Penelope Bidgood

A first year experience of student-directed peer-assisted learning

This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a same-year peer-assisted learning (PAL) scheme, introduced in the first year of an undergraduate degree. The students participated in voluntary timetabled PAL sessions which encouraged a cooperative approach through student-directed activities. An action research design was used, and evaluation at each stage led to subsequent modifications over three years of implementation. Evaluation showed that the majority of students agreed that PAL helped with social aspects of learning but not that PAL contributed to improved study skills or assignment preparation. Between stages 1 and 2 small yet significant improvements in satisfaction occurred, and these continued in stage 3 when clearer guidance was provided. Based on our experience, PAL may provide effective learning environments; however, those interested in implementing it should be warned that it is not an easy option, and students need help to structure sessions effectively.

An Investigation into Using National Longitudinal Studies to Examine Trends in Educational Attainment and Development.

Longitudinal studies can provide individual histories of educational attainment and are becoming widely used in educational research. Two national longitudinal studies, the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and the British Cohort Study of 1970 (BCS70), are used here to investigate changing trends in the educational attainment of children in the UK over time. Multilevel modelling is used to examine variation between different social groups in attainment in mathematics and reading and to examine educational progress during secondary education; the results of these analyses are compared for the two different cohorts. In both cohorts, the main source of variation in achievement is due to differences in social background; differences between regions and local education authorities are found to be negligible. Changes in the mathematics and reading attainment of the different social groups between the cohorts reflect recognized trends in educational attainment and highlight some trends not previously reported.

Are they thinking what we're thinking? College staff and student perceptions of the impact of ethnicity and gender on completion and achievement at a college of further education

This study was carried out with students and staff from a college of further education in south London. The college has a mix of male and female students from a range of ethnic groups, the largest of which is white British. A study undertaken by the college in 2003 indicated that there may be significant differences in achievement and completion rates between genders and between ethnic groups. The college commissioned Kingston University to research into the relationship between gender and ethnicity on student achievement and completion. In this article the qualitative findings from data on the experiences and perceptions of the staff and full‐time students are discussed in the context of the variable completion and achievement rates of the students and results from other studies. The main themes linked to ethnicity, gender, completion and achievement emerging from the analysis indicate broad agreement between students and staff over issues around learning and teaching and written and spoken English; however, their particular perspectives led to their having differing views on the most important factors external to the college and those affecting student motivation.

Physicians’ perception of generic and electronic prescribing: A descriptive study from Jordan

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate Jordanian physicians’ perception and attitudes toward generic medicines and generic substitution. It also aimed to examine factors that affect physicians’ pattern of prescribing, and to evaluate their opinion regarding future introduction of Electronic Prescribing (EP) in Jordan.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study involving Jordanian physicians working in both public and private sectors was undertaken, using a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire. Frequency tables, cross-tabulation and chi square tests were used for data analysis. The response rate was 75.2% (n = 376/500).ResultsCost was claimed to be an important factor in the prescribing decision for 69.1% of the Jordanian physicians. The majority of physicians (77.4%) claimed that they often prescribe generic medicines. Jordanian physicians predominantly welcomed the implementation of an EP and International Nonproprietary Name (INN) prescribing systems with 92%, and 80.1% respectively. More than two thirds of the physicians (69.4%) accepted generic substitution by pharmacists, with a significant association with their employment sector; physicians who work in the private sector tended to oppose generic substitution compared with physicians who work in the public sector. Physicians mostly (72.1%) opposed that generic substitution should only be allowed upon patient request.ConclusionsJordanian physicians have a positive attitude towards generic medications and high willingness and acceptance of strategies that encourage generic utilisation such as EP, INN prescribing and generic substitution. All these strategies would help reduce the high expenditure on medicines in Jordan. These findings would provide baseline data to policy makers to develop a robust generic policy to achieve greater clinical effectiveness and economic efficiency from medicines prescribing.

Influences on Student Withdrawal from Further Education: A Case Study.

Provision of Further Education (FE) colleges is becoming more important to the nation’s education strategy. Much of this provision is in National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ); in 2003/04 almost half a million of these qualifications were awarded. However, in contrast to the situation in Higher Education (HE), there has been comparatively little research into the impact of ethnicity and gender on retention in FE. This study is an attempt to address these issues and, in doing so, to provide statistical evidence for one FE college to assist in their strategic planning. Here, statistical analyses of the effects on student withdrawal rates of the factors: age, gender, ethnicity, studying for a qualification with an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) element and Widening Participation (WP) category are carried out. Our statistical analyses show that, in general, gender is a highly significant factor in withdrawal rates as are ethnic group and WP category. Studying for an ESOL‐related qualification, which is used here as a proxy for language issues, was found to be a significant factor for Entry‐level students only. Age was found not to be a significant factor at any level. This led us to the tentative conclusion that, while external factors such as financial hardship are likely to play a part in influencing the decision of students to withdraw, the different ways that genders and ethnic groups at particular levels of study respond to the college environment, apparently independently of external factors, may be an issue that could be addressed through a review of internal college factors including teaching and assessment.

Grouping of Decathlon Disciplines

The 10 disciplines in the decathlon can be broadly characterised as running, jumping and throwing. However, these simplistic characteristics may not represent the groupings defined by performances in the decathlon. The identification of groups may reveal a recondite advantage for athletes who excel in particular disciplines. Therefore this study used cluster analysis to determine the groupings inherent within the decathlon disciplines. The data set was derived from the top 173 decathletes between the years 1986 to 2005. Six clustering methods were applied to a Euclidean proximity matrix. The highest number of clusters common to all the methods was accepted as the solution. All six methods produced the same 3-cluster ([100m 400m 110H LJ PV HJ][SP DT JT][1500m]), 4-cluster ([100m 400m 110H LJ PV][SP DT JT][HJ][1500m]) and 5-cluster ([100m 400m 110mH LJ][SP DT JT][PV][HJ][1500m]) solutions. Stability tests confirmed the consistency of all the solutions. The 10 disciplines of the decathlon form into five groupings, which can be adequately explained from a physiological perspective. The clustering suggests that athletes who perform better at the sprint/track disciplines may obtain an advantage in the decathlon.