Placement year academic benefit revisited:effects of demographics, prior achievement and degree programme

Investigations of whether students taking undergraduate work placements show greater academic improvement than those who do not have shown inconsistent results. In most studies, sample sizes have been relatively small and few studies have taken into account pre-existing student differences.Here data from over 6000 students at one university over six cohorts and a range of programmes are analysed. Consistent academic benefit from placement experience, regardless of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background and subject is shown. However the impact of demographic factors on both achievement and on the probability of taking a placement suggests that future research should take these factors into account. The role of placements in promoting employability is contextualised as a secondary benefit to the primary goal of educating the mind in the Newman (1852) tradition. Possible causes of, and further research into, the improved academic performance identified are discussed.

Placements and degree performance:do placements lead to better marks, or do better students choose placements?

There has been a strong move recently to make degrees more applicable to employment; including work placements as part of the programme is one way of achieving this. Such placements are advocated to increase employability, but also for improving academic performance. This paper examines the relationship between undertaking a work placement and the class of degree achieved. It challenges earlier findings that undertaking a placement increases degree results. Studying seven cohorts of students, a well tested approach was employed that allows for sample selection – i.e. whether better students do placements rather than whether placements produce better students. The paper concludes that the sample selection is much stronger, i.e. placement students do better because they are better students. The results highlight that it is not merely doing a placement that matters, but a successful placement adds significantly to subsequent performance. The paper concludes with advice to students and policy makers.

Entry characteristics and academic performance of students in a master of pharmacy degree program in the United Kingdom

Objective. Evaluate the characteristics of a cohort of Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) students upon entry and examine any associations between entry qualifications, type of school attended, socioeconomic deprivation, age and academic performance in the MPharm programme. Methods. A retrospective cohort analysis of data recorded on Aston University’s central database for each individual exiting the MPharm programme during the five year period 2005-6 – 2009-10 (n=644). Results. Entrants were disproportionately drawn from socioeconomically deprived areas and independent (private) schools. Achievement prior to admission was related to the type of school attended but not to deprivation. Performance on the programme was not related to type of school or deprivation but was strongly correlated with prior achievements. Conclusions. Prior achievement is the most important predictor of performance on the MPharm programme but the superior prior achievement of independent school pupils is not seen at the point of graduation. This may have implications for admissions policies.

Pituitary volume in patients with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives

Background: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation has been reported in bipolar disorder (BD), but previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of pituitary gland volume in BD have yielded inconsistent findings. In addition, the contribution of genetic factors to the pituitary changes in BD remains largely unknown. Method: We used MRI to investigate the pituitary volume in 29 remitted patients with BD, 49 of their first-degree relatives (of whom 15 had a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder), and 52 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Results: BD patients had a significantly larger pituitary volume compared with their relatives and healthy controls. Pituitary volume did not differ between controls and healthy relatives or relatives diagnosed with major depression. Limitations: Direct measures of HPA function (i.e., hormonal levels) were not available. Conclusions: These findings suggest that enlarged pituitary volume is associated with disease expression but not genetic susceptibility to BD. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Submission for the degree of Doctor of Science in the University of Aston in Birmingham

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Submission for the degree of Doctor of Science

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Papers submitted for the degree of D.Sc

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Submission for the degree of Doctor of Science

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Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Science. Book by G.F.A Harding; P.M. Jeavons, Photosensitive Epilepsy also included.

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Analysis of the degree of compliance with the EU Machinery Directive.

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Submission for the degree of Doctor of Science at Aston University

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Submission for the degree of Doctor of Science at Aston University

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Bound volume of work submitted for the degree of Doctor of Science (also one book and five paper-back reports included)

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