The White Paper and Academic Research

This paper reviews the recent White Paper Realising our potential: a strategy for Science, Engineering and Technology (Cm 2250) from the point of view of academic research. It deals particularly with ownership of the White Paper process, with the main policy thrusts of the White Paper and with instruments for implementation.     

The role of ‘pracademics’ in education and development of adventure sport professionals

Understanding and exploiting the synergy between theory and practice lies at the heart of effective education for outdoor professionals. Accordingly, and in an attempt to stimulate debate, this paper conceptualizes the interaction between theory and practice in the context of the education of outdoor professionals. We identify issues specific to the often separated worlds of practice and academia. While acknowledging those distinct skills and competencies, however, we also explore a mid-role; that of the ‘pracademic’ or scientist–practitioner or practitioner scholar, considering behaviours that may encourage greater collaborative work to inform the process and implementation of the education of outdoor professionals.     

The adventure sports coach: all show and no substance?

The primary objective of this research was to establish the range of interpersonal strategies, tools and techniques used by adventure sports coaches (ASCs) to influence participants’ actions and behaviours, and to determine where these strategies were acquired. An interpretative approach was employed using semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of expert paddlesport coaches (n = 4). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to get close to the data and identify salient topics. Five themes were subsequently identified as fundamental to effective coach–participant interaction: appropriate environment, stories told, knowing the participant, formal training and situational context. The implications are that whilst ASCs have well-developed intuitive social engagement skills, these are not consciously or declaratively employed in coaching sessions, and neither are they used at strategic levels to enhance participant development. Therefore, a multi-layer approach is recommended to help ASCs access and employ these skills that has consequences for the education, training and continued professional development of ASCs.     

Quality and Links with Industry: the agribusiness education experience

The University of Queensland Gatton College, in developing its Agribusiness degree in the late 1980s, responded to the findings of extensive surveys of agribusiness employers, and to the Australian government's policy of increased international competitiveness, based on value‐added exports. This response took the form of a curriculum which integrated core business disciplines with a suite of linked case study‐based subjects so as to strengthen students’ views of management as a holistic process. The centrepiece of the curriculum is an overseas market evaluation project undertaken by final‐year students in small groups contracted to commercial firms. The firms pay most of the research costs, with assistance from the Australian government, the students and the university. This unique capstone experience requires students to apply their agribusiness training under strictly commercial circumstances in a foreign cultural environment. Each firm's significant financial involvement is the catalyst for ensuring quality outcomes, because students must meet the expectations of their commercial clients as well as those of their university.     

Quantifying the long-term impact of zoological education: a study of learning in a zoo and an aquarium

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that zoos and aquariums do, as intended, educate their visitors. However, even though most zoos offer a wide array of educational experiences, few studies have considered if the duration of an educational experience affects learning or whether learning lasts beyond the immediate visit. The current study used matched-pairs surveys to investigate children’s knowledge, attitude and knowledge of positive behavior during both a five-day zoo camp and six months after an aquarium visit. The participants of the study included children aged 9–12?years some of whom had participated in a purposefully designed educational intervention. First, the impact of a five-day zoo camp experience on children’s learning was investigated. Second, learning retention was investigated six months after a school tour at an aquarium. Results showed that during the camp learning was positively affected by participation in the educational intervention and by previous zoo experience. Girls were more likely than boys to have an increase in learning six months after an aquarium visit. The study demonstrates that learning persists, but that education can be enhanced with longer programs. Thus, zoos can play an increasingly important role in igniting pro-environmental behavior.     

Television and Primary Schoolchildren in Northern Ireland 2. The Impact of Advertising

This study sought to establish children's interest in TV ads, what credence they gave to claims made, and to what extent ad preferences had a bearing on presents bought for children. A sample of over 200 9‐ and 10‐year‐olds in the Belfast area completed a 10‐item questionnaire shortly before Christmas 1988. Findings showed that ads highlighting action and humour were popular with children, that they were sceptical about claims made in the ads, and that there was little relationship between TV ads and presents bought for children. This article relates to Chris Crouch's “Television and Primary Schoolchildren in Northern Ireland. 1. Television Programme Preferences” in the last issue of this Journal. While the research samples used are different, both articles follow a similar format in exploring the views of children in Northern Ireland and the television they watch.     

Risk factor or social vaccine? The historical progression of the role of education in HIV and AIDS infection in Sub-Saharan Africa

Numerous epidemiological studies from the early years of the tragic HIV and AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa identified formal education as a risk factor increasing the chance of infection. Instead of playing its usual role as a preventative factor, as has been noted in many other public health cases, until the mid-1990s educated African men and women had a higher risk of contracting HIV than their less educated peers. This led to ambivalent policy about the efficacy of education as a possible social vaccine against new infections in this region. Reported here is a cohort analysis of formal education and HIV infection in 11 African countries showing that among younger adults, who came to sexual maturity after widespread misconceptions and misinformation about the causes of the disease were reduced, more schooling is associated with a lower risk of HIV infection. The results are discussed in light of a critique of past weak hypotheses about how education works as a social vaccine, and a new hypothesis is developed. Policy implications are described for renewed efforts towards the supply of quality education as an important strategy to promote public health in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Changes in the relation of self-efficacy beliefs and behaviors across development

Many social science theories that examine the connection between beliefs and behaviors assume that belief constructs will predict behaviors similarly across development. Converging research implies that this assumption may not be tenable across all ages or all belief constructs. Thus, to test this implication, the relation between behavior and beliefs about the self was examined in 2 independent data sets with 2 different constructs: aggression and achievement. The respondents were 6-18 years of age and predominately Caucasian. Results using quasi-simplex structural equation models suggest that self-beliefs become more strongly related to behavior as children grow older independent of the reliability of the measures used. Possible limitations in the use of self-report methodology with young children are discussed.