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This paper brings together some data on student retention in distance education in the form of graduation rates at a sample of distance institutions. The paper suggests that there is a "distance education deficit" with many distance institutions having less than one-quarter of the graduation rates of conventional institutions. It looks in some detail at the data for one well-known institution--the UK Open University--and surveys some of the reasons why such a deficit should occur and asks what the effects are on students, institutions and society as a whole. The paper suggests that one reason for the deficit is the "category error" of confusing teaching with learning, and that institutions have focused too much on the provision of teaching materials, especially online, and too little on motivating students to learn. It maintains that there is accumulating evidence for the essentiality of proactive contact for overcoming dropout and the importance of making that contact motivational. The paper claims that such an approach is financially viable and can make surpluses for the institutions concerned if carefully designed. Finally, whilst briefly surveying some of the new developments in distance education in the form of Massive Online Open Courses, learning analytics, and the use of smartphones, this paper suggests more speculatively that rather than resources or organisation, the main barriers to increasing student success in distance education are institutional attitudes to student retention.

Key to introducing information and communication technologies in museums is to support meaning-making activity in encounters with artefacts. The study presented in this paper is exploratory in nature and investigates the use of social and mobile technologies in school field trips as a means of enhancing the visitor experience. It is anchored in sociocultural perspectives of learning as meaning making, with a focus on mediating artefacts in the development of understanding. The Museum of London was selected as the site of the study and the participants were a Year 9 History class (13-14 years old) in a secondary school in Milton Keynes. The paper considers evidence of meaning making from students' online posts on Twitter (http://twitter.com) and activity on-site. Observational data, the visit's Twitter stream and post-visit interview data with the participants are presented and analysed. A mixed-method approach is employed to interpret the museum visit and examine young people's experience in the museum. Such an approach allows useful insights and shapes the understanding of how social and mobile technologies have an impact on the social dynamics of a school trip to a museum. Specifically, it explains the role of such tools in fostering the social interactions around museum artefacts and ultimately the process of shared construction of meaning making. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

This paper explores peer-to-peer teaching and learning at a postgraduate level using the example of two NVivo workshops run by geography postgraduate students. The workshops took place in March and May 2011 and feedback was collected from all attendees in both sessions. This paper aims to provide a practical guide to organizing and facilitating such an informal workshop on the NVivo software for postgraduate students based on the outcomes of the two workshops. Hints and tips for others considering running similar events are provided based on the feedback received following the sessions and reflections on the organizers experiences. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper provides analytic focus on the productive and editorial contexts of children and young people's image-making, making visible its implications for the analysis of photographs. Drawing on participatory research in which children and young people worked alongside researchers to create a visual narrative of their lived experiences of neighbourhood, the paper suggests that greater attention to children's image-making practices brings an important dimension to the interpretative challenges generated by the visual. Through a focus on image-making and its productive and editorial contexts, the paper shifts the analytic focus away from the image as a site of meaning-making to encompass the ways in which photographs acquire multiple meanings through the lived experience of their creators. (Contains 4 notes and 3 figures.)

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students' experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education. (Contains 7 notes, 2 tables, and 2 figures.)

The objective of this paper is an efficiency analysis concerning higher education systems in European countries. Data have been extracted from OECD data-sets (Education at a Glance, several years), using a non-parametric technique--data envelopment analysis--to calculate efficiency scores. This paper represents the first attempt to conduct such an efficiency analysis at a system-level in a cross-country comparison, while focusing only on tertiary education. The role of the public sector has also been analysed, by looking at the percentage of public spending devoted to higher education, and the way the public funds are used (channelled through private subsidies or directly assigned to institutions). It has been found that there is a small core of efficient units (e.g. Switzerland, United Kingdom), and that the influence of the public sector seems to play a role in determining efficiency scores. Many elements, related to critical policies, have also been analysed adopting a semi-parametric approach, to better explain the performances and efficiency differentials. Some key-policy implications have been derived. (Contains 12 notes, 11 tables, and 2 figures.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a study of the understanding and usage of social networking sites (SNS) as a knowledge management (KM) tool in knowledge-intensive enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: In terms of research approach, the study has taken an interpretitivist framework, using a higher education (HE) institution as the case-study, which is characterised by the need to generate process, share and use knowledge on a daily basis in order to remain competitive. The case study was analysed using qualitative research methodology, composed of interviews and utilised narrative analysis as a means of data analysis, thus deriving a characterisation of understandings, perceptions and acceptance of SNS as a KM tool. Findings: The study provides evidence that even in HE, where it is generally acknowledged that there is a need to adequately capture, store, share and disseminate knowledge, as this can lead to greater innovation, creativity and productivity, participants were suspicious of the nature of the technology and the fact that it could intertwine their professional and social life. As a result, they were not prepared to invest the relatively high effort required in employing SNS as a KM tool as they also have difficulty in establishing the added value. Consequently, in order to employ SNS for KM purposes cultural, behavioural and organisational issues need to be tackled before even considering technical issues. Originality/value: The paper provides an insight into KM and social networking in HE. This also highlights issue for international HE.

To address the question of musical identity, the research the author mainly draws on takes the form of qualitative, in-depth interviews with people about how music fits into their everyday lives and musical biographies. In this the author adopts a largely biographical and social constructionist perspective, asking people to reflect on important experiences in their musical lives. Rather than presenting a series of discrete research studies, the author draws on a range of data gathered over the past 10 years with children and adults and presents a series of "biographemes" or scraps of biographical debris to illustrate this fashioning of identity. She dispels a number of myths concerning musical development. She challenges the view that musical development and continued involvement with music across the lifespan can or should be ascribed to talent, motivation or opportunity, and that the path of musical development needs to be continuous. In each case the author interweaves her own new data on lifelong learning and engagement with published research by herself and others. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

Argumentation is believed to be a significant component of scientific inquiry: introducing these skills into laboratory work may be regarded as a goal for developing practical work in school science. This study explored the impact on the quality of argumentation among 12- to 13-year-old students undertaking three different designs of laboratory-based task. The tasks involved students collecting and making sense of complex data, collecting data to address conflicting hypotheses, and, in a paper-based activity, discussing pre-collected data about an experiment. Significant differences in the quality of argumentation prompted by the tasks were apparent. The paper-based task generated the most argumentation units per unit time. Where students carried out an experiment, argumentation was often brief, as reliance on their data was paramount. Measurements were given credence by frequency and regularity of collection, while possibilities for error were ignored. These data point to changes to existing practices being required in order to achieve authentic, argumentation-based scientific inquiry in school laboratory work. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

In the UK, very few studies have engaged older people in two or more elements of the research process (design, conduct, dissemination). Although there is a body of work on educational gerontology, there are few publications that specifically focus on training older people as coresearchers. This paper reports upon the training program undertaken as part of the Rural North Wales Initiative for the Development of Support for Older People (RuralWIDe). The RuralWIDe training program was built upon principles of andragogy: the art and science of teaching adults. The trainers used lecturing; modeling (observation of another person conducting a task); and active participation (structured guidance, instructions or trial and error, during which the student discovers for him or herself how to perform the task) to teach older volunteers social gerontology, research methods, interview techniques, and data analysis. This paper describes the methods used in RuralWIDe and highlights instances when these were both effective and ineffective. It assesses the study against Rachal's (2002) criteria for andragogy (voluntary participation, adult status, collaboratively determine objectives, performance-based assessment of achievement, measuring satisfaction, appropriate adult learning environment, and technical issues), and it describes when pedagogical assumptions were made by the research team. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss a case study which examines and analyses a information communication technology training programme conducted using an e-learning platform at the Dartmoor National Park Authority, UK. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopted a mixed method approach which involved the use of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis for the survey was accomplished using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation, while the interviews utilised coding and data structuring. Findings: The results indicate that an analysis of user's needs prior to training is essential. This should involve both trainee and manager to help ensure their commitment to the training. In addition, the provision of sufficient information prior to training is necessary to allay any concerns trainees may have, likewise mentors should be used to reduce user resistance. Knowledge of the characteristics of trainees would also be useful. Research limitations/implications: For companies offering an online e-learning training programme, it is imperative that they identify trainee concerns quite early in order to minimise drop-out rates and resistance to future training programmes. Further studies need to be conducted on academic qualifications and the likelihood of drop out among trainees. Practical implications: The paper makes a number of practical recommendations that organisations could use to help mitigate barriers to future e-learning programmes. Originality/value: This paper further extends the body of theory on e-learning and provides new insights into the barriers of e-learning. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore the learning process associated with international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integration strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs a comparative case study methodology, utilising qualitative data through in-depth interviews with top management responsible for integration strategies. Three pairs of major international firms from the USA and the UK, USA and Sweden and USA and Germany were studied. Findings: The paper empirically demonstrates that careful and well-planned integration strategies are responsible for sustainable learning occurring, leading to desirable synergies between firms engaged in a merger process. Research limitations/implications: The interviews took place at higher/top levels of the organisations. A more comprehensive picture would include other lower levels of each organisation structure. Practical implications: Based on the data analysis, an integrative model for learning related to M&A is developed. This model would help organisations, planning on engaging in international M&A activity, to maximise the learning from the process. Originality/value: This is a practical/empirical study, supporting the available theory on the subject in the literature. The research approach was innovative, as it collected relevant data from top executive board members, exploring their own views on the barriers for learning and on the ways to minimise them. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Background: Physical fitness testing is commonplace within schools and the physical education (PE) curriculum, with advocates claiming one of the key purposes of testing to be the promotion of healthy lifestyles and physical activity. Despite this, much controversy has surrounded the fitness testing of young people. Purpose: This paper draws on selected findings of a recent "fitness testing children feasibility study" to explore the key issues, concerns and debates regarding fitness testing, as they relate to encouraging a physically active lifestyle. Research design: The feasibility study was commissioned by the National Assembly for Wales and involved two main parts: a comprehensive review of the literature (using metalib) to establish the key findings/issues, and consultation with key "stakeholders" and "experts" to ascertain their views, understanding and experiences of fitness testing children. The consultation was carried out via questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis: The key issues and themes emerging from the literature from 1985 onwards were identified and served as evidence for the debate. The questionnaire and interview data were analysed by quantifying the questionnaire responses and identifying the common issues and themes emerging from the transcripts (and the open items within the questionnaires). These were then used to reinforce, substantiate and illustrate key points. Findings: The findings reveal that the role fitness testing plays in PE in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity is questionable and cannot be taken for granted. For example, little evidence was found to support the notion that fitness tests promote healthy lifestyles and physical activity, motivate young people, or develop the knowledge and skills that are important to a sustained engagement in an active lifestyle. Conclusion: Based on the evidence, the paper concludes that much of the fitness testing carried out in PE may well represent a misdirected effort in the promotion of healthy lifestyles and physical activity, and that PE time could therefore be better spent.

This paper reports the first part of a 2-year longitudinal study, which examined the impact of age of entry to school on the reading development of 60 summer-born boys during Key Stage One. The sample was drawn from 18 schools in six Local Education Authorities operating different admissions policies. Thirty-one had attended nursery part-time, while 29 had experienced full-time reception class before their fifth birthday and before statutory age of entry to school. The data offer an original portrayal of learning to read through the voices of a group of 5-year-old boys as they reflected on home and school literacy events relating to reading. Reading acquisition was examined within a theoretical model which incorporates attitudinal factors as intrinsic and defining components of reading literacy. The data draw attention to the centrality of these factors in the complex structure which supports the process of reading acquisition, acknowledging the need to investigate this process from the perspective of the child. This paper discusses the findings in the context of the boys' early years experience and the implications in the light of the widespread debate about age of entry to school and appropriate early years practice. The data suggest the current wide-spread skills-based approach to reading often ignores the crucial motivational elements that make a real reader and that the formality associated with this approach may be damaging reading attitudes in the youngest children of our reception classes.

In this paper we analyse the dynamics of adult participation in part-time education and training throughout the 90s and into the 2000s using data from 14 waves (1992-2005) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). We study the volume (stocks) of participation and non-participation and the gross flows between states. This analysis provides a longitudinal complement to existing work (e.g. NIACE & Labour Force Surveys) which is largely based on cross-section data and as such can only report net changes in participation at different points in time. In contrast, our dataset, derived from the BHPS, allowed us to follow the same 4325 individuals over time and document the proportion who were persistent non-participants (resistors), persistent participants and those who moved between states frequently and less frequently. Although a third of our sample (34%) remained non-participants throughout the 14-year observation period, it was the relatively large number that moved between states of participation and non-participation which, when considered in the context of the cross-sectional analysis, was more striking. By revealing this hitherto hidden turbulence we were able to identify and begin to characterise not just the participants and non-participants but also the larger group of individuals who moved frequently, moderately and less frequently between states. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures, and 3 notes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and challenges of using a virtual learning community (VLC) as a vehicle for workforce development. This paper argues that VLCs provide a flexible vehicle for workforce development. However, workplace realities may lead to unexpected challenges for participants wanting exploit the flexibility of e-learning technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The case study is located in a strategic healthcare organisation in the UK. The study used a multi-method approach to develop a rich picture of the VLC. Data were collected from a variety of sources (programme evaluation questionnaires, learning logs, discussion group messages and VLE tracking system) and analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings: The findings indicate that while membership of a VLC offers new opportunities for collaboration, learning and working at a time and place that suits individuals it also offers many challenges. The following issues were identified as having an impact on effective participation in the VLC: motivation; time management; public/private boundaries; work/life balance; and access to ICT. Research limitations/implications: There are limitations in generalising from a particular case study. The use of a case study provides a depth to the study that helps to illuminate the experiences of individual e-learners. Practical implications: The findings have strategic implications for organisations planning to use VLCs to support workforce development. The study indicates the need for facilitators to enable participants to explore time and work/life balance issues. It highlights the importance of involving the managers of e-learners in the negotiations involved in establishing a VLC. Finally, the study identified that employers need to provide protected time for e-learners and that access to technology is an issue. Originality/value: The research has value to managers who are considering using VLCs as a means of enhancing workforce development. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: The paper seeks to show that narrative close call reporting is one strand of an ongoing collaborative inquiry project with 300 staff aiming to improve teamwork in operating theatres in a large UK hospital. How teams deal with close calls ("accidents waiting to happen") reveals resourcefulness but exposes flaws, including resistance to basic safety practices such as briefing and debriefing. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper over 400 issues from close call reports over two years have been thematically analysed to map a variety of (mis)communications. This paper goes beyond this descriptive level of data analysis to a deeper level, where close calls are read textually. The most common rhetorical strategies are reported, shown in around a quarter of all reports. Findings: The paper finds that accounts are neither transparent nor objective, but offer a medium for the exercise of rhetorical strategy, a main function of which is construction and management of identity. Practitioners maintain traditional boundaries between professions by stereotyping the "other" professional in the team, serving to stabilise identity. Work is typically presented as on the edge, close to collapse, serving to shape an identity of "heroic survivors" for team members. Practical implications: In the paper habitual practices that impede teamwork are challenged, such as stereotyping. Reporting can encourage "fearless speech"--regardless of position on the traditional hierarchy--that is an empowering form of "plain speaking" underpinned by moral courage. Originality/value: The paper shows that close calls are typically treated instrumentally. A deeper, aesthetic and ethical reading is offered. Education in "fearless speech" in close call reports may offer a reflexive stance and new context for identity construction.

Purpose: To provide a best practice framework for peer review via teaching observation as a method of appraising teaching performance within UK higher education (HE) institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses secondary data analysis via the current literature on peer review and peer appraisal, as well as use of primary data obtained via the design, implementation and analysis of semi-structured interviews with management and teaching staff within the Faculty of Business and Management Science within a fictitiously named Riverbank University. Findings: Provides a best practice framework for peer review based on the literature, where the case study university benchmarks well against the framework and an insight into the perceptions of teaching staff on the scheme. Research limitations/implications: The sample of 40 teaching staff was from only one faculty, in one university. Before generalising the findings, it would be prudent to widen the research to include a larger sample from more universities across the HE sector in the UK. Practical implications: The research has massive implications for the UK HE sector if peer review is to be used as a method of assessing teaching performance. Originality/value: The paper is valuable as a guide to senior management wishing to implement a peer observation scheme within their own institution.

This paper utilised a two-part mixed-methodology to examine the value placed on judgement and decision-making by a sample of qualified mountain leaders in the UK. Qualified leaders (N = 331) completed a web-based survey and a smaller sample (N = 8) were then interviewed. Survey data showed that mountain leaders place greater value on their judgements and decision-making when compared to the technical skills of mountain navigation and rope work; however, the process for developing these judgement skills was unclear. Interview data identified that judgement skills appear transferrable from other domains experienced by the leaders (e.g. emergency services, military) but are then recontextualised and modified for effective use within mountain leadership. The leaders facilitated this via a nested reflective process that combines in-action, on-action and on-action/in-context aspects that rely on metacognition. This combination of reflection and metacognition allows for rapid development of judgement making skills in-context. Implications for mountain leadership training are discussed.

Purpose: This paper aims to review and identify the major patterns and trends in learning analytics practices in higher education institutions. The review covers the characteristics of the institutions, as well as the characteristics and outcomes of the learning analytics practices. Design/methodology/approach: This research collected literature published in 2011-2016 which reported learning analytics practices from Scopus and Google Scholar, covering a total of 47 institutions, and categorised the information about the relevant institutions and practices. Findings: The results show that most of the institutions were public ones in the USA and the UK of various sizes and offering different levels of study. The learning analytics practices were mainly institution-wide, apart from a small number focusing on selected courses. The purposes of the practices were mainly to enhance the effectiveness of learning support and administration, followed by facilitating students' learning progress. The most common types of data collected for the practices were students' academic behaviours and their background information. Positive outcomes were reported for a majority of the practices, and the most frequent ones being an increase in cost-effectiveness and understanding of students' learning behaviours. Other outcomes included the improvement of student retention, timely feedback and intervention, support for informed decision-making and the provision of personalised assistance to students. Originality/value: The results provide an overview of the use of learning analytics in the higher education sector. They also reveal the trends in learning analytics practices, as well as future research directions.

Policy makers and researchers may have different agendas as to what constitutes "evidence". This paper reviews some of the issues currently debated in the UK and elsewhere about researchers' understandings of how social research can usefully inform the policy-making process, and their techniques for making it available. Using examples from two programmes of research synthesis in health promotion and education, the paper argues that methodological work advancing the systematic review of social research is more useful than continued debates about the relative advantages of "qualitative" and "quantitative" methods. The challenges in the path of this progress include ideological resistance among academics, the traditional culture of academia, which is opposed to collaborative and cumulative work, lack of methodological skills among social scientists, nonstandardisation of bibliographic databases, and a reluctance to accept the existence of problems in the way much social research is carried out and reported.

Introduction: The strategies that people use to browse Websites are difficult to analyse and understand: quantitative data can lack information about what a user actually intends to do, while qualitative data tends to be localised and is impractical to gather for large samples. Method: This paper describes a novel approach that combines data from direct observation, user surveys and server logs to analyse users' browsing behaviour. It is based on a longitudinal study of university students' use of a Website related to one of their courses. Analysis: The data were analysed by using Footstep graphs to categorise browsing behaviour into pre-defined strategies and comparing these with data from questionnaires and direct observation of the students' actual use of the site. Results: Initial results indicated that in certain cases the patterns from server logs matched the observed browsing strategies as described in the literature. In addition, by cross-referencing the quantitative and qualitative data, a number of insights were gained into potential problems. Conclusion: This study shows how combining quantitative and qualitative approaches can provide an insight into changes in user browsing behaviour over time. It also identifies some potential methodological problems in studies of browsing behaviour and indicates some directions for future research.

Why you should read this article: • UK care homes are an important example of a complex environment where research is essential but faces multiple challenges in terms of rigour and methodology • This paper offers a variety of important methodological strategies to identify and address challenges that could impact findings and the ability to carry out research • It highlights the importance of taking a critical stance with all elements of the research process and illustrates the need to identify and mitigate challenges when conducting research in complex environments. Background: The evidence base for hydration practice in care homes is underdeveloped. High-quality research is therefore needed to determine what practices support older people with dementia in drinking sufficient fluid. However, methodological developments are needed to be able to do this. Aim: To highlight the methodological issues researchers encountered during a feasibility cluster, randomised controlled trial of ThinkDrink, a hydration care guide for people with dementia living in UK care homes. Discussion: This is a challenging area because of the complexity of recruitment, participation and data collection in care homes. Researchers must pay extra attention to rigour and quality in the design of their studies. There may be multiple challenges, so various strategies may be required. Conclusion: It is important that researchers continue to reflect on rigorous approaches to develop evidence in a crucial area of care, despite these challenges. Implications for practice: Researchers working in complex environments face a variety of challenges to complete methodologically rigorous research. It is important for researchers to be critical of research processes and data, to mitigate and overcome these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the influence social capital had over parental sports volunteers who are considered to be of paramount importance in the delivery of UK sports initiatives. A review of the relevant literature identifies and discusses the complexities within the debate to define social capital while human and cultural capital emerge as an essential element in the production of parental volunteers' ability to access opportunities through a process of bonding or bridging social networks. This study used a grounded research focused on the use of semi-structured interviews and research diaries with (n = 8) study participants. The results from this study, which were analysed through a Bourdieuan perspective, suggested the process that recruits parental volunteers is exclusive; furthermore, the results show the insidious presences of the dark side of social capital, which affected the respondents by reinforcing exclusive ties and identities, which was found to exclude outsiders while reproducing a dominant social hierarchy. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the study for future practical and academic applications of social capital production within sports volunteerism.

The article presents the research results1 which helped to reveal the experience of the UK in applying educational practice for pupils' with special needs in the context of inclusive education. Using document analysis (legal acts, research papers, secondary sources), secondary statistical data analysis and partially structured interviews with experts, provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) has been analysed according to educational practice, the educational experiences of pupils with behavioural and emotional disorders as well as those on the autistic spectrum scale have been emphasised, as well as the specifics of pre-vocational and vocational education of pupils with SEN. The research showed that inclusive education is considered the priority in the UK's educational system, with the following specific features: individualised approaches to the education of all pupils regardless of those with special educational needs; school system flexibility that seeks to consider the variety of pupils' needs; full school approach to problem solving using cooperation; use of a social approach to meeting SEN, emphasising not only a solution for a child's problem, but through reducing educational obstacles at school and using differentiated assessments of pupils' achievements. The differentiated ways of education for UK pupils with SEN could be distinguished as: learning in mainstream schools, special classes or units of these schools (supported by a teacher and/or teacher-assistant, (in)direct support received from other institutions); special schools (support for pupils with ascertained SEN) and specialised schools (expert centres aimed at the education of a certain group of pupils with SEN), Pupil Referral Units (education of excluded pupils, implementation of returning pupils to school programmes, organising help for parents); teaching at home (pupils with severe physical disability or health issues). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within multi-national research collaborations, power dynamics often shape who is involved in which parts of the research process. The analysis phase of research has historically been framed as requiring expert perspective, excluding national or local researchers whose role is often limited to collecting data and transferring it to others to analyze. In this paper, we describe and reflect on the process of collaborative coding across a multi-national team based in Lebanon and the United Kingdom, as part of a broader approach to co-production. We explore the value and benefit of collaborative coding, reflecting on how coding together enabled greater inclusion, teamwork, improved analysis as well as improved future data collection. We also discuss the technical and logistical challenges we faced in coding within a team and using internet-based software, including the complications involved in navigating power dynamics between researchers and coming to final decisions about codes. Over time, we found collaborative coding became a smoother process, however working in this way is not straight-forward. Our paper contributes a reflexive analysis on the power dynamics and decision-making complexities involved in collaborative coding. It emphasizes the importance of investing in interpersonal relationships over time and prioritizing less-centralized decision-making within research collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research suggested that candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups were less likely to receive an offer of a place from an "old" university. These findings were disputed in a re-analysis carried out for HEFCE which found that only Pakistani candidates were significantly less likely to receive offers (from both "old" and "new" universities). In this paper we return to the question of ethnic differences in university offer rates, examining UCAS admissions data for 2008. We use a cross-classified multi-level modelling approach to predict the probability that applications from candidates from different ethnic groups will receive an offer. Controlling for variables seeking to capture the academic quality of applications we find significant differences between offer rates for different ethnic groups. Significantly lower offer rates remained for the main ethnic groups when social characteristics were also taken into account in the model (social class background, gender and school type). However, offer rates for candidates from mixed ethnic groups were not significantly different from those for white British candidates. Our analysis did not find evidence of differences in offer rates from higher and lower status institutions for black and minority ethnic candidates relative to white British applicants.

The UK higher education system receives the second largest number of Chinese overseas students in the world. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data used in this study show that the total number of Chinese graduates (at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels) increased from around 6000 at the beginning of the twenty-first century to more than 20,000 in 2009. This paper addresses the issues of whether and how patterns of participation and attainment of Chinese graduates have changed over the last decade. The findings show that (1) increasing proportions of Chinese students graduate from the Russell Group universities; (2) alongside subjects such as science, engineering and business, a growing popularity of social science among Chinese students is emerging; (3) compared to home students and other international students, Chinese first-degree graduates persistently achieve lower attainment levels. The conclusions highlight possible explanations for these patterns and directions for future research.

Citizen science, in which volunteers work with professional scientists to conduct research, is expanding due to large online datasets. To plan projects, it is important to understand volunteers' motivations for participating. This paper analyzes results from an online survey of nearly 11000 volunteers in Galaxy Zoo, an astronomy citizen science project. Results show that volunteers' primary motivation is a desire to contribute to scientific research. We encourage other citizen science projects to study the motivations of their volunteers, to see whether and how these results may be generalized to inform the field of citizen science. (Contains 11 tables and 6 figures.)

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the association of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths with mental health, unemployment and financial markets-related search terms for the USA, the UK, India and worldwide using Google Trends. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use Spearman's rank correlation coefficients to assess the relationship between relative search volumes (RSVs) and mental health, unemployment and financial markets-related search terms, with the total confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as deaths in the USA, UK, India and worldwide. The sample period starts from the day 100 cases were reported for the first time, which is 7 March 2020, 13 March 2020, 23 March 2020 and 28 January 2020 for the US, the UK, India and worldwide, respectively, and ends on 25 June 2020. Findings: The results indicate a significant increase in anxiety, depression and stress leading to sleeping disorders or insomnia, further deteriorating mental health. The RSVs of employment are negatively significant, implying that people are hesitant to search for new jobs due to being susceptible to exposure, imposed lockdown and social distancing measures and changing employment patterns. The RSVs for financial terms exhibit the varying associations of COVID-19 cases and deaths with the stock market, loans, rent, etc. Research limitations/implications: This study has implications for the policymakers, health experts and the government. The state governments must provide proper medical facilities and holistic care to the affected population. It may be noted that the findings of this study only lead us to conclude about the relationship between COVID-19 cases and deaths and Google Trends searches, and do not as such indicate the effect on actual behaviour. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA, UK and India and at the global level and RSVs for mental health-related, job-related and financial keywords. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper critically assesses the more turbulent period in agri-food since 2007- by applying a transitions perspective to a range of empirical data collected from key private and public stakeholders in the UK during that period. It argues that increased volatility and a series of interdependent landscape pressures on the dominant agri-food regime are profoundly affecting the former more stable regulatory period of post-productionism and retailer-led, private-interest governance, which emerged from the 1980s. We now witness a more stark contestation between this dominant regime and a proliferation of socio-technical niches. To resolve these contestations, and to create a more sustainable platform for transitions to occur, it is argued that it will be necessary to create policy spaces for more place-based forms of reflexive governance. There is some evidence of this occurring amidst a less coherent and more contested set of multi-level regulatory conditions. (Contains 2 figures.)

Provoked by concerns about climate change, resource depletion and economic recession, the concept of food security has experienced a renaissance in international policy and research agendas. Despite this interest, the problem of food insecurity in wealthy countries has still not received enough attention. We argue that it is worthy of research and policy focus, because by examining the experiences and perceptions of food security amongst the "global rich", we can develop more critical understandings of the implications of neoliberal constructions of the consumer as a driving force in moves towards more secure food systems. The paper draws on empirical data from shoppers in the United Kingdom to make three key arguments. First, it is important to retain the issue of economic access to food at the heart of discussions of food security, so that the concept is not reduced to the problem of how to increase agricultural productivity. Second, it is necessary to recognize the importance of food quality to consumer perceptions of household food security. Third, consumers do not necessarily share the neoliberal view that consumer choice is the engine for sustainability and food security. On the contrary, consumers in our research were well aware that food prices and the choices made available are shaped by forces beyond the control of individual shoppers. Overall, they expressed uncertainty about what food security means, about the causes of problems in the food system and about who should be responsible for ensuring access to affordable food for healthy living, for all. (Contains 4 tables.)

Learning analytics, the analysis and representation of data about learners in order to improve learning, is a new lens through which teachers can understand education. It is rooted in the dramatic increase in the quantity of data about learners and linked to management approaches that focus on quantitative metrics, which are sometimes antithetical to an educational sense of teaching. However, learning analytics offers new routes for teachers to understand their students and, hence, to make effective use of their limited resources. This paper explores these issues and describes a series of examples of learning analytics to illustrate the potential. It argues that teachers can and should engage with learning analytics as a way of influencing the metrics agenda towards richer conceptions of learning and to improve their teaching.

Higher education libraries have traditionally sought to be able to demonstrate the impact their services have on student attainment. This is particularly important in the current economic climate where libraries frequently have to defend their budgets in the face of financial constraints, whilst needing to demonstrate better value for money to students who are now paying more for higher education. A number of studies around the world have been successful in harnessing data around library usage to begin to show strong correlation with student retention and final results. But most of these studies rely on data from book loans and engagement with a physical library, and where students follow a traditional three-year or four-year degree course. This is challenging for a distance education institution, like the UK Open University, where most students rarely or never visit the physical Open University Library and where study and assessment patterns can differ from those of traditional universities. This paper outlines the efforts of staff at The Open University Library to embed their services and resources into the learning experience of their distance learners, and to aspire to find ways of demonstrating their contribution to student retention and achievement. While there is huge potential in the amount and range of data available, the challenge is to identify an appropriate model that allows The Open University Library to demonstrate how Library Services impact on student retention, attainment and achievement.

Multimedia educational resources play an important role in education, particularly for distance learning environments. With the rapid growth of the multimedia web, large numbers of educational video resources are increasingly being created by several different organizations. It is crucial to explore, share, reuse, and link these educational resources for better e-learning experiences. Most of the video resources are currently annotated in an isolated way, which means that they lack semantic connections. Thus, providing the facilities for annotating these video resources is highly demanded. These facilities create the semantic connections among video resources and allow their metadata to be understood globally. Adopting Linked Data technology, this paper introduces a video annotation and browser platform with two online tools: Annomation and SugarTube. Annomation enables users to semantically annotate video resources using vocabularies defined in the Linked Data cloud. SugarTube allows users to browse semantically linked educational video resources with enhanced web information from different online resources. In the prototype development, the platform uses existing video resources for the history courses from the Open University (United Kingdom). The result of the initial development demonstrates the benefits of applying Linked Data technology in the aspects of reusability, scalability, and extensibility. (Contains 12 figures and 17 footnotes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to stimulate changes to the way performance data is used to improve performance taking the government's use of project data as an example. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses systems theory to review the way the government's major projects portfolio should be analysed. Findings: This paper concludes that broader engagement in the analytics process should be considered as a way of improving insights and learning from reviews. The paper suggests that report alone has limited value. Research limitations/implications: By taking a systems approach, this study raises questions about the methods used to manage data analysis and system improvements. Systems thinking is a useful tool to consider applications such as the performance of the government's project portfolio, but there are many other approaches that can be applied. Practical implications: This study makes very specific recommendations around the roles and responsibilities of people and teams at different levels in the system. Roles and activities are described together with recommendations about interfering in and overreaching these roles and activities. Originality/value: This paper synthesises a number of systems approaches together with a view of why "we measure" to create a framework for analysing approaches to performance improvement. The practical application provided here gives insights into how these approaches can be used in real-life contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much disagreement in the literature over the extent to which graduates are mismatched in the labour market and the reasons for this. In this paper we utilise the Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society (REFLEX) data set to cast light on these issues, based on data for UK graduates. We find substantial pay penalties for overeducation for both sexes and for overskilling in the case of men only. When both education and skill mismatch variables are included together in the model only overskilling reduces job satisfaction consistently for both sexes. Using job attributes data it appears that the lower wages of the overqualified may in part simply represent a compensating wage differential for positive job attributes, while for men at least there are real costs to being overskilled. (Contains 6 tables.)

This article reports on an ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) doctoral study which investigated how teachers consulted pupils about teaching and learning in classrooms. Interest in consulting pupils has increased over the last decade; existing research suggests pupils have valuable perspectives on teaching and learning which teachers can usefully draw upon to inform thinking and planning. However, little research investigates the process and impact of consultation by teachers in their classrooms. This study sought further understanding in this area by exploring the consultation practices and responses of four teachers with Year 8 classes in a school with a history of consulting pupils. How would teachers consult pupils within the complexities and constraints of their "normal" teaching routines and responsibilities? Qualitative case studies of two science and two English teachers were carried out over one academic year. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews (with teachers, pupils and school management), document analysis and lesson observation. Data analysis was guided by a systematic inductive approach aided by QSR NVivo. The article focuses on selected findings of the study related to how teachers were able to consult and respond to their pupils in varying degrees depending on contextual factors. It concludes by suggesting issues to be reviewed by school management and policy-makers if significant benefit is to be realised from teachers consulting pupils on classroom teaching and learning. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

This article draws upon, but also critiques, activity theory by combining analysis of how an activity theory derived research intervention attempted to address both everyday work practices and organisational power relationships among children's services professionals. It offers two case studies of developmental work research (DWR) interventions in UK local authorities, wherein multi-professional teams were attempting, at operational level, to develop and stabilise new work practices. Data are derived from the series of interviews and DWR workshops conducted in each research site. The data analysis draws attention to the ways in which multi-professional innovations and professional development were sometimes constrained by managerial structures that were still embedded in "traditional" professional silos. The paper also offers conceptual discussion of activity theory's potential shortcomings in addressing "vertical" divisions of labour and the contradictions embedded in relationships between operational staff and their senior managers.

Background: Goal-setting is not always the simple motivational technique when used in an applied sport setting especially in relation to the meaning of achievement in competitive sport. Goal-setting needs to be examined in a broader context than goal-setting theory, such as provided by social cognitive theories of motivation. In football, the culture of the club and the role of the coach must be considered. Purpose: The aim of the study was to (1) use naturalistic inquiry and Roberts' suggested framework of social cognitive theories of motivation to identify and describe the motivational choices that elite youth football players make as they go through the goal-setting process, (2) examine the influence of the coach on this process in the elite football environment, and (3) gain an understanding of the goal-setting process. The paper considers the implications of the study for coaching practice. Participants and setting: Ten elite youth football players (five male, five female) at four British football clubs. Design: The study used naturalistic enquiry to examine the goal-setting practices of the players at their club. The key social-cognitive motivation concepts of personal agency beliefs, personal goals, and evaluative standards and affect were used to frame the instrumentation, including the production of the interview questions. Data collection: Each participant was asked to complete a weekly diary for four weeks to provide insights into the duration and frequency of goal-setting as well as the motivational processing by the players. At the end of the four weeks, a semi-structured interview was conducted with each player. Data analysis: Inductive analysis of the pooled data from the diaries and the transcribed interviews, using grounded theory, was used to identify the themes and categories from the data, using the research questions generated during the conceptual and design phase of the study as an initial framework. Findings: Real life goal-setting in elite youth football is more complex when compared to the goal-setting heuristic. The players' motivational choices as they set and evaluated their discrete goals could be examined in the context of the social cognitive motivational tenets of personal goals, personal agency beliefs and affective response. The coaches played a pivotal role and there was a mismatch between players' needs and coaches' responses throughout this process. Finally the process of goal-setting varied from the heuristic of goal-setting theory. Conclusion: Coaches should engage in a two-way, interactive and ongoing dialogue with players, taking into account the players' and their own motivational needs and the environment within which they operate, in order to improve the effectiveness of goal-setting as a technique, and hence their effectiveness as a coach. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

There has been a great deal of attention paid to young carers in recent research, social policy and service provision. In this paper we report on a survey and interview study of 46 young people aged 15 to 18, nine of whom had experience as young carers, to explore the ways in which young people construct the young carer and their disabled parent. A key theme arising from the interview data analysis is the construction of a series of normative assumptions about "normal" childhood through which young carers and their disabled parent are viewed as non-normative and deficient. The predominantly negative construction of both parent and child/carer is critically analyzed and alternatives suggested in the discussion of these findings.

In recent years there has been growing concern that the emphasis schools place on academic attainment has impacted negatively on children's mental well-being in the UK. In a bid to address society's growing concern for the mental well-being of children, the government has introduced policies into schools aimed at enhancing social and emotional development. Socio-cultural theory suggests children's development is mediated through interpersonal communication which signposts towards specific ways of behaving. This paper explores whether variation in the extent to which schools place a stronger emphasis on social aspects of learning, or academic attainment, results in variation in interpersonal communication. Findings suggest the organisational structure at the whole school level impacts on micro-interactions at the classroom level and that these differences do result in variation in expected ways of behaving. Analysis of school discourse provides a means for exploring the link between school context and students' social and emotional development. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper discusses language usage patterns amongst Eastern European migrants living in the East Anglia region of Great Britain. It examines the relationship between individual speakers' language use and societal factors, with an emphasis of respondents' perceptions of ethnic, cultural and linguistic vitality. A linguistic vitality and language usage questionnaire adapted from Yagmur, and Yagmur and Akinci, capturing domain-specific language use as well as respondents' perception of their own and other ethnolinguistic groups, was completed by 58 migrants from new European Union member states. Data analysis uncovers three themes: first, language use is domain-specific, with preferences for the L1 in the home/family domain only, and L2 English being the language of choice elsewhere; second, there are low perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality of the L1 group across the sample; and third, there is initial evidence for a potential longitudinal shift in language use as a result of an integrative attitude to migration by the respondents and long-term plans to reside in the UK from the outset. (Contains 3 notes and 5 tables.)

There has been considerable investment in the use of interactive whiteboard technology in Australia, particularly in primary schools. School leaders and teachers are seeking advice on effective ways to support teachers' pedagogical development to achieve the potential benefits of these devices. Using activity theory as a framework for lesson observation, analysis and interview data, this paper presents vignettes to illustrate major tensions in the uptake and use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) to support student learning across the curriculum in one primary school. The findings suggest that the resolution of these major tensions is critical to teachers' effective use of the technology. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Purpose: Academic writing is often considered to be a weakness in contemporary students, while good reporting and writing skills are highly valued by graduate employers. A number of universities have introduced writing centres aimed at addressing this problem; however, the evaluation of such centres is usually qualitative. The paper seeks to consider the efficacy of a writing centre by looking at the impact of attendance on two "real world" quantitative outcomes--achievement and progression. Design/methodology/approach: Data mining was used to obtain records of 806 first-year students, of whom 45 had attended the writing centre and 761 had not. Findings: A highly significant association between writing centre attendance and achievement was found. Progression to year two was also significantly associated with writing centre attendance. Originality/value: Further, quantitative evaluation of writing centres is advocated using random allocation to a comparison condition to control for potential confounds such as motivation.

This paper draws upon the experience of the Literacies for Learning in Further Education research project in the UK. The project explored the literacy demands of a number of curriculum areas and the literacy practices of students in their everyday lives, in order to identify those "border literacies" which may act as resources for learning and attainment within their college courses. Drawing on Literacy Studies and aspects of actor-network theory, this article outlines the conceptual innovations that we found necessary arising from our data analysis, extending existing work on situating practice and boundary crossing to posit a conceptual landscape that we term the scrumpled geography of literacies for learning. This landscape is one in which purification, naturalization and translation are key concepts, where literacy practices are enacted as network effects of a folding of a range of micro-practices into conglomerations. (Contains 1 figure.)

The research findings presented in this paper illustrate how the "value added" of schooling can be assessed empirically using cross-sectional data. Application of the regression-discontinuity approach within a multilevel framework produces both an estimate of the absolute effect of 1 year schooling and an estimate of the variation across schools of this effect. In the study reported here, the approach was applied to both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal dataset. The research findings indicate to what extent different results are produced when cross-sectional as opposed to longitudinal data are analysed. (Contains 2 notes, 3 tables and 4 figures.)