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As current graduate instructors of labs and class discussions, teaching assistants (TAs) play a critical role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate education, especially as some graduate students may choose a faculty career in the future. Because of the importance of TAs and their development as scholars and instructors, we sought to determine the most effective methods of preparing engineering TAs at two research universities. We compare the impact of a teaching orientation with one of four teaching development programmes (Pedagogy Course, Advanced Practice Teaching, Workshop Attendance with Written Reflection, or Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection) on engineering TAs' teaching efficacy and definitions of active learning. Results indicated that the Pedagogy Course consistently increased TAs' teaching efficacy and attitudes toward teaching compared with the other programmes. We also found that stand-alone Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection enhanced TAs' efficacy for reflection and beliefs about teaching. We discuss implications for providing teaching development for graduate students and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As current graduate instructors of labs and class discussions, teaching assistants (TAs) play a critical role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate education, especially as some graduate students may choose a faculty career in the future. Because of the importance of TAs and their development as scholars and instructors, we sought to determine the most effective methods of preparing engineering TAs at two research universities. We compare the impact of a teaching orientation with one of four teaching development programmes (Pedagogy Course, Advanced Practice Teaching, Workshop Attendance with Written Reflection, or Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection) on engineering TAs' teaching efficacy and definitions of active learning. Results indicated that the Pedagogy Course consistently increased TAs' teaching efficacy and attitudes toward teaching compared with the other programmes. We also found that stand-alone Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection enhanced TAs' efficacy for reflection and beliefs about teaching. We discuss implications for providing teaching development for graduate students and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the death of Ian Tomlinson at the London G20 protests in 2009, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of the Constabulary proposed a number of reforms aimed at making public order policing strategies more 'human-rights compliant'. One of the most significant developments has been the introduction of Protest Liaison Officers whose role is to build links between police and protesters through the establishment of dialogue and relationships based on trust. These developments have led to a burgeoning scholarship in public order policing in recent years. Whilst some studies have documented the development of 'dialogue policing' strategies, none have yet captured the complex interplay between these practices and the more overt forms of coercion and control experienced by protesters. In this paper, we begin to fill this lacuna. Drawing on unique data on the experiences of anti-fracking protesters - a hard to reach group whose narrative has not been presented in the academic literature to date - we contrast official accounts with the material conditions faced by protesters. Focusing on protesters' experiences of both dialogue policing and mass arrest, we find little evidence of the progressive 'shift' reflected in official public order policing discourses. Rather, we argue that dialogue policing can have a legitimising function, enabling the police to define protest groups as irrational and 'uncooperative' and therefore ripe for violent policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate research experiences have been adopted across higher education institutions. However, most studies examining benefits derived from undergraduate research rely on self-report of skill development. This study used an empirical assessment of research skills to investigate associations between undergraduate research experiences and research skill performance in graduate school. Research experience characteristics including duration, autonomy, collaboration, and motivation were also examined. Undergraduate research experience was linked to heightened graduate school performance in all research skills assessed. While autonomy and collaboration were highlighted in student interviews, duration was most strongly correlated to significant increases in research skill performance. Based on these findings, we advocate for the inclusion of research experiences into the undergraduate science curriculum coupled with the creation of centralized offices of undergraduate research and faculty incentives for involving undergraduates in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that modifying teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching (i.e. teaching orientation) may be a prerequisite to changing their teaching practices. This mixed methods study quantitized data from interviews with 65 graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to assess the relationship of participants' teaching experiences and available teaching support systems with changes in their teaching orientation over time. These individuals represent an important but understudied link in the STEM pipeline, because they serve as primary instructors in large, introductory science laboratory classes for undergraduates at large research universities. Mentor involvement in teaching and departmental/university training and support for teaching were significantly related to change in teaching orientation toward more student-centered beliefs. Consideration of why other factors failed to evidence a relationship with teaching orientations and recommendations for how study findings can influence policy and practice are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of research skills and scientific reasoning underpins the mission of graduate education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, yet our understanding of this process is mainly drawn from self-report and faculty survey data. In this study, we empirically investigate the pattern of research skill development using STEM graduate students' written research proposals. Analyses of proposal performance data suggest a potential developmental trajectory of research skills, in which the ability to effectively situate work in context using primary literature, and to generate testable hypotheses, emerge early in students' careers, while other skills, such as data analysis and forming conclusions from data, appear to develop later. We discuss these findings in relation to threshold concepts theory, a framework which posits that intellectual growth occurs in transformative leaps rather than a gradual progression, especially as it applies to graduate student research skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses recent events in Great Britain indicating a shift towards an increasingly authoritarian style of protest policing. It cites the way the police has handled the G20 protests in London, England in 2010. It was observed that the police responded to these protests on a scale that has not been seen in Great Britain for over a decade. In July 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service even dismissed charges against the police officer who allegedly caused the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlimson during one of these protest.

IN this article, the authors discuss the police corruption and community resistance in the conference titled "How Corrupt Is Britain?" in May 2013. They talked about the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the Police Reform Act 2002. They informed that radical alternative is the establishment of independent police monitoring groups for investigation of instances of police deviance and also informs about the Northern Police Monitoring Project launched in October 2012.