Organic grassland: the foundation stone of organic livestock farming

In organic farming, the components of the whole farm system interact closely and grassland plays the central role in this intricate web, including the arable cropping phase. Grassland is important particularly in relation to nitrogen supply via its influence on N-fixation, soil organic matter, structure and biological activity and it also has a major role to play in restricting the build-up of arable weeds and soil-borne crop diseases in arable rotations. Ruminant livestock share this central role with grassland on most successful organic farms, and the success of the livestock enterprise is intimately tied up with the management and productivity of the grassland

Pre-service teachers’ engagement in a cross-curricular television news project: impact on professional identity

This paper focuses on the impact of pre-service teachers’ engagement in the annual BBC News School Report project on their emerging professional identity and on the evidence they provide as part of the process of becoming qualified. The research reported on is drawn from three years of enquiry. Respondents included pre-service teachers themselves, their tutors as representatives of teacher education providers and their mentors as representatives of schools in which they were placed. The methodological approach was interpretative and phenomenological with qualitative and quantitative data being analysed for emergent themes. Two years of evaluations were followed by a third year in which a set of case studies were developed. The research showed that professional identity is enhanced through being in a leading role in respect of curriculum and working with other staff. Through engagement in such projects, this paper moots that preservice teachers develop richer evidence of emerging professionalism as defined by standards of initial teacher training. Moreover, self-perception of role was modified to one in which they saw themselves, and were seen, as equals to qualified staff rather than subservient to or dependent on them. A new more equal power relationship developed as they took on responsibility for the project. Preservice teachers’ move to become full members of the professional community for which they are training was accelerated

The Nature of Competition Between Forage Herbs, Perennial Ryegrass, and White Clover Under Organic Farming Conditions

Chicory and ribwort were sown alone or with perennial ryegrass (PRG), PRG/white clover (WC) or WC at three seed rates (1, 5 and 20 kg/ha) in fields or in the glasshouse in the north-east of Scotland under organic farming conditions during 1995-96. PRG showed strong negative effects on root and shoot development of the herbs, but it increased total herbage production. WC had no marked effect on herb establishment when it was sown without PRG. Density dependent competition in herbs for different seed rates were higher during early establishment when plant count was high. Competition between companion species was higher during late establishment when herbs and companions were in their fast growing phase

Using Educational Robotics Research to Transform the Classroom Establishing a Robotics Community of Evidenced-based Practice using MESH Guides and the TACTICS Framework

Trends in the USA and UK insist that classroom interventions are supported by evidence of their efficacy. The body of evidence supporting the value of educational robots is growing. However, a perennial problem remains, how can such evidence impact everyday teaching and the use of educational robots in the classroom? MESHGuides are created by an international network of educators who are mapping the research base underpinning educational practice and making it readily available to teachers anywhere in the world. The TACTICS Framework sets a standard for how research information should be integrated into evidenced-based activities and how these activities can be used to inform research. This paper introduces these ideas and shows how they have been applied to the Turtle type educational robot, Roamer

Mobilising Knowledge through Global Partnerships to Support Research-informed Teaching: Five Models for Translational Research

Education Futures Collaboration Charity The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Improving the quality of teaching is of global concern: UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4c in the Education 2030: Framework for Action calls for high quality teaching for all. The OECD challenges the education system to improve Knowledge Management. JET’s (2015) special issue: Translational Research (TR) and Knowledge Mobilisation in Teacher Education introduced the concept of ‘translational’ or ‘theory to practice’ research - well-established in medicine but not in education. Five TR models were subsequently developed by the MESH charity’s international network with organisations in South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Pakistan, UK. These distinct models engage 1) university staff and teachers 2) subject associations, 3) research units, 4) an international NGO working in crisis settings, 5) PhD tutors and students. Each model shares common features forming the MESH Translational Research methodology introduced in this article. A TR repository is part of the MESH knowledge mobilisation strategy giving teachers access to research summaries which, overtime, accumulate knowledge. TR publications called MESHGuides (www.meshguides.org) complement existing forms of publication. This article proposes the MESH TR methodology as one affordable and scalable solution to OECD and UNESCO’s challenges of keeping teachers up-to-date and making new knowledge accessible to teachers regardless of location

Cohort profile for the STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) study:A depression-focused investigation of Generation Scotland, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging assessments

STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) is a population-based study built on the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS) resource. The aim of STRADL is to subtype major depressive disorder (MDD) on the basis of its aetiology, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and brain imaging assessments. The GS:SFHS provides an important opportunity to study complex gene-environment interactions, incorporating linkage to existing datasets and inclusion of early-life variables for two longitudinal birth cohorts. Specifically, data collection in STRADL included: socio-economic and lifestyle variables; physical measures; questionnaire data that assesses resilience, early-life adversity, personality, psychological health, and lifetime history of mood disorder; laboratory samples; cognitive tests; and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Some of the questionnaire and cognitive data were first assessed at the GS:SFHS baseline assessment between 2006-2011, thus providing longitudinal measures of depression and resilience. Similarly, routine NHS data and early-life variables are linked to STRADL data, further providing opportunities for longitudinal analysis. Recruitment has been completed and we consented and tested 1,188 participants

A university-based model for supporting computer science curriculum reform

Computer science curriculum reform in the United Kingdom has been subject to substantial scrutiny—as it has in many other countries around the world—with England introducing a radical new computing curriculum from September 2014. However, in Wales—a devolved nation within the UK—political, geographical and socio-cultural issues have to date hindered any substantive educational policy or curriculum reform for computer science. In this paper, we present the activities of Technocamps, a national university-based schools outreach programme founded in 2003, and consider its wider impact on computer science education, schools, pupils and teachers in Wales. In contrast to successful interventions elsewhere in the UK in building and sustaining communities of practice, certain political and cultural challenges in Wales have largely prevented these successful models from being adopted. Through the consideration of the national case study presented in this paper, we demonstrate the necessity of the nation-wide school- and student-focused Technocamps model in building resilient and scalable practitioner-led support networks. Furthermore, with emerging curriculum reform in Wales, we frame the wider opportunity for computer science education and sustainably embedding cross-curricular digital competencies—along with changing the wider public perception and perceived value of computer science as an academic discipline—as a prospective replicable case study of a national engagement model for nations with similar aspirations of developing digitally confident and capable citizens. To this end, we conclude by drawing out the important lessons learnt for consideration when embarking on a programme of national curriculum reform and associated professional development

Beef cattle output from clover-based and nitrogen fertilised swards over six grazing seasons

A greater use of clover based grassland systems seems likely in future as policies promoting more extensive use of land are adopted by Government at both national and EC level. At Aberdeen a comparison between clover-based and conventionally fertilised systems was carried out over six growing seasons from 1981. The objective was to compare the beef output from two similarly managed farmlets differing only in clover content and fertiliser input. Results are presented here for performance obtained from the grazed swards over this six year period.</jats:p