Book review: a manifesto for the public university by John Holmwood

What does the future hold for higher education? Is the university set to become like the panopticon, where academics are constantly surveyed and regulated in the name of efficiency? Tony Murphy finds that A Manifesto for the Public University is a must for all those with vested interests in HE: students, researchers, and VCs, as well as policy makers actively engaged in shaping the future

Rape myths as a challenge to objective policing: exploring attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance and police officers' judgements of rape scenarios

Background: Rape cases are chronically under-reported to police at around 20%, and suffer from worrying levels of attrition (Lea, Lanvers & Shaw, 2003). Attitudes held by police officers representing acceptance of rape myths (among others) may contribute to this, by influencing decisions taken when dealing with victims. Indeed, research has demonstrated that, despite changes in practice in the UK, rape myth acceptance, and specifically victim blaming, is still present in police officers (Page, 2010; Sleath & Bull, 2012; 2015), may affect decision making (O’Keeffe, Brown, & Lyons, 2009), and may discourage woman from reporting sexual violence (Jordan, 2001, 2004; Page, 2010). This study investigated how levels of these attitudes differ between officers with and without specialist training, compared to undergraduate students, as well as how they relate to each other in an attitudinal framework. In addition, varying rape scenarios were presented to assess differences in victim and perpetrator blame between these groups. Methods: An anticipated (current) 100 (40) undergraduates, 250 (60) police officers, and 250 (50) specialist officers in sexual offences will complete measures of Ambivalent Sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996), Hostility Towards Women (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995), Power and Sex (Chapleau & Oswald, 2010), and Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (Gerger, Kley, Bohner, & Siebler, 2007). Participants will also make victim blame judgements on rape scenarios that vary on victim reputation, relationship to perpetrator and point of initial resistance. Statistical analysis will explore the relationship between the attitudes, and their relation to victim blame judgements, across groups

Analysis of Patient Information: An Empirical Modeling Approach

With rising costs and increasing complexities, many hospitals seek to better understand the intricate details of their operations. Increasingly, these organizations have a strong desire to accurately predict the resources required to effectively treat their patient load. This research investigates patient length-of-stay in a hospital neurological unit using an empirical modeling approach. Factors significantly affecting patient length of stay were identified and used to construct a regression model. The predictive model provides hospital decision makers with a compact tool to input what-if scenarios and predict future patient treatment lengths, thus, allowing the hospital to properly allocate resources

Perceptions of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework 2014: A small survey of academics

Earlier work inspired by a body of literature raised important questions about the workings of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) and its predecessor the Research Assessment Framework (RAE), and noted the possible adverse outcomes of such processes. This paper builds on this by examining the findings of a small survey of social science academics. The survey identified concerns about the validity of the REF as a proxy for quality, and the role it has had in shaping patterns of research behaviour. There were also frequent concerns related to morale. Yet although responses tended to be negative, there was also a significant voice signalling the importance the REF plays in ensuring accountability and transparency in research, as well as a sense that the pressures that come with such processes are simply ‘part and parcel’ of academic life. The role of wider time-management factors, related to heavy teaching and administration burdens, was also signalled, and cited by some as overshadowing the pressures of REF

Developing measures for valuing changes in biodiversity : final report

This document reports the findings from the DEFRA funded research project 'Developing measures for valuing changes in biodiversity'. The aim of the research was to develop an appropriate framework that will enable cost-effective and robust valuations of the total economic value of changes to biodiversity in the UK countryside. The research involved a review of ecological and economic literature on the valuation of biodiversity changes. The information gathered from this review, along with the findings from a series of public focus groups and an expert review of valuation methodologies, were used to develop a suite of valuation instruments that were used to measure the economic value of different aspects of biodiversity. Contingent valuation and choice experiment studies were administered to households in Cambridgeshire and Northumberland, while valuation workshops were conducted in Northumberland only. The data from these studies were also used to test for benefits transfer

Car-Park Management using Wireless Sensor Networks

A complete wireless sensor network solution for car-park management is presented in this paper. The system architecture and design are first detailed, followed by a description of the current working implementation, which is based on our DSYS25z sensing nodes. Results of a series of real experimental tests regarding connectivity, sensing and network performance are then discussed. The analysis of link characteristics in the car park scenario shows unexpected reliability patterns which have a strong influence on MAC and routing protocol design. Two unexpected link reliability patterns are identified and documented. First, the presence of the objects (cars) being sensed can cause significant interference and degradation in communication performance. Second, link quality has a high temporal correlation but a low spatial correlation. From these observations we conclude that a) the construction and maintenance of a fixed topology is not useful and b) spatial rather than temporal message replicates can improve transport reliability

Exploring the challenges of managing blended learning courses in selected Irish higher education institutes:An activity theory study.

This research explores the challenges of managing the development and delivery of blended learning courses in three higher education institutes (HEIs) in Ireland. Taking a case study approach and utilising Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), more specifically Engeström’s (2015) activity systems model (ASM), the research seeks to highlight the challenges by identifying contradictions in the activity systems for developing and delivering blended learning in each of the three HEIs. Three cases are examined by compiling separate ASMs for each case that reveal three quite different management approaches. A typology of managing course development is devised and presented as a means for comparing different approaches to managing the development and delivery of blended learning courses. The contradictions in each of the ASMs are used to identify the challenges associated with each separate approach. The activity systems identified, and their corresponding contradictions, are used to illuminate the larger debate around the use of new managerialist techniques in higher education and what that can mean for collegiality and the emergence of what has been described as neo collegiality in higher education

Integrated working and intergenerational projects: a study of the use of sporting memories

The purpose of this paper is to promote discussion about, and the development of the evidence-base underpinning integrated working for intergenerational working. It discusses perspectives on intergenerational work in general and specifically draws on case experiences of the use of intergenerational reminiscence based on sporting memories to highlight issues pertaining to integrated working