eCPD Programme - Enhanced Learning.

This collection of papers (edited by Kevin Donovan) has been produced by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) for LSIS. They are based on the summaries used by presenters during workshops at the 2009 launch of the eCPD Programme

Evaluation of variation in special educational needs provision and its impact on health and education using administrative records for England: umbrella protocol for a mixed-methods research programme

INTRODUCTION: One-third of children in England have special educational needs (SEN) provision recorded during their school career. The proportion of children with SEN provision varies between schools and demographic groups, which may reflect variation in need, inequitable provision and/or systemic factors. There is scant evidence on whether SEN provision improves health and education outcomes. METHODS: The Health Outcomes of young People in Education (HOPE) research programme uses administrative data from the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data-ECHILD-which contains data from all state schools, and contacts with National Health Service hospitals in England, to explore variation in SEN provision and its impact on health and education outcomes. This umbrella protocol sets out analyses across four work packages (WP). WP1 defined a range of 'health phenotypes', that is health conditions expected to need SEN provision in primary school. Next, we describe health and education outcomes (WP1) and individual, school-level and area-level factors affecting variation in SEN provision across different phenotypes (WP2). WP3 assesses the impact of SEN provision on health and education outcomes for specific health phenotypes using a range of causal inference methods to account for confounding factors and possible selection bias. In WP4 we review local policies and synthesise findings from surveys, interviews and focus groups of service users and providers to understand factors associated with variation in and experiences of identification, assessment and provision for SEN. Triangulation of findings on outcomes, variation and impact of SEN provision for different health phenotypes in ECHILD, with experiences of SEN provision will inform interpretation of findings for policy, practice and families and methods for future evaluation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Research ethics committees have approved the use of the ECHILD database and, separately, the survey, interviews and focus groups of young people, parents and service providers. These stakeholders will contribute to the design, interpretation and communication of findings

Can people detect ideological stance from facial photographs?

Nonverbal cues are instrumental in animal social interactions, and humans place especial value on facial appearance and displays to predict and interpret others’ behaviours. Several studies have reported that people can judge someone’s political orientation (e.g. Republican vs Democrat) based on facial appearance at greater-than-chance accuracy. This begs the question of the granularity of such judgements. Here, we investigate whether people can judge one aspect of political orientation (attitudes to immigration) based on the facial photographs that politicians use to represent themselves on the European Parliament website. We find no evidence of such ability, and no evidence for an interaction between the judges’ own attitudes to immigration and their accuracy. While many studies report facial manifestations of attitudinal and behavioural proclivities, facial appearance may be a relatively impoverished cue

Evaluation of variation in special educational needs provision and its impact on health and education using administrative records for England: umbrella protocol for a mixed-methods research programme

Introduction One-third of children in England have special educational needs (SEN) provision recorded during their school career. The proportion of children with SEN provision varies between schools and demographic groups, which may reflect variation in need, inequitable provision and/or systemic factors. There is scant evidence on whether SEN provision improves health and education outcomes.Methods The Health Outcomes of young People in Education (HOPE) research programme uses administrative data from the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data—ECHILD—which contains data from all state schools, and contacts with National Health Service hospitals in England, to explore variation in SEN provision and its impact on health and education outcomes. This umbrella protocol sets out analyses across four work packages (WP). WP1 defined a range of ‘health phenotypes’, that is health conditions expected to need SEN provision in primary school. Next, we describe health and education outcomes (WP1) and individual, school-level and area-level factors affecting variation in SEN provision across different phenotypes (WP2). WP3 assesses the impact of SEN provision on health and education outcomes for specific health phenotypes using a range of causal inference methods to account for confounding factors and possible selection bias. In WP4 we review local policies and synthesise findings from surveys, interviews and focus groups of service users and providers to understand factors associated with variation in and experiences of identification, assessment and provision for SEN. Triangulation of findings on outcomes, variation and impact of SEN provision for different health phenotypes in ECHILD, with experiences of SEN provision will inform interpretation of findings for policy, practice and families and methods for future evaluation.Ethics and dissemination Research ethics committees have approved the use of the ECHILD database and, separately, the survey, interviews and focus groups of young people, parents and service providers. These stakeholders will contribute to the design, interpretation and communication of findings

Evaluation of variation in special educational needs provision and its impact on health and education using administrative records for England: umbrella protocol for a mixed-methods research programme.

Peer reviewed: TrueAcknowledgements: We would like to acknowledge the contribution of members of the HOPE study steering committee. We gratefully acknowledge all children and families whose deidentified data are used in this research. We are grateful to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for providing the trusted research environment for the ECHILD Database. ONS agrees that the figures and descriptions of results in the attached document may be published. This does not imply ONS' acceptance of the validity of the methods used to obtain these figures, or of any analysis of the results. The ECHILD Database uses data from the Department for We would like to acknowledge the contribution of members of the HOPE study steering committee. We gratefully acknowledge all children and families whose de-identified data are used in this research.We are grateful to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for providing the trusted research environment for the ECHILD Database. ONS agrees that the figures and descriptions of results in the attached document may be published. This does not imply ONS' acceptance of the validity of the methods used to obtain these figures, or of any analysis of the results.The ECHILD Database uses data from the Department for Education (DfE). The DfE does not accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by the authors. This work also uses data provided by patients and collected by the National Health Service as part of their care and support. Source data can also be accessed by researchers by applying to NHS England. This work was produced using statistical data accessed via the ONS Secure Research Service. The use of this data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates. The views in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of UCL.INTRODUCTION: One-third of children in England have special educational needs (SEN) provision recorded during their school career. The proportion of children with SEN provision varies between schools and demographic groups, which may reflect variation in need, inequitable provision and/or systemic factors. There is scant evidence on whether SEN provision improves health and education outcomes. METHODS: The Health Outcomes of young People in Education (HOPE) research programme uses administrative data from the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data-ECHILD-which contains data from all state schools, and contacts with National Health Service hospitals in England, to explore variation in SEN provision and its impact on health and education outcomes. This umbrella protocol sets out analyses across four work packages (WP). WP1 defined a range of 'health phenotypes', that is health conditions expected to need SEN provision in primary school. Next, we describe health and education outcomes (WP1) and individual, school-level and area-level factors affecting variation in SEN provision across different phenotypes (WP2). WP3 assesses the impact of SEN provision on health and education outcomes for specific health phenotypes using a range of causal inference methods to account for confounding factors and possible selection bias. In WP4 we review local policies and synthesise findings from surveys, interviews and focus groups of service users and providers to understand factors associated with variation in and experiences of identification, assessment and provision for SEN. Triangulation of findings on outcomes, variation and impact of SEN provision for different health phenotypes in ECHILD, with experiences of SEN provision will inform interpretation of findings for policy, practice and families and methods for future evaluation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Research ethics committees have approved the use of the ECHILD database and, separately, the survey, interviews and focus groups of young people, parents and service providers. These stakeholders will contribute to the design, interpretation and communication of findings

Ozone photochemistry during the UK heat wave of August 2003

A wide range of chemical and physical parameters have been observed over the course of a severe Europe-wide air pollution episode in August 2003. Detailed surface observations made at the rural perimeter edge of London, U.K. indicated significantly elevated levels of primary VOCs, ozone (>110ppb), other photochemical by-products such as PAN, HCHO, and higher oxygenates but not NOx. Reactive organic tracers in combination with surface Doppler wind radar and back trajectory analysis have been used to establish that initial rapid morning rises in O3 during the episode were caused by entrainment of air from aloft, polluted on regional scales from mainland Europe. Total VOC reactivity to OH approximately doubled during this episode, with similar distribution between functional groups, but showing a temperature dependant exponentially increasing contribution from biogenic isoprene (max 1.2 ppbV). In addition to entrainment of regional air pollution, ozone formation rates within the U.K. boundary layer on the day of observation have been determined using measured peroxy radicals in combination with other chemical data. Under episodic conditions total peroxy radicals in excess 120pptV were observed in late afternoon with strong correlation to a later and higher peak in ozone when compared to non-episodic conditions. During the daytime under episodic conditions alkyl peroxy radical formation was dominated by PAN thermolysis, whose afternoon lifetime averaged only 18.3 min, but which was sustained at a concentration greater than 750 pptV. Low episodic wind speeds resulted in a relatively small possible spatial footprint for emissions of reactive precursors to PAN, and a strong correlation between isoprene and PAN production rate suggest this species may have contributed to the later afternoon increases seen in surface O3