Assessment innovation and student experience: a new assessment challenge and call for a multi-perspective approach to assessment research

The impact of innovative assessment on student experience in higher education is a neglected research topic. This represents an important gap in the literature given debate around the marketization of higher education, international focus on student satisfaction measurement tools and political calls to put students at the heart of higher education in the UK. This paper reports on qualitative findings from a research project examining the impact of assessment preferences and familiarity on student attainment and experience. It argues that innovation is defined by the student, shaped by diverse assessment experiences and preferences and therefore its impact is difficult to predict. It proposes that future innovations must explore assessment choice mechanisms which allow students to shape their own assessments. Cultural change and staff development will be required to achieve this. To be accepted, assessment for student experience must be viewed as a complementary layer within a complex multi perspective model of assessment which also embraces assessment of learning, assessment for learning and assessment for life long learning. Further research is required to build a meta theory of assessment to enhance the synergies between these alternative approaches and to minimise tensions between them

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions

Building Information Modelling adoption in the European Union: An overview

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising recent developments in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation (AECO) industry. However, its adoption remains a challenge for the AECO industry because it requires a shift to a new way of working, leading to a current discrepancy in the adoption of BIM in the EU. The paper aims at assessing the gaps in the BIM adoption between the 28 EU countries and the barriers related to its implementation. The methodology adopted here is twofold: first, secondary data are given by a systematic literature review, completed with the review of current projects funded by the European Commission, and dealing with fostering the BIM adoption. Second, primary data are provided by a questionnaire survey to classify BIM initiatives regarding policies, the level of adoption and the barriers encountered in the 28 EU countries. In order to grade the heterogeneity of BIM adoption in the EU, we have classified the countries into four categories with different levels of awareness, from early adopters (BIM already mandated) to countries without any plan. The survey has enabled the analysis of twenty barriers to BIM adoption using the four grades in relation to the respondent country. We found barriers that are acknowledged by all countries irrespective of their level of BIM adoption. Other barriers have been already tackled by the early adopters but not by the newcomers who have yet to experience some of these issues. Finally, the assessment of the disparities of BIM adoption within the EU can help the European Commission towards unifying European standard on BIM

Climate change adaptation, flood risks and policy coherence in integrated water resources management in England

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) assumes coherence between cognate aspects of water governance at the river basin scale, for example water quality, energy production and agriculture objectives. But critics argue that IWRM is often less ‘integrated’ in practice, raising concerns over inter-sectoral coherence between implementing institutions. One increasingly significant aspect of IWRM is adaptation to climate change-related risks, including threats from flooding, which are particularly salient in England. Although multiple institutional mechanisms exist for flood risk management (FRM), their coherence remains a critical question for national adaptation. This paper therefore (1) maps the multi-level institutional frameworks determining both IWRM and FRM in England; (2) examines their interaction via various inter-institutional coordinating mechanisms; and (3) assesses the degree of coherence. The analysis suggests that cognate EU strategic objectives for flood risk assessment demonstrate relatively high vertical and horizontal coherence with river basin planning. However, there is less coherence with flood risk requirements for land-use planning and national flood protection objectives. Overall, this complex governance arrangement actually demonstrates de-coherence over time due to ongoing institutional fragmentation. Recommendations for increasing IWRM coherence in England or re-coherence based on greater spatial planning and coordination of water-use and land-use strategies are proposed

Hard to reach and easy to ignore: The drinking careers of young people not in education, employment or training.

Young people’s drinking in the UK remains a matter of medical, social, media and political concern. The notion of transition and drinking styles in the move from childhood to adulthood and education to employment has been central to understanding young people's drinking behaviour but little is known about how the drinking patterns of those not in education or employment both men and women, develop over time. This paper reports on research which aimed to examine the current drinking habits and drinking careers of young people not in education employment and training who are traditionally described as hard to reach. In depth qualitative interviews were undertaken with 23 young people; 15 women and 8 men aged between 14 to 23. The findings are presented in respect of three stages of drinking; starting, continuing or increasing, and decreasing or stopping. The conclusions indicate that for the majority of these young people alcohol is a significant factor in their lives and that peers, gender, time and place combine to structure both their current alcohol use and drinking career. The paper argues that an understanding of young people’s drinking career development and current alcohol use will help target effective social work and multi-agency intervention. Keywords : alcohol; education; employment; social work; young people

Great Britain transport, housing, and employment access datasets for small-area urban area analytics

This paper provides a brief description of three new forms of key datasets relevant to urban analytics studies namely: Transport, Housing and Employment Accessibility, covering Great Britain, developed by the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC). Full details of the research related to this paper are contained in “Spatial urban data system: A cloud-enabled big data infrastructure for social and economic urban analytics” [1]. The transport Dataset contains public transport availability (PTA) indicators at both the stop/station and small-area levels (lower layer super output area (LSOA) and middle layer super output area (MSOA)). The employment dataset provides information on the number of people with access to employment within specific distances from each output area. The housing datasets contains quarterly house rent and sales prices aggregated at output area level (MSOA). The theoretical background for measuring the datasets at small area levels is also presented in this paper. Additionally, a variety of raw data used to produce some of the datasets (e.g. PTA) is also included to enable interested readers to reproduce them

Part 1:- quality assurance mechanisms for digital forensic investigations: Introducing the Verification of Digital Evidence (VODE) framework

Quality assurance measures in the field of digital forensics play a vital role for upholding and developing investigatory standards. Coupled with the fast pace of technology, practitioners in this discipline are often faced with the challenge of interpreting previously unseen or undocmented forms of potentially evidential digital data, content which may be crucial to a current case under investigation. Mechanisms to support this interpretative process offer support for the practitioner, helping to guide them through this task and the steps involved in ensuring any reported information is accurate. This work presents the Verification of Digital Evidence (VODE) framework, designed to support digital forensic practitioners when testing and verifying their interpretation of digital data. The stages of VODE are discussed and its application placed in context

The ethics of fertility treatment for same-sex male couples:Considerations for a modern fertility clinic

Social and legal equality for same-sex male couples continues to grow in many countries. Consequently, increasing numbers of same-sex male couples are seeking assisted reproductive technology to achieve parenthood. Fertility treatment for same-sex male couples is an undoubtedly complex issue and raises a variety of ethical concerns. Relevant considerations include ethical issues relating to the surrogate and a possible egg donor, the commissioning same-sex couple, the welfare of the child and the fertility clinic itself. This work analyses these arguments in the context of modern fertility services, providing reflection on the evidence present and what it means for clinicians today. Herein, we argue that fertility treatment for same-sex male couples via surrogacy agreements are acceptable, subject to considerations of each individual case, as in all assisted reproductive treatment. It is in the interest of open and equal access to health services that barriers to assisted reproductive technology for same-sex male couples should be minimised where possible.</p

"It's really no more difficult than putting on fluoride varnish":a qualitative exploration of dental professionals' views of silver diamine fluoride for the management of carious lesions in children

Background Despite evidence that Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) can be effective in managing carious lesions in primary teeth, the use of SDF in the UK remains limited. This study explored dental professionals’ views and experiences of using SDF for managing carious lesions in children. In addition, it explored what they perceived to be the advantages, disadvantages, barriers and enablers to the use of SDF in practice. Methods Fifteen semi-structured face-to-face or over-the-phone interviews were conducted with 14 dental professionals from NHS Tayside and NHS Grampian in Scotland. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded and analysed using a thematic approach. Results Thirteen of 14 dental professionals interviewed were familiar with, or had some existing knowledge of, SDF. Four had used it to treat patients. The majority of participants thought that the main advantage of SDF was that it required minimal patient cooperation. SDF was also perceived as a simple, pain-free and non-invasive treatment approach that could help acclimatise children to the dental environment. However, SDF-induced black staining of arrested carious lesions was most commonly reported as the main disadvantage and greatest barrier to using it in practice. Participants believed that this discolouration would concern some parents who may fear that the black appearance may instigate bullying at school and that others may judge parents as neglecting their child’s oral health. Participants thought that education of clinicians about SDF use and information sheets for parents would enhance the uptake of SDF in dental practice. Participants believed that younger children might not be as bothered by the discolouration as older ones and they anticipated greater acceptance of SDF for posterior primary teeth by both parents and children. Conclusion Dental professionals were aware that SDF can be used for arresting carious lesions. They pointed out that the staining effect of carious lesions is a major disadvantage that could be a barrier for many parents. Participants considered the application process to be simple and non-invasive and requires a minimum level of child cooperation. Participants appreciated the potential of SDF in paediatric dentistry and suggested actions that could help overcome the barriers they highlighted