Built environment education and research in West Africa

Built environment programmes in West African universities; and research contributions from West Africa in six leading international journals and proceedings of the WABER conference are explored. At least 20 universities in the region offer degree programmes in Architecture (86% out of 23 universities); Building (57%); Civil Engineering (67%); Estate Management (52%); Quantity Surveying (52%); Surveying and Geoinformatics (55%); Urban and Regional Planning (67%). The lecturer-student ratio on programmes is around 1:25 compared to the 1:10 benchmark for excellence. Academics who teach on the programmes are clearly research active with some having published papers in leading international journals. There is, however, plenty of scope for improvement particularly at the highest international level. Out of more than 5000 papers published in six leading international peer-reviewed journals since each of them was established, only 23 of the papers have come from West Africa. The 23 papers are published by 28 academics based in 13 universities. Although some academics may publish their work in the plethora of journals that have proliferated in recent years, new generation researchers are encouraged to publish in more established journals. The analyses of 187 publications in the WABER conference proceedings revealed 18 research-active universities. Factors like quality of teaching, research and lecturer-student ratio, etc count in the ranking of universities. The findings lay bare some of the areas that should be addressed to improve the landscape of higher education in West Africa.

Social capital and the role of trust in aspirations for higher education

This paper considers the role of social capital and trust in the aspirations for higher education of a group of socially disadvantaged girls. Drawing on data from a longitudinal, ethnographic case study of an underperforming secondary school, the paper considers current conceptualisations of social capital and its role in educational ambitions. The paper concludes by tentatively suggesting that whilst social capital is extremely helpful in explaining differences within groups, trust appears to be a pre-requisite for the investment and generation of social capital, as opposed to the other way around. The paper also suggests that young people are not necessarily dependent on their families for their social capital but are able to generate capital in their own right.

Information communication technologies and distance education in Sri Lanka: a case study of two universities

Sri Lanka's participation rates in higher education are low and have risen only slightly in the last few decades; the number of places for higher education in the state university system only caters for around 3% of the university entrant age cohort. The literature reveals that the highly competitive global knowledge economy increasingly favours workers with high levels of education who are also lifelong learners. This lack of access to higher education for a sizable proportion of the labour force is identified as a severe impediment to Sri Lanka‟s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. The literature also suggests that Information and Communication Technologies are increasingly relied upon in many contexts in order to deliver flexible learning, to cater especially for the needs of lifelong learners in today‟s higher educational landscape. The government of Sri Lanka invested heavily in ICTs for distance education during the period 2003-2009 in a bid to increase access to higher education; but there has been little research into the impact of this. To address this lack, this study investigated the impact of ICTs on distance education in Sri Lanka with respect to increasing access to higher education. In order to achieve this aim, the research focused on Sri Lanka‟s effort from three perspectives: policy perspective, implementation perspective and user perspective. A multiple case study research using an ethnographic approach was conducted to observe Orange Valley University‟s and Yellow Fields University‟s (pseudonymous) implementation of distance education programmes using questionnaires, qualitative interviewing and document analysis. In total, data for the analysis was collected from 129 questionnaires, 33 individual interviews and 2 group interviews. The research revealed that ICTs have indeed increased opportunities for higher education; but mainly for people of affluent families from the Western Province. Issues identified were categorized under the themes: quality assurance, location, language, digital literacies and access to resources. Recommendations were offered to tackle the identified issues in accordance with the study findings. The study also revealed the strong presence of a multifaceted digital divide in the country. In conclusion, this research has shown that iii although ICT-enabled distance education has the potential to increase access to higher education the present implementation of the system in Sri Lanka has been less than successful.

Entrepreneurial dynamics and higher education institutions in the post-communist world

This study draws on the institutional and regional entrepreneurship literature to develop a conceptual framework that analyses the impact of higher education institutions on entrepreneurial dynamics. It is used to examine the cities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) during the period 1995–2008. Extending the multi-pillar institutional concept, it is found that higher education institutions play a prominent role in fostering entrepreneurial dynamics in CIS cities through multiple channels, including human capital development, cultivating a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship, affecting the perceptions of the knowledge and skills needed to start up a successful business, and knowledge spillovers.

Effects of dietary supplementation with selenium enriched yeast or sodium selenite on selenium tissue distribution and meat quality in lambs

The objective was to determine the concentration of total selenium (Se) and the proportion of total Se comprised as selenomethionine (SeMet) and selenocysteine (SeCys), as well as meat quality in terms of oxidative stability in post mortem tissues of lambs offered diets with an increasing dose rate of selenized enriched yeast (SY), or sodium selenite (SS). Fifty lambs were offered, for a period of 112 d, a total mixed ration which had either been supplemented with SY (0, 0.11, 0.21 or 0.31 mg/kg DM to give total Se contents of 0.19, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg Se/kg DM for treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively) or SS (0.11 mg/kg DM to give 0.3 mg Se/kg DM total Se [T5]). At enrolment and at 28, 56, 84 and 112 d following enrolment, blood samples were taken for Se and Se species determination, as well as glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity. At the end of the study lambs were euthanased and samples of heart, liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle were retained for Se and Se species determination. Tissue GSH-Px activity and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were determined in Longissimus Thoracis. The incorporation into the diet of ascending concentrations of Se as SY increased whole blood total Se and the proportion of total Se comprised as SeMet, and erythrocyte GSH-Px activity. Comparable doses of SS supplementation did not result in significant differences between these parameters. With the exception of kidney tissue, all other tissues showed a dose dependant response to increasing concentrations of dietary SY, such that total Se and SeMet increased. Selenium content of Psoas Major was higher in animals fed SY when compared to a similar dose of SS, indicating improvements in Se availability and retention. There were no significant treatment effects on meat quality assessments GHS-Px and TBARS, reflecting the lack of difference in the proportion of total Se that was comprised as SeCys. However, oxidative stability improved marginally with ascending tissue Se content, providing an indication of a linear dose response whereby TBARS improved with ascending SY inclusion.

Challenging students in Further Education: themes arising from a study of innovative FE provision for excluded and disaffected young people

The paper draws on a research project on innovative provision in an FE college for excluded and disaffected young people. The college offers places on vocational courses to students who are still of compulsory school age who have been excluded by or have persistently failed to attend or achieve in school. One set of themes to emerge relates to the experiences of the students: the role of personal relationships and, especially, relationships with teachers, in the breakdown of school placements; the importance both of good relationships with tutors, often expressed as 'being treated like an adult', and of a vocational and practical curriculum in successful re-engagement at college; and positive but highly instrumental and employment related attitudes to education. Another set of themes relates to the practical and organisational difficulties and the way that a lack of flexibility in 14-19 provision, especially while students are still of compulsory school age, creates difficulties for programmes of this kind. Finally the paper considers the tensions between pressures for accountability and outcome-driven measures and the aims of increasing participation and using education to address issues of social inclusion.

Coping with linguistic challenges in UK higher education: the use of strategies by Chinese research students

The present study sets out to examine the strategies used by Chinese learners in a predominantly naturalistic environment and how such learner strategy use relates to their proficiency in the second language. Data were collected from four Chinese research students in the UK using semi-structured interviews. Their proficiency in English was assessed with an oral interview and a listening test. The main findings from this study are that the learners used a wide range of strategies overall, including metacognitive, cognitive, social/affective and compensation strategies. The majority of the commonly reported strategies were metacognitive strategies, suggesting that the learners were self-directed and attempting to manage their own learning in an informal context. They also showed idiosyncrasies in their use of learner strategies. Attempts to explain the learners’ strategy use in relation to their levels of proficiency in English and contextual factors, as well as several other factors, are offered. Implications for target-country institutions in terms of the provision of support to Chinese students are discussed.

Development of colour and firmness in strawberry crops is UV light sensitive, but colour is not a good predictor of several quality parameters

BACKGROUND: Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne var. Elsanta) plants were grown in polytunnels covered with three polythene films that transmitted varying levels of ultraviolet (UV) light. Fruit were harvested under near-commercial conditions and quality and yield were measured. During ripening, changes in the colour parameters of individual fruit were monitored, and the accuracy of using surface colour to predict other quality parameters was determined by analysing the correlation between colour and quality parameters within UV treatments. RESULTS: Higher exposure to UV during growth resulted in the fruit becoming darker at harvest and developing surface colour more quickly; fruit were also firmer at harvest, but shelf life was not consistently affected by the UV regime. Surface colour measurements were poorly correlated to firmness, shelf life or total phenolics, anthocyanins and ellagic acid contents. CONCLUSION: Although surface colour of strawberry fruits was affected by the UV regime during growth, and this parameter is an important factor in consumer perception, we concluded that the surface colour at the time of harvest was, contrary to consumer expectations, a poor indicator of firmness, potential shelf life or anthocyanin content. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry