The hidden benefits of part-time higher education study to working practices: is there a case for making them more visible?

Within the UK, part-time study is now seen as important in meeting wider government objectives for higher education (HE) and for sustainable economic growth through skills development. Yet, measures to capture the impact of HE may not be wholly appropriate to part-time study. In particular, the continuing focus on tangible, economic measures may be down-playing, or even completely overlooking, other gains. Data from a longitudinal study of part-time students show that irrespective of whether graduates had changed job or employer, or had stayed in the same job, individuals reported substantial work-related gains from their HE studies. We suggest that current research questions that focus on job moves and progression within the labour market, may well be the wrong questions to ask to gauge measures of benefits/returns to HE. Further research is needed to develop measures to fully capture the social returns of skills acquisition through part-time study.     

Sustainability science and education in the neoliberal ecoprison

As part of the general ‘greening’ of prisons in the last decade of neoliberalization and the formation of institutionalized programs to provide science and environmental education opportunities for the incarcerated, the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP), a partnership between Evergreen State College and the Washington State Department of Corrections, has become the most vibrant partnership in the US to mesh the cultures and institutions of environmental science and corrections. Drawing attention to the SPP’s anchoring mission, which is ‘to bring science and nature into prisons,’ this article looks at environmental science education in the contemporary prison in light of recent discussions of neoliberal science and ecobiopolitical theory, with the final aim of developing what amounts to a carceral political ecology of environmental education amid an ever expanding neoliberal penal State.     

Learning to Performance at Larson‐Juhl: A Success Story

Often companies diagnose a performance gap, selecting training as the solution. Isolated training events that do not take a complete training approach produce less results, including value to the business, than a more comprehensive and integrated approach. What follows is a success story describing how Larson‐Juhl used a learning to performance approach to combine learning, leadership, and change management competencies to produce documented and sustainable results that added value.     

The effect of playing formation on high-intensity running and technical profiles in English FA Premier League soccer matches

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of playing formation on high-intensity running and technical performance during elite soccer matches. Twenty English FA Premier League games were analysed using a multiple-camera computerized tracking system (n = 153 players). Overall ball possession did not differ (P < 0.05) between 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 formations (50%, s = 7 vs. 49%, s = 8 vs. 44%, s = 6). No differences were observed in high-intensity running between 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 formations. Compared with 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations, players in a 4-5-1 formation performed less very high-intensity running when their team was in possession (312 m, s = 196 vs. 433 m, s = 261 vs. 410 m, s = 270; P 5 0.05) but more when their team was not in possession (547 m, s = 217 vs. 461 m, s = 156 vs. 459 m, s = 169; P < 0.05). Attackers in a 4-3-3 performed ~30% more (P < 0.05) high-intensity running than attackers in 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 formations. However, the fraction of successful passes was highest in a 4-4-2 (P < 0.05) compared with 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 formations. The results suggest that playing formation does not influence the overall activity profiles of players, except for attackers, but impacts on very high-intensity running activity with and without ball possession and some technical elements of performance.     

Using shared online blogs to structure and support informal coach learning—part 1: a tool to promote reflection and communities of practice

Coaches' apparent preferences for informal and self-directed modes of learning have been highlighted in the literature. Consequently, there is a need for innovative coach education approaches that complement these clearly preferred, informal routes and better provide coaches with the professional skills they need to deal with the complex nature of their work. Online blogs are one such tool said to have the potential to strengthen and promote critical thinking and reflection on professional practice; however, research evidence and theoretical frameworks for their use is inconclusive and currently lacking. Therefore, the purpose of part 1 of this two-part investigation was to explore the use of shared online blogs as a tool to promote reflection and community of practice (CoP) in a cohort of 24 undergraduate sports coaching students (5 females, 19 males). Four group blogs, purposely designed to support informal workplace learning, were subjected to content analysis in order to determine the emergent reflective quality of blog entries and the extent to which functioning online CoPs emerged. Findings revealed that shared blogs were a useful tool to promote higher order reflective thinking, and fully functioning online CoPs emerged in all four groups.     

Using shared online blogs to structure and support informal coach learning. Part 2: the participants' view and implications for coach education

In part one of this paper, Stoszkowski and Collins showed that shared online blogs were a useful tool to structure and support the informal learning of a cohort of final year undergraduate sports coaching students. The aim of the present study was to offer insight into student coaches' perceptions of their use and experiences of structured group blogging for reflection and learning. Twenty-three student coaches (5 females, 18 males), purposely sampled from the original study, took part in four semi-structured focus group interviews. Interview data were inductively analysed. Student coaches were generally very positive about their learning experiences and the pedagogical approach employed. This was especially apparent in terms of perceived increases in levels of reflection, knowledge acquisition and improvements in coaching practice; changes corroborated by the data presented in part one. A range of reasons emerged for these outcomes, alongside several potential limiters of engagement in shared group blogging as a learning endeavour. Whilst these findings support recent, and growing proposals to systematically incorporate Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs into coach education pedagogy, several key considerations for the process of using such tools are outlined. Finally, the implications for coach educators are discussed.     

弹性领导及风险根源

当前许多学校由于注重标准和绩效责任,对青年人滥用药物、行为不良、不安全性行为、暴力和学业失败采用有很大风险的阻止方式。但这是正确的方式吗?学校和学生能否从专注于促进教育成就和社会道德发展的技能中获益?10多年的研究表明学生的成功与这些计划毫无关系,我们需要另一种解决问题的方式——弹性领导。     

Ascending into order: A reflective analysis from a small open source development team

Open Source Software (OSS) has had a profound impact on the way in which software is developed and consequently on the perception of software development. This paper starts with a brief discussion of the eclectic techniques and processes, combinations of which may be used for OSS projects. A ‘real-world’ context will be examined using ‘Reflective Analysis’ focusing on the research and development team present within the Business, Logistics and Information Systems (BLIS) department at The University of Bolton. The reflective analysis explores some assumptions inherent in OSS development. Drawing on findings from experience, industry and background research, an attempt will be made to provide an insight into how in a small team, the use of OSS and associated techniques can lead to the successful development of software. Whilst early results show that smaller OSS projects may appear to have little or no formal structure with closer investigation it is clear this is not the case. Without at least some degree of management, the teams experience indicates that such projects may be prone to failure.