Game semantics for first-order logic

We refine HO/N game semantics with an additional notion of pointer (mu-pointers) and extend it to first-order classical logic with completeness results. We use a Church style extension of Parigot's lambda-mu-calculus to represent proofs of first-order classical logic. We present some relations with Krivine's classical realizability and applications to type isomorphisms

Final report of work-with-IT: the JISC study into evolution of working practices

Technology is increasingly being used to underpin business processes across teaching and learning, research, knowledge exchange and business support activities in both HE and FE. The introduction of technology has a significant impact on the working practices of staff, often requiring them to work in a radically different way. Change in any situation can be unsettling and problematic and, where not effectively managed, can lead to poor service or functionality and disenfranchised staff. These issues can have a direct impact on institutional effectiveness, reputation and the resulting student experience. The Work-with-IT project, based at the University of Strathclyde, sought to examine changes to working practices across HE and FE, the impact on staff roles and relationships and the new skills sets that are required to meet these changes

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

Effective Early Childhood Programmes

Published in collaboration with the Open University, Early Childhood in Focus offers accessible and clear reviews of the best and most recent available research, information and analysis on key policy issues, offering clear messages on core policy topics and questions. This publication, the fourth in the series, looks at the policy issues surrounding the early childhood education and care programmes: there is compelling scientific evidence showing improved long-term outcomes for disadvantaged children who participate in a high-quality programme, but realising this potential through policies and programmes is far from straightforward. It tackles the issue in three parts: The case for early childhood programmes; Evidence for early childhood programme effectiveness; and Challenges for early childhood programmes

Some Econometric Evidence on the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Programmes in East Germany

In this paper we summarise our previous results on the effectiveness of different kinds of labour market training programmes as well as employment programmes in East Germany after unification. All the studies use the microeconometric evaluation approach and are based on different types of matching estimators. We find some positive earnings effect for on-the-job training and also some positive employment effects for employment programmes. No such effects appear for public sector sponsored (off-the-job) training programmes. Generally, the scope of such analysis is very much hampered by the insufficient quality and quantity of the data available for East Germany. Although in particular the results for public sector sponsored training programmes raise serious doubts about the effectiveness of these programmes, any definite policy conclusion from this and other studies about active labour market policy in East Germany would probably be premature.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39702/3/wp318.pd

Working towards integration: Advancing Care Coordination & TeleHealth Deployment (ACT) Programme

This poster gives a summary of the ACT Programme, the sites participating, diseases covered, numbers of patients, project timetable and the aim to provide a ‘toolbox’ of best practice. ACT programmes fall within five broad areas: CC of Management of Chronic and Multimorbid long-term conditions; Management of Chronic and Multimorbid long-term conditions with telehealth; Active patient/prevention/Education; Elderly at home; and Transitional care/post discharge. The number of patients recruited to ACT programmes varied considerably, from the small scale (e.g. Scotland’s REACT project for those over 75 and Groningen’s eDiabetes programme, both with 15-20 patients) to much larger scale (e.g. Lombardy’s Chronic patients with 37,000). Most Programmes (14 out of 17) recruit people with chronic conditions and in some cases these are specified such as Congestive Heart Failure and Diabetes. Patients in recovery or rehabilitation were the second most cited group (12 out of 17). Patients in the preventative category were least likely to enter Programmes (5 out of 17). Some Programmes accept patients at multiple key stages. For example, Groningen’s Effective Cardio Programme accepts patients at the preventative, newly diagnosed, disease management, recovery/rehabilitation, at risk, chronic and palliative stages, in addition to those on new medication. All Programmes reported clear lines of responsibility for the provision of patient care. General Practitioners/Primary Care took responsibility in nine of the 17 Programmes. Elsewhere, specialist nurses held responsibility (e.g. Groningen’s Effective Cardio) or chest physicians (e.g. Groningen’s asthma/COPD Telehealth service). Other Programmes apportioned responsibility at a broader level via a Programme Management Working Group and local managers (Basque Country’s Active Patients) for example, or with a National diabetes standard and regional guidelines (Groningen’s eDiabetes) or with defined care pathways (Scotland’s three Programmes). Further details of the Organisational aspects of the participants in the ACT programme will be presented in the Poste

Aid, development and English language teaching : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The past few decades have seen the ascendancy of English as the global language of business and international interaction and as a result it has come to be viewed in the minds of many policy makers as fundamental to development. Accordingly English language instruction programmes have increasingly been integrated into development programmes both at a domestic recipient and international donor level. These programmes are frequently framed within the paradigms of empowerment and capacity building yet little readily accessible research seems to be available regarding the practical role English language aid programmes may play in these processes with most examination seeming to be centred either on discourse debate or cost/benefit analysis of programmes. This thesis endeavours to examine the perceptions of recipients and providers regarding the provision of English language instruction programmes. It finds that despite a provider focus on institutional capacity building extrinsic, primarily economic, considerations ensure that there is a strong recipient demand for these programmes. It also finds that, even with an increasing provider desire to use participatory paradigms, programme parameters are still largely determined by providers due to their control of funds. By reason of this the efficacy of English language instruction in promoting recipient empowerment and capacity building remains open to question

A comparison of the effectiveness of three parenting programmes in improving parenting skills, parent mental-well being and children's behaviour when implemented on a large scale in community settings in 18 English local authorities : the parenting early intervention pathfinder (PEIP)

Background There is growing evidence that parenting programmes can improve parenting skills and thereby the behaviour of children exhibiting or at risk of developing antisocial behaviour. Given the high prevalence of childhood behaviour problems the task is to develop large scale application of effective programmes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the UK government funded implementation of the Parenting Early Intervention Pathfinder (PEIP). This involved the large scale rolling out of three programmes to parents of children 8-13 years in 18 local authorities (LAs) over a 2 year period. Methods The UK government's Department for Education allocated each programme (Incredible Years, Triple P and Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities) to six LAs which then developed systems to intervene using parenting groups. Implementation fidelity was supported by the training of group facilitators by staff of the appropriate parenting programme supplemented by supervision. Parents completed measures of parenting style, efficacy, satisfaction, and mental well-being, and also child behaviour. Results A total of 1121 parents completed pre- and post-course measures. There were significant improvements on all measures for each programme; effect sizes (Cohen's d) ranged across the programmes from 0.57 to 0.93 for parenting style; 0.33 to 0.77 for parenting satisfaction and self-efficacy; and from 0.49 to 0.88 for parental mental well-being. Effectiveness varied between programmes: Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities was significantly less effective than both the other two programmes in improving parental efficacy, satisfaction and mental well-being. Improvements in child behaviour were found for all programmes: effect sizes for reduction in conduct problems ranged from -0.44 to -0.71 across programmes, with Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities again having significantly lower reductions than Incredible Years. Conclusions Evidence-based parenting programmes can be implemented successfully on a large scale in community settings despite the lack of concentrated and sustained support available during a controlled trial

Revisiting leadership development:the participant perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address limitations of prevailing approaches to leadership development programmes and make suggestions as to how these might be overcome. These limitations are an outcome of the dominant rational functional approach to leadership development programmes. Based on empirical research, and underpinned by organisational theory, the paper suggests a shift towards a socio-constructivist perspective on design and implementation of leadership development programmes. The explorative study proposes that context and participant differences need to be recognised as factors impacting on the effectiveness of leadership development initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review of relevant literature and qualitative data collected using the case study method. The study presented is explorative. Findings – The paper finds that participant interaction with leadership development programmes varies depending on individual and/or contextual factors. Current design logic neither recognises nor utilises such situatedness as programmes develop their linear and unidirectional logic. Designers of programmes underestimate the extent to which programme participants create a context-specific understanding of leadership learning as they interact with the programme. Their personal and organisational context shapes this interaction. A socio-constructivist perspective can provide theoretical foundation for the argument that leadership development programmes can become more effective if context-specific dimensions are recognised as shaping and constraining factors impacting on programme participants. Originality/value – The paper argues that it is time to move away from offering leadership development programmes which emphasise input over interaction. The paper encourages commissioners and designers of leadership programmes to recognise that an overly didactic approach may limit the effectiveness of such programmes