Does access work? The relative performance of access students at a Scottish university

Since the mid-1980s there have been very considerable changes inparticipation rates of all age cohorts in higher education courses withinhigher education institutions and further education colleges in Scotland. Inparticular there have been disproportionate increases in the number ofentrants aged 21 and over to full time undergraduate and sub-degreecourses.The increasing heterogeneity of the undergraduate population raisesquestions of performance of the different populations of students. Whilstsome research has previously been carried out on the performance of mature,'non-standard' and 'non-traditional' students, existing data is constrainedby the restricted data sets of national admissions systems, and thelimitations of institutional record-keeping. In particular, littleinformation exists on students whose entry route is the Access Course despiteits designation as the 'third' route into higher education (DES 1987) and itsincreasing popularity as a mode of entry from the late 1980s to the presentday.In this study the performance of students admitted to the University ofStirling with a variety of traditional and non-traditional qualifications iscompared. Using detailed student records, fine distinctions by type of Accessprogramme or other mature entry qualifications and by points scores in GCE'A' levels and SCE 'Highers' are compared. We show that performance of formerAccess students bears a relationship to the extent of control that theuniversity exerts on the particular type of Access programme. We confirm thatnon-Access students who didn't enter the university direct from school, butwho came in with a variety of qualifications perform at least as well as'standard' entrants. Our studies of entrants with 'standard' qualificationsconfirms previous research that points scores are important indications ofsuccess or failure. Finally study of a discrete sub-set of former Accessstudents studying Mathematics and Science courses at the university showsthat their performance is slightly poorer than all Access students.     

Teaching Scientific Practices: Meeting the Challenge of Change

This paper provides a rationale for the changes advocated by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. It provides an argument for why the model embedded in the Next Generation Science Standards is seen as an improvement. The Case made here is that the underlying model that the new Framework presents of science better represents contemporary understanding of nature of science as a social and cultural practice. Second, it argues that the adopting a framework of practices will enable better communication of meaning amongst professional science educators. This, in turn, will enable practice in the classroom to improve. Finally, the implications for teacher education are explored.     

Negotiating insider–outsider status in ethnographic sports research

Abstract

When engaging with ethnographic research to understand symbols associated with a club and its fan base, researchers need to reflect on the role of the ethnographer and the extent to which we can or should immerse ourselves in the field, and the importance of the insider–outsider balance. This article details how we came to understand our position as American women studying a hypermasculine English sport, including how we “worked the hyphen” (Fine, 1994). For two years, we conducted research with fans and employees of Barclays Premier League side Aston Villa Football Club. While each of these characteristics (being American and being women) might individually have been a disadvantage, we found that being double outsiders helped us open doors and gain access. This experience allowed us to meaningfully understand the symbols that create, maintain, and mediate fandom within the AVFC community.