Asking the Readers

Alternative forms of journalism are said to challenge the passive role of audience members as receivers and to foster active citizenship among alternative journalists and audiences. Yet the scholarly literature on alternative journalism contains more assertions about than evidence from the audience. Downing has described the audience for alternative media as “the virtually unknown”, prompting him to urge journalism scholars to undertake more audience research to help increase our understanding of this allegedly active and civic-minded public. This exploratory study of the people who regularly read a contemporary example of alternative journalism—an investigative local blog covering one UK city—is intended to contribute towards filling the gap identified by Downing. Audience views are explored by means of questionnaires and focus groups, providing some evidence that individuals are attracted to alternative journalism by their dissatisfaction with mainstream media; that they see alternative media as helping them make sense of the world; and that, to an extent, engaging with such media is both a prompt to, and a reflection of, readers’ democratic engagement as citizens. Recognising the limitations of this small study, the article concludes by reiterating Downing's call for further research.     

Graduate attributes frameworks or powerful knowledge?

In this article, we examine graduate attributes as a conceptual framework. We theorise these are rooted in the neoliberalisation of the university and the increasing importance of employability as a marker for quality university teaching. Graduate attributes vary across institutions but often include ‘foundational’ as well as ‘non-foundational’ objectives, such as ‘global perspective’. Our theorisation sheds light on how they are operationalised through graduate attributes frameworks, maintaining these are difficult to implement because of a lack of shared understanding of the components and concerns about academic freedom. We argue graduate attributes frameworks should be abandoned and replaced with ‘powerful knowledge’, which more adequately structures the knowledge, skills and attributes universities can confidently equip their graduates with. Powerful knowledge provides an outcome that serves the individual learner, employers, universities and society more broadly.     

An overview of Prolog debugging tools

In this paper we present an overview of the advances in debugging standard Prolog programs. The analysis offered is in terms of a classification of tools that provide different degrees of activity in the debugging process. Other possible dimensions of analysis are also outlined.     

Teaching to enhance research

In this paper, I present a conceptual argument for ‘teaching-led research’ in which university lecturers construct courses that directly and positively influence their research, while at the same time, safeguard and enhance the student experience. A research-pedagogy for higher education considers the link between teaching and research, but rather than the more usual conception of research-led teaching, in which teaching is enhanced by research, it becomes teaching-led research in which research is enhanced by teaching. I argue that this idea is foundational to the modern research university, but also difficult to realize unless teaching and learning are designed for these ends. A potential model is teaching undergraduates as researchers with students learning by doing research and I present a case study from a science degree programme. I conclude by anticipating the likely cultural and political barriers to teaching-led research and suggest how tensions can be managed.