Becoming a psychology undergraduate:integrating study skills and integrating students

Three years of action research into a study skills and transition programme for psychology undergraduates are reported. The programme began as a ‘bolt-on’ response to perceptions of student deficit and developed to focus on transition to university. Data from three cohorts and over 600 students show attendance to be associated with higher academic grades and progression rates. The programme has also helped to establish relationships with peers and staff, prepare students for assessments, set expectations about study, and provided an opportunity to ask questions, to work collaboratively and to learn about referencing and plagiarism. Concerns with study skills highlighted by Wingate (2006) and others are discussed.

A virtual learning environment for operations management:Assessing the student's perspective

This paper describes a project aimed at assessing the experience of a virtual learning environment (VLE) among students studying courses in operations management. The project was supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) under its Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund (TQEF). The main aim of the project was through the use of a questionnaire to establish the student experience of using a VLE through an examination of the learning and technical features which they encountered. The study also examines the approaches to learning adopted by the students, through the inclusion of a shortened version of the approaches and study skills inventory for students (ASSIST) which the students were asked to complete.

How to survive your doctorate

If you are doing, thinking about doing, or know someone who is doing a doctorate, then this is the survival kit you need! Rather than focusing on the technical side of the doctorate, this book looks at all the other crucial skills that are part of everyday doctoral life. This candid book provides real insight into what it's like to do a doctorate and offers practical advice on: The application process, Sources of financial support, Motivational issues, Student-supervisor relationships, Departmental and university politics, Publishing, conferences and networking, Career strategies, Written by recent doctoral graduates, the book also includes real examples and case studies from current doctoral students and recent graduates across a range of disciplines and universities. By demystifying the doctoral process How to Survive Your Doctorate prepares you for life as a doctoral student like no other book. See for yourself and be a survivor!

How to write successful business and management essays

How to Write Successful Business and Management Essays is a systematic guide to successfully producing written work for business and management degrees. The authors address the all too common pitfalls of essay assignments, as well as providing students with a step-by-step programme to approach essay questions, both in coursework and exam contexts. Starting with the basics this book helps develop skills through the use of examples, exercises and checklists. Helpful features include: - Annotated essay examples, showing both good and bad points - Tips on time management and motivation, note taking and effective reading - Final checklists to use before you hand in - Explanation of what the markers are looking for – and how to give it to them Many students find referencing particularly confusing so the book provides detailed but easy-to-use information on what referencing is and how to do it properly.

Employment law:an introduction for HR and business students

The Aston Centre for Human Resources (ACHR) was created at Aston Business School, Aston University, in February 2006. The mission of the Centre is both to inform and influence practice through conducting high quality, challenging research in order to extend the existing theoretical frameworks and to develop new and relevant conceptual models to represent and guide the changing realities facing businesses and the people they employ in the 21st century. * Students studying an Employment Law module on a HR or general business degree, whether undergraduate or postgraduate. * Students taking the Employment Law elective on the CIPD's Professional Development Scheme (PDS). * Students studying Employee Relations or Diversity. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, and includes expanded coverage of the impact of EU Law, and Discrimination Law including ageism, sexual orientation, religious belief, harassment and disability. The text is ideal text for those business students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses who are taking a first module in Employment Law. It covers a comprehensive range of topics enabling students to gain a solid understanding of the key principles of the subject. The engaging, authoritative writing style and range of learning features make this a refreshingly accessible and student-friendly read. Each chapter includes summaries of topical and relevant cases, direction to key sources of legal information and suggestions for further reading whilst covering the CIPD’s standards for the Employment Law elective on the Professional Development Scheme (PDS). This text includes a range of case studies, tasks and examples to consolidate learning and includes a brand new section on Employment Law study skills to help students get to grips with how to access and read law reports, understand the sources of the law, find and use up-to-date legal information (particularly websites) and how to prepare for exams and written assignments.

Graduate employability, 'soft skills' versus 'hard' business knowledge:a European study

There is a growing awareness in the UK and mainland Europe of the importance of higher education to the development of a knowledge-based economy. European universities are increasingly required to produce highly mobile graduates able to respond to the ever-changing needs of the contemporary workplace. Following the Bologna Declaration (19991. 19 June 1999 . “The European Higher Education Area” (Bologna Declaration), Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education, Bologna, higher education across Europe has expanded rapidly. This has resulted in questions being raised about the quality of the graduate labour market and the ability of graduates to meet the needs of employers. This paper analyses graduate and employer perspectives of graduate employability in four European countries (UK, Austria, Slovenia and Romania). In doing so it adds to current debates in this area.

The impact of learning outcomes in business education: assessing value, relevance and graduate ability in a multi-country study of employers and business graduates

This paper discusses critical findings from a two-year EU-funded research project involving four European countries: Austria, England, Slovenia and Romania. The project had two primary aims. The first of these was to develop a systematic procedure for assessing the balance between learning outcomes acquired in education and the specific needs of the labour market. The second aim was to develop and test a set of meta-level quality indicators aimed at evaluating the linkages between education and employment. The project was distinctive in that it combined different partners from Higher Education, Vocational Training, Industry and Quality Assurance. One of the key emergent themes identified in exploratory interviews was that employers and recent business graduates in all four countries want a well-rounded education which delivers a broad foundation of key business knowledge across the various disciplines. Both groups also identified the need for personal development in critical skills and competencies. Following the exploratory study, a questionnaire was designed to address five functional business areas, as well as a cluster of 8 business competencies. Within the survey, questions relating to the meta-level quality indicators assessed the impact of these learning outcomes on the workplace, in terms of the following: 1) value, 2) relevance and 3) graduate ability. This paper provides an overview of the study findings from a sample of 900 business graduates and employers. Two theoretical models are proposed as tools for predicting satisfaction with work performance and satisfaction with business education. The implications of the study findings for education, employment and European public policy are discussed.

What difference a writing centre makes:a small scale study

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.

Stepping Stones to Information Literacy: a PebblePad case study

Aston University has recently made PebblePad, an e-portfolio or personal learning system, available to all students within the University. The customisable Profiles within PebblePad allow students to self-declare their skills in particular areas, attaching evidence of their skills or an action plan for improvement to each statement. Formal Information Literacy (IL) teaching within Aston University is currently limited to Library & Information Services (LIS) Information Specialists delivering a maximum of one session to each student during each level of their degree. However, many of the skills are continually developed by students during the course of their academic studies. For this project, an IL skills profile was created within PebblePad, which was then promoted to groups of staff and students to complete during the academic session 2009-10. Functionality within PebblePad allowed students to share their IL skills profile, evidence, action plans or any other items they felt were appropriate with an LIS Information Specialist who was able to add comments and offer suggestions for activities to help the student to develop further. Activities were closely related to students’ coursework where possible: suggesting a student kept a short reflective log of their information searching and evaluating process for an upcoming essay, for example. Feedback on the usefulness of the IL Profile will be sought from students through focus groups and the communication tools in PebblePad. In this way, we hope to make students more aware of their IL skills and to offer IL skills support over a longer period of time than a single session can provide. We will present preliminary conclusions about the practicalities and benefits of a self-declaration approach to developing IL skills in students at Aston University.

Requisite IS management knowledge and skills construct: A survey

A review of the literature suggests that various IS knowledge and skills should be grouped into a construct because many IS tasks require a combination of diverse disciplines. Many studies argue that today's IS executives should be multidisciplinary, while the organizational skills are becoming increasingly important. However, the outstanding issue is what is the appropriate balance of disciplines between the organizational domain and technical domain. For understanding such a balance, it is easier to refer to quantitative proportions than to qualitative descriptions. Therefore, this study suggests a way to quantitatively identify an IS management knowledge and skills construct - a combination that comprises six related knowledge and skills categories suggested by the literature. By analyzing the data obtained in a 1996's survey, two such constructs for current proficiency and expected level have been quantitatively identified. To people aiming at a senior IS executive career, the deficiencies between current and expected constructs suggest not only the direction but also the extent should be enhanced, and the constructs indicate the balance among various disciplines should be maintained.

A randomized controlled trial of the effect of thyroxine replacement on cognitive function in community-living elderly subjects with subclinical hypothyroidism: the Birmingham elderly thyroid study

Context: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and cognitive dysfunction are both common in the elderly and have been linked. It is important to determine whether T4 replacement therapy in SCH confers cognitive benefit. Objective: Our objective was to determine whether administration of T4 replacement to achieve biochemical euthyroidism in subjects with SCH improves cognitive function. Design and Setting: We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized controlled trial in the context of United Kingdom primary care. Patients: Ninety-four subjects aged 65 yr and over (57 females, 37 males) with SCH were recruited from a population of 147 identified by screening. Intervention: T4 or placebo was given at an initial dosage of one tablet of either placebo or 25 µg T4 per day for 12 months. Thyroid function tests were performed at 8-weekly intervals with dosage adjusted in one-tablet increments to achieve TSH within the reference range for subjects in treatment arm. Fifty-two subjects received T4 (31 females, 21 males; mean age 73.5 yr, range 65–94 yr); 42 subjects received placebo (26 females, 16 males; mean age 74.2 yr, 66–84 yr). Main Outcome Measures: Mini-Mental State Examination, Middlesex Elderly Assessment of Mental State (covering orientation, learning, memory, numeracy, perception, attention, and language skills), and Trail-Making A and B were administered. Results: Eighty-two percent and 84% in the T4 group achieved euthyroidism at 6- and 12-month intervals, respectively. Cognitive function scores at baseline and 6 and 12 months were as follows: Mini-Mental State Examination T4 group, 28.26, 28.9, and 28.28, and placebo group, 28.17, 27.82, and 28.25 [not significant (NS)]; Middlesex Elderly Assessment of Mental State T4 group, 11.72, 11.67, and 11.78, and placebo group, 11.21, 11.47, and 11.44 (NS); Trail-Making A T4 group, 45.72, 47.65, and 44.52, and placebo group, 50.29, 49.00, and 46.97 (NS); and Trail-Making B T4 group, 110.57, 106.61, and 96.67, and placebo group, 131.46, 119.13, and 108.38 (NS). Linear mixed-model analysis demonstrated no significant changes in any of the measures of cognitive function over time and no between-group difference in cognitive scores at 6 and 12 months. Conclusions: This RCT provides no evidence for treating elderly subjects with SCH with T4 replacement therapy to improve cognitive function.

The role of the undergraduate work placement in developing employment competences:results from a 5 year study of employers

There is increasing research interest into the nature of competences required to secure a graduate job. This paper examines the role of the undergraduate work placement in developing such employment competences. In order to do this we draw upon a framework of generic competences developed in a previous project by one of the authors, together with data on how these competences are valued by graduates and employers. We also draw upon a survey of employers and students who have participated in an Aston Business School work placement. The work placement year is an integral feature of Aston’s undergraduate business programme and gives up to 600 students a year the experience of working with well known companies. For the past five years we have conducted a survey of these companies to assess their experience of employing our undergraduates on work placements and to examine the skills and competencies developed by students in the learning process. In this paper we compare data from both pieces of research to examine how competences developed during the undergraduate work placement contribute to the enhancement of graduate employment.

Alliance behaviour, absorptive capacity and competitive advantage: a comparative study of biopharmaceutical firms in Europe and the US

In this thesis, we explore the relationship between absorptive capacity and alliances, and their influence on firms’ competitive advantage in the US and European biopharmaceutical sectors. The study undertaken in this thesis is based on data from a large-scale international survey of over 2,500 biopharmaceutical firms in the US, the UK, Germany, France and Ireland. The thesis advanced a conceptual framework, which integrated the multi-dimensions of absorptive capacity, exploration-exploitation alliances, and competitive advantage, into a biopharmaceutical firm’s new product development process. The proposed framework is then tested in the empirical analysis, using truncated models to estimate firms’ sales growth, with zero-inflated negative binominal models capturing the number of alliances in which firms engage, and aspects of realised absorptive capacity analysed by ordinal probit models. The empirical results suggest that both skill-based and exploitation-based absorptive capacity play crucial roles in shaping firms’ competitive advantage, while neither exploratory nor exploitation alliances contribute to the improvement in firms’ competitive position. In terms of the interaction between firms’ absorptive capacity and alliance behaviour, the results suggest that engagement with exploratory alliances depends more strongly on firms’ assimilation capability (skills levels and continuity of R&D activities), while participation in exploitation alliances is more conditional on firms’ relevant knowledge monitoring capability. The results highlight the major differences between the determinants of firms’ alliance behaviour, and competitive advantage in the US and Europe – in the US firms’ skill levels prove more significant in determining firms’ engagement with exploratory alliances, whereas in Europe continuity of R&D proves more important. Correspondingly, while US firms’ engagement with exploitation alliances depends on market monitoring capability, that in Europe is more strongly linked to exploitation-based absorptive capacity. In respect of the determinants of firms’ competitive advantage – in Europe, market monitoring capability, engagement with exploitation alliances, and continuous R&D activities, prove more important, while in the US, it is firms’ market characteristics that matter most.