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An objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been recognised as a reliable but workload-intensive assessment method across health sciences studies. Though a variety of digital marking tools have been employed to improve marking and feedback provision for OSCEs, many of these require specialist software or maintenance. This pilot study examines the development and trialling of Microsoft Forms as a marking and feedback instrument for an OSCE within a Sport and Exercise Therapy module. This study aims to assess whether the use of a non-specialist digital tool, such as Microsoft Forms, might be able overcome limitations in current assessment procedures and ultimately provide a more effective method for marking and feedback provision for an OSCE. Results from OSCE examiners (N = 8) and students (N = 30) who participated in the pilot indicate that Microsoft Forms does have the potential to provide a more effective experience for examiners and ultimately improve upon feedback provision for students when compared with a paper-based marking tool. However, concerns around the form's ease-of-use may ultimately influence its adoption as a marking instrument above current paper-based methods.

Considers issues surrounding the use of differentiated examinations. Discusses how differentiation may be provided, the wording of questions, and how marks should be given. Highlights some pitfalls of using this approach. Concludes that, although differentiated examinations are possible, they will not always meet the needs of the end range of test takers. (KO)

Background: People who have communication difficulties may benefit from using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Understanding and measuring outcomes from the use of AAC is an important part of evaluating the impact of devices and services. Outcome measurement needs to reflect the changing nature of the impact of using AAC on an individual's ability to participate in activities of daily life. There is a limited understanding of the concepts that should inform the evaluation of outcomes from AAC device provision, nor how people's expectations from AAC may change over time. Aims: To inform the development of a patient-reported outcome measure for AAC by understanding more about people's expectations from AAC and how these change over time. Methods & Procedures: A longitudinal qualitative research study was designed and carried out with seven participants over a period of 2 years. Participants were recruited from a regional specialist assessment service for AAC in the south-west of the UK. Four semi-structured interviews were carried out: (1) before assessment for AAC, (2) after assessment, (3) directly after provision of an AAC device and (4) between 6 and 12 months after provision. An original analytic method was used in this study that built on the principles of longitudinal interpretative phenomenology analysis, applied with a dialogic theoretical lens. This approach enabled the inclusion of a range of multimodal and embodied data collected to this study and allowed the research team to draw out salient themes across the cohort group while attending to the influence of time and context on experience. Outcomes & Results: The results confirm and extend the three core concepts that were used to guide analysis: changes; contexts; future possibilities. The contextual and temporal influences on outcomes attainable from AAC for this cohort were also identified and illustrated through cross-case comparison. Deeper, analytic, and conceptual engagement with theory, which was then applied to analysis of the data, provided methodological rigour in the study. The results enhance our understanding of people's hopes and expectations from AAC and how these change over time. Conclusions & Implications: This qualitative longitudinal research study provides new insights into the journeys of people who experience communication disability, and the shifting nature of their sense of identity as they engage with, and learn from using, AAC. The study is significant as it attends to the dynamic nature of experience and how contextual and experiential factors influence people's hopes and expectations from AAC. The paper presents an original application of longitudinal qualitative research methodology with people who use AAC which can be further applied and tested in the field of communication disability research.

To date, there is a lack of suitable assessment tools specifically for the looked after child population. Such assessments, often completed by foster carers, help to provide an overview of a child's presenting level of emotional and behavioural need, and are evidential in offering a pathway to further provision and services for young people in care. This study explores perspectives of foster carers working at one UK-based independent fostering agency, Five Rivers Child Care (FRCC). The twofold study, conducted in 2017, involved understanding foster carers' perceptions both of routine assessments and subsequent feedback procedures; activities which are mandatory to facilitate foster carers' understanding of the wellbeing needs of the young people within their care. In Study 1, an online quantitative survey established foster carers' (n = 42) experiences of assessment and intervention, over a six-month timeframe. Study 2, conducted with a subsample of carers (n = 6) used telephone interviews to provide additional qualitative insight. The findings of both studies were consistent, highlighting the need for enhanced relevance of assessments, active involvement in the assessment process, more knowledge of the process; greater support with assessments; and further opportunity to self-reflect. The paper reflects on how the findings resulted in developments within the FRCC assessment process in 2018, including adaptations and additions to its protocol, with the aims of improving outcomes for children in care services, increasing collaboration and support, and enhancing reflection and practice. These findings have allowed for assessments to be tailored or changed, with carers being far more involved and informed of the process, resulting in improved practice and enhanced learning about this population. Furthermore, this study has wider implications beyond FRCC: the extracted themes are likely to be highly pertinent and applicable across similar populations, with assessment protocols enhancing understanding about the expectations and challenges that might emerge within this population.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the way "moderation" is defined and operationalised at UK universities. It is hoped that this investigation provides pointers for modifications in university documentation and practices, as well as indicates possible areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper begins with a review of relevant scholarly literature, first tracing the history of the concept of moderation (essentially meaning the avoidance of extremes) in western thought and then proceeding to show how moderation is understood and operationalised in UK universities. Relevant documentation from 10 UK universities, all in the public domain, is analysed to show both commonalities and differences in definition and operationalisation of moderation. Findings: This paper shows that universities differ in their understanding of the scope of moderation, with some seeing it as covering the evaluation of draft assessment artifacts. It is also noted that the distinction between moderation and marking is not always expressed in university documentation in ways that distinguish between the two with maximal clarity. Research limitations/implications: Limitations include the relatively small sample of documents examined. Conversely, ancient universities (e.g. Edinburgh), long-established universities (e.g. Manchester) and 1992 and more recent universities (e.g. Manchester Metropolitan University and Suffolk) are contained in the sample, so moderation practices from across the sector are included. Practical implications: The main findings are that some universities see moderation as including drafting, redrafting and approval of assessment artifacts, whereas others do not. In addition, although all universities stress that moderation and marking are separate activities, some documentation discusses both the activities in tandem; thus, undermining the contention that they are discrete. Both these findings have implications for UK university documentation in terms of both document structure and precise wording. Originality/value: The approach taken, in which a sample of publicly available university documents is scrutinised and evaluated, casts a new light on understandings of "moderation", which is a term and concept that may not always be examined critically by lecturers and quality assurance professionals involved in higher education.

Performance assessment is permeating increasingly diverse domains of higher education, even in areas previously perceived to be too complex and idiosyncratic to quantify. The UK's attempts to assess 'research impact' within the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are illustrative of this trend and are being closely monitored by several other countries. A fundamental rationale for employing narrative case studies to assess impact within REF, rather than taking a (less resource intensive) quantified approach, was that this would allow for the variation, complexity and idiosyncrasy inherent in research impact. This paper considers whether this promise of narrative flexibility has been realised, by analysing a combination of REF impact case study reports and interviews and focus group discussions with actors involved in case study production. Informed by this analysis, our central argument is that the very quality which allows narratives to govern is their ability to standardise performance (albeit whilst retaining a degree of flexibility). The paper proposes that REF impact case studies position narratives of impact as technologies of governance in ways that restrict the 'plot line' and belie the far more complex accounts held by those working to achieve research impact. This is partly because, as research impact becomes institutionalised within universities' measurement infrastructures, higher education institutions become impact gatekeepers, filtering out narratives that are deemed overly complex or insufficiently persuasive, while perpetuating particular approaches to recounting tales of impact that are deemed likely to perform well. Crucially, these narratives not only describe impact but actively construct it as an auditable phenomenon.

Involving young people in the co-production of whole-school wellbeing strategies is aligned with the United Nations rights of the child and current UK legislation. This exploratory participatory action research (PAR) project aimed to facilitate teacher-student collaboration in one high school to develop whole-school practice with a focus on assessment. Training videos were co-created focusing on students' assessment experiences and ways to improve wellbeing and performance. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data identified key facilitators and challenges to the PAR process, alongside insights into students' assessment experiences. The paper concludes that PAR has the potential to empower young people and open channels of communication between students and teachers. Implications for educational psychology (EP) practice and future research are discussed.

The recent National Students Survey showed that feedback to students was an ongoing problem in Higher Education. This paper reports on the extension of our past research into the provision of automated feedback for objective testing. In the research presented here, the system has been further developed for marking practical and essay questions and providing automated feedback. Recent research at the University of Hertfordshire was able to show that learners and tutors accept and value our automated feedback approach based on objective tests and Computer Adaptive Testing. The research reported in this paper is an important extension to this work. The automated feedback system developed for objective testing has been extended to include practical testing and essay type questions. The automated feedback system, which can be used within any subject area, is based on a simple marking scheme created by the subject tutor as a text file according to a simple template. Marks for each option and a set of feedback statements are held within a database on a computer. As marks are awarded for each question by the teacher an individual feedback file is created automatically for each learner. Teachers may also add and modify comments to each learner and save additional feedback to the database for later use. Each individual feedback file was emailed automatically to learners. The development of the system is explained in the paper and testing and evaluation with 350 first year (1 final practical test), 120 second year (1 written and 1 practical tests) and 100 final year (1 final practical test) undergraduate Computer Science students is reported. It was found that the time to mark practical and essay type tests was reduced by more than 30% in all cases compared to previous years. More importantly it was possible to provide good quality individual feedback to learners rapidly. Feedback was delivered to all within three weeks of the test submission date. In end of module tests it was very beneficial indeed as it had proven difficult to provide feedback in the past after modules had ended. Examples of the feedback provided are presented in the paper and the development of the system using a user-centred approach based on student and staff evaluation is explained. The comments of staff teaching on these modules and a sample of students who took part in this series of evaluations of the system are presented. The results of these evaluations were very positive and are reported in the paper, showing the changes that were made to the system at each iteration of the development cycle. The provision of fast effective feedback is vital and this system was found to be an important addition to the tools available. (Contains 8 tables and 4 figures.)

Design for sustainable behaviour is an emerging activity under the banner of sustainable design which aims to reduce the environmental and social impacts of products by moderating users' interaction with them. The intended outcome of design for sustainable behaviour is to reduce negative environmental and societal impacts. However, designers' ability to passively or actively influence user behaviour and the resulting tension between choice and control raises some interesting ethical issues. Whilst several viable strategies for designing sustainable behaviour have been developed, the criterion for selecting appropriate strategies has yet to be defined and there is not, as yet, a clear consensus as to what is an acceptable level of intervention, or how to rate the severity of consequences enacted by different behaviours. Exploration of the ethical dimensions of influencing behaviour through design is limited and as such few Industrial Design programmes implicitly teach the ethics of design for sustainable behaviour as part of the curriculum. The study reported on in this paper sought to address this gap through the development and delivery of an educational pilot study to test new teaching materials concerning ethics in design. Having outlined the key processes which led to material selection and the identification of appropriate techniques, a "best-in-class" student case study is presented to illustrate the outcomes of one student project emerging from the pilot study. The paper concludes by reflecting on the appropriateness of the teaching and learning methods, the suitability of the content based on the evaluation which was carried out; and considers the challenges for lecturers in delivering content of this nature. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

This research paper investigates if the traditional lecture is no longer appropriate for Neomillennial Learning Styles and whether an alternative blended approach could/should be used? Over the past decade the lecture as we know it, has gradually been under attack from constructivists, Twigg (1999) for example argues that the lecture is in the main a one-way process with little or no active participation and does not allow the student an opportunity to learn in a collaborative form. Exley & Dennick (2004) quote an unknown source as saying, "Lecturing is the transference of the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the student without passing through the brains of either" (p3). To counter balance this Race (1999) explores different methods of how active, interactive learning can take place within a lecture. With these and many more damming critiques of the lecture it is no wonder that HE is looking at alternative methods of delivery. This research explores whether there is a place for lectures and if blended learning technology can enhance the learning experience given within a lecture theatre environment. The primary research is based on two questionnaires, the first to a cohort of undergraduate students and the second to academic staff at Leeds Metropolitan University. The results of the research shows that students are demanding more for their tuition fees, this is in agreement with the BBC education reporter Sean Coughlan (2009) who reported that "Fees fuel campus consumer culture" and also discussed the Swansea University's student paper who following the recent bad weather reported "Students lose 20 British Pounds a lecture after snow sends university into lockdown." (par 2). The paper also looks at the effects of increasing demands being placed on students' time and how this has developed the students into becoming more strategic learners in what they are prepared to attend and how much time they are willing to give to a subject. Therefore the use and availability of blended learning techniques (VLE, podcast) was investigated. The research shows that both students and academics see value in lectures, however the traditional didactic form of lecturing needs to change and academics need to embrace new technology, which can enhance the lecture and as such the overall teaching and learning experience. (Contains 10 tables.)

Studies on academic recruitment processes have demonstrated that universities evaluate candidates for research positions using multiple criteria. However, most studies on preferences regarding evaluative criteria in recruitment processes focus on a single country, while cross-country studies are rare. Additionally, though studies have documented how fields evaluate candidates differently, those differences have not been deeply explored, thus creating a need for further inquiry. This paper aims to address this gap and investigates whether academics in two fields across five European countries prefer the same criteria to evaluate candidates for academic positions. The analysis is based on recent survey data drawn from academics in economics and physics in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Our results show that the academic fields have different evaluative cultures and that researchers from different fields prefer specific criteria when assessing candidates. We also found that these field-specific preferences were to some extent mediated through national frameworks such as funding systems.

The emergence of new technologies has changed the way people communicate. Social media have allowed businesses to connect with customers and to market their products more efficiently. However, these platforms also allow customers to share information and opinions with the company and fellow customers, diverting from previous online service encounters which only allowed the interaction between the service provider and the customer. This new digital space of communication is in need of research. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to analyze how customer (dis)affiliation is discursively realized on Facebook. To do so, a corpus of comments published by customers on the Facebook page of a British grocery chain was compiled. The data were analyzed drawing on Appraisal Theory (Martin & White, 2005). The findings show that customers used a varied range of Appraisal resources to evaluate the company and express (dis)affiliation with it and fellow customers.

Students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing frame how they interpret their educational experience and their approaches to, and perspectives on, learning, teaching and assessment. This paper draws on previous research identifying the ways of knowing of undergraduates on entry to a UK post-92 university, findings from which confirm the prevalence of absolute beliefs in which knowledge is viewed as certain, uncontested and students are largely authority-dependent. Student perspectives on assessment and feedback are explored based on thematic analysis of student responses within two main categories of beliefs, absolute/dualist versus contextual/pluralist. The paper teases out the implications of these perspectives for students' satisfaction with their assessment and feedback experience in the context of today's increasingly market-orientated higher education environment. Findings demonstrate that student perspectives on, and satisfaction with, assessment and feedback are strongly intertwined with their beliefs on knowledge and teaching. Students holding absolute/dualist beliefs considered "good" assessment and feedback practice to entail clear and unambiguous assessment tasks, criteria and standards along with the receipt of unequivocal and corrective feedback. The paper concludes that faced with assessment tasks that move beyond established facts and demonstrable theories it may only be students who view knowledge as relative and mutable that will likely be satisfied with their assessment and feedback experience.

In a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Adamson et al. (2020) interpret data as showing that cognitive behavioural therapy leads to improvement in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue. Their research is undermined by several methodological limitations, including: (a) sampling ambiguity; (b) weak measurement; (c) survivor bias; (d) missing data and (e) lack of a control group. Unacknowledged sample attrition renders statements in the published Abstract misleading with regard to points of fact. That the paper was approved by peer reviewers and editors illustrates how non-rigorous editorial processes contribute to systematic publication bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasingly regulated higher education sector is renewing its attention to those activities referred to as "moderation" in its efforts to ensure that judgements of student achievement are based on appropriate standards. Moderation practices conducted throughout the assessment process can result in purposes identified as equity, justification, accountability and community building. This paper draws on the limited studies of moderation and wider relevant research on judgement, standards and professional learning to test commonly used moderation practices against these identified purposes. The paper concludes with recommendations for maximising the potential of moderation practices to establish and maintain achievement standards.

This paper explores the comparative performance of two subject areas (Units of Assessment -- UOAs) in the UK national Research Assessment Exercises of 1992, 1996, 2001, 2008 and the Research Excellence Framework of 2014. The Units of Assessment are Economics and Econometrics; and Business and Management Studies. Given the wide range of disciplines in the Business and Management Studies UOA universities have the choice of submitting their economics and econometrics research either to it or to the Economics and Econometrics UOA. Over the period 1992-2014 the number of universities entering the Economics and Econometrics UOA declined significantly in contrast to the growth in the number entering the Business and Management Studies UOA. The reasons for this include the finding that university managers were more likely to tolerate poor performance (measured by internal and external gaps) in Business and Management Studies than in Economics and Econometrics. Considerable differences were found between old (pre-1992) and new (post-1992) universities, with Economics and Econometrics now solely the domain of old universities as new ones have withdrawn. In sharp contrast, Business and Management Studies has a good balance of old and new universities.

Mathematics Learning Support (MLS), which is available in the majority of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland and the UK, is traditionally available only to students of those institutions. In this paper, we describe a drop-in model of MLS at Maynooth University (MU) which has been available for secondary school students since 2009. This service is mainly staffed by volunteer undergraduate trainee teachers. Their feedback, the main focus of this paper, which has been collected over ten years, indicates that this experience has had a positive impact on their teaching practice. School students are also very positive about the support and MU enthusiastically endorses the service. We conclude that there are no obvious downsides to the provision of this type of support and we believe that more institutions should consider making it available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the first, completed phase of a research project on inspection as governing in three European inspection systems. The data presented here draw attention to the rather under-researched associational activities of European inspectorates and their developing practices of policy learning and exchange, and highlight their significance as contributing to an emergent European Education Policy Space (EEPS). The paper is framed by original approaches to inspection that locate it as a set of governing practices, connected to changing governing forms and the growth of networks of relationships and flows of data across Europe. Comparisons are drawn between the relationships with Europe of inspectorates in Scotland, Sweden and England, drawing on Jacobsson's conceptualisation of regulative, inquisitive and meditative governance as a framing device.

This paper discusses the findings of research concerned with analysing the relationship between student attendance to core first year undergraduate criminology and criminal justice modules and the grades they receive in their first summative assessed coursework task for these modules. The research took place against the background of a concern with improving student retention and minimising academic failure. The research found evidence of an association between student attendance and grade outcomes. But it also notes that this association was not as strong as perhaps would have been expected. The paper concludes that its findings reinforce the need to further consider other factors (such as entry qualifications, age, gender and personal circumstance) which may well influence the grades students achieve. However, most importantly, it is argued that the findings presented reinforce the need for teaching departments to proactively support first year criminology students as they make the transition into higher education, particularly given the current economic climate surrounding higher education funding in the United Kingdom. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper demonstrates the use of conceptual modelling to assist with the competence development of adult learners with interrupted occupational and learning careers. The research introduces a self-evaluation approach used with a group of adult female students in the United Kingdom. The study aimed at increasing learners' awareness of the qualities and nature of their individual learning processes. The paper applies Kontiainen's dynamic concept analysis modelling method as a tool to assist individual students in the evaluation of their personal competences in learning. The findings of the current study suggest that providing adult learners with opportunities to evaluate their own competences may facilitate a process of making their skills visible to themselves as well as to their tutors and employers. This aims to increase their motivation to use and develop their competences. The paper provides an example and a demonstration of the self-evaluation process in action illustrated by two case studies.

This paper critically appraises four problem-solving approaches, based on a range of theoretical perspectives and procedures, which are currently used in educational settings to support adults to find solutions to complex problems that arise within classrooms and the wider school community. The four approaches are: Circles of Adults; Teacher Coaching; Collaborative Problem-solving Groups; the Staff Sharing Scheme. The principle aim of all of these interventions is to enable school staff to generate solutions to problems so that children and young people who are causing concern are perceived in ways which lead to more constructive actions and outcomes. A second aim is to build the capacity of those working in schools by developing their skills and self confidence as problem-solvers and decision-makers; the assumption being that they will be more able to solve similar problems in the future largely on their own, without the need for extensive external support. The paper then considers the relative strengths and limitations of each approach in relation to practice. (Contains 1 table.)

This largely theoretical paper will argue the case for the usefulness of applying network and complex adaptive systems theory to an understanding of action learning and the challenge it is evaluating. This approach, it will be argued, is particularly helpful in the context of improving capability in dealing with wicked problems spread around complex systems and networks. Network theory is the general proposition that the world can be understood as a system of nodes or links at recursive levels (individuals, groups/departments, organisations, clusters and industries etc.) and includes, but is by no means limited to, social networking. The paper will argue that action learning can help organisations and groups, understood as networks, balance the destabilising tendencies to explosion and implosion, and, rightly used, can help prevent network distortion (over-dominance of one group of stakeholders). (Contains 7 figures.)

This paper focuses on a key issue for university managers, educational developers and teaching practitioners: that of producing new operational knowledge in the innovation system. More specifically, it explores the knowledge required to guide individual and institutional styles of teaching and learning in a large multi-disciplinary faculty. The case study presented outlines a sustainable approach for achieving quality enhancement of teaching and learning and producing new operational knowledge. Sustainability is achieved by linking to, and being sympathetic to, the innovative activity-led concept of learning reported in this paper. This leads to the identification of elements of evaluation that are appropriately aligned to the teaching and learning behaviours, attitudes and approaches that are critical for the innovation to be successful. Such context-sensitive evaluation elements allow meaningful feedback for the purposes of creating new operational knowledge that may then be applied and tested for on-going refinement and learning.

Purpose: This paper seeks to suggest that the most appropriate way to construe the concept of enterprise education is from a pedagogical viewpoint. Enterprise education as pedagogy is argued to be the most appropriate way to think about the concept and serves to demarcate it from entrepreneurship education, which is very much about business start-up and the new venture creation process. Design/methodology/approach: Enterprise education is underpinned by experiential action learning that can be in, outside and away from the normal classroom environment. It can be delivered across a range of subject areas throughout different phases of education. Findings: Enterprise and entrepreneurship education are perceived to be conflated terms that for many in the education and business communities mean much the same thing. Adopting an enterprise education approach allows greater pupil/student ownership of the learning process. Practical implications: Enterprise education as pedagogy advocates an approach to teaching where specific learning outcomes differ across and between different educational phases and subject areas but which has a clear and coherent philosophical underpinning. Originality/value: Enterprise education should not be equated solely with business, as it is a broader, deeper and richer concept. The theoretical import of the paper is in part a plea for a more rigorous, practically informed analysis of the different strands (pedagogy, entrepreneurship, citizenship and civic responsibility) that make up enterprise education. The paper also sets out the case for a more critical analysis of enterprise education. (Contains 4 notes.)

There has been much recent interest in collaboration and networking within and between schools to promote innovation, school improvement, and professional development. This paper starts with a brief review of the recent history of teacher research in the UK in order to consider how pre- and in-service teachers are currently positioned in relation to research. Drawing on the case of the Scottish "Schools of Ambition," a network of 52 schools receiving additional resource for targeted school improvement, the paper identifies some of the challenges and opportunities presented by sponsored research engagement. Tensions between evaluating and being supportive when engaged in an externally sponsored initiative with the specific goal of demonstrating school improvement are highlighted. The perception that any change in modes of working tends to be more visible in the institutional context of school rather than the university is also noted. Based on the experience of this Scottish case and a review of current research into school-university partnerships, we argue that effective collaborations need to address questions of power to ensure mutual benefits, reciprocity, and a genuine coalition of interest amongst partners. The paper suggests that teacher educators may have an important contribution to make to building capacity through teacher enquiry given their position as mediators between schools and university faculties of education. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper examines the context for education research, including teacher education research, in Scotland. Concerns about research capacity are shared with other parts of the UK, but the distinctive context for teacher development and engagement in practitioner research create fertile ground for developments in teacher education research. Schemes such as "Research to support Schools of Ambition" provide evidence of a shared commitment to teacher research. The national project, "Applied Education Research Scheme", funded by the Scottish government and the Scottish Funding Council, included a thematic network on learners, learning and teaching. Drawing on activities of this sort, the paper suggests that a key element of effective capacity building lies in collaborative approaches. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This paper presents a critical overview of the way in which higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK have had their research activity subject to review. There have been six such reviews to date, the first two carried out by the Universities Grants Committee and, from 1992, by its replacement, the four UK higher education (HE) funding bodies (HE Funding Council for England, HE Funding Council for Wales, the Scottish HE Funding Council and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland). The paper provides a broad outline of the key elements of the process, focusing on the two more recent research reviews and their impact on the subject of education, with the references providing specific detail for those interested in the minutiae of the reviews. (Contains 6 tables.)

Institutional research in UK higher education is rarely consolidated into a central office function. This is in marked comparison to the position of IR in the USA where most universities accord it a high status which is absent from the UK context. The collection, analysis and interpretation of data in the USA appears, on the whole, more systematic than is the case in the UK. As a consequence, IR is probably more effective and efficient in assisting institutions to "know themselves" and hence to focus activities to optimal purpose. In this paper the authors characterise and codify the different IR functions that can be applied to resolve institutional questions that universities face in their attempt to be more nimble and effective with respect to known knowns and known unknowns while preparing them to be ready for the inevitable unknown unknowns. As higher education in the UK becomes ever more competitive, the potential of IR and of self-knowledge becomes increasingly important to ensure survival and success. (Contains 2 figures.)

Purpose: The implementation of e-learning can help SMEs to develop skills to cope with their operational environments, but current literature suggests they are not effectively engaged, partly due to a lack of understanding and mistrust of vendors. This paper considers the potential for a more effective transfer of marketing knowledge to firms through e-learning and e-collaboration frameworks. Design/methodology/approach: This research identifies the perceptions of SMEs towards e-learning and the propensity of managers to embrace technology-based training. It investigates SMEs preference for training delivery and the potential for an e-centric collaborative learning environment to support effective knowledge transfer. Findings: Organisations must be capable of learning from experiences and of disseminating learning, to respond to emerging market conditions. The research endorses the need for a focused approach to e-learning that facilitates social interaction and learning in order to harness the value of shared tacit knowledge. Research limitations/implications: The research sample was limited to 24 respondents from the West Midlands region. Practical implications: Support providers need to maximise their research effort in order to fully understand the social and cultural implications of e-collaboration, and offer effective solutions that will allow SMEs to manage and develop their tacit knowledge resources effectively. Originality/value: This paper identifies the need for e-learning solutions to be constructed to add value to the learning experience and to harness the potential for exploiting tacit knowledge in SMEs.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of City & Guilds' development of simulation-based assessments for its ICT user qualification. These simulations are authentic scenario-based replicas of word processing and spreadsheet software, which present a series of tasks that the test-taker completes as if they were using actual software, thus demonstrating their ICT competence. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology for the pilot study involved running a series of small trials at five customer sites, with test-takers completing a detailed questionnaire. It is from this questionnaire that most of the conclusions about the simulations are drawn. Findings: The case study explains the reasons why City& Guilds wanted to pursue this development work and presents the findings of a pilot exercise in which the simulations were trailed by a group of learners and tutors. The strengths and weaknesses of the simulations are evaluated, particularly in terms of assessment validity, and opportunities for further development work are discussed. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this paper is that the sample used for trialling was small; this was a necessity imposed by tight budgets and deadlines. Furthermore, the authors were required to use the existing City & Guilds test delivery platform, which had implications for the type of simulation that could be developed. Originality/value: In terms of originality, it is the authors' opinion that the paper has value because it offers a unique insight into the challenges faced by a vocational awarding organisation in its efforts to develop new assessments. Although the technology involved is not completely new, it is believed that the candid evaluation of the simulations will be of interest to anyone working with e-assessments, regardless of their level of familiarity with the UK education system. (Contains 3 figures and 3 notes.)

Examination marking utilises a variety of cognitive processes, and from a psychological perspective, the demands that different questions place on markers will vary considerably. To what extent does marking accuracy vary among markers with differing backgrounds and experiences? More fundamentally, what makes some questions harder to mark accurately than others? The authors sought to address aspects of these key questions in an empirical study, which focused on GCSE mathematics and physics papers. For each subject, groups of "expert" and "graduate" markers were led by a Principal Examiner in the marking of identical samples of candidates' responses on a question-by-question basis. A quantitative analysis explored marking accuracy among questions and its potential relationships with marker type and question difficulty. Using their recently formulated model of cognitive marking strategies, the authors also investigated the relationship between accuracy and apparent cognitive marking strategy usage. Very few differences between experts and graduates were identified. However, variations in accuracy among individual questions (for all markers) were related to both question difficulty and apparent strategy usage: questions requiring markers to use more complex "reflective" thought processes were marked less accurately than those entailing only simple "intuitive" judgements. The findings have implications for the management of markers and for question design. It is concluded that, given adequate support and procedural training, graduate maths and physics markers may be able to mark almost all questions (of the kinds explored) as accurately as their expert counterparts can. (Contains 8 figures and 3 tables.)

The purpose of this paper is to identify common patterns in central authorities' steering of universities and the institutional power in neo-liberal higher education regimes. The paper examines the regulatory mechanisms of England and Japan through Foucault's idea of "governmentality" and utilises the concept of autonomy to identify the state-university nexus and institutional behaviour. The paper argues that the similar application of technologies of arts in England and Japan--such as financial incentives and output quality management--has not brought about the same effect across the two countries in institutional behaviour and culture. In the case of England, the decline of traditional university autonomy--which isolated the university sector from external pressure--and increasing external influence in the value system are the case, while in Japan, the shift is rather internal within an institution, changing from department to institutional autonomy, which is compatible with the concept of accountability. (Contains 1 table and 9 notes.)

This paper draws on emerging findings from a CfBT Education Trust funded research project, "From self-evaluation to school improvement--the importance of effective professional development (Sef2Si)." On the journey from self-evaluation to school improvement, the authors wanted to identify what schools do that works, how people help each other, how obstacles are overcome and what can be done to ensure even greater improvement. In this paper, they explore the following: the aims of the SEF, the processes of self-evaluation that schools go through in order to complete the form, the issues that have arisen, and the SEF's usefulness for school improvement. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper briefly explores the experience of three schools working together as part of a Leading Edge Partnership with a sharp focus on the factors that appeared to help and hinder their collaborative working. The paper draws on an evaluation of the first year of the partnership undertaken by colleagues at the University of Leicester, in which interviews were conducted with a number of key participants in each school. The research highlighted some significant benefits and difficulties for all the partner schools and spotlights the extent to which policies based on both collaboration and competition can cohabit. (Contains 1 figure.)

For some years now, teachers in the post compulsory sector have been lambasted in educational circles for what some perceive as the poor quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. Such criticisms have tended to emanate from those responsible for inspecting the sector's provision. In fact, when Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) and the ALI (Adult Learning Inspectorate) took over responsibility from the FEFC (Further Education Funding Council) for post compulsory inspections, it made it clear that as part of its remit, it would endeavour to bring about an overall improvement in the standards of teaching and learning in classrooms. This "improvement" was to be based significantly on the strengths and weaknesses identified by inspectors in classroom observations. This paper examines the role that classroom observation has to play as a tool for teacher assessment and development in external inspections and similar schemes within the post compulsory sector. It is argued throughout that current models of classroom observation, which typically involve some form of appraisal or assessment of the teacher's performance, run contrary to the principles of teacher development and as such do little to improve the overall quality of teacher performance. The position postulated in this paper is that such approaches to observation tend to induce a culture of negatively charged emotions and focus on the more trivial features of teaching. Furthermore, instead of providing teachers with the opportunity to develop their own ability to reflect on, and assess, their teaching, they tend to rely too heavily on the subjective judgements of inspectors/observers. In conclusion, this paper contests that if future classroom observation schemes are serious about improving the standards of teaching and learning in the post compulsory sector, then they must move towards a more equitable model in which both teachers and learners themselves are actively involved in the process of assessment. (Contains 2 notes.)

This paper explores the implications of the Certificate of School Business Management programme and its impact to date, and argues that it may prove to be a significant development in changing the culture of school leadership. It presents a view of leadership that fits a "loose-tight" model of organisational management, with less operational control by headteachers: this perspective is labelled "leadership at all levels". The key contention here is that School Business Managers should be part of the leadership of the school, and regarded as "leaders backing leaders". However, despite strong evidence of the effectiveness of the approach, the authors note that it has not yet been widely accepted in English schools, and offer an explanation for this, citing three obstacles to change. The paper argues that external catalysts, and specifically the Bursar Development Programme, have begun to change this situation. The evidence for this assertion is based on impact evaluation data produced by National College for School Leadership, an analysis of self-evaluation feedback provided by candidates on the programme and qualitative data from three case studies. The conclusions reached are that the programme is instrumental in producing innovations in organisational structure and is leading to attitudinal change with regard to the value of different expertise in schools: both of which reflect implementation of the model of leadership at all levels. It is noted, however, that this is still at an early stage of development. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The paper examines the relationship between research and practice. Its starting point is a consideration of the difference between policy science and scholarship. This leads to an analysis of the current importance attached by the state to evidence-informed practice and systematic review. Such research strategies will, it is claimed, lead to enhanced educational practice. This is to be facilitated through the incorporation of best practice as well as the dissemination of research findings that can be used to inform practice in general. The paper suggests that these claims are overstated as they fail to recognise the complexity of educational practice. They also neglect the politics of educational research and draw upon a limited understanding of practice, one that is tied to teacher practice. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper reports the findings from an investigation into the distance learning support systems of a UK University's overseas MBA programme. This programme is provided to several countries around the world in alliance with the overseas' local higher educational institutions (HEIs), and is delivered primarily via online courses, but also with periods of face-to-face teaching by both UK and local staff. The aim of the research was to evaluate the learning support mechanisms that are used to deliver this programme overseas, and to determine their impact on the learning experience of the MBA students. The primary research method was questionnaire surveys which were conducted over two periods: April-July 2008, and January-March 2009. The first survey showed a high level of satisfaction with the MBA programme as delivered, but also indicated areas that could see further improvement. The impacts of programme changes were examined in the second survey which revealed students' improved satisfaction with the programme after the implementation of the changes in the programme support systems. The outcomes of this research have not only helped improve the learning support systems and enhanced the quality of this particular programme, but could also help provide guidelines for other HEIs that offer, or intend to offer, blended learning courses globally. (Contains 12 tables and 2 figures.)

The read/write web, or Web 2.0, offers ways for users to personalise their online existence, and to develop their own critical identities though their control of a range of tools. Exerting control enables those users to forge new contexts, profiles and content through which to represent themselves, based upon the user-centred, participative, social networking affordances of specific technologies. In turn these technologies enable learners to integrate their own contexts, profiles and content, in order to develop informal associations or communities of inquiry. Within educational contexts these tools enable spaces for learners to extend their own formal learning into more informal places though the fusion of web-based tools into a task-oriented personal learning environment. The personal definition or fusion of tools and tasks is afforded through individual control over the learning environment. The flowering of personal learning aims, mediated by technologies and rules of engagement, occurs within task-specific loops where learners can interpret and process epistemological signals. In turn, where those loops are located within broader, personalised environments students can make contextual sense of their learning and extend their own educational opportunities. Moreover, they can extend their own academic decision-making through application in other contexts, and as a result manage their own academic uncertainties. This is evidenced through a thematic study of the voices of both learners and tutors, which highlights how the read/write web can be used proactively by educators, using specific tasks to enable learners to fuse their informal and formal learning spaces, and thereby enhance their decision-making confidence. The structuring of learning spaces that enable users and social networks to manage their educational processes is enhanced by read/write web approaches and tools, and in this paper is defined through a Fused Learner Integration model. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

This paper reports a study into the development of staff understanding of assessment and assessment practice. Eight teachers from two universities constructed an initial concept map about assessment that was discussed in a one-to-one semi-structured interview. A year later, a new map was created and the interview focused on change in thinking and practice. Multiple models of assessment were evident in the participants' understandings at the same time and change was characterised by subtle evolution in thinking. Development in practice was more significant and often associated with the foregrounding of assessment for learning. Vignettes are used to illustrate the variation in nature and scale of development. Interplay between this development of practice and understanding was multidirectional and external context played an important role. The approach offers detailed insight into the relationship between assessment thinking and practice and demonstrates that both research and academic development need to go beyond conventional approaches to conceptualising the development of academics and take account of the finer grained complexities of assessment thinking and practices.

Background: ALL_EARS@UoS is a patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) group for people with lived experience of hearing loss. The purpose of the group is to share experiences of hearing loss and hearing healthcare, inform research and improve services for patients at University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service. A year after inception, we wanted to critically reflect on the value and challenges of the group. Four members of ALL_EARS@UoS were recruited to an evaluation steering group. This paper reports the evaluation of the group using the UK Standards for Public Involvement. Methods: An anonymous, mixed-methods questionnaire was co-designed and shared with members of ALL_EARS@UoS using an online platform. The questionnaire was designed to capture satisfaction, individual feedback through free-text answers, and demographic information. Descriptive statistics have been used to express the satisfaction and demographic data. Reflexive thematic analysis has been used to analyse the free-text responses. Group engagement and activity data over time were monitored and collected. Results: The questionnaire response rate was 61% (11/18). Areas identified as strengths were 'Communication' and 'Working together'. Five themes were developed from the thematic analysis; (1) Increased knowledge and awareness around the topic of hearing health for group members and wider society, (2) supporting research, (3) inclusivity within the group, (4) opportunity to make a difference for people in the future and (5) running of the group/group organisation. The data highlighted the value and challenges of PPIE. Members described feeling listened to and appreciation of being able to share experiences. Time of day and meeting format were identified as challenges as they affected who could attend the meetings. The ability to secure and maintain sufficient funding and time to support inclusive and diverse PPIE activities is a challenge for researchers. Conclusions: We have identified how PPIE added value to both group members and researchers, emphasising the true benefit of PPIE. We have highlighted challenges we are facing and our plan to tackle these. We aim to continue to develop and sustain a group that reflects the diversity of the Deaf/deaf or hard of hearing community and of our local community. Plain English Summary: Patient and public involvement and engagement enables members of the public to influence what research happens. We have established a group called ALL_EARS@UoS for people with lived experience of hearing loss. This is so we can work together and learn from our group members' experiences, to inform our research into hearing loss. The members of ALL_EARS have helped to decide the aims, objectives, and principles of the group. This paper is a report of the value and challenges of the first year of the group. We recruited members of the group to work with us to design a survey. This paper describes the findings from the survey. Our members described benefits, ranging from supporting research to being able to share their experience with others. A challenge for members is the difficulty in being involved alongside their other commitments. A challenge for researchers is the funding and time needed to maintain the group. Other challenges include ensuring the group is diverse and that we understand and meet the needs of our members. We report on how we will address these challenges, so we can continue to work in partnership as a group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australian and British universities, creative discourse is often devalued as a research activity in favour of hard scientific paradigms, and even though the artefact is the primary research activity for the Ph.D. in Creative Writing, it is relegated to a secondary way of knowing, which needs to be translated into more 'respectable' academic discourse in order to be recognised as legitimate or 'real' research. This paper re–affirms the creative artefact as primary research activity, an end in itself, not a means to another, and asserts itself in the academic arena as its own discourse which is not accountable to any other discourse for its legitimacy. It needs no exegetical justification, sets its own parameters, and needs to be evaluated as a literary work using literary tools to measure its research value. This paper also examines the distinction made between Creative Writing and Creative Writing Studies in defining how an artefact creates knowledge and offers a series of philosophical experiments to examine if and how a creative artefact can be considered research, and suggests that the exegesis, rather than being the main conduit of research, is a shorthand device to demonstrate the competencies of the artefact as research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploratory learning environments (ELEs) promote a view of learning that encourages students to construct and/or explore models and observe the effects of modifying their parameters. The freedom given to learners in this exploration context leads to a variety of learner approaches for constructing models and makes modelling of learner behavior a challenging task. To address this issue, we propose a learner modelling mechanism for monitoring learners' actions when constructing/exploring models by modelling sequences of actions reflecting different strategies in solving a task. This is based on a modified version of case-based reasoning for problems with multiple solutions. In our formulation, approaches to explore the task are represented as sequences of simple cases linked by temporal and dependency relations, which are mapped to the learners' behavior in the system by means of appropriate similarity metrics. This paper presents the development and validation of the modelling mechanism. The model was validated in the context of an ELE for mathematical generalisation using data from classroom sessions and pedagogically-driven learning scenarios.