Drink availability is associated with enhanced examination performance in adults

While dehydration has negative effects on memory and attention, few studies have investigated whether drinking water can enhance cognitive performance, and none have addressed this in a real-world setting. In this study we explored the potential benefits of the availability of water for undergraduates. The exam performance of students who brought drinks in to exams was compared with those that did not for three cohorts of undergraduates (N = 447). We employed earlier coursework marks as a measure of underlying ability. Students who brought water to the exam achieved better grades than students who did not. When coursework marks were covaried, this effect remained statistically significant, suggesting that this finding was not simply due to more able students being more likely to bring in water. This implies that water consumption may facilitate performance in real-world settings, and, therefore, have specific implications for the assessment of undergraduate learners under examination conditions, but further research is required to evaluate this hypothesis.

Engendering a culture of quality enhancement in teaching and learning: lessons learned

Enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in higher education has been on the English national agenda for more than a decade. The Government and funding organisations have enabled universities to focus on creating a culture of excellence in learning and teaching and continuing academic and professional development. This paper describes some of the strategies that have promoted a culture of quality teaching in higher education in England and how one organisation, the University of Westminster has implemented those strategies to engender a culture of quality enhancement and continuing professional development.

Individual differences and personality correlates of navigational performance in the virtual route learning task

Research on the mechanisms and processes underlying navigation has traditionally been limited by the practical problems of setting up and controlling navigation in a real-world setting. Thanks to advances in technology, a growing number of researchers are making use of computer-based virtual environments to draw inferences about real-world navigation. However, little research has been done on factors affecting human–computer interactions in navigation tasks. In this study female students completed a virtual route learning task and filled out a battery of questionnaires, which determined levels of computer experience, wayfinding anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism and immersive tendencies as well as their preference for a route or survey strategy. Scores on personality traits and individual differences were then correlated with the time taken to complete the navigation task, the length of path travelled,the velocity of the virtual walk and the number of errors. Navigation performance was significantly influenced by wayfinding anxiety, psychoticism, involvement and overall immersive tendencies and was improved in those participants who adopted a survey strategy. In other words, navigation in virtual environments is effected not only by navigational strategy, but also an individual’s personality, and other factors such as their level of experience with computers. An understanding of these differences is crucial before performance in virtual environments can be generalised to real-world navigational performance.

Freight Quality Partnerships in the UK: an analysis of their work and achievements

The report contains details of the number and type of Freight Quality Partnerships (FQPs) that exist in the UK, their structure, their aims and objectives, their activities and outputs, their challenges, successes and failings, and the extent to which they work with and learn from each other. Through survey work, the study also sought the views of those directly involved in the operation and management of FQPs about the FQP concept, whether they have improved partnership working between the public and private sector, the value for money that they provide, and actions that central government and other organisations could take to improve their success and effectiveness.