CONTINUING EDUCATION: OPEN FOR ALL?

The paper (developed from one presented at the 1980 Conference of the Association) concerns itself with experience gained by the academic side of the Open University/BBC partnership. It concentrates upon the different roles in which broadcasting can be used and upon some of the ways in which broadcasting has been tackled in the past within an overall multi‐media package.

The different styles and approaches which could be made within the Open University Continuing Education division are considered.

Within this framework two important threads emerge. One is the need to provide further learning opportunities by the provision of additional educational materials. The second relates to the necessity of subjecting the knowledge claims of television to more rigorous assessment.     

Action research in the context of a school–university partnership: its value,problems, issues and benefits

The focus of the article is on action research in a school–university partnership, its problems, use and the value of the work from the viewpoint of a professor (university teacher-educator)[1] and two deans. The authors collaborate to first define a partnership. Secondly, they discuss the role and use of action research in the context of a partnership programme aimed at changing and improving kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) schooling and teacher education. Thirdly, they identify the problems, issues and benefits associated with such work. A ‘tool,’ consisting of 10 questions is presented by the collaborators for university faculty and administrators to use to chart their initiation and institutional participation in action research in a school–university partnership. Selected problems and issues focused on university faculty productivity, and a college or university's reward system for tenure and promotion are discussed, together with the benefits and the ultimate value of the work.     

More than just a game: the role of simulation in the teaching of product design and entrepreneurship to mechanical engineering students

The purpose of this work is to contribute to the debate on the best pedagogical approach to developing undergraduate mechanical engineering skills to meet the requirements of contemporary complex working environments. The paper provides an example of using student–entrepreneur collaboration in the teaching of modules to Mechanical Engineering final-year students. Problem-based learning (PBL) is one of the most significant recent innovations in the area of education for the professions. This work proposes to make an original contribution by simulating a real-life entrepreneur interaction for the students. The current literature largely confines simulation-based learning to computer applications such as games. However, this paper argues that role playing by students interfacing with technology start-ups can also be regarded as ‘simulation’ in a wider sense. Consequently, the paper proposes the concept of simulation-action learning as an enhancement of PBL and to distinguish it from computer simulation.     

Snap-N-Send: A valid and reliable method for assessing the energy intake of elite adolescent athletes

To ensure that elite adolescent athletes meet their unique training, growth and maturation demands, it is imperative to have access to valid measures of energy intake. Contemporary methods demand close attention-to-detail, meaning that athletes often do not fully adhere to real-time protocols. This study represents the first investigation of a real-time dietary assessment designed using a comprehensive behaviour change framework (COM-B). In a crossover design, 12 elite adolescent male rugby players recorded their energy intake via an estimated food diary (est-FD) and photography-based mobile assessment (‘Snap-n-Send’), combined with a 24-h dietary recall interview. Two 4-day assessment periods were divided into three separate recording environments: 96?h free-living and researcher-observed; 72?h free-living and 10?h researcher-observed. Assessment periods were one month apart. All foods and beverages were provided and weighed by the research team to quantify actual intakes. ‘Snap-n-Send’ reported a small mean bias for under-reporting across 96?h (?0.75?MJ?day^?1; 95% confidence interval [CI] for bias?=??5.7% to ?2.2%, p?<?.001), 72?h (?0.76?MJ?day^?1; 95% CI for bias?=??5.6% to ?2.1%, p?=?.004) and 10?h (?0.72?MJ?day^?1; 95% CI for bias?=??8.1% to ?0.1%; p?=?.067) environments. The est-FD reported a moderate mean bias for under-reporting across 96?h (?2.89?MJ?day^?1; 95% CI for bias?=??17.9% to ?10.2%; p?<?.001), 72?h (?2.88?MJ?day^?1; 95% CI for bias?=??17.9% to ?10.1%; p?<?.001) and 10?h (?2.52?MJ?day^?1;?26.1% to ?5.3%; p?=?.023) environments. Results evidence the ability of ‘Snap-n-Send’ to accurately assess the diet of elite adolescent athletes, signalling the exciting promise of this comprehensive and theoretical behavioural approach within valid dietary assessment.