'Accreditation' of engineering studies: Formal systems versus individual responsibility

The globalization of the world's economy (and its labour market) reveals a growing need for graduate mobility. In this free global market, educational institutions are under increased pressure to show their intrinsic value, to define and guarantee their quality and to show continually their relevance to their communities and national governments (often the main financial stakeholder). Accreditation of degrees (and institutions) by a recognized international authority (or by an international network of recognized national authorities) is often quoted as the solution to address the needs of mobility and quality assurance. I believe that the process of accreditation is not the fundamental answer to these needs. Accreditation in education can be a stabilizing factor in a small-scale economical system, but it fails on a large (global) scale. The reason for this is that any accreditation scheme judges quality in an arbitrary way. The key to opening up free mobility of competencies and to leveraging quality education is to develop a system to measure objectively an individual's competence. A system that makes the abstract notion of 'competence' tangible to anyone, but that leaves the judgement open to the ones who need to judge…     

Play to win! Using games in library instruction to enhance student learning

Research has shown that educational games can have positive impacts on student learning and motivation. The success of a game played in a library instruction class depends on the type of game selected, the development of learning outcomes, and the flexibility of the librarian during class. This article explains the benefits to students and librarians of using games, discusses the development and use of a Jeopardy-style game, and provides practical tips for librarians interested in developing and incorporating games into one-time library instruction sessions.     

Increased plasma vaspin concentration in patients with sepsis: an exploratory examination

Introduction

Vaspin (visceral adipose tissue-derived serpin) was first described as an insulin-sensitizing adipose tissue hormone. Recently its anti-inflammatory function has been demonstrated. Since no appropriate data is available yet, we sought to investigate the plasma concentrations of vaspin in sepsis.

Materials and methods

57 patients in intensive care, fulfilling the ACCP/SCCM criteria for sepsis, were prospectively included in our exploratory study. The control group consisted of 48 critically ill patients, receiving intensive care after trauma or major surgery. Patients were matched by age, sex, weight and existence of diabetes before statistical analysis. Blood samples were collected on the day of diagnosis. Vaspin plasma concentrations were measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

Vaspin concentrations were significantly higher in septic patients compared to the control group (0.3 (0.1-0.4) ng/mL vs. 0.1 (0.0-0.3) ng/mL, respectively; P < 0.001). Vaspin concentration showed weak positive correlation with concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.31, P = 0.002) as well as with SAPS II (r = 0.34, P = 0.002) and maximum of SOFA (r = 0.39, P < 0.001) scoring systems, as tested for the overall study population.

Conclusion

In the sepsis group, vaspin plasma concentration was about three-fold as high as in the median surgical control group. We demonstrated a weak positive correlation between vaspin and CRP concentration, as well as with two scoring systems commonly used in intensive care settings. Although there seems to be some connection between vaspin and inflammation, its role in human sepsis needs to be evaluated further.Key words: adipocytokine, inflammation, vaspin, CRP, intensive care     

Expanding young children’s lifeworld

Cultural Studies of Science Education - The link between science education and early childhood education is still blurred. This is so because many science education researchers apparently, but...     

Growing Pains: The Dearing Report from a European Perspective

The United Kingdom, like most of its European partners has achieved 'mass' higher education and Dearing has tried to come to terms with the implications of this and move the debate a stage forward from mass higher education to the learning society, embracing a much wider range of clients and forms of post school education and training. The responsibilities of individual students to manage their own learning experiences are much nearer the centre of the picture than has hitherto been normal in UK universities and colleges. There are similarities between the proposed qualification structure with stopping off points at the end of each full time year and the arrangements which have been in operation in France for some years. There are other examples of proposed convergence with continental models, not least the increase in class size and the assimilation into higher education of casual lecturers.
In contrast the paper also draws attention to the growing role of the state (disguised as the nation) in higher education and the associated 'juridification' which seems to be on the wane in Europe. Britain seems well set to discover that feature once decried as quintessential of the overmighty European State, namely the avalanche of ministerial circulars and decrees which ensured cohesion and compliance but also imposed heavy burdens on university managers.     

Creating an Ofsted story: the role of early years assessment data in schools’ narratives of progress

This paper explores the growing importance of measures of progress in judgements of schools’ effectiveness in England, with a focus on the role of the early years (settings for children aged 2–5) in providing data for these measures. Qualitative data from a research project involving three diverse school-based and pre-compulsory early years settings are used to explore how teachers and school leaders prioritise the collection of data in their every-day practice, in order to show how children make continual progress. The need for a narrative of progress as children move up through the primary school, an ‘Ofsted story’ for the school inspection service, is discussed alongside recent policy which requires a ‘baseline’ assessment at age four. We argue that there is a reification of progress in schools and early years settings, and that this changes the status of early years within the sector.     

The interest of Bavarian primary school pupils in geographical topics and methods – selected results of an empirical survey

Interest is a central learning prerequisite for teaching. The article deals with a survey among 1600 primary school pupils in forms 2, 3 and 4 (ages 7–10) in the German federal state of Bavaria who were interviewed on their interest in geographical topics and working methods. They were given a questionnaire including 40 items to indicate their individual interest on a five-point Likert scale. The results show that the subscale ‘natural disaster' generates the highest interest, followed by ‘phenomena of geoscience' and ‘people and peoples'. The interest in all three subscales decreases with increasing age. Furthermore, several gender-specific differences occur. Among the working methods, experimenting, films and computers hold the first three places whilst again showing significant differences concerning age group as well as gender.