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An increasing amount of evidence suggests that learners within Higher Education (HE), and graduates, are struggling with their transition into the workplace. With the increased prominence of workplace learning requirements, these challenges are becoming more evident for learners during HE studies. This study aimed to identify the challenges faced by learners and graduates transitioning into the healthcare workforce, and the challenges experienced by key groups such as healthcare employers and other influencers within HE. The key focus was on disability, part-time work and transitions into the workplace. Thirty-two individuals participated in an online survey focused on equity and employability. Questions were both quantitative and qualitative in nature. Participants were learners, graduates, academics, career advisory staff, and employers. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data identified eight themes. Challenges identified by participants included work-life balance, stigma and stereotypes, organisational and individual empowerment, navigating additional administrations tasks, information and signposting, consistency in language and messaging, advocacy, and exemplars for guidance. The study highlights the responsibilities of all involved with HE provision, and the importance of collaboration with employers to inform, educate and advocate for all learners to maximize employability opportunities and enhance transitions into employment. Policy and practice in this area should quality assure the robustness of the support, aiming to meet individual needs, including education to empower and facilitate individual agency, as well as reviewing the visibility and accessibility of resources.

In Comparative Judgement (CJ) exercises, examiners are asked to look at a selection of candidate scripts (with marks removed) and order them in terms of which they believe display the best quality. By including scripts from different examination sessions, the results of these exercises can be used to help with maintaining standards. Results from previous CJ studies have demonstrated that the method appears to be valid and reliable in many contexts. However, it is not entirely clear whether CJ works as well as it does because of the physical and judgemental processes involved (i.e., placing two scripts next to each other and deciding which is better based on an intuitive, holistic, and relative judgement), or because CJ exercises capture a lot of individual paired comparison decisions quickly. This article adds to the research on this question by re-analysing data from previous CJ studies and comparing the concurrent validity of the outcomes of individual CJ paired comparisons with the concurrent validity of outcomes based on the original marks given to scripts. The results show that for 16 out of the 20 data sets analysed, mark-based decisions had higher concurrent validity than CJ-based decisions. Two possible reasons for this finding are: CJ decisions reward different skills to marks; or individual CJ decisions are of lower quality than individual decisions based on marks. Either way, the implication is that the CJ method works because many individual paired comparison decisions are captured quickly, rather than because of the physical and psychological processes involved in making holistic judgements.

Non-formal adult education (NFE) provides adults of all ages with the opportunity to acquire skills, knowledge, and expertise. However, there is currently a lack of validated instruments that measure the factors of NFE non-participation in European countries, particularly their barriers. One exception is the Non-participation in Non-formal Education Questionnaire (NP-NFE-Q). This study evaluates and compares the psychometric properties of this instrument among adults across four purposefully selected European countries: Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. The results indicate a good model fit for a three-factor model across randomly split pooled samples and for all countries (min. CFI, TLI, and GFI = 0.932, 0.908, and 0.941, max. RMSEA = 0.079). The findings reveal that adults currently face barriers in three key forms: (1) worries and (2) needs regarding NFE at the micro level and (3) the need for more suitable provision at the macro level.

Standardisation is a procedure used by Awarding Organisations to maximise marking reliability, by teaching examiners to consistently judge scripts using a mark scheme. However, research shows that people are better at comparing two objects than judging each object individually. Consequently, Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR, a UK awarding organisation) proposed investigating a new procedure, involving ranking essays, where essay quality is judged in comparison to other essays. This study investigated the marking reliability yielded by traditional standardisation and ranking standardisation. The study entailed a marking experiment followed by examiners completing a questionnaire. In the control condition live procedures were emulated as authentically as possible within the confines of a study. The experimental condition involved ranking the quality of essays from the best to the worst and then assigning marks. After each standardisation procedure the examiners marked 50 essays from an AS History unit. All participants experienced both procedures, and marking reliability was measured. Additionally, the participants' questionnaire responses were analysed to gain an insight into examiners' experience. It is concluded that the Ranking Procedure is unsuitable for use in public examinations in its current form. The Traditional Procedure produced statistically significantly more reliable marking, whilst the Ranking Procedure involved a complex decision-making process. However, the Ranking Procedure produced slightly more reliable marking at the extremities of the mark range, where previous research has shown that marking tends to be less reliable.

Bilingualism is a multi-faceted experience and bilinguals differ in how they use their languages in daily life. Therefore, assessments of bilingualism that consider the role of (social) context are needed when describing bilinguals. In this study, we evaluated how (reliably) the Language and Social Background Questionnaire (LSBQ; Anderson et al. 2018) describes language experiences of bilinguals living in the UK. Across 163 participants, nine factors were found to describe their daily-life language experiences in different contexts or with different interlocutors. Factors describing language use also correlated with objective English (L2) proficiency. These findings emphasise the need for studies to characterise bilinguals' daily-life language use in more detail and with a focus on the multi-dimensionality of bilingualism. Test-retest reliability (assessed across two weeks) was moderate to substantial, showing that the LSBQ might be a reliable tool to capture these bilingual experiences.

Background: People with aphasia rely on gesture more than healthy controls to get their message across, but use a limited range of gesture types. Gesture therapy is thus a potential avenue of intervention for people with aphasia. However, currently no gesture assessment evaluates how they use gesture. Such a tool could inform therapy targets and measure outcomes. In gesture research, many different coding categories are used to describe gesture forms and functions. These coding methods are prohibitively time-consuming to use in clinical practice. There is therefore a need for a 'quick and dirty' method of assessing gesture use. Aims: To investigate current practice among UK-based clinicians (speech and language therapists) in relation to gesture assessment and therapy, to synthesize gesture-coding frameworks used in aphasia research, to develop a gesture checklist based on the synthesized coding frameworks suitable for use in clinical practice, and to investigate the interrater reliability (IRR) of the checklist among experienced and unfamiliar users. Methods & Procedures: The research team synthesized seven gesture-coding frameworks and trialled three resulting prototype checklists at a co-design workshop with 20 clinicians. Attending clinicians were also consulted about their current clinical gesture practice using a questionnaire. A final City Gesture Checklist (CGC) was developed based upon outcomes and feedback from the workshop. The IRR of the CGC was evaluated between the research team and 11 further clinicians within a second workshop. Both groups used the CGC to count gestures in video clips of people with aphasia talking to a conversation partner. Main Contribution: A total of 18 workshop attendees completed the current practice questionnaire. Of these, 10 reported assessing gesture informally and five also used formal assessment. Gesture-coding synthesis highlighted six main categories of gesture form. Clinicians at the co-design workshop provided feedback on prototype checklists regarding the relevance and usability of the gesture categories, layout, use of images and instructions. A final version of the CGC was created incorporating their recommendations. The IRR for the CGC was moderate between both the researchers and clinicians. Conclusions & Implications: The CGC can be used to assess the types of gesture that people with aphasia produce. The IRR was moderate amongst both experienced users and new users who had received no training. Future research directions include investigating how to improve IRR, evaluating intra-rater reliability and sensitivity to change, and exploring use of the CGC in clinical practice.

Remembering to carry out intended actions in the future, known as prospective memory (PM), is an important cognitive ability. In daily life, individuals remember to perform future tasks that might rely on effortful processes (monitoring) but also habitual tasks that might rely on more automatic processes. The development of PM across childhood in laboratory contexts is well understood, but little is known about the social context in which children develop their PM skills in everyday life. In the current study, three hundred and one parents reported on their 3- to 11-year-old child's PM, child's strategy use, and on their own scaffolding of their child's PM using the Children's Everyday Memory Questionnaire (CEMQ; adapted from the Prospective Memory Questionnaire). Preliminary analyses showed that the PM items on the CEMQ were reliable and composed of two components (a PM and a PM strategy use subscale). Our results showed that children's PM and use of memory strategies, as reported by their parents, increased with age. Further, more frequent parent scaffolding was related to better PM in children. These relations were also explored separately for older and younger children. Notably, parents of younger, 3- to 6-year-olds reported scaffolding them more frequently with age, while parents of older, 7- to 11-year-olds reported scaffolding them less frequently with age. Open-ended responses revealed that parents used verbal reminders and children used external aids most frequently. Overall, parent scaffolding appears to impact children's PM, but future research is needed to identify the causal direction of these relations.

In this article, we explore how people revise their belief in a hypothesis and the reliability of sources in circumstances where those sources are either independent or are partially dependent because of their shared, common background. Specifically, we examine people's revision of perceived source reliability by comparison with a formal model of reliability revision proposed by Bovens and Hartmann (2003). This model predicts a U-shaped trajectory for revision in certain circumstances: If a source provides a positive report for an unlikely hypothesis, perceived source reliability should decrease; as additional positive reports emerge, however, estimates of reliability should increase. Participants' updates in our experiment show this U-shaped pattern. Furthermore, participants' responses also respect a second feature of the model, namely that perceived reliability should once again decrease when it becomes known that the sources are partially dependent. Participants revise appropriately both when a specific shared reliability is observed (e.g., sources went to the same, low quality school) and when integrating the possibility of shared reliability. These findings shed light on how people gauge source reliability and integrate reports when multiple sources weigh in on an issue as seen in public debates.

Language use is intrinsically variable, such that the words we use vary widely across speakers and communicative situations. For instance, we can call the same entity "refrigerator" or "fridge." However, attempts to understand individual differences in how we process language have made surprisingly little progress, perhaps because most psycholinguistic instruments are better-suited to experimental comparisons than differential analyses. In particular, investigations of individual differences require instruments that have high test-retest reliability, such that they consistently distinguish between individuals across measurement sessions. Here, we established the reliability of an instrument measuring lexical entrainment, or the tendency to use a name that a partner has used before (e.g., using "refrigerator" after a partner used "refrigerator"), which is a key phenomenon for the psycholinguistics of dialogue. Online participants completed two sessions of a picture matching-and-naming task, using different pictures and different (scripted) partners in each session. Entrainment was measured as the proportion of trials on which participants followed their partner in using a low-frequency name, and we assessed reliability by comparing entrainment scores across sessions. The estimated reliability was substantial, both when sessions were separated by minutes and when sessions were a week apart. These results suggest that our instrument is well-suited for differential analyses, opening new avenues for understanding language variability.

Background: There is no consensus in the UK regarding the types of speech samples or parameters of speech that should be assessed at 3 years of age in children with cleft palate ± cleft lip (CP±L), despite cleft units routinely assessing speech at this age. The standardization of assessment practices would facilitate comparisons of outcomes across UK cleft units; earlier identification of speech impairments--which could support more timely treatments; and more reliable recording of therapy impacts and surgical interventions. Aims: To explore assessment practices used to assess speech in 3-year-old children with CP±L, including speech parameters, methods of assessment and the nature of the speech sample used. Methods & Procedures: A broad examination of the literature was undertaken through the use of a scoping review conducted in accordance with Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. Search terms were generated from a preliminary search and then used in the main search (Medline, CINAHL, Embase, AMED and PsycINFO). Main Contribution: A combination of approaches (medical, linguistic, developmental and functional) is required to assess CP±L speech at age 3. A developmental approach is recommended at this age, considering the complexity of speech profiles at age 3, in which typically developing speech processes may occur alongside cleft speech characteristics. A combined measure for both nasal emission and turbulence, and an overall measure for velopharyngeal function for speech, show potential for assessment at this age. Categorical ordinal scales are frequently used; the use of continuous scales has yet to be fully explored at age 3. Although single-word assessments, including a subset of words developed for cross-linguistic comparisons, are frequently used, more than one type of speech sample may be needed to assess speech at this age validly. The lack of consensus regarding speech samples highlights a need for further research into the types of speech samples 3-year-olds can complete; the impact of incomplete speech samples on outcome measures (particularly relevant at this age when children may be less able to complete a full sample); the impact of different speech samples on the validity of assessments; and the reliability of listener judgements. Conclusions & Implications: Whilst a medical model and linguistic approaches are often central in assessments of age-3 cleft speech, this review highlights the importance of developmental and functional approaches to assessment. Cross-linguistic single-word assessments show potential, and would facilitate the comparison of UK speech outcomes with other countries. Further research should explore the impact of different speech samples and rating scales on assessment validity and listener reliability.

To develop the Chinese version of Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) and examine its psychometric properties, we investigated a sample of 689 non-clinical and 309 clinical participants and found this measurement had good acceptability, internal reliability, test-retest reliability and convergent validity; it had moderate correlations with the Schwartz Outcome Scale and Symptom Check List-90, which showed an acceptable concurrent validity. Specifically, we explored the cut-off line of clinical criterion and found a g factor plus three-factor solution better than original four-domain model in Chinese context. The CORE-OM is a valid tool with referenced cut-offs to measure clinical outcomes, which can bridge the gap in routine clinical evaluation in China.

University life can be stressful, and accurate measurement of perceived stress is important for research and practice. However, despite widespread use, disagreement persists regarding the latent structure of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which poses serious consequences for how the measure should be administered. Furthermore, factorial invariance between genders has not been established with the 10-item PSS, though gender differences in perceived stress have been detected. This study examined the factor structure, composite reliability, convergent validity, and gender invariance of the PSS-10 among 524 UK university students. Four distinct factor models (one-factor, correlated two-factor, correlated three-factor, and bifactor) were examined using confirmatory factor analysis. The totality of results supported a bifactor solution. Multi-group analysis established configural, metric, and scalar invariance of this model across gender. This study supports the use of total PSS-10 scores with UK university students and suggests the scale is not significantly affected by gender bias.

Comparative Judgement (CJ) is an increasingly widely investigated method in assessment for creating a scale, for example of the quality of essays. One area that has attracted attention in CJ studies is the optimisation of the selection of pairs of objects for judgement. One approach is known as adaptive comparative judgement (ACJ). It has been claimed in the literature that ACJ produces very high reliability, often higher than can be obtained by conventional marking. Bramley showed by simulation that adaptivity can substantially inflate the apparent reliability in ACJ. The empirical study described here compared an adaptive with a non-adaptive CJ study using GCSE English essays. An all-play-all set of comparisons of a subset of the essays allowed the extent of scale inflation to be quantified: the reported adaptive reliability was 0.97 whereas the deflated value was 0.84. The value from the non-adaptive study was 0.72. However, the scale from the non-adaptive study correlated slightly higher with external variables, suggesting the non-adaptive study was no less valid than the adaptive one.

This study reviews and evaluates international students' perceptions of UK banks. The specific research objectives were to identify international students' expectations and perceptions of service quality from UK banks and to assess the quality GAP or dissonance between these. A total of 297 international students studying in the UK responded to the survey. Data gathered was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 16). The study reveals that the main areas of service quality with which international students are generally satisfied relates to tangibles such as physical layout and appearance. The key areas of dissatisfaction that the study identified were with factors related to reliability and empathy. This appears to be the first study in the UK banking sector that has focused on service quality with respect to international students. The study supports arguments for a more client focused and empathetic approach to meeting this customer segment needs with less homogeneity in the product offering. Whilst this study relates to banking it highlights that international students are a growing customer segment within many developed economies and that with increased globalization service companies may need to give greater consideration to the needs of this particular client group.

The performing arts studio is a highly complex learning setting, and assessing student outcomes relative to reliable and valid standards has presented challenges to this teaching and learning method. Building from the general international higher education literature, this article illustrates details, processes, and solutions, drawing on performance assessment and studio research literature in the field of one-to-one, or applied, music teaching. The nature of musical performance assessment will be explained as an emerging tool embedded in the pedagogical methodology research literature of the applied studio learning setting. Implications are explored and suggestions are made for other disciplines in regards to both summative and formative performance assessment strategies. (Contains 1 table.)

With recent changes in how UK higher education is funded, universities are operating in a context in which finances are uncertain. It is more important than ever that university leaders are able to manage the finances of their organisations in ways which both provide long-term security and allow for investment in strategically important initiatives. Teaching intensive universities must be able to generate income and oversee the allocation of resources in such a way that responds to student pressure to provide high-quality education and improve services. This article explores the benefits, disadvantages and challenges of aligning corporate and financial strategies in order to support delivery of their strategic aims and operational targets. Recommendations are made for well-managed, well-researched risk taking and developing autonomy within academic and professional services units, such that local resource allocation decisions are also in line with the organisation's strategic aims.

The focus for this literature review developed from reading American research by Oyserman and Destin around the theme of identity and possible selves. The intention of this review was to consider whether an identity-based perspective could be applied to investigate the multiple outcomes of UK care leavers. The aim was to explore the relevant literature to consider whether an increased emphasis on identity development in the provision of children's services could help increase positive outcomes for care leavers. Children's Services in this review is taken to mean all agencies involved in the provision of services to children and young people in and leaving care. Although outcomes for children in care have improved in recent years, there still remains a large widening gap between these and the outcomes for all children. Therefore understanding differences in how young people manage, can provide important policy and practice implications. The majority of articles reflected an interpretative epistemology where a phenomenological approach was used to gain data relating to the "lived experience" of the participants. A key objective was therefore to conduct a critical interpretive analysis of the literature using an ecological approach to uncover answers to the research question.

In order to operate effectively and efficiently, most higher education institutions depend on employees performing extra-role behaviours and being committed to staying with the organisation. This study assesses the extent to which organisational identification and employee satisfaction are antecedents of these two important behaviours. Key objectives of the research were to identify possible antecedents of organisational identification and to discover whether the consequences of organisational identification vary among the employees of multinational universities at home and foreign campuses. We developed a model that was tested using structural equation modelling, which assesses the influences of organisational identification on employee satisfaction, extra-role behaviours and turnover intentions. All of the paths in our model were significant, but employee identification, satisfaction and extra-role behaviours were lower at foreign branches than at the home campuses of universities, and turnover intentions were higher. These results suggest that higher education institutions need to implement different human resource strategies at home and foreign branches, with a focus on improving organisational identification at the foreign subsidiaries.

The purpose of this study is to adapt, deliver, and pilot test the Self-discovery Programme (SDP) for teachers in mainstream school. The study used a pre-test post-test design. Quantitative data were collected by self-administered questionnaires given to teachers at two points in time: baseline (immediately pre-SDP) and immediately post-SDP. Qualitative data were collected via open questions at baseline and post-SDP to gain more in-depth information about teacher's experience of the SDP. In addition, observations were conducted at four points in time: sessions 1, 2, 6, and 10. Results suggest that overall the SDP-Teachers had been an enjoyable experience. The results of this study will add to the sparse literature and evidence base concerning interventions for teachers in mainstream schools, particularly interventions that consist of complementary and alternative medicine. (Contains 2 tables.)

The authors introduce a consistency-based approach to detecting examiner bias. On comparing intra-class correlation coefficients on transformed data for supervisor continuous performance and report marks (ICC1*) with those for supervisor continuous performance and second marker report marks (ICC2*), a highly significant difference was obtained for both the entire cohort (ICC1* = 0.72, ICC2* = 0.30, F = 2.47, p less than 0.0005 (N = 1085)) and the subgroup with high supervisor ratings for continuous performance (ICC1* = 0.62, ICC2* = 0.24, F = 1.97, p less than 0.0005 (n = 952)). A strong halo effect was detected and preliminary evidence was obtained for the presence of a strong horn effect for students with lower scores, thus providing a basis for future research. (Contains 1 footnote, 1 table, and 1 figure.)

Value-added (VA) measures are currently the predominant approach used to compare the effectiveness of schools. Recent educational effectiveness research, however, has developed alternative approaches including the regression discontinuity (RD) design, which also allows estimation of absolute school effects. Initial research suggests RD is a viable approach to measuring school effectiveness. The present study builds on this pioneering work by using RD and VA designs to estimate school effects at system and school level, comparing estimates from several measurement designs. The study uses a large English dataset (N = 148,135) spanning 342 schools, 10 local authorities, 6 consecutive school year groups (UK Years 3-9) across 3 years. RD is found to be a suitable approach for system-level absolute school effect estimates. Cross-sectional and longitudinal measures are found to lead to markedly different estimates when comparing individual schools. The results also reinforce the need to treat measures based on a single cohort with extreme caution.

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of a 5-km time-trial during a competitive outdoor running event. Fifteen endurance runners (age = 29.5 ± 4.3 years, height = 1.75 ± 0.08 m, body mass = 71.0 ± 7.1 kg, 5-km lifetime personal best = 19:13 ± 1:13 minutes) completed two competitive 5-km time-trials over 2 weeks. No systematic differences in run time between Trial 1 and Trial 2 were reported (Trial 1: 1,217 ± 85 sec, 95% CI [1,170, 1,264]; and Trial 2: 1,216 ± 79 sec, [1,172 to 1,260], p = 0.855). Absolute reliability, expressed as the typical error (TE; 14.7 sec, 95% CI = 11.3-21.4 sec) and coefficient of variation (CV; 0.95 ± 0.65%, [0.59-1.31]) confirms the reliability of 5-km running performance in a competitive time trial.

This article examines the outcomes of a study across four discipline areas in order to develop course-based assessment strategies in closer cooperation with students. Second-year students (n = 48) from different disciplines were engaged in two phases of activity-orientated workshops. Phase 1 sought their perceptions of feedback. Phase 2 saw students design a proposed strategy to present to the respective staff teams. We discuss the emerging themes which appeared to be very similar amongst this diverse cross section of students: a lack of faith in marking consistency; the need for clear guidelines and criteria; the greater use of positive feedback language; and a close association with tutors. The emergence of strategies specific to each course is discussed, along with the alignment of the outcomes of this approach with pedagogic knowledge. It is suggested that enhanced dialogue enabled staff and students to develop a common understanding, and gave impetus to improving assessment feedback practices. Outcomes recommended here include changes to practice such as a team approach to feedback development, the content and style of feedback, developing the usefulness of feedback for future work and the need for teams to periodically revisit staff development in this area.

Eye gaze is a powerful directional cue that automatically evokes joint attention states. Even when faces are ignored, there is incidental learning of the reliability of the gaze cueing of another person, such that people who look away from targets are judged less trustworthy. In a series of experiments, we demonstrated further properties of the incidental learning of trust from gaze direction. First, the emotion of the face, whether neutral or smiling, influenced the pattern of trust learning. Second, the effect was specific to judgments of trust; reliability of gaze direction did not influence other emotional judgments of a person, such as liking. And third, visuomotor fluency was not sufficient for learning of trust, whether or not the face served as a target or as a distractor. Taken together, incidental learning of trust is influenced by facial emotion, it is a specific effect that does not generalize to other emotional assessments, and it is not determined solely by processing fluency.

This study assessed a newly developed Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale designed to measure the sexual communication self-efficacy of adolescent men and women. Three-hundred and seventy-four U.K. adolescents completed this new scale, along with several other validity measures. Factor analysis revealed that the Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale consisted of five underlying factors: contraception communication, positive sexual messages, negative sexual messages, sexual history, and condom negotiation. These factors demonstrated high internal consistency and presents evidence to support construct validity. This scale may have utility in assessing the effectiveness of interventions designed to enhance sexual communication and sexual health behaviors among young people.

This article reports on the development of scales for measuring moral values in three domains: anti-social behaviour, sex and relationships, and substance use. Students studying religion at A level in 25 schools were invited to respond to 32 Likert items that referred to a wide range of moral issues and behaviours, employing a 5-point response scale. In the first study, responses from 652 students were subject to an exploratory factor analysis, which identified three factors that explained 47% of the variance. Three summated scales were produced that had very good internal consistency reliability: the anti-social behaviour scale (seven items, Cronbach's a = 0.83), the sex and relationships scale (seven items, a = 0.84), and the substance use scale (five items, a = 0.87). In the second study, a repeat survey among the same schools a year later resulted in a second sample of 462 students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the 19 items identified in the first study could be satisfactorily fitted to a model with the same three latent constructs. These constructs are recommended as a parsimonious way of assessing general moral values among adolescents.

The value of using social media is being increasingly recognised among the academic community. Blogging has been identified by some researchers as a means of reaching a non-academic audience and in order to increase research citations. However, there is little research exploring this method of communication within specific disciplines. This study, therefore, explored UK psychologists' views and experiences of blogging using an online survey, of both blog writers and non-blog writers. In addition, the study sought to determine whether those who identified as blog writers when they completed the survey, and who consented to a content analysis of their posts, were still posting regularly 12 months later. The majority of the blog writers said that they wrote blogs as a means of expressing themselves and their research. Content analysis reflected the survey findings, with research as the most common category for posts, but we identified that the intended audience for such posts appeared to be other academics. Interestingly, 37% of blog writers had stopped regularly posting at the point where posts were analysed, 12 months after the survey. Moreover, despite positive attitudes and subjective norms about blogging across the sample, we also identified that respondents who were non-blog writers were reluctant to blog because they worried that their contribution may not be valued, or that they did not have the time. These findings highlight that there is work to do in order to convince psychologists to engage -- and to continue doing so--with this medium of communication.

Undergraduate students' perception of feedback and level of engagement with the feedback they receive have gained increasing attention in the educational literature recently to identify areas which require educators' attention. However, research in this area has generally been based on limited self-selecting samples, and has not considered how students' relationship with feedback may alter depending on their year of study. To address this, a survey measuring students' views and practices regarding feedback was completed at a higher education institution by 447 first-, second- and third-year psychology students, representing 77% of the cohort. Findings revealed that third years responded more negatively in both areas than their first- and second-year counterparts, whose ratings on these aspects themselves were far from optimal. These findings highlight the need for early interventions to improve students' perception of and engagement with feedback in the earlier years, and to prevent the recorded deterioration later on in the degree course.

Despite the strong theoretical foundation for the role of trustworthiness in building buyer-seller relationships, a lack of empirical evidence exists to validate the importance of trustworthiness in the Higher Education (HE) sector. Our research examines the drivers of trustworthiness across two distinct cultures--the UK and India, providing a significant contribution to the body of knowledge by understanding the role and nature of trustworthiness within HE. The results of the proposed model offer important insights into the process of understanding trustworthiness within the HE sector. First we establish the importance for HE institutes of building trustworthiness. Next, we empirically validate trustworthiness using data from two countries, and finally we confirm the proposed model using two sampling points, and provide directions for practitioners and theorists alike.

This article first reviews the objectives/ends of research quality assessment in several countries to draw lessons for the UK Research Excellence Framework and similar exercises. It then reviews work on performance management as a framework for reviewing the views of participants on the means to the ends--the management of their experience in submitting to the 2014 REF. Finally, it examines the outcomes and considers how true a picture they paint of the quality of research, particularly in Education. It concludes with recommendations for change.

Research investigating expressivity in children with autism spectrum disorder has reported flat affect or bizarre facial expressivity within this population; however, the impact expressivity may have on first impression formation has received little research input. We examined how videos of children with autism spectrum disorder were rated for expressivity by adults blind to the condition. We further investigated the friendship ratings given by 44 typically developing children to the same videos. These ratings were compared to friendship ratings given to video clips of typically developing children. Results demonstrated that adult raters, blind to the diagnosis of the children in the videos, rated children with autism spectrum disorder as being less expressive than typically developing children. These autism spectrum disorder children were also rated lower than typically developing children on all aspects of our friendship measures by the 44 child raters. Results suggest that impression formation is less positive towards children with autism spectrum disorder than towards typically developing children even when exposure time is brief.

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed.

This article describes the development of new scales for assessing the status of a young child's language comprehension and production. Items and sections on the scales were included to reflect advances in research on language acquisition and impairment. The New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS) were trialled on 301 children and then standardized on a sample of 1,266 participants across the age range 2;00-7;6 years. Evaluations of reliability (internal and test-retest) and concurrent validity were carried out and also discriminant validity was evaluated with a further small sample of children with primary language impairment. Results are reported and discussed. An illustrative example of how the NRDLS could be used is given, in which the performance of a typically developing child and that of a matched child with primary language impairment are compared.

This paper reports on the findings from a study undertaken to explore students' perceptions of the timeliness, accessibility, consistency, and quality of feedback and grading received electronically. The system used was GradeMark®, an electronic tool available through the plagiarism software provider, Turnitin®. 296 students from the Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Medicine, and Dentistry at Cardiff University were included in the study. Data collection included an online survey and a focus group for each discipline. Findings revealed that the use of GradeMark® improved the timeliness and accessibility of feedback due to its immediate availability via any personal computer with internet access. The use of annotation was proven to be valuable; however consistency and quality of feedback were affected by markers' individual comments, issues which GradeMark® may not necessarily address. Findings provide insight into what quality feed-back could look like from the students' perspective, which can help improve academic practice. Overall the study outcomes suggest there are benefits to using innovative technology such as GradeMark® to enhance learning. The paper provides valuable lessons that could assist others in adopting a pragmatic and planned approach to the introduction of electronic feedback using a system such as GradeMark®.

Background: Little is known about the work-related well-being of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapists who work in school-based contexts and deliver ABA interventions to children with autism. Methods: A questionnaire on work-related stress (burnout), general distress, perceived supervisor support and coping was completed by 45 ABA therapists across six schools in the UK. Results: Around 42% of ABA therapists reported low levels of personal accomplishment at work, 13% reported high levels of emotional exhaustion and 40% met criteria for experiencing high levels of general distress. Wishful thinking coping was predictive of higher emotional exhaustion burnout and depersonalisation, and lower personal accomplishment. Conclusions: Given that a wishful thinking approach to coping may contribute to experiencing stress at work, it is important to consider support interventions for ABA therapists that may enhance their well-being. Mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies in particular may be relevant to the support of ABA therapist well-being.

Traits associated with autism and social anxiety were assessed in a UK student population (n = 1325) using the Autism-spectrum Quotient and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Clinically relevant levels of autistic traits were observed in 3.3% of the cohort; 10.1% of the cohort reported clinically relevant levels of social anxiety; 1.8% of the cohort met clinically relevant cut-offs for both conditions. There was a significant positive correlation between scores on the two scales (r = 0.51); students with high levels of autistic traits were more likely to report increased social anxiety than those with average or low levels of autistic traits. Level of social anxiety was best predicted by autistic traits associated with social skill, attention switching and communication, accounting for 33% of the variance in social anxiety scores. Social skill was a better predictor of social anxiety in males than females; attention switching ability was a better predictor of social anxiety in females than males. Students with high levels of autistic traits displayed heightened anxiety to situations and activities necessary for the successful completion of their degree. Implications for student well-being and attainment are discussed.

This study examined how expectations of independent study and academic behavioural confidence predicted end-of-semester marks in a sample of undergraduate students. Students' expectations and academic behavioural confidence were measured near the beginning of the semester, and academic performance was taken from aggregated end-of-semester marks. Results suggested that a realistic expectation of undergraduate study, where the student took responsibility for their own learning, predicted higher end-of-semester marks. Students who were confident in their ability to attain high grades and attend taught sessions also performed better in their end-of-semester marks. Confidence in attending taught sessions also buffered against the negative impact of holding an unrealistic expectation of undergraduate study. These findings suggest that measures taken to encourage a realistic expectation of the nature of undergraduate study and boost academic behavioural confidence may benefit students' performance at university. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

For a number of reasons, increasing reliance is being placed on teacher assessment in high-stakes contexts in many countries around the world. Simultaneously, countries that have for some time relied to greater or lesser degrees on teacher assessment for high-stakes purposes are in the process of questioning the validity of that reliance. In principle, teacher assessment has an important role to play in increasing assessment validity by complementing testing to cover subject domains more comprehensively than otherwise would be possible. But what is the evidence regarding the reliability of teacher assessment in high-stakes contexts? The answer is that the evidence is limited and often ambiguous. Research has revealed that teachers can be influenced by a number of construct-irrelevant factors as they work towards their judgements, factors such as gender, socio-economic background, effort and behaviour, that risk biasing their assessments. And when considering construct-relevant achievement evidence teachers are often expected to use verbal or semi-verbal sets of criteria, such as level descriptions, which typically require a degree of subjective interpretation in application and so are themselves a source of unwanted variation in judging standards. Arguably the most effective strategy for addressing these issues is participation in consensus moderation. Yet there have been few attempts to provide evidence of the effectiveness of moderation in practice. The potential value of, and the growing reliance upon, teacher assessment in high-stakes applications demand that evaluation of consensus moderation become a built-in part of the process. (Contains 2 notes.)

Background: Voice output communication aids (VOCAs) are a key form of aided communication within the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In recent years, rapid developments in technology have resulted in an explosion of devices available commercially, yet little research has been conducted into what people who use VOCAs think about them. Aims: The aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of communication aid design from the perspective of end users and AAC professionals, with the objective being to inform and influence the design of future devices. Methods & Procedures: A two-part study was conducted: interviews were undertaken with people who use VOCAs, and questionnaires were distributed to those who use aided communication and to AAC professionals. Analysis of the interview data was carried out using a qualitative method based on framework analysis, whilst descriptive statistics were generated from the questionnaire data. Interview participants were an opportunity sample of VOCA users within a defined region of the UK. Those recruited were over the age of 12 years and able to engage in the interview process; they were identified through the caseloads of local Speech and Language Therapists specializing in AAC. The questionnaire was marketed to the AAC community throughout the UK. Respondents were self-selecting as those using aided communication, their carers and AAC professionals. Outcomes & Results: Eighteen people participated in the interviews. Questionnaires were completed by 43 people who use aided communication and 68 AAC professionals. The data suggest that current devices are considered to be neither reliable nor durable by users and professionals. Although features given a higher importance ranking are more likely to be perceived as available, a number of important design deficits are identified by users and/or professionals. Simplicity of design (and use) and the desire for devices which support communication that is as fast and spontaneous as possible also emerge as key requirements. Synthesis of the data produced a framework with three main themes covering the range of issues which influence the successful use of a VOCA: specific aspects of the design of a device; the consideration of the wider picture around the person; and the personal context in which someone uses their device. Conclusions & Implications: Although the original aim of the project was to establish the user requirements of VOCA design, the data indicate that the characteristics of the device cannot be considered in isolation. Those factors uncovered highlight questions about whether the design of communication aids is truly effective in meeting the needs of the people who use them. Based on these data, an initial specification for future device design is proposed. (Contains 2 tables, 8 figures, 4 quotes, and 3 notes.)