Reinventing the academic conference: how delegates design productive cities

During the 6th International Sustainable Food Planning Conference, the so-called Design LABs partly replaced the regular parallel sessions. The reason for this change was twofold. On the one hand it aims to break through an endless series of parallel presentations, and on the other hand the LAB’s aim was to produce innovative design solutions for increasing the amount of food production in the city. This article describes this experiment to enhance the delivery of urban design concepts, which could substantially produce more food than current models. During the conference each of the parallel sessions half of the time consisted of a design-LAB, in which participants were brought together around a map with the task to design a substantial amount of food productive spaces in the case study site. The results of this experiment were dual: 1. a very committed attitude of delegates to this part of the conference and 2. the design tasks resulted in innovative design results. These results not only emphasise the potential design measures onsite but also pledged for a strong and more intensive connectivity with the city and the landscape around it. This makes it possible to link the supply and use of resources with the typology of the region, hence determining an effective and productive urban agriculture system.

Cognitive abilities, sociocultural background and academic achievement

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Self-regulated profiles and academic achievement. 'Perfiles de aprendizaje autorregulado y rendimiento acad??mico'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Networks of PhD Students and Academic Performance: A Comparison across Countries

In this article we compare regression models obtained to predict PhD students’ academic performance in the universities of Girona (Spain) and Slovenia. Explanatory variables are characteristics of PhD student’s research group understood as an egocentered social network, background and attitudinal characteristics of the PhD students and some characteristics of the supervisors. Academic performance was measured by the weighted number of publications. Two web questionnaires were designed, one for PhD students and one for their supervisors and other research group members. Most of the variables were easily comparable across universities due to the careful translation procedure and pre-tests. When direct comparison was not possible we created comparable indicators. We used a regression model in which the country was introduced as a dummy coded variable including all possible interaction effects. The optimal transformations of the main and interaction variables are discussed. Some differences between Slovenian and Girona universities emerge. Some variables like supervisor’s performance and motivation for autonomy prior to starting the PhD have the same positive effect on the PhD student’s performance in both countries. On the other hand, variables like too close supervision by the supervisor and having children have a negative influence in both countries. However, we find differences between countries when we observe the motivation for research prior to starting the PhD which increases performance in Slovenia but not in Girona. As regards network variables, frequency of supervisor advice increases performance in Slovenia and decreases it in Girona. The negative effect in Girona could be explained by the fact that additional contacts of the PhD student with his/her supervisor might indicate a higher workload in addition to or instead of a better advice about the dissertation. The number of external student’s advice relationships and social support mean contact intensity are not significant in Girona, but they have a negative effect in Slovenia. We might explain the negative effect of external advice relationships in Slovenia by saying that a lot of external advice may actually result from a lack of the more relevant internal advice

Academic integrity guidelines from Dialog Plus

The Academic Integrity Guidelines (AIG), initally designed at Penn State University, is a small nugget from the JISC Project Dialog Plus which tests students' understanding of good academic integrity. The nugget presents students with an overview of their own institution's integrity guidelines before moving onto completing a set of multiple choice questions. This particular nugget has proved so popular that it has been exported from PSU and embedded into courses at both Leeds and Southampton.

Academic integrity tutorial

This tutorial presents what the School of Electronics and Computer Science expects of its undergraduate students.

Academic Integrity Guidelines: School of Geography's Policy

The School of Geography's policy and requirements in dealing with matters related to academic integrity and plagiarism.

Academic Integrity Guidelines - Quiz and References

A multiple-choice quiz to test a student's understanding of academic integrity and plagiarism. A range of quiz formats including Blackboard, IMS-QTI, plain text and Respondus is available for users to download.

Academic Integrity Guidelines - Professional Values

Explanatory notes on why academic integrity is important for students in their professional and personal development.

Academic integrity collection

This Collection includes a range of resources all of which cover the University policy on academic integrity.

Academic integrity at the University of Southampton

This is a two part audio podcast designed to provide advice and guidance for students at the University of Southampton. Transcripts for each part of the podcast are also provided.

Academic integrity resources at the University of Southampton

These are resources within EdShare which provide support and guidance to students on working with academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism.

Writing an academic literature review

A presentation on how to write an academic literature review for SOES 6018. This module aims to ensure that MSc Oceanography, MSc Marine Science, Policy & Law and MSc Marine Resource Management students are equipped with the skills they need to function as professional marine scientists, in addition to / in conjuction with the skills training in other MSc modules. The module covers training in fieldwork techniques, communication & research skills, IT & data analysis and professional development.