The arrival of MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses

Summary: Internationally, a number of emerging technologies and associated developments are becoming available that could have far‐reaching effects on the delivery of tertiary education. One of these developments is Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The opportunities MOOCs present include the ability for institutions to extend their brand and reach to large international audiences, experiment with innovative pedagogical approaches, an ability to offer niche provision at scale, and a potential reduction of costs. Its challenges and risks include that they are not widely recognised as formal qualifications, the absence of an established business model, and their pedagogical approaches. We have developed this paper as the start of a conversation between and among government agencies, institutions, employers and learners on the appropriate policy settings and ways to support the introduction of these emerging technologies in the delivery of tertiary education. This paper also supports the 2014 Innovations in Tertiary Education Delivery Summit, being held in Auckland on 5 and 6 June 2014, which looks at the future of tertiary education and the role of technology in it

Evolution of networks

We review the recent fast progress in statistical physics of evolving networks. Interest has focused mainly on the structural properties of random complex networks in communications, biology, social sciences and economics. A number of giant artificial networks of such a kind came into existence recently. This opens a wide field for the study of their topology, evolution, and complex processes occurring in them. Such networks possess a rich set of scaling properties. A number of them are scale-free and show striking resilience against random breakdowns. In spite of large sizes of these networks, the distances between most their vertices are short -- a feature known as the ``small-world'' effect. We discuss how growing networks self-organize into scale-free structures and the role of the mechanism of preferential linking. We consider the topological and structural properties of evolving networks, and percolation in these networks. We present a number of models demonstrating the main features of evolving networks and discuss current approaches for their simulation and analytical study. Applications of the general results to particular networks in Nature are discussed. We demonstrate the generic connections of the network growth processes with the general problems of non-equilibrium physics, econophysics, evolutionary biology, etc.Comment: 67 pages, updated, revised, and extended version of review, submitted to Adv. Phy

After Worboys: what next for the parole system in England and Wales?

A fair, transparent, and robust process for the termination of prison sentences is critical to the effective operation of our criminal justice system, writes Thomas Guiney. In light of the Worboys case and the attention drawn to the parole system as a result, he explains what reforms are necessary in order to build a modern parole process that is fit for purpose

An idea whose time had come: Parole, indeterminacy, and the personalization of punishment [chapter 3]

The chapter traces the emergence of parole onto the policy agenda in England and Wales between 1960 and 1968. It examines the long-term historical trends in early release administration and how this gave rise to a reform agenda that was shaped by the prevailing optimism and confidence of the 1960s. It goes on to examine growing criminological support for indeterminate sentencing and the influence of the landmark Longford Committee Report Crime: A Challenge to Us All. Here it will argue that the initial policy scoping for a parole system in England and Wales was heavily influenced by the ‘rehabilitative ideal’ and a desire to give administrative expression to prevailing support for indeterminate and the personalization of punishment. The chapter concludes with an overview of the intense policy discussion that gave rise to the parole framework articulated in the ‘Adult Offender’ White Paper

Exploration of flowering control in Lolium perenne L.

End of project reportFlowering or heading in Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) is induced by a period of vernalization, followed by long days at higher temperatures. When heading occurs there is a reduction in the feed quality of the forage and therefore extending the period of vegetative growth or eliminating heading during the growing season will improve the potential of perennial ryegrass in agriculture. Conversely, a better control of flowering time and increased heading will lead to higher seed yield for commercial producers. The aim of this project was to investigate the underlying genetic control of flowering time in perennial ryegrass. An F1 population was created by crosspollinating two lines with different heading dates and a genetic linkage map was constructed using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers. The population and genetic linkage map was then used to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) associated with heading date, spike length and spikelets per spike. A number of QTL were identified for all traits, some of which had not previously been identified in perennial ryegrass. A Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) study was also employed to identify genes differentially expressed between an extremely late flowering line and earlier flowering sibling line. Expression analysis of a number of identified genes through floral induction was performed using real time RT-PCR. This revealed a number of transcripts with expression profiles indicative of a role to play in floral induction

Evaluation of Teachers of Students With Low-Incidence Disabilities

Current reforms of teacher evaluation systems in the state of Michigan are meant to improve teacher effectiveness, resulting in increased student growth and achievement. However, little research exists to support best practices in the evaluation of special education teachers. The evaluation of special education teachers involves many unique challenges which are especially apparent when evaluating teachers of students with lowincidence disabilities. The tools and processes being proposed by the state are born from research within general education and, consequently, may not be effective in meeting the unique challenges of evaluating special education teachers. The perceptions of special education administrators regarding the effectiveness of tools/systems currently being used in Michigan to evaluate teachers of students with lowincidence disabilities are examined in this study. In addition, the perceptions of special education administrators regarding the importance of certain evaluation components within evaluation tools/systems to be used with teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities are also examined. The perceived effectiveness varied across respondents. However, the perceived effectiveness of evaluation tools was higher when the tool had been modified specifically for teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities. The components of evaluation rated most important by respondents were ones that were most unique to special education teachers. It is concluded that current tools/systems being used to evaluate teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities need to be modified in order to be effective