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Using data from national socio-economic panel surveys in Australia, Britain and Germany, this paper analyzes the effects of individual preferences and choices on subjective well-being (SWB). It is shown that, in all three countries, preferences and choices relating to life goals/values, partner's personality, hours of work, social participation and healthy lifestyle have substantial and similar effects on life satisfaction. The results have negative implications for a widely accepted theory of SWB, "set-point theory." This theory holds that adult SWB is stable in the medium and long term, although temporary fluctuations occur due to life events. Set-point theory has come under increasing criticism in recent years, primarily due to unmistakable evidence in the German Socio-Economic Panel that, during the last 25 years, over a third of the population has recorded substantial and apparently permanent changes in life satisfaction (Fujita and Diener in "J Pers Soc Psychol" 88:158-64, 2005; Headey in "Soc Indic Res" 85:389-403, 2008a; Headey et al. in "Proc Natl Acad Sci USA" 107(42):17922-17926, 2010). It is becoming clear that the main challenge now for SWB researchers is to develop new explanations which can account for medium and long term change, and not merely stability in SWB. Set-point theory is limited precisely because it is purely a theory of stability. The paper is based on specially constructed panel survey files in which data are divided into multi-year periods in order to facilitate analysis of medium and long term change.

This paper reports on a study that took a cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional approach to investigate postgraduate student expectations and experiences in internationalised and globalised higher education. The researchers drew on Giddens' theory of structuration. They explored the way samples of specialist medicine trainees in the UK and pre-service teacher education students in Australia identify and make meaning of their circumstances in an era that is increasingly characterised by greater internationalisation of the student body and more globalised curricula. In this paper, we discuss some of the tensions students reported encountering, and propose several ways in which such tensions might be counteracted.

This paper investigates the characteristics of 15-year-old girls who express an intention to study physics post-16. This paper unpacks issues around within-girl group differences and similarities between boys and girls in survey responses about physics. The analysis is based on the year 10 (age 15 years) responses of 5,034 students from 137 UK schools as learners of physics during the academic year 2008--2009. A comparison between boys and girls indicates the pervasiveness of gender issues, with boys more likely to respond positively towards physics-specific constructs than girls. The analysis also indicates that girls and boys who expressed intentions to participate in physics post-16 gave similar responses towards their physics teachers and physics lessons and had comparable physics extrinsic motivation. Girls (regardless of their intention to participate in physics) were less likely than boys to be encouraged to study physics post-16 by teachers, family and friends. Despite this, there were a subset of girls still intending to study physics post-16. The crucial differences between the girls who intended to study physics post-16 and those who did not is that girls who intend to study physics post-16 had higher physics extrinsic motivation, more positive perceptions of physics teachers and lessons, greater competitiveness and a tendency to be less extrovert. This strongly suggests that higher extrinsic motivation in physics could be the crucial underlying key that encourages a subset of girls (as well as boys) in wanting to pursue physics post-16.

Academic literacies research has tended to focus on writers in context, while systemic functional linguistic research has tended to focus on texts in context. While literacy practices and written texts may be usefully analysed independently, this paper describes how an investigation of genres of academic writing in the BAWE (British Academic Written English) corpus draws on an exploration of the social context of assessed student writing in order to support the analysis of texts with an IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) type structure as members of either the Research Report or Methodology Recount genre family. It also illustrates how register analysis in SFL allows the analyst to gain insights into disciplinary contexts and ideologies through a comparison of extracts from the methods sections of corpus linguistics, psychology and chemistry assignment texts. The paper not only shows how research into writing practices and participant perspectives is combined with text analysis in one project, but also argues that an understanding of both is essential for the application of research findings in teaching EAP. (Contains 6 tables.)

Technological developments are impacting upon UK assessment practices in many ways. For qualification awarding bodies, a key example of such impact is the ongoing shift towards examiners marking digitally scanned copies of examination scripts on screen rather than the original paper documents. This digitisation process has obvious benefits, affording flexible information management and distribution. Digitisation can also lead readers to interact differently with texts, with readers' physical engagement with digital texts differing from traditional paper-based texts. More specifically, it appears that reader navigation and annotation behaviours are particularly influenced by a digital mode shift. A consequence of this is that it is possible that the mental workload involved in reading on screen is greater than when reading on paper. Moreover, it is theorised that this additional load can have an adverse affect on reader comprehension building. These findings prompt questions about whether the mode of marking might unduly influence marking outcomes when assessors read longer essay responses in a digital environment. In light of this concern, this article explores how marking mode influences examiner essay marking behaviours, which in turn might influence their comprehension building and their marking outcomes. This study gathers data from 12 experienced examiners working within a large UK-based awarding body to investigate how mode influences their navigation and annotation behaviours when marking extended essays on paper and on screen. These comparative data are then used to explore a model which suggests that manual marking behaviours, such as navigation and annotation, can influence examiners' comprehension whilst marking. The implications for future developments in digital essay-marking software are then discussed. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

As a comparatively recent development, the adventure-sports coach struggles for a clear and distinct identity. The generic term "instructor" no longer characterizes the role and function of this subgroup of outdoor professionals. Indeed, although the fields of adventure/outdoor education and leadership are comparatively well researched, the arrival of this "new kid on the block" appears to challenge both the adventure-sports old guard and traditional views of sports coaching. In an attempt to offer clarity and stimulate debate, this paper attempts to conceptualize the adventure-sports coach in the context of the existing roles in the field and current motivations for activity in the outdoors. We identify issues that are specific to the adventure-sports coach while also recognizing those skills and competencies shared with other professionals, both in the adventure sports profession and traditional sports coaching fields. Based on this review, we offer a conceptual model which may be used to focus debate, stimulate research and, at a possible later stage, to underpin accreditation, training and professional development. (Contains 1 figure and 3 notes.)

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students' experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education. (Contains 7 notes, 2 tables, and 2 figures.)

This study compared higher education dental undergraduate student performance in online assessments with performance in traditional paper-based tests and investigated students' perceptions of the fairness and acceptability of online tests, and showed performance to be comparable. The project design involved two parallel cross-over trials, one in Year 3 (n = 132) of the dental curriculum, one in Year 5 (n = 134). A total of 266 students undertook related tests of the same knowledge base in both online and traditional paper formats. Order of presentation of the test form was randomized. One hundred and thirty-two students in Year 3 additionally completed questions concerning their perceptions of the acceptability and fairness of the online examination process. Focus group discussions were held with groups of students (n = 30) from both Year 3 and 5 to explore their perceptions of the online format. The online tests were created using the commercial software package MaxExam (Bristol, UK). The results were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the order of presentation being entered as a variable in the analysis. The results of the study showed that for both Years 3 and 5 students there was a high degree of consistency in performance between the two versions of the tests, although a minority of students performed better in the online version of the test. Over 70% of students rated the online test as acceptable, and 90% felt that the online format did not disadvantage them even in a "high-stakes" situation. From these results, we conclude that online assessment does not confer any disadvantage to students. Students perceive such assessment to be both fair and acceptable, and to have some advantages over the traditional paper-based methods of assessment.

This paper contributes to current debates about the contradictory character of approaches to learning and teaching in UK higher education by suggesting an ideal-typical distinction between an academic orientation and an instrumental orientation. The paper suggests that these two distinctive orientations are associated with different kinds of student expectations on entry to UK higher education. Furthermore, the instrumental orientation is associated with an increasing preference within institutions for modes of programme delivery that are compatible with the instrumental tendencies of audit and surveillance. Institutions are likely to give priority to instrumental approaches not for pedagogic reasons but because they are convenient for the administration.

This paper explores difficulties students may experience in giving opinions in class, drawing on data gleaned from the administration of questionnaires and interviews to Japanese and British students. The results show that the students from both groups regard highly of giving and exchanging opinions in class; however, there is a marked difference in their confidence in doing so, more Japanese students stating that they have difficulties even in their mother tongue situations than the British. The paper examines the background to these difficulties, drawing from detailed studies of the students' own accounts, comparing and contrasting them. (Contains 13 notes and 2 tables.)

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to present the findings of a definitional review and comparative study of HRD definitions. It also reports the results of comparing and contrasting a synthesis of the "intended purposes" and "processes" constituting these definitions against various definitions and conceptualisations of organisational development (OD) and coaching. Design/methodology/approach: A targeted literature review was conducted to identify and collate a comprehensive range of HRD, OD, and coaching definitions/conceptualisations. These were then subjected to forms of content and thematic analysis in search of similarities and differences. Findings: The literature review has revealed many "contradictions", "confusions" and "controversies" concerning the identity of HRD. Results from the definitional review suggest two or more of four synthesised "core purposes" of HRD are embedded explicitly or implicitly within the respective HRD definitions examined. Furthermore, these HRD "core purposes" and "processes" are virtually the same as those associated with OD and coaching. Research limitations/implications: The definitions used in the study were limited to those that define HRD practice at the individual, group and organisational level, and are based on conventional and predominantly western conceptualisations. A challenge and dilemma arising from our findings bring into question the notion of HRD, OD, and coaching as unique and distinct fields of study and practice. Rather, the evidence implies there may be a compelling logic for these three fields to converge into a unified disciplinary domain concerned with "people and organisation development". Originality/value: The paper is particularly relevant for scholars interested in HRD theorising and/or developing HRD theories on the basis of empirical evidence. This is because they need to know whether the foci of their studies lie inside or outside the boundaries between HRD and other related domains. It may also be of interest to practitioners who wish to identify themselves as HRD professionals, as opposed to OD or coaching professionals. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: This paper sets out to argue that the strategic implementation of technology is implicated in a range of crises or socio-economic disruptions, like peak oil, climate change and the rising environmental costs of energy consumption. It aims to argue that institutional technological implementation is contested, complex and should not be treated deterministically, but that technologists might usefully consider the impact of these disruptions on their practices. The paper seeks to amplify how a focus on resilience, rather than marketised outcomes, can enable higher education to use technology to overcome or adapt to disruption and crises. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a critique. A conceptual analysis of the place of current research into the use of technology-enhanced learning in higher education is critiqued in light of peak oil and climate change, in order to align strategic developments with disruptions and potential responses. The strategic response of one institution is outlined as a programme-of-work, and is related to a second university's approach. Findings: The paper highlights five areas that require strategic responses to the use of technology in and for HE. These are: the place of TEL in the idea of the University; complexity in the use of technology, linked to shared values; adapting to disruption; institutional planning; and competing priorities for the use of technology. Originality/value: The paper highlights the educational connections that are made between the politics of technology, shared values and socio-environmental disruption. It also analyses a programme of work that is designed to engage with and adapt to disruption. (Contains 2 figures.)

The Changing Academic Profession (CAP) international survey was designed in part to consider the effects of globalization on the work context and activities of academics in 19 countries or regions around the world. This paper draws from a subset of these data to explore the extent to which academics are globally connected in their research and teaching, and the ways this connectedness relates to global migration. Across multiple measures, immigrant academics (i.e., academics working in countries where they were not born and did not receive their first degree) were more globally connected than national academics (i.e., those working in the countries of their birth and first degree). Global migration by academic staff is clearly a major contributor to the internationalization of higher education institutions, yet there was no evidence these contributions led to enhanced career progress or job satisfaction for immigrant academics relative to national academics. The international expertise and experience of immigrant academics may not be sufficiently recognized and valued by their institutions.

Substantial increases in the size of many undergraduate classes in recent years have limited the ways in which students can engage with their disciplines and become active participants in their learning. This paper presents a methodology which uses a basic WebCT platform to improve the way in which students in large classes learn. The approach, termed the Collaborative Online Assessment approach, provides a structured, scaffolded learning environment for students to engage with their peers in collaborative assessments. Results from a year-long application of the approach with first-year psychology students are presented. These show that the approach facilitates active student engagement throughout the academic year, and is associated with improved marks in the final written exam. This improvement in exam performance is significantly greater for students not intending to major in psychology (traditionally poorer performers). The paper discusses the implications of these findings in relation to learning theories and provides a critique for further improvement of the approach. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

The teaching of entrepreneurship as an academic subject, as opposed to the apprenticeship route, is the subject of ongoing debate. The authors suggest that there is a middle road and that, by integrating the business world into teaching in a significant way, the best of both approaches can be achieved. In a similar vein, the credibility of some university interaction with small business has been called into question. The authors discuss how they have used the role of "entrepreneur in residence" (EIR) to integrate and improve research, teaching and academic-business interaction. The paper describes the experiences of the EIR hosted at Lancaster University Management School's Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (IEED) in the UK and examines the outcomes of his work and his perceptions of university life; how his presence challenged internal thinking; and how his fellowship led to service innovation in the host organization. Other formalized EIR activities within and outside the UK are also reviewed; and the authors conclude by proposing how UK HEIs might best make use of similar opportunities, with a challenge to non-management departments. The paper demonstrates one way in which the perceived gulf between entrepreneurship teaching and the business world can be bridged to good effect. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

In many countries, teaching assistants are working in schools in increasing numbers. While they formerly supported teachers by completing low-level administrative tasks, they are increasingly playing a pedagogical role and working directly with pupils, particularly those with special educational needs. However, little is known about the quality of the support that teaching assistants provide to these pupils. This paper systematically examines differences in the types and quality of interactions teaching assistants have with pupils compared with the interactions of teachers in the same classrooms. Differences were found, particularly in relation to the development of pupil thinking, and examples of the differential interactions are provided in the paper. Recommendations are made related to the need to examine existing models of teaching effectiveness to take account of the role of teaching assistants in classrooms and the role of teachers managing teaching assistants. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

The rank-ordering method for standard maintaining was designed for the purpose of mapping a known cut-score (e.g. a grade boundary mark) on one test to an equivalent point on the test score scale of another test, using holistic expert judgements about the quality of exemplars of examinees' work (scripts). It is a novel application of an old technique (Thurstone's paired comparison method for scaling psychological stimuli), and one that can be applied when the more familiar methods of statistical equating or item banking are not possible. How should a method like this be evaluated? If the correct mapping were known, then the outcome of a rank-ordering exercise could be compared against that. However, in the contexts for which the method was designed, there is no "right answer". This paper presents an evaluation of the rank-ordering method in terms of its rationale, its psychological validity and the stability of the outcome when various factors incidental to the method are varied (e.g. the number of judges, the number of scripts to be ranked, methods of data modelling and analysis). (Contains 5 figures, 6 tables and 7 notes.)

Part-time study is one of the foci of the widening participation agenda in the UK. The experiences of part-time students, however, have received remarkably little attention from scholars, especially in a comparative context. This paper explores existing historical data going back over a decade to identify the main themes of part-time experience at a number of UK higher education institutions and how it compares and contrasts with the full-time experience. The surveys use the Student Satisfaction Approach. The main themes emerging from institutional survey data over time are the work/family/study balance, assessment and feedback, access to learning and catering resources, and students' financial situation. There is sometimes a question of identity, but unlike many studies of part-time student experience, which focus on aspects of disadvantage, social, and cultural capital, the data for this paper indicate that many part-time students have a sense of themselves as being ignored or at worst marginalised in contemporary higher education. (Contains 1 note and 7 tables.)

The paper opens with a discussion of some of the methodological difficulties inherent in comparative educational research, and outlines ways in which systemic inequalities in doing comparative work can be reduced. The social circumstances in Thanet and Lille are delineated, and the paper then considers structural differences in denominational education delivery in approximately matched schools in the two regions. Structural reasons for the differences in the delivery are explored, a Marxist analysis of the circumstances is proposed, and the paper closes with some conclusions concerning the functions and validity of denominational education, and the deleterious effect it has on social exclusion. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

This paper has two aims. It considers what social inclusion could offer young people and the youth sector in Australia, and it reflects on how social inclusion has shaped the youth policy environment in Australia. It is argued that in order to consider these issues, it is necessary to understand social inclusion's history. Using a methodology of policy analysis based on Bacchi's (2009) approach, this paper explores the policy context of social inclusion in Europe and the United Kingdom, offering these as a comparison with Australia. It is argued that social inclusion is a policy chimera, and that it plays all-too-familiar roles in policies that target young people.

Higher education institutions seem to be becoming increasingly flexible with different functions. Most universities' mission statements involve teaching, research and service, but while the teaching and research missions are clearly defined and located within certain areas of the university activities, service is less clear and more ambiguous, assuming an increasingly important and central catchphrase in many higher education institutions' publicity or 'marketing' strategies. As little research has come out to understand and locate the place of service in relation to the other core activities, an understanding of it could be useful in comprehending the wider implication of utilitarian-driven higher education policies and developing effective frameworks to rethink policy and practice. Based on two case studies, this paper argues that service, rather than being simply one of three functions, is a broad concept that covers the core activities and is influenced by the context of universities. (Contains 4 notes.)

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on developing critical understanding in human resource management (HRM) students in Aston Business School, UK. The paper reveals that innovative teaching methods encourage deep approaches to study, an indicator of students reaching their own understanding of material and ideas. This improves student employability and satisfies employer need. Design/methodology/approach: Student response to two second year business modules, matched for high student approval rating, was collected through focus group discussion. One module was taught using EBL and the story method, whilst the other used traditional teaching methods. Transcripts were analysed and compared using the structure of the ASSIST measure. Findings: Critical understanding and transformative learning can be developed through the innovative teaching methods of enquiry-based learning (EBL) and the story method. Research limitations/implications: The limitation is that this is a single case study comparing and contrasting two business modules. The implication is that the study should be replicated and developed in different learning settings, so that there are multiple data sets to confirm the research finding. Practical implications: Future curriculum development, especially in terms of HE, still needs to encourage students and lecturers to understand more about the nature of knowledge and how to learn. The application of EBL and the story method is described in a module case study--"Strategy for Future Leaders". Originality/value: This is a systematic and comparative study to improve understanding of how students and lecturers learn and of the context in which the learning takes place. (Contains 2 tables.)

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test linkings, in particular between the linking frameworks in the United States and the United Kingdom. He mentions that the "theory of linking remains poorly developed" and indicates that perhaps the lack of a theory is the cause of the significant differences in the existing linking frameworks. He also points out that there are no agreed-upon criteria for evaluating the results of linking. In the second part of the paper, Newton introduces alternative ideas for defining a linking between two tests. In this article, the author presents her analysis of Newton's alternative view of linking and introduces her own perspective on linking tests. The classification of linkings as given in Holland and Dorans (2006) is mainly driven by the definition of an appropriate educational assessment. The author discusses five requirements that are imposed on an educational assessment. In conclusion, she welcomes a challenge to the current framework and a refreshing view on the usefulness of test linking.

Between 1963 and 2009, there have been 13 published studies offering empirical evidence on biology fieldwork in schools and colleges in the UK. This paper considers the evidence from these studies relating to work with 16-19 year old students undertaking academic study beyond the compulsory years of schooling; advanced ("A") level. It analyses data concerning the amount and type of fieldwork experience students were offered and the factors that influence opportunity for such study. A multi-method approach is used, involving historical research, content and critical analysis as well as secondary analysis, in order to explore: (1) whether there has been a reduction in the fieldwork opportunities offered to 16-19 year olds, as has been claimed by Government and national bodies such as Parliament, the British Ecological Society (BES) and the Field Studies Council (FSC); and (2) the factors affecting the provision of biology fieldwork in the UK. The findings suggest that fieldwork provision in biology is declining and that eight factors have contributed to this decline. The paper concludes by identifying the implications for researchers, policy formers and those responsible for pre-service teacher training. (Contains 5 tables.)

Purpose: The paper's purpose is to test: whether there are significant differences between England and Israel, in terms of perceptions of market orientation (MO) in higher education (HE); which MO dimensions (student, competition, intra-functional) indicate more positive attitudes and whether the differences are significant; and the reliability of the instrument for using a larger sample of respondents internationally. Design/methodology/approach: A comparative (online) survey of 68 academics in England and Israel was conducted during the academic year 2007. The MO questionnaire used comprises 32 factor items rated on a six-point scale, categorised using three headings: market (student-customer) orientation; competitor orientation; and inter-functional coordination. Findings: Overall, academics in both countries indicated that their HE institution is oriented towards meeting students' needs and desires, and cares for students' well-being, teaching and learning. In addition, the respondents alluded to their contribution to internal marketing, i.e. to the promotion of their university through their own work tasks and performance. Research limitations/implications: The study was restricted to a comparison of only two universities, one in Israel and one in England, and the sample size is small. Practical implications: The meeting of student needs, and a student centred approach can be an institutional mission, as well as a government driven initiative imposed on universities through the introduction of a market. Originality/value: As MO frequently underpins the development and implementation of successful organisation-environment relationships, the current paper is a first attempt to trace the contextual determinants of this orientation by comparing its frequencies and elements in two different HE systems. (Contains 4 tables.)

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the pre-service teachers from Singapore and the UK on their self-reported attitude towards computer use (ATCU) by employing the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the research framework. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 395 pre-service teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to three constructs: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU) and ATCU. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis. Findings: The results of this paper show that there are full configural and metric invariance, and partial scalar invariance and factor variance. In addition, it is found that pre-service teachers' attitudes towards computer use in the UK are less affected by PU compared to their counterparts in Singapore. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the growing interest among technology acceptance researchers in expanding and extending the TAM to explain users' ATCU. Although much research has been conducted using the TAM, comparisons across different cultural users are few. This paper shows the similarities and differences of two culturally diverse technology users: Singapore and the UK. The use of multi-group invariance analysis as part of the SEM framework allow more complex analysis to be conducted, relative to the t-test that is commonly used to compare mean differences between two groups. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore the learning process associated with international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integration strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs a comparative case study methodology, utilising qualitative data through in-depth interviews with top management responsible for integration strategies. Three pairs of major international firms from the USA and the UK, USA and Sweden and USA and Germany were studied. Findings: The paper empirically demonstrates that careful and well-planned integration strategies are responsible for sustainable learning occurring, leading to desirable synergies between firms engaged in a merger process. Research limitations/implications: The interviews took place at higher/top levels of the organisations. A more comprehensive picture would include other lower levels of each organisation structure. Practical implications: Based on the data analysis, an integrative model for learning related to M&A is developed. This model would help organisations, planning on engaging in international M&A activity, to maximise the learning from the process. Originality/value: This is a practical/empirical study, supporting the available theory on the subject in the literature. The research approach was innovative, as it collected relevant data from top executive board members, exploring their own views on the barriers for learning and on the ways to minimise them. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a study into how a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world (Second Life) can facilitate socialisation and team working among students working on a team project at a distance. This models the situation in many commercial sectors where work is increasingly being conducted across time zones and between multiple teams. Collaboration in these geographically distributed teams is virtual rather than through face-to-face interactions. The paper investigates how a virtual world such as Second Life compares to other collaboration tools such as instant messaging or Skype; and the challenges that students experience in becoming acquainted with and working in Second Life. Design/methodology/approach: The paper has employed a qualitative research methodology involving data collection through group interviews, epistolary (email) interviews and semi-structured individual interviews. The data have been analysed by applying the inductive analysis technique. Findings: The analysis is presented through answers to questions which educators may have about the effectiveness of virtual worlds in supporting collaboration in virtual teams. Research limitations/implications: The paper highlights the pedagogical role of 3D virtual worlds in supporting communication, team working and community building. The methodology will be of interest to researchers in the area of virtual worlds as there is little guidance in the literature about how to evaluate student experiences of these environments. Practical implications: The research reported in this paper is timely and significant in view of current business scenarios such as the challenges of a globally distributed work-place, the need to offer training to develop employees' skills of working in distributed environments and to meet changing market needs. Furthermore, the research will support the development of a coordinated response to the Leitch review of skills in the UK, which identified issues of resource-intensive travel, global warming and the need for businesses to be seen as "green" for customer attraction and retention. Originality/value: The paper discusses the role of 3D virtual worlds in supporting student team projects involving students who are geographically dispersed. The sense of visual presence and of place in a 3D world can make socialising in a virtual world, a more "human" experience than in 2D environments such as web sites, e-mail, wikis and blogs, and even phone or video-conferencing. The research reported in this paper could enhance uptake of 3D virtual worlds by organisations facing the challenges of facilitating socialisation and knowledge sharing in a distributed workforce. (Contains 5 figures and 21 notes.)

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the concept of Winnicott's intermediate space as a method of understanding the role of learning spaces in the development of technology-enhanced educational organisations. Design/methodology/approach: The approach takes the form of a comparative analysis of interaction within face-to-face and online learning environments. Data were collected from two cohorts of students, audio recordings of face-to-face seminars were made, and all of the discussion boards were analysed. The paper explores whether online discussion groups can be said, in Winncottian terms, to provide a "good enough" environment. The analysis focuses on introductory discussions and uses Sacks's concept of false-firsts to describe the ways in which preliminary issues are dealt with in face-to-face seminars, and proceeds to examine how these occur in online environments. Findings: The findings suggest a pedagogical basis to consider the learner's personal need for connection between experiences, imaginations and the real world. From the analysis, online discussion environments can be said to encourage learning in an intermediate space where students can, independently of the tutor, engage in the educational experience at hand. Originality/value: The concept of intermediate space has value as a method of conceptualising more open educational environments, both virtual and physical. Furthermore, it has the potential to provide a framework within which emerging issues of space, place, and the learner can be considered. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper examines the extent of and the mechanisms behind the penalty to motherhood in six European countries. Each country provides different levels of support for maternal employment allowing us to determine institutional effects on labour market outcome. While mothers tend to earn less than non-mothers, the penalty to motherhood is considerably lower in countries with policy support for working mothers. The paper establishes the United Kingdom and West Germany to have the least policy support for working mothers as well as the largest penalties to motherhood.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s teacher preparation for the schools sector in the United Kingdom was subject to a series of reforms and innovations including the establishment of new institutional arrangements to oversee the sector, namely the Teacher Training Agency (TTA--now the Training and Development Agency, TDA). Since 2002 the arrangements for training teachers in the broadly defined learning and skills sector have also been subject to scrutiny and a wide-ranging reform agenda has been put forward by the Government. This paper examines the key reforms using a three stage model to analyse the policy development process and discusses the functions and status of the sector skills council, Learning UK (LLUK), in order to examine its relationships with external stakeholders. Contrasts are made with the approach adopted by the TTA during the reform of teacher training for school. The paper concludes with a tentative assessment of the progress of the reform agenda and the identification of a number of salient issues that warrant further research.

The Bologna Process is fostering a change in higher education systems in order to attain the objectives of educational convergence, comparability and mobility of students and academics. As a consequence, the structure of degrees, syllabuses, pedagogy and evaluation and assessment systems (for students, teaching staff and programmes) must be revised. The present paper presents a comparative analysis from an accounting education perspective of the educational context in the United Kingdom (UK) and Spain identifying differences in their institutional characteristics, culture, etc. This paper evidences that a comparative analysis of the conditioning factors of the change will be necessary to facilitate any implementation. (Contains 3 tables and 6 footnotes.)

Background: After a century of educational psychology, eminent commentators are still lamenting problems besetting the appropriate relating of psychological insights to teaching design, a situation not helped by the persistence of crude assumptions concerning the nature of pedagogical effectiveness. Aims: To propose an analytical or meta-theoretical framework based on the concept of learning promotion potential (LPP) as a basis for understanding the basic relationship between psychological insights and teaching strategies, and to draw out implications for psychology-based pedagogical design, development and research. Method: This is a theoretical and meta-theoretical paper relying mainly on conceptual analysis, though also calling on psychological theory and research. Content: Since teaching consists essentially in activity designed to promote learning, it follows that a teaching strategy has the potential in principle to achieve particular kinds of learning gains (LPP) to the extent that it embodies or stimulates the relevant learning processes on the part of learners and enables the teacher's functions of on-line monitoring and assistance for such learning processes. Whether a teaching strategy actually does realize its LPP by way of achieving its intended learning goals depends also on the quality of its implementation, in conjunction with other factors in the situated interaction that teaching always involves. The core role of psychology is to provide well-grounded indication of the nature of such learning processes and the teaching functions that support them, rather than to directly generate particular ways of teaching. A critically eclectic stance towards potential sources of psychological insight is argued for. Applying this framework, the paper proposes five kinds of issue to be attended to in the design and evaluation of psychology-based pedagogy. Other work proposing comparable ideas is briefly reviewed, with particular attention to similarities and a key difference with the ideas of Oser and Baeriswyl (2001).

The aim of this paper is to describe vocabulary use during semi-spontaneous oral production among instructed learners of French and Spanish at two different stages in the UK educational system: year 9 (near beginners) and year 13 (approximately low-intermediates). The paper mainly focuses on comparing lexical diversity (range or variety of vocabulary used) across languages and across years, including analyses of different word classes. The data are taken from two publicly available learner language oral corpora. These corpora are described briefly, before the details and results of the current study are presented. It is hoped that the oral task, the measures and the results will provide points of reference for teachers, given that there are few, if any, such points of reference currently available. (Contains 9 tables and 2 notes.)

Purpose: This paper aims to summarise the methods and main findings of a study of the environmental impacts of providing higher education (HE) courses by campus-based and distance/open-learning methods. Design/methodology/approach: The approach takes the form of an environmental audit, with data from surveys of 20 UK courses--13 campus-based, seven print-based and online distance learning courses--covering travel, paper and print consumption, computing, accommodation, and campus site impacts. Results were converted into energy and CO[subscript 2] emissions per student per 100 hours of degree study. Findings: Distance learning HE courses involve 87 per cent less energy and 85 per cent lower CO[subscript 2] emissions than the full-time campus-based courses. Part-time campus HE courses reduce energy and CO[subscript 2] emissions by 65 and 61 per cent, respectively, compared with full-time campus courses. The lower impacts of part-time and distance compared with full-time campus courses is mainly due to a reduction in student travel and elimination of much energy consumption of students' housing, plus economies in campus site utilisation. E-learning appears to offer only relatively small energy and emissions reductions (20 and 12 per cent, respectively) compared with mainly print-based distance learning courses, mainly because online learning requires more energy for computing and paper for printing. Research limitations/implications: Assumptions were made in order to calculate the energy and emissions arising from the different HE systems. For example, it was decided to include all the energy consumed in term-time accommodation for full-time campus students while part-time campus and distance learning students live at home, only requiring additional heating and lighting for study. Future studies could include more distance and blended learning courses offered by institutions other than the UK Open University and impacts other than CO[subscript 2] emissions. Practical implications: Existing HE sustainability programmes should be broadened beyond considering campus site impacts and "greening the curriculum". Indeed, were HE expansion to take environmental impacts seriously, then part-time and distance education should be prioritised over increasing full-time provision. This appears compatible with the Leitch Review of Skills on continuing education and training for the UK workforce. Originality/value: The paper represents the only existing quantitative study of this issue. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine trends in smoking prevalence among adolescents and young adults in the UK and to identify any developments in health education theory and practice relating to adolescent tobacco use since 2000. The implications of such research are discussed. Design/methodology/approach: A literature search was conducted focusing on UK studies covering the period 2000-2007. Findings: Since the start of the new millennium a slight downward shift in smoking prevalence has been recorded among 11-15 year olds after at least two decades of little change. International studies suggest that smoking rates among British adolescents are below the average of other European nations. Greater declines in smoking have been evident in young adult smokers. Smoking uptake occurs in response to a range of factors. Recent research has provided further insight into the psychology of young people although young people's attitudes towards smoking do not necessarily predict smoking uptake. Although there is a correlation between smoking uptake and other substance use, the evidence to support the gateway theory is inconclusive. Youth smoking prevention programmes devised by the tobacco industry may do more harm than good and the motives for providing such schemes are questionable. Despite extensive research, there is little evidence that school-based smoking education programmes have a lasting impact on youth smoking prevalence. By contrast, population-wide measures are more likely to result in the de-normalisation of smoking and have a stronger influence on youth smoking. Health educators should support government and other agency initiatives to reduce smoking across the population as a whole rather than focusing on purely youth-oriented campaigns. Originality/value: This paper examines trends in youth smoking in the UK since the millennium. In addition it provides a comparison with international trends and points to the value of population-wide tobacco control measures. It will be of interest to those involved with health and education. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a "partnership-research" study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour within the "local government" setting of the Wolverhampton City Council Social Care Department, and to describe how the research supports and challenges the organisation's existing "leadership and management behavioural competency framework". Additionally, it reveals and discusses the extent to which the results are consistent with equivalent and comparable findings from an equivalent study within a "central government" department. Design/methodology/approach: Concrete examples of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) of Flanagan, and the obtained data were analysed using content and thematic analytic methods. Findings: The paper finds that from a total of 218 usable critical incidents 50 discrete behavioural items were identified, of which 25 were examples of "effective" and 25 of "ineffective" behaviour. A comparison against equivalent findings from the "central government" study revealed high degrees of overlap with 92 per cent of the "effective" and 96 per cent of the "ineffective" behavioural items being the same as, similar to, or containing some congruence of meaning. Research limitations/implications: Although the number of CIT informants (n = 40) falls at the top end of the typical sample range for qualitative research, it is possible that data collection "saturation" has not been reached. Whereas the subject of the present "local government" study was first line and middle managers, the focus of the compared "central government" study also included senior managers. Originality/value: The results of this replica research lend additional empirical support to those who believe in "generic" and "universalistic" explanations of managerial and leadership effectiveness. (Contains 4 tables.)

The list of barriers and enablers that influence the use of open educational resources (OER) is extensive. Factors and influences relating to reuse may have been noted within projects, operating within a short time span, or within specific conditions which limit generalizability. Evidence of reuse in practice has often emerged as isolated examples or anecdotes. Which factors are the most significant and which have impact or influence on reuse, and other factors, is largely unexplored. While technical barriers and enablers to reuse have been well addressed in literature on reuse, from reusable learning objects (RLO) to OER, less attention has been given to the purpose of reuse and the motivation of those who choose to share or use reusable learning resources. This paper draws on 222 factors and issues recorded within a longitudinal cross case comparison of five cases within UK HE which collectively address different types of reuse (i.e. sharing and use) facilitation (Pegler, 2011a). Coding and comparison identified three broad and distinctive categories representing the reuse factors noted. These were: Technical (the technical or technological systems supporting reuse, including licensing and rights issues); Quality (the way in which sharers or users may establish or interpret the quality of one resource relative to another); and Motivation (the purpose or motive of the user or sharer of resources). The independent effect of these factors recalls the classic two factor theory of motivation by Herzberg (1968). (Contains 9 figures and 1 footnote.)

The increasing dominance of an economic ideology of higher education, that its principal role is to contribute to national competitiveness, has increased focus on the employability of graduates and their transition into the labour market. Drawing on a major study of the early career paths of 1995 graduates from 38 UK higher education institutions, this paper looks specifically at graduates from business and management programmes. Such graduates would apparently be attractive to employers seeking to recruit degree holders with specific transferable skills who might be expected to "hit the ground running" once in organisations. The paper seeks to address the question of what effect holding a business degree has on the employment outcomes in comparison with other degree disciplines and whether or not there is any gender effect upon relative success in the labour market.

This paper describes findings from a study to explore Singapore A-level (Grades 11 and 12, 16-19 yr old) students' understanding of ionisation energy, an abstract and complex topic that is featured in school chemistry courses. Previous research had reported that students in the United Kingdom commonly use alternative notions based on the perceived stability of full shells and the "sharing out" of nuclear force, but that such ideas tend to be applied inconsistently. This paper describes results from the administration of a two-tier multiple-choice instrument, the ionisation energy diagnostic instrument, to find (1) whether A-level students in Singapore have similar ways of thinking about the factors influencing ionisation energy as reported from their A-level counterparts in the UK; and (2) how Singapore A-level students explain the trend of ionisation energy across different elements in Period 3. The results indicate that students in Singapore use the same alternative ideas as those in the UK, and also a related alternative notion. The study also demonstrates considerable inconsistency in the way students responded to related items. The potential significance of the findings to student understanding of complex topics across the sciences is considered.

This paper provides a comparative account of two conceptualisations of pleasure. The first draws on Foucault's analysis of bio-power. The second provides a phenomenological account where pleasure is viewed as an aspect of our immediate consciousness. These conceptualisations are illuminated through an analysis of employees' accounts of learning at work. Overall, the paper demonstrates how, in a Foucauldian analysis, pleasure disappears as it becomes a cipher for power whereas within the phenomenological account pleasure is foregrounded but power disappears. The concluding section focuses on the problems of both conceptualisations and explores whether we should simply accept that different analytical frameworks do different work for us or whether we should be more concerned at the losses, and gains, associated with theoretical choices. The conclusion further asks whether a concern to foreground pleasure in accounts of learning represents an antidote to the pessimism of much critical analysis or whether we should treat pleasure as a morally duplicitous category that encourages political apathy.

The Languages Ladder--a new framework for accrediting language proficiency--is a core element of the National Languages Strategy. This paper presents Asset Languages, the system being developed by Cambridge Assessment to implement the Languages Ladder, aiming to set it apart from existing qualification frameworks by accrediting clearly defined functional language skills and providing motivation and support for learning. The paper discusses the challenges of creating a framework which validly serves these two purposes, referring to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) as a model for the Languages Ladder. The scaling and standard-setting methodology adopted is briefly described. The learner groups catered for by the inclusive Asset Framework differ widely, and comparing them within a common proficiency frame of reference, although a valuable aim, requires us to think clearly about these differences, giving due consideration to specific features of languages, and of learner groups. (Contains 2 notes and 4 figures.)

This paper follows an empirical study of how teachers were represented in British newspapers during the 1990s. Its purpose is to describe some of the findings arising from a comparison of the data and representations of teachers in educational research literature. The topic of teacher representation was a matter of personal interest to the researcher but an extensive review of educational literature revealed it also to have potential theoretical value. In the study representations of teachers in the literature were described conceptually according to the position of their characteristics within two continua: one relating to commonality and contradiction, the other to continuity and change. These continua were applied to data collected from a newspaper sample from the 1990s. Using illustrations from the sample this paper considers some of the insights this application afforded. This is followed by a discussion of the main similarities and differences between representations of teachers in the press and literature. The comparative analysis revealed ways for research to develop a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of how the teacher is represented in different cultural contexts, mediums and timeframes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main implications for research on the representation of teachers and it makes recommendations for further research.

Purpose: The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to examine the potential usefulness of animated learning materials for supporting students with dyslexia in a UK higher education setting. Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was conducted with a set of 13 undergraduate computing students with dyslexia and a control group of 13 non-dyslexic undergraduate computing students. Findings: Overall it appeared that appropriate animated learning materials were perceived as being more useful than equivalent static learning materials by both the students with dyslexia and the control group of non-dyslexic students. However, the control group appeared to find them more useful than the students with dyslexia. Research limitations/implications: Although the experiment reported in this paper was small in scale it did appear to indicate that animated learning materials may potentially be useful for undergraduate students with (and without) dyslexia. Originality/value: There appears to have been little research done in the area of animated learning materials in a higher education setting and in particular with regard to students with dyslexia. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

In this article, the authors offer an account of a free-ranging discussion highlighting common features of psychology provision and that considers the differences between two departments and two distinct programmes. The discussion took place between ERASMUS partners during a Teacher Exchange visit to the University of Wroclaw, Poland, in March 2011. ERASMUS exchange programmes have been running since 1987 and offer students opportunities to travel and learn in universities across Europe where agreements are signed between member institutions. The European Higher Education Area looks to bring comparable academic standards and quality assurance to universities and thus enable greater movement between countries. In practice this means that students can have their work in one country recognised as being equivalent to that in another through the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). In 2010 over 22000 students visited the UK as part of an ERASMUS exchange.

There is little international research focusing on parents' and teachers' roles in sexuality education during children's primary school years. This paper focuses on teachers' and parents' key experiences as sexuality educators of primary-school-age children in both Leeds, UK and in Sydney, Australia. Based on research findings from both the United Kingdom and Australia, areas of commonality are investigated in relation to existing practice. By drawing on experiences of teachers and parents, themes are examined with the goal of finding the extent of a universal dimension to sexuality education. The cultural aspects of sexuality education are explored and include acknowledging cultural myths that may inhibit adult-child interaction in relation to sexuality education. Educational implications are also discussed. The paper concludes that the scope of developing sexuality education during a child's primary school years remains relatively untapped in both countries by both parents and teachers. The paper recommends developing a theoretical framework to explore whether there can be a universal dimension to sexuality education. (Contains 1 figure.)

With the current growth of the Internet, we expect significant changes in how and to what extent companies acquire business information. By comparing two studies on information seeking by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carried out in 1982 and 2003 respectively, and comparing the results with other studies, this paper indicates that the reality is rather to the contrary. SMEs remain remarkably stable in their information seeking behaviour, in the sources they use and in the problems they face. The paper concludes with a discussion on the likely causes of this consistency and its consequences for online intermediaries. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper compares the findings of two studies, conducted in 1998 and 2004, of academic staff in British universities. It examines the stability over time of working hours, specific work stressors and levels of psychological distress. Comparisons are also made between the levels of psychological distress currently reported by academic staff and those reported by other professional groups and the general population in the UK. Finally, the paper assesses the extent to which UK universities are meeting minimum health and safety at work standards for the management of job stressors. The findings indicate that: there has been little change in the levels of most stressors experienced over the six year period; the high levels of psychological distress found in the 1998 study are undiminished and exceed those of other professional groups and the population generally; the majority of the health and safety at work standards are not met. Possible implications of these findings for the quality of UK higher education are discussed. (Contains 3 tables, 3 figures, and 1 note.)

This paper considers the experiences of teachers in a "progressive" English independent school, in particular with respect to what might loosely be termed job satisfaction. The paper suggests that these teachers have ideals and aspirations in common with many of their colleagues who teach in the state sector. The writers suggest that teachers in this sector enjoy their roles but express concerns about notions of accountability, autonomy and the significance of the school community that have resonance for many in the teaching profession at large as education enters another period of change.