The new 14-19 diplomas are leading the agenda for FE-related software and systems at Bett. Subjects from business administration and finance to construction, engineering and health and beauty get extensive resources in the form of interactive courseware and project software.
LJ Create is showing a virtual teaching resource designed to deliver the engineering diploma. The learning materials encourage teamworking and self-paced learning. Awarding body Education Development International (EDI) is launching the Project and the Extended Project - two qualifications aimed at 14-19-year-olds and designed to boost personal, learning and thinking skills by giving learners a framework within which to carry out independent, self-directed research. These study programmes are a compulsory part of the new diploma and run from levels 1 to 3.
The educational superhighway provider, Janet, has come up with Collaborate, a weblink that puts colleges, libraries and museums wanting to videoconference in touch with each other. Collaborate went live in April 2008 and is a resource bound to appeal to vocationally based diploma students.
Meanwhile, two college projects have been grabbing attention. Motor vehicle and construction apprentices at Chichester college in West Sussex have been using POV1 head-mounted digital cameras made by Action Cameras to gather evidence for their portfolios and to replay workshop techniques. And at East Berkshire college, students in engineering, construction, motor vehicle care and hairdressing have raised success rates after being issued with Sony Ericsson K770i phones and AsusMinibook laptops to record evidence of their work. Students used PhotoDJ picture editing software that came with the Sony Ericsson phones and presentation-making software that came as part of the laptops' Linux operating system. These are two of more than 30 Learning and Skills Council-sponsored projects being run in colleges across England by the Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) - visit its Bett seminar on January 17 (12-12.45pm).
http://ljcreate.com/engineeringdiploma
Further education for engineering diploma
Major national study aims to help young people to overcome the cycle of self-harm
Each year, hundreds of young people deliberately hurt themselves. Now a national study will examine the best techniques for preventing young people from self-harming again.
The £4.5m study, led by the University of Leeds and NHS Leeds, will establish whether a regime of family therapy is an effective interventional technique for these young people.
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme, the project involves 15 NHS organisations and three universities and will work with more than 800 young people and their families.
Professor David Cottrell, Dean of Medicine at the University of Leeds, is leading the trial. He says, “Currently services use a range of different treatment approaches but we don’t have enough evidence to know which is the most effective.
“We know there is a link between self-harm and difficulties in family relationships and communication. However, there just isn’t enough evidence of the effectiveness of the therapies used to help these young people, though smaller studies have indicated that family therapy could be an effective technique in reducing further episodes of self-harm in adolescents.
“We are delighted that the NIHR HTA programme has agreed to fund what is one of the largest studies of child and adolescent mental health ever to be conducted in the UK. Through this study we’ll be looking at whether the “whole family” approach, which focuses on the relationships, roles and communication patterns between family members, will enable families to work with young people to help them manage crises and emotional situations more effectively.
“It’s concerned with what goes on between people, as much as what goes on in someone’s head.”
The Leeds-run trial will be the largest and most comprehensive of its kind and will give agencies involved in the care of young people a definitive, evidence-based insight into the effectiveness of this intervention in reducing further episodes of self-harm. Participants in the seven year trial will be 11 - 17 year olds who have self-harmed more than once and have required hospital admission for their injuries – though those diagnosed with severe depression or other serious mental illness will not be asked to take part.
It is hoped that the results of the trial, which begins in early 2009, will inform the development of consistent, safe and effective services for young people who self-harm across the UK.
“It’s about helping young people to deal with their distress – and giving them the mechanisms for coping in a better way than self-harm.”
It is estimated that 10-15% of young people in the UK have self-harmed.
The study will be conducted in three research hubs: Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and London with the University of Leeds and NHS Leeds acting as lead investigators. Services in Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Halifax, York, Greater Manchester, and parts of South West and North London serving a total population of 8.1 million will also collaborate.
Self-harm is when someone deliberately hurts or injures him or herself. In this study self-harm is defined as any form of non-fatal self-poisoning or self-injury, (such as cutting, taking an overdose, hanging, self-strangulation, jumping from a height, and running into traffic), regardless of motivation or the degree of intention to end life. Existing treatment programmes for young people vary widely across the country and include different forms of cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling and problem-solving therapies.
During the trial, family therapy will be delivered by specially trained therapists using a research-based and clinically tested manualised approach. Half of those who agree to take part in the study will be randomly selected to receive “treatment as usual” – the treatment programme currently offered – and the other half will receive a dedicated programme of family therapy. Each family undergoes a six-month course of family therapy or treatment as usual with regular follow-up over 18 months to determine whether there is any difference in the effectiveness of both treatment approaches in reducing repeat incidents of self-harm. Both groups will be treated in the service local to where they live and will receive approximately eight sessions of treatment.
About the University of Leeds/ NHS Leeds
The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK with more than 30,000 students from 130 countries. With a total annual income of £450m, Leeds is one of the top ten research universities in the UK and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities.
NHS Leeds is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country with a budget of £1 billion a year and serving a population of over 720,000 people. The organisation is responsible for commissioning and providing NHS services for the people of Leeds.
About the NIHR HTA
The funding has been provided by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme, visit www.hta.ac.uk/ to view the full project details. The HTA programme is a programme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and produces high quality research information about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest of the NIHR programmes and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with over 440 issues published to date. The journal’s 2007 Impact Factor (3.87) ranked it in the top 10% of medical and health-related journals. All issues are available for download free of charge from the HTA website.
The HTA programme is coordinated by the NIHR Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA), based at the University of Southampton.
The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk
Publisher's recycling of theory textbook leads to fears of 'Wikipediaisation'
Scholars say rehashing of material shows that quantity trumps quality. Melanie Newman reports
Academics have warned of the "Wikipediaisation" of scholarship following allegations of plagiarism and an ethos of "quantity over quality" in US academic publishing.
The controversy stems from the publication of a textbook by Routledge that drew heavily on material from one of its earlier guides.
The first text, Theory for Religious Studies, was published in 2004, when the authors signed a contract giving Routledge the right to use the material however it wanted in return for credit and royalties.
However, when the authors - William E. Deal and Timothy K. Beal, professors of religious studies at Case Western Reserve University - spotted that much of a later book, Theory for Performance Studies (2007), was identical to their own, they complained to the publisher.
Both the author, Philip Auslander, professor of literature, communication and culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the publisher denied plagiarism, arguing that the reproduced matter was little more than standard background information, such as biographical details, not original scholarship.
But after pressure from academics, Routledge withdrew the book and pulped its remaining stock.
A planned series of introductory books, dubbed Theory 4, which was to use the religious studies guide as a template for exploring other fields, has been discontinued.
The case has sparked a number of academic analyses, including a paper by Richard Schechner, editor of the journal Drama Review, who claimed the case was not an isolated incident.
"We need to see Theory 4 as something systematic, not incidental," he writes, describing the series as "a new level of no-shame academic publishing for profit".
"What makes a piece of scholarship significant is the addition of new materials and/or insights and/or critiques of existing works."
He says that Theory 4 would not meet these criteria, and that the reliance of Professor Auslander's book on material in the religious studies textbook was incongruous given that its focus was on a largely unrelated field.
"The key theorists of performance studies are not identical to those in religious studies," he writes. "The Theory 4 series is part of the Wikipediaisation of scholarship."
Responding to the criticism, Routledge said that the contentious series, which was ditched earlier this year, was meant to address pedagogical rather than scholarly needs. It added that it was "an isolated example of our publishing" that would not be repeated.
Professor Auslander has declined to speak about the case. A brief remark in the US Chronicle of Higher Education cites him as saying, "I don't consider this to be my fault." He did not respond to Times Higher Education's questions.
In an open letter, Peggy Phelan, professor of drama and English at Stanford University, implores him to speak out. "All who are accused of professional misdeeds of this sort have ... an obligation to explain their side of the story," she writes. "If senior scholars ... are driven to choose quantity over quality of publication, then we have a bigger problem than your particular case suggests."
melanie.newman@tsleducation.com.
Times Higher Education
