Higher Education - Border or Boundary? Can Theatre in Education Help Promote a University Education?

With the expansion and increased availability of Higher Education the progression to study for an undergraduate degree has been viewed as a simple stepping stone with examination success a straight - forward border pass. Changes in the funding of degree courses has established a series of more challenging boundaries to entry which demand a rigorous assessment of the benefits of Higher Education. The Widening Participation Unit at The University of Worcester has sought to ease this border crossing for pupils whose parents have not been to university. Their experience from previous projects was that school pupils more easily relate to undergraduate students whose experience of Higher Education is recent and relevant. With this in mind they commissioned the Drama and Performance Department to create a Theatre in Education programme that introduced an awareness of post sixteen options and future choices to challenge Higher Education stereotypes. As a result of this collaboration Why Bother? was created, directed by myself and devised and researched with four students who were studying drama. Their own experiences were used to inform the character development and dealt with worrying as a mature student about integration into full – time education, loss of income after working, the pressures of emotional commitments to partners and being away from home. The programme toured to two thousand year 9 – 11 pupils in Worcestershire and Herefordshire schools in January and May 2011. Devising and touring Why Bother provided students with an opportunity to work as a professional paid TIE team that it is not possible for them to do as part of their undergraduate degree course. My initial research looks at the effectiveness and limitations of this project based on pupil questionnaires and the experiences of the team which are explored within the broader context of TIE and its potential for affecting attitudinal change. This has given rise to a number of questions that need consideration in the development of a new TIE programme aimed at raising the awareness of sixth form students who are about to make the decision whether to apply to university or not. Collaboration with university students in exploring the value of an education that they have subscribed to raises issues of bias and whether their powers of persuasion actually prevent pupils from making their own individual decision. The ethics of promoting a “free” university education seem much less complex than the decision required now which involves balancing the real value against the high financial cost suggested in the working title of Is it Worth it? This paper will present my first attempts to develop research methods and methodologies that will enable me to evaluate the success of this and future TIE.

The Silent Majority: an Exploration of the Integration of Voting Software within Theatre in Education programmes

I wanted to explore whether traditional Forum Theatre approaches can be enhanced by the use of integrated voting software to empower young people. My research is based on two of a series of widening participation interactive TiE programmes focused on the decisions young people make on educational progression. I worked as a director alongside students studying Drama and Performance at The University of Worcester and the programmes have toured widely to schools across Worcestershire and Herefordshire. ‘It’s Up to You!’ (2013 – 2014) was aimed at years 8 and 9 choosing their GCSE options and ‘Move on Up!’ (2014 - 2015) looked at the hopes and fears of year 6 pupils about to go up to secondary school. Finding a voice in Boal’s framework as a ‘specactor’ does not always appeal to a pupil who does not want to stand out from the crowd or is not familiar with a classroom where drama conventions are practised or understood. The anonymity of the voting software with results of decisions made appearing instantly on screen is certainly appealing to some pupils: ‘I also loved the keypads they gave us so that we could answer the questions without having to put our hand up and wait..’ This paper aims to interrogate the idea that empowering needs to not simply be about giving voice to a few confident group members but allowing the silent majority to be able to experiment with decision making in an educational and social context.

Student attitudes towards cooperative learning in education

Abstract: Active or participatory learning by the student within a classroom environment has been fairly recently recognized as an effective, efficient, and superior instructional technique yet few teachers in higher education have adopted this pedagogical strategy. This is especially true in Science where teachers primarily lecture to passively seated students while using static visual aids or multimedia projections. Teachers generally teach as they were taught and lecture formats have been the norm. Although student-learning theories as well as student learning styles, abilities, and understanding strategies have changed, traditional teaching techniques have not evolved past the “chalk and talk” instructional strategy. This research looked into student’s perceptions of cooperative learning or team-based active learning in order to gain insight and some understanding as to how students felt about this learning technique. Student’s attitudes were then compared to student grades to detennine whether cooperative learning impeded or ameliorated academic performance. The results revealed significant differences measured in all the survey questions pertaining to perception or attitudes. As a result of the cooperative learning activities, respondents indicated more agreement to the survey questions pertaining to the benefits of cooperative learning. The experimental group exposed to cooperative learning thus experienced more positive attitudes and perceptions than the groups exposed only to a lecture-based teaching and learning format. Each of the hypotheses tested demonstrated that students had more positive attitudes towards cooperative learning strategies. Recommendations as to future work were presented in order to gain a greater understanding into both student and teacher attitudes towards the cooperative learning model.||Résumé: Lapprentissage actif ou préparatoire par létudiant au sein d’une classe a été reconnu assez récemment comme une technique d’enseignement plus efficace. Cependant, peu d’enseignants ont adopté cette stratégie pedagogique pour l'éducation post-secondaire. Ceci est particulièrement le cas dans le domaine des sciences où les enseignants font surtout usage de cours magistraux avec des étudiants passifs tout en utilisant des aides visuelles statiques ou des projections multimédias. Les professeurs enseignent generalement comme on leur a eux-même enseigné et les cours magistraux ont été la norme par le passé. Les techniques traditionnelles d'enseignernent n'ont pas évolué au-delà de la craie et du tableau noir et ce même si les théories sur l’apprentissage par les étudiants ont changé, tout comme les styles, les habiletés et les stratégies de compréhension d’apprentissage des étudiants. Cette recherche se penche sur les perceptions des étudiants au sujet de l'apprentissage coopératif ou de l'apprentissage actif par équipe de telle sorte qu'on puisse avoir un aperçu et une certaine compréhension de comment les étudiants se sentent par rapport à ces techniques d'apprentissage. Les attitudes des étudiants ont par la suite été comparées aux notes de ceux-ci pour déterminer si l'apprentissage coopératif avait nui ou au contraire amélioré leurs performances académiques. Les résultats obtenus dans l'étude d'ensemble révèlent des différences significatives dans toutes les questions ayant trait à la perception et aux attitudes.

Handling Heterogeneity in Collaborative Networked Surgical Simulators

Stand-alone and networked surgical virtual reality based simulators have been proposed as means to train surgical skills with or without a supervisor nearby the student or trainee -- However, surgical skills teaching in medicine schools and hospitals is changing, requiring the development of new tools to focus on: (i) importance of mentors role, (ii) teamwork skills and (iii) remote training support -- For these reasons, a surgical simulator should not only allow the training involving a student and an instructor that are located remotely, but also the collaborative training of users adopting different medical roles during the training sesión -- Collaborative Networked Virtual Surgical Simulators (CNVSS) allow collaborative training of surgical procedures where remotely located users with different surgical roles can take part in the training session -- To provide successful training involving good collaborative performance, CNVSS should handle heterogeneity factors such as users’ machine capabilities and network conditions, among others -- Several systems for collaborative training of surgical procedures have been developed as research projects -- To the best of our knowledge none has focused on handling heterogeneity in CNVSS -- Handling heterogeneity in this type of collaborative sessions is important because not all remotely located users have homogeneous internet connections, nor the same interaction devices and displays, nor the same computational resources, among other factors -- Additionally, if heterogeneity is not handled properly, it will have an adverse impact on the performance of each user during the collaborative sesión -- In this document, the development of a context-aware architecture for collaborative networked virtual surgical simulators, in order to handle the heterogeneity involved in the collaboration session, is proposed -- To achieve this, the following main contributions are accomplished in this thesis: (i) Which and how infrastructure heterogeneity factors affect the collaboration of two users performing a virtual surgical procedure were determined and analyzed through a set of experiments involving users collaborating, (ii) a context-aware software architecture for a CNVSS was proposed and implemented -- The architecture handles heterogeneity factors affecting collaboration, applying various adaptation mechanisms and finally, (iii) A mechanism for handling heterogeneity factors involved in a CNVSS is described, implemented and validated in a set of testing scenarios

Design of Polyamine-Grafted Starches for Nucleotide Analogue Delivery: In Vitro Evaluation of the Anticancer Activity

International audience

Combined anti-Galectin-1 and anti-EGFR siRNA-loaded chitosan-lipid nanocapsules decrease temozolomide resistance in glioblastoma: In vivo evaluation

International audience

Experimental study on the impact of using a fan coil in the evaluation of contaminant removal effectiveness of common air diffusion strategies

Indoor Air 2016 - The 14th International Conference Indoor Air Quality and Climate

Research in Education

Research in Education, like any discipline, can not be conceived in isolation. For example, if a person is to conduct research on "Juvenile literature" must be clear what aspect is going to emphasize the overarching theme. For this it is important to obtain what is the psychological approach, social, philosophical, etc.. and then define what type of library material is adapted to this approach.

David R. Cole (Hrsg.): Surviving Economic Crises through Education. Global Studies in Education, Vol. 11. New York u.a.: Peter Lang 2011 (267 S.) [Rezension]

Rezension von: David R. Cole (Hrsg.): Surviving Economic Crises through Education. Global Studies in Education, Vol. 11. New York u.a.: Peter Lang 2011 (267 S.; ISBN 978-1433114786)

In-vitro evaluation of the quality of Paracetamol and Co-trimoxazole tablets used in Malawi based on pharmacopoeial standards

Objectives This study was an in-vitro evaluation of different brands of paracetamol and cotrimoxazole tablets, used or found in Malawi, based on Pharmacopoeia standards, in order to ascertain the existence and extent of substandard medicines in Malawi and to give an overview of their distribution in the public and private sectors. Methodology A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted using 11 samples each of paracetamol and cotrimoxazole tablets. Stratified random sampling was used to collect samples. Samples were analyzed using HPLC and Spectrophometric methods as outlined in the BP-2007 and USP-32 at the National Drug Quality Control Laboratory (NDQCL)-Lilongwe (under Pharmacy Medicines and Poisons Board-PMPB) and Orient Pharma Co. Ltd of Taiwan. The results were analyzed using Epi Info. Results and discussion Fifty percent of samples (n=22) were not registered in the country by the PMPB as required by the PMP Act with the majority of those coming from public health facilities. All paracetamol and cotrimoxazole samples complied with identification tests using spectrophotometric and HPLC method. Overall, 27.3% of samples failed to meet the BP-2007 standards for Active Ingredient content, while 22.7% of the samples failed the Friability test. The results from Malawi are similar in magnitude to those within surrounding countries in Africa. Conclusion This pilot study provides objective evidence to show that substandard and unregistered paracetamol and cotrimoxazole are present and being used in Malawi, and thus posing a considerable hazard to public health in Malawi. PMPB, together with the Ministry of Health, must continue to develop a quality assurance system to ensure that medicines are randomly and routinely checked.

Deficiencies in education and experience in the management of acute kidney injury among Malawian healthcare workers

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common but under-recognised disease process, which carries a high risk of mortality or chronic complications, such as chronic kidney disease and other organ dysfunction. Management of AKI, however, is suboptimal, both in developed settings and in Malawi. This is partly because of deficiencies in AKI education and training. Aim To establish current levels of AKI education in a range of healthcare workers in Malawi. Methods An AKI symposium was held in Blantyre in March 2015. Delegates were asked to complete a survey at the start of the symposium to assess their clinical experience and education in the management of AKI. Results From 100 delegates, 89 nurses, clinical officers, and physicians, originating from 11 different districts, responded to the survey. Twenty-two percent of healthcare workers (including 28% of district workers of the various cadres and 31% of nurses) had never received teaching on any aspect of renal disease, and 50% (including 63% of district workers and 61% of nurses) had never received teaching specifically on AKI. Forty-four percent did not feel confident managing AKI, and 98% wanted more support managing patients with renal disease. Thirty-four percent (including 55% of district workers) were unaware that haemodialysis was available at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) for the treatment of AKI and 53% (74% of district workers) were unaware that peritoneal dialysis was available for the treatment of AKI in children. Only 33% had ever referred a patient with AKI to QECH. Conclusions There are deficiencies in education about, and clinical experience in, the management of AKI among Malawian healthcare workers, in addition to limited awareness of the renal service available at QECH. Urgent action is required to address these issues in order to prevent morbidity and mortality from AKI in Malawi.

Memorandum of Understanding between Universidad de Cuenca and Chair of Hydroinformatics of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education Delft, The Netherlands on Collaboration in Education and Research

English

Improved inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance using bootstrap methods

Two new methodologies are introduced to improve inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance against benchmarks. First, the benchmark models are estimated using panel methods with both fund and time effects. Second, the non-normality of individual mutual fund returns is accounted for by using panel bootstrap methods. We also augment the standard benchmark factors with fund-specific characteristics, such as fund size. Using a dataset of UK equity mutual fund returns, we find that fund size has a negative effect on the average fund manager’s benchmark-adjusted performance. Further, when we allow for time effects and the non-normality of fund returns, we find that there is no evidence that even the best performing fund managers can significantly out-perform the augmented benchmarks after fund management charges are taken into account.

Determinants of Terminal Value in the Evaluation of Companies: A Panel Data Approach to the Context of European Companies.

The uncertainty of the future of a firm has to be modelled and incorporated into the evaluation of companies outside their explicit period of analysis, i.e., in the continuing or terminal value considered within valuation models. However, there is a multiplicity of factors that influence the continuing value of businesses which are not currently being considered within valuation models. In fact, ignoring these factors may cause significant errors of judgment, which can lead models to values of goodwill or badwill, far from the substantial value of the inherent assets. Consequently, these results provided will be markedly different from market values. So, why not consider alternative models incorporating life expectancy of companies, as well as the influence of other attributes of the company in order to get a smoother adjustment between market price and valuation methods? This study aims to provide a contribution towards this area, having as its main objective the analysis of potential determinants of firm value in the long term. Using a sample of 714 listed companies, belonging to 15 European countries, and a panel data for the period between 1992 and 2011, our results show that continuing value cannot be regarded as the current value of a constant or growth perpetuity of a particular attribute of the company, but instead be according to a set of attributes such as free cash flow, net income, the average life expectancy of the company, investment in R&D, capabilities and quality of management, liquidity and financing structure.