The mutual shaping of human action and institutional settings: a study of the transformation of children's services and professional work

This paper is concerned with the way we understand and investigate the relationship between human functioning and social setting. The central argument draws on the work of Bernstein and Vygotsky. A novel approach to the study of the mutual shaping of human action and institutional settings is developed and an empirical example of its application is presented and discussed. The research reported here is drawn from a four‐year ESRC‐TLRP‐funded study of professional learning in and for interagency working in children's services in England.     

The Return to Final Paper Examining in English National Curriculum Assessment and School Examinations: Issues of Validity,Accountability and Politics

There are sound educational and examining reasons for the use of coursework assessment and practical assessment of student work by teachers in schools for purposes of reporting examination grades. Coursework and practical work test a range of different curriculum goals to final papers and increase the validity and reliability of the result. However, the use of coursework and practical work in tests and examinations has been a matter of constant political as well as educational debate in England over the last 30 years. The paper reviews these debates and developments and argues that as accountability pressures increase, the evidence base for published results is becoming narrower and less valid as the system moves back to wholly end-of-course testing.     

Playing surface and UK professional rugby union injury risk

Artificial rugby union playing surface installation is increasing. This prospective cohort study aimed to examine the effect of playing surface on match injury types within 157 players of two UK professional rugby union clubs playing 209 matches (96 on artificial surfaces and 113 on grass) over three seasons. There was no difference in overall injury risk between the two playing surfaces with injury incidence on artificial 80.2 (CI 69.9–91.7) and on grass 81.9 per 1000 match-hours (CI 72.2–92.5), with an incidence rate ratio (RR) of 0.98 (CI 0.82–1.17). There was a higher rate of concussion (RR 0.52, CI 0.34 – 0.78) and chest injuries on grass (RR 0.26 CI 0.07, 0.95), and a higher rate of thigh haematoma (RR 2.25, CI 1.05–4.82) foot injuries (RR 4.12, CI 1.10, 15.40) and injury to players being tackled (RR 1.46, CI 1.00, 2.15) on artificial. Whilst there was no higher injury risk for matches played on artificial versus natural grass surfaces, the higher incidence of concussion and chest injury on grass, and the higher rate of foot injuries on artificial surfaces may be related to tackle and footwear-to-surface interface factors.     

Impressions of ICOTS II

The following short contributions are from people who attended the Second International Conference on Teaching Statistics held in Victoria, August 1986     

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Theory–Practice Integration in a Faculty Certificate Program

There is growing recognition of the complexity of academic work and the need for university and college faculty members to develop scholarly approaches to teaching and learning. While structured programs of study have been initiated for faculty to address these issues in various higher education contexts, very little research has investigated the theory–practice relationship of the scholarship of teaching and learning within a faculty certificate program context. This article presents a program development and evaluation framework to enhance the theory–practice integration of the scholarship of teaching and learning in such a program. Data suggest that a broad range of institutional and programmatic strategies can enhance the scholarship of teaching and learning in a faculty certificate program. A scholarly approach to teaching and learning is viewed as both an individual and social contextual process.Dr Harry Hubball and Dr Helen Burt are faculty members at the University of British Columbia, BC, Canada. Harry Hubball's research focuses on curriculum and pedagogy in university settings. He coordinates the UBC Faculty Certificate Program on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Helen Burt is the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her research interests include the development of novel polymer-based drug delivery systems.     

Developing formative assessments for postgraduate students in engineering

This paper outlines an approach taken to produce computer-based formative assessments for two modules in a one-year taught MSc programme in Road Management and Engineering. It presents the aims of the assessments, the taxonomy adopted to ensure that the formulation of the questions addressed learning outcomes related to the development of higher order skills and the choice of software used. Further, the students’ qualitative perception of the assessments is presented together with a discussion on key elements that affected the implementation procedure. This included an understanding of the higher order skills assessed, knowledge of the facilities offered by the software to be used, and the commitment needed to designing, delivering and improving flexible learning materials.     

Governance and decision-making in higher education

Concluding Observations From the presentations of the survey outcomes is has become clear that substantial differences exist between both types of institutions as well as between countries. To a large extent, the results for the universities in particular still reflect the dominant notion of professional expertise, especially where the primary processes of teaching and research are concerned. At the same time, it also has become clear that the role of the central institutional administration is a non-negligible factor in higher education, especially for what we can call the ‘non-primary processes’ issues. With respect to differences between countries, the study shows substantial variation between the countries. This alone appears to provide sufficient basis to question the general assumption of the continental model. On the European continent clearly different institutional governance systems exist, and it would appear logical to relate these to the different ways in which national governments in these systems have changed their policies and policy priorities over the years. However, to shed further light on these differences, a more detailed analysis of the data will have to be performed, for example relating the survey out-comes to differences in governmental steering paradigms.