The four ‘R’s of openness and ALMS analysis: frameworks for open educational resources

A significant movement in education concerns the use of open educational resources. By ‘open’ it is generally meant that the resource is available at no cost to others for adaptation and reuse in different contexts. However, ‘open’ is not a simple dichotomy; rather, there is a continuum of openness. We discuss four separate aspects of reuse and demonstrate how these describe different levels of openness. We discuss how the licensing and technical aspects of open educational resources affect the relative openness of an open educational resource. Implications for those creating open educational resources are discussed.     

Researching graduate destinations using LinkedIn: an exploratory analysis of South African chemical engineering graduates

Surveys of graduate destinations typically suffer from relatively low response rates and therefore this study sought to develop a new methodology for tracking graduate destinations using LinkedIn. Research in this area with engineering graduates has also been limited, and thus this study, focusing on chemical engineering graduates from the University of Cape Town, brings new insights to a debate usually characterised by untested assumptions. Following the graduating cohorts from 2006 to 2012, it was shown that about a quarter go on to postgraduate studies. Of those that proceed to the workplace, the vast majority go into traditional graduate chemical engineering jobs in operations, mostly in the petrochemical and mining sectors in this South African context. The study sought to determine the potential impact of the 2008 recession on these graduate destinations but the results are inconclusive in that regard.     

A USE FOR VIDEOTAPE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

In this paper, first presented to a meeting of the Association in February 1978, the uses of videotape to record interaction between mothers and their disturbed young children are described. The particular advantages of videotape in assisting the analysis of complex behaviour patterns are discussed. The paper reports on a long‐term project now in its third year.     

Free: Why Authors are Giving Books Away on the Internet

With increasing frequency, authors in academic and non-academic fields are releasing their books for free digital distribution. Anecdotal evidence suggests that exposure to both authors and books increases when books are available as free downloads, and that print sales are not negatively affected. For this study we interviewed ten authors to determine their perceptions of the effect free digital distribution has on the impact and sales of their work. In addition, we examined the sales data of two books over a two year period of time, in which one book was freely available for the second year. All of the individuals we surveyed felt free digital downloads increased the distribution and impact of their book. None of the authors felt that print sales were negatively affected. Data from our book sale comparison suggest that in the case we studied, free digital distribution did not negatively affect sales.     

Are the Key Stage Two Reading Tests becoming easier each year?

This article presents and discusses some new research on the National Curriculum Key Stage Two reading tests for years 1998, 1999 and 2000. The research task was to use the original categories designed and declared by the QCA in 1998 to analyse the reading tests in the two subsequent years in order to examine the reliability of the tests. The research shows that in 1999, and again in 2000 the reading tests were progressively easier for the children to answer. This was because the number of questions requiring higher‐order reading skills, particularly those of inference and deduction, has decreased each year, while the number of questions requiring the lower‐order skill of literal information retrieval has increased. In this way the author questions the QCA’s declared ‘rise in reading standards’ from 1998 onwards.     

从巴厘岛到哥本哈根的崎岖道路

《京都议定书》是解决气候问题踏出的重要第一步,但2012年第一执行期结束后的后续国际协议还未能确定。要避免气候问题日益严重,2009年哥本哈根缔约方大会相当关键,各国政府必须达成一个能够持续并加深应对气候变化努力的协议,也就是《京都议定书》的后续方案。