Response Message Exchange Pattern to Web Services

Single-Request/Multiple-Response (SRMR) is an important messaging exchange pattern because it can be used to model many real world problems elegantly. However, SRMR messaging is not directly supported by Web services, and, since it requires Callback to function it is hampered by current in-practice security schemes, such as firewalls and proxy servers. In this thesis, a framework will be proposed to support SRMR and Callback in the context of Web services and the realities of network security. The central component of the proposed solution is a Clearinghouse Web service (CWS), which serves as a communication proxy and realizes the correlation of responses with requests. One and only one CWS will be needed per enterprise that wishes to handle any number of SRMR Web services and their respective clients. Using the framework and related code generation utilities, a non-trivial case study, a Purchase Order System, has been implemented

Adapting the Single-Request/Multiple-Response Message Exchange Pattern to Web Services

Single-Request/Multiple-Response (SRMR) is an important messaging exchange pattern because it can be used to model many real world problems elegantly. However, SRMR messaging is not directly supported by Web services, and, since it requires Callback to function it is hampered by current in-practice security schemes, such as firewalls and proxy servers. In this thesis, a framework will be proposed to support SRMR and Callback in the context of Web services and the realities of network security. The central component of the proposed solution is a Clearinghouse Web service (CWS), which serves as a communication proxy and realizes the correlation of responses with requests. One and only one CWS will be needed per enterprise that wishes to handle any number of SRMR Web services and their respective clients. Using the framework and related code generation utilities, a non-trivial case study, a Purchase Order System, has been implemented

HGNC: The Why and How of Standardised Gene Nomenclature

The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) aims to approve a unique gene symbol and gene name for every human gene. Standardisation of gene symbols is necessary to allow researchers and curators to refer to the same gene without ambiguity. Consistent use of gene symbols in publications and across different websites makes it easy for researchers to find all relevant information for a particular gene and facilitates data mining and retrieval. For each gene that we name we curate relevant information including symbol aliases, chromosomal location, locus type, sequence accessions and links to relevant databases. Therefore, our website is a central resource for human genetics. 
 
We endeavour to approve gene symbols that are acceptable to researchers to encourage widespread use of our symbols. In order to achieve this, we contact researchers that work on particular genes for advice before approving symbols and allow researchers to submit gene symbols to us directly for our consideration. We attend conferences to discuss difficult nomenclature matters and to gain community agreement. We interact with annotators of genes and proteins to provide symbols and names that accurately reflect the nature of each gene and its products. We also work with the gene nomenclature committees for other organisms, and aim to approve equivalent gene symbols for orthologous genes in human and other vertebrate species, especially mouse and rat. 
 
We will demonstrate the steps that are required to name a gene, and will show how and where the nomenclature of a particular gene is used. We will also explain the nature of our collaborations with particular journals and other databases in striving to achieve the use of a common gene nomenclature by all