scholarly journals Widening HE participation in the arts: Impacts of an access module on learner preparedness

2021 ◽  
pp. 147402222110048
Author(s):  
John Butcher ◽  
Anactoria Clarke

Despite the plethora of research on widening participation in the last 20 years, access to the arts and humanities has remained relatively under-explored, especially in relation to the preparedness of adult learners. This article reports a case study investigating the impact of an arts and languages Access module at the UK Open University. Findings from interviews with 37 Access students were analysed in relation to four themes: the need for Access preparation; generic studentship skills; discipline-specific skills; intrinsic enjoyment and interdisciplinary study. We conclude embedded generic skills enhance learner confidence and time management, while academic literacy skills relevant to the arts and humanities enhance cultural capital and enable disadvantaged learners to access challenging disciplines. The impact of a preparatory arts and humanities module extends into the lives of individual students, suggesting a counter-narrative to the prevailing, ‘economic value’ paradigms of higher education policymakers.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Kayvan Kousha ◽  
Mike Thelwall ◽  
Mahshid Abdoli

Abstract Whilst funders increasingly request evidence of the societal benefits of research, all academics in the UK must periodically provide this information to gain part of their block funding within the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The impact case studies produced in the UK are public and can therefore be used to gain insights into the types of sources used to justify societal impact claims. This study focuses on the URLs cited as evidence in the last public REF to help researchers and resource providers to understand what types can be used and the disciplinary differences in their uptake. Based on a new semi-automatic method to classify the URLs cited in impact case studies, the results show that there are a few key online types of source for most broad fields, but these sources differ substantially between subject areas. For example, news websites are more important in some fields than others, and YouTube is sometimes used for multimedia evidence in the arts and humanities. Knowledge of the common sources selected independently by thousands of researchers may help others to identify suitable sources for the complex task of evidencing societal impacts. Peer Review https://publons.com/publon/10.1162/qss_a_00145


2021 ◽  
pp. 095042222110126
Author(s):  
Stella Xu ◽  
Zimu Xu ◽  
Fujia Li ◽  
Arun Sukumar

Entrepreneurship-related modules have become increasingly popular over the years, not only among business school students but also among those from other disciplines, including engineering and the arts and humanities. In some circumstances, they are offered as optional modules for students across different faculties and disciplines. While it is beneficial to mix students with different backgrounds, bringing in a wide range of perspectives, there are also challenges relating to course design and student engagement. With these challenges in mind, the authors trialled a new approach in the hope of motivating students from diverse academic and socio-cultural backgrounds to engage more fully in the classroom by utilising student entrepreneurs as guest speakers. The student-centric approach has proved effective in enhancing student engagement, as evidenced by both informal and formal feedback.


2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom L. Catchpole ◽  
Andrew S. Revill ◽  
James Innes ◽  
Sean Pascoe

Abstract Catchpole, T. L., Revill, A. S., Innes, J., and Pascoe, S. 2008. Evaluating the efficacy of technical measures: a case study of selection device legislation in the UK Crangon crangon (brown shrimp) fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 267–275. Bycatch reduction devices are being introduced into a wide range of fisheries, with shrimp and prawn fisheries particularly targeted owing to the heavy discarding common in these fisheries. Although studies are often undertaken to estimate the impact of a technical measure on the fishery before implementation, rarely have the impacts been assessed ex post. Here, the efficacy of the UK legislation pertaining to the use of sievenets in the North Sea Crangon crangon fishery is assessed. Three impacts were evaluated: on fisher behaviour (social), on the level of bycatch (biological), and on vessel profitability (economic). An apparent high level of compliance by skippers was identified despite a low level of enforcement. The estimated reduction in fleet productivity following the introduction of the legislation was 14%, equalling the mean loss of Crangon landings when using sievenets calculated from catch comparison trawls. Sievenets did reduce the unnecessary capture of unwanted marine organisms, but were least effective at reducing 0-group plaice, which make up the largest component of the bycatch. Clearly the legislation has had an effect in the desired direction, but it does not address sufficiently the bycatch issue in the Crangon fishery.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Offord ◽  
Vladislav Rjéoutski ◽  
Gesine Argent

-- With support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK and the Deutsches Historisches Institut Moskau -- The French Language in Russia provides the fullest examination and discussion to date of the adoption of the French language by the elites of imperial Russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is interdisciplinary, approaching its subject from the angles of various kinds of history and historical sociolinguistics. Beyond its bearing on some of the grand narratives of Russian thought and literature, this book may afford more general insight into the social, political, cultural, and literary implications and effects of bilingualism in a speech community over a long period. It should also enlarge understanding of francophonie as a pan-European phenomenon. On the broadest plane, it has significance in an age of unprecedented global connectivity, for it invites us to look beyond the experience of a single nation and the social groups and individuals within it in order to discover how languages and the cultures and narratives associated with them have been shared across national boundaries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Martin ◽  
Morten Büchert

Online collaboration between musicians in 2020 is a rapidly developing practice due to a range of environmental, epidemiological and creative motivations. The technical facility to collaborate in a variety of different formats exists via file-sharing services, video conferencing suites and specialist music services such as Splice and Auddly. Yet, given this proliferation of technologies, little attention has been paid into how creative musicians can most meaningfully utilize these new collaborative opportunities within their working practice. In this article, we wish to share some reflections from a case study of online music collaboration gained through our experience of facilitating three online songwriting camps with students from Leeds Conservatoire in the United Kingdom and Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Denmark. This article will particularly focus on the importance of managing roles, the impact of communication tools and the requirement for time management when collaborating online before proposing a set of guidelines derived from this study to help enable productive online creative collaboration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-168
Author(s):  
Cherry Canovan ◽  
Rory McDonald ◽  
Naomi Fallon

The role of peer and friendship-group conversation in educational and career choices is of great relevance to widening participation (WP) practitioners, but has been little studied in recent years. We interviewed young people and WP practitioners in Carlisle, an isolated city in the UK, to interrogate this subject. We found that young people were clearly discussing their future choices, sometimes overtly and sometimes in 'unacknowledged conversations'. However some topics and ambitions were seen as 'too private' to discuss; all of our young people had a plan for the future, but many believed that some of their friends did not, possibly because of this constraint. We also discuss the role of older students in informing choices, the phenomenon of 'clustering' that can lead to young people funnelli ng into certain options, and the role that geographical isolation might play in exacerbating some effects. Finally we give some recommendations for WP practice based on these findings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-134
Author(s):  
Emily Wapples

Law student mental health and wellbeing was already a growing concern in the UK prior to COVID-19, but when the pandemic occurred, widespread uncertainty placed an unprecedented level of mental health burden on students. Law students were faced with dashed hopes, uncertain futures and the fear of negative academic consequences. This burden was exacerbated in respect of postgraduate international students in London, who were often also forced to decide whether to return home to their families, or to continue their studies abroad, albeit online. This paper uses a case study approach to discuss how one provider of postgraduate clinical legal education (CLE), approached the promotion of positive student mental health both before, and in response to, the pandemic. qLegal at Queen Mary, University of London provides CLE to postgraduates studying for a one year law masters, and in 2019-2020, qLegal delivered CLE to 134 students from 27 countries. The impact that the pandemic had on the mental health of international postgraduate law students was therefore witnessed first-hand. This paper discusses the challenges faced, and concerns raised by international postgraduate law students at qLegal as a result of the pandemic. It examines the steps taken by qLegal to maximise student engagement and promote positive student mental health when rapidly switching to a model of online delivery. The paper concludes by outlining the steps qLegal will take to monitor and address the impact that online delivery in this period of global uncertainty has on the mental health of the next cohort of postgraduate CLE students.


Author(s):  
Trimo Septiono

The study aims to describe and identify aspects during the thesis writing process. This study uses a qualitative approach with the type of case study research on alumni of the Library and Information Science Study Program Universitas Brawijaya. Then the selection of alumni as informants considers the impact after writing the thesis is completed. The results showed that the reflection of alumni there is a learning process in each stage of thesis writing. The learning process that occurs is quite complex because it is not only done independently but also involves other parties. Independent learning focuses on the process of applying information literacy skills possessed by alumni. Where there is an information management process which is the most important part, because the process affects the decision making for each action. Meanwhile, the involvement of other parties is another role of the thesis as a forum for collaborative learning. Not only that, the whole process forms a new understanding that can be useful across generations.Keywords: Thesis, Reflection, Information Literacy, Knowledge Sharing Practice, Collaborative LearningABSTRAKRefleksi pengalaman alumni merupakan kajian yang bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan dan mengidentifikasi aspek-aspek selama proses penulisan skripsi. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis penelitian studi kasus pada alumni Program Studi Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi Universitas Brawijaya. Kemudian pemilihan alumni sebagai informan mempertimbangkan dampak yang ditimbulkan pasca penulisan skripsi selesai. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa refleksi alumni terdapat proses pembelajaran dalam setiap tahapan penulisan skripsi. Proses pembelajaran yang terjadi tergolong kompleks karena tidak hanya dilakukan mandiri tetapi juga melibatkan pihak lain. Pembelajaran secara mandiri menitikberatkan pada proses penerapan kemampuan literasi informasi yang dimiliki oleh alumni. Dimana terdapat proses pengelolaan informasi yang merupakan bagian terpenting, karena proses tersebut berpengaruh pada penentuan keputusan untuk setiap tindakan. Sedangkan untuk pelibatan pihak lain merupakan peran lain dari skripsi sebagai wadah kolaborasi pembelajaran. Tidak hanya itu, secara menyeluruh proses tersebut membentuk pemahaman baru yang dapat bermanfaat lintas generasi.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Feasey

This Major Research Paper investigates Street Voices Magazine as an instrument and communications tool to engage and empower street youth in Toronto. The following questions guided my study: What are the ways in which Street Voices Magazine gives voice to the marginalized and silenced? Why is Street Voices Magazine an appropriate medium for connecting with street youth? A mixed-method approach was used to analyze the texts and images in three issues of the magazine to determine the effectiveness of the print medium, what these texts and images suggest about the motivations of the contributors, and whether the magazine meets its objective of serving street youth. The study suggests that the transformative potential of the arts, the role of the magazine in fostering in the contributors the identity of an artist, and the lack of other spaces for expression are significant themes that underpin Street Voices Magazine’s appeal and effectiveness. The study also leads to suggestions for further research, which could improve an understanding of this diverse demographic and confirm the impact of Street Voices Magazine.


2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Swanwick

A brief review of the state of music education in the UK at the time of the creation of the British Journal of Music Education (BJME) leads to a consideration of the range and focus of topics since the initiation of the Journal. In particular, the initial requirement of careful and critical enquiry is amplified, drawing out the inevitability of theorising, an activity which is considered to be essential for reflective practice. The relationship of theory and data is examined, in particular differentiating between the sciences and the arts. A ‘case study’ of theorising is presented and examined in some detail and possible strands of future development are identified.


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