The socio-cultural and learning experiences of music students in a British university

Research into student experience in Higher Education has largely focused on students' role as learners. However, the student experience encompasses a much wider range of behaviours and beliefs than can be captured through a focus on teaching and learning alone. I report the findings of a research project which explored student experience in the music department of a British red-brick university. Music presents a particularly interesting case study given the presence of extra-curricular musical activities, the opportunity for social interaction between staff and students outside the formal context of the lecture or seminar room, and perceptions of Western art music as a form of ‘middle-class’ culture. Analysis of survey and interview data reveals the centrality of musical performance activities, and in particular the development of a performer identity, to students' experience of belonging and achievement. The influence of students' socio-economic background is also considered: social class was largely invisible to respondents within the departmental context, possibly because it is an invisible norm, within larger contemporary discourses in which social class is equated with financial difference rather than cultural difference. However, the research revealed an association between socio-economic background, term-time employment and academic achievement. The implications of these findings for teaching and learning in music in Higher Education are considered

Social exclusion, transport decision-making and the role of Local Government: what happens when the 'socially excluded' request changes to bus services?

This thesis is concerned with the involvement of the 'socially excluded' in transport decision-making. Based upon case study research conducted consecutively in three locai authorities between 1999 and 2000, it addresses the issue of what happened when the 'socially excluded' requested changes in bus provision. In doing this, it addresses four key objectives. These were, to explain how bus provision is relevant to social exclusion; to investigate the extent to which current decision-making processes promote the involvement of the socially excluded in decision-making; to conduct case study research in three locai authorities in order to examine examples of where the socially excluded requested changes to bus provision; and to identify the key factors that infìuenced whether, and to what extent, these requested changes were met. Case study research was conducted in the three authorities, using a grounded theory approach. In each case study authority, examples were identified of where those who were 'socially excluded' had asked for changes to bus provision. Investigation was undertaken through in-depth interviews and documentary analysis into the nature of these requests, their outcomes, and the processes that led to these outcomes. Overall, it was found that the needs of the socially excluded were not adequately met, and various contributing factors were identified. The findings that emerged contribute toward the social exclusion debate in four main areas. Firstly, through illustrating the tensions between deregulated bus provision and social exclusion. Secondly, through showing the ambiguous nature of the roles of officers. Thirdly. by highlighting the diffìculties surrounding the role of councillors as advocate; and fourthly, by revealing the dynamics of the decision-making process around bus provision and social exclusion and the way in which these work against the interests of the socially excluded through a consumerist discourse stemming from a deregulated bus system

The limits of transnational solidarity : the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Swaziland and Zimbabwean crises

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the main union federation in South Africa, was instrumental in ending apartheid. This paper evaluates COSATU's post-apartheid role in working for democracy elsewhere in Southern Africa through deepening transnational solidarity, focusing on its role in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Although the federation successfully mobilised trade union members to oppose the contravention of human and labor rights, its ability to affect lasting change was limited by contradictory messages and actions by the South African government, the dualistic nature of institutional formation in these countries, strategic miscalculations and structural limitations on union power

Mutational analysis of the gene start sequences of pneumonia virus of mice

The transcriptional start sequence of pneumonia virus of mice is more variable than that of the other pneumoviruses, with five different nine-base gene start (GS) sequences found in the PVM genome. The sequence requirements of the PVM gene start signal, and the efficiency of transcriptional initiation of the different virus genes, was investigated using a reverse genetics approach with a minigenome construct containing two reporter genes. A series of GS mutants were created, where each of the nine bases of the gene start consensus sequence of a reporter gene was changed to every other possible base, and the resulting effect on initiation of transcription was assayed. Nucleotide positions 1, 2 and 7 were found to be most sensitive to mutation whilst positions 4, 5 and 9 were relatively insensitive. The L gene GS sequence was found to have only 20% of the activity of the consensus sequence whilst the published M2 gene start sequence was found to be non-functional. A minigenome construct in which the two reporter genes were separated by the F-M2 gene junction of PVM was used to confirm the presence of two alternative, functional, GS sequences that could both drive the transcription of the PVM M2 gene

Pulled apart, pushed together: diversity and unity within the Congress of South African Trade Unions

This is a study of horizontal and vertical solidarity within a national labour movement, based on a nationwide survey of members of affiliated unions of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. On the one hand, the survey reveals relatively high levels of vertical and horizontal solidarity, despite the persistence of some cleavages on gender and racial lines. On the other hand, the maintenance and deepening of existing horizontal and vertical linkages in a rapidly changing socio-economic context, represents one of many challenges facing organized labour in an industrializing economy. COSATU’s strength is contingent not only on an effective organizational capacity, and a supportive network linking key actors and interest groupings, but also on the ability to meet the concerns of existing constituencies and those assigned to highly marginalized categories of labour

Is executive impairment associated with schizophrenic syndromes? A meta-analysis

Original article can be found at: http://journals.cambridge.org/ Copyright Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291708003887A key neuropsychological proposal in schizophrenia is that negative and disorganization symptoms are associated with different patterns of impairment on executive tasks. Reporting correlations between positive, negative or disorganization symptoms and any type of executive test were meta-analysed. The influence of moderating factors was also examined, including age, treatment and stage of illness and whether symptoms were relapsing or persistent. The magnitudes of the correlations were compared with those for general intellectual impairment. Pooled correlations between executive impairment and both negative symptoms and disorganization were significant in the small-to-moderate range. That for positive symptoms (‘reality distortion’), however, was close to zero. The pattern of correlations among different executive tests differed significantly for negative symptoms and disorganization. Patients with stable clinical pictures showed significantly higher correlations with executive impairment than those with relapsing and remitting illnesses. Both negative symptoms and disorganization also correlated significantly with general intellectual function as indexed by current IQ. Meta-analysis supports the view that negative symptoms and disorganization are associated with partially dissociable patterns of executive impairment. However, co-existent general intellectual impairment has been an important confounding factor in the studies to date.Peer reviewe