College climate has been defined as the collective personality of a college. The University of Cyprus, being a new institution, wanted to find out the kind of climate which exists four years after it was established. The personal assessment of the university climate survey was used. The purpose of the survey was to obtain the perceptions of employees concerning the university climate and examine this climate in conjunction with Likert’s systems theory of management. The following areas were found in most need of improvement: wider dissemination of information across the institution; more effective interaction of the leadership with personnel; more use of group problem‐solving methods across and within departments and administrative services; and more need for feedback on their work from both faculty and administrative staff.
Background: There is worldwide interest in improving the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. This paper considers two strands of that interest. It revisits the impact of using enhanced feedback from teachers to pupils as a way of improving attainment, and it looks at the feasibility of teachers using research evidence to create their own interventions. Current evidence on the causal impact of effective feedback on learning is unclear: many studies have mixed results, are small in scale, lack randomisation or are not conducted in real classroom conditions. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of schools as they engage with research evidence to support their own enquiry into the effectiveness of feedback in the classroom. Research design: This study took place over one academic year, involving nine treatment schools in one local authority. The study involved teachers themselves using research findings to create an intervention, which took, as its focus, enhanced feedback in the classroom. Test results from these schools were compared to the results in 5 participating comparator schools, to the 49 other schools in the borough and to all state-funded primary schools in England. Results: Although teachers showed that they could engage with research evidence, the study indicated that the process was complex in practice. In addition, the independent impact evaluation suggested that enhanced feedback in itself does not necessarily lead to improved pupil test performance. Discussion and conclusions: The paper considers some of the challenges faced by teachers as they attempted to use research evidence, and discusses implications for schools wishing to use research evidence in practice. The findings of the study suggest that it may be feasible for practitioners to use research evidence to inform their own practice. However, to do it well would require clearer guidance, professional development and modelling of any strategies suggested. These findings have implications for policy on teacher development, and for the research community to make research outputs more comprehensible and accessible to research users.
Children often travel from district hospitals to teaching centres for endoscopic procedures by paediatric gastroenterologists. A 10-year district hospital experience of 'adult-service' gastroenterologists endoscoping children is reported with the aim of quantifying the workload, indications, sedation/anaesthesia practices, findings and safety of paediatric endoscopy performed by adult-service gastroenterologists.Data on endoscopic procedures in patients younger than 16 years of age between 1997 and 2006 were obtained from hospital case-notes and computerized endoscopy/histology databases and were analysed.A total of 174 procedures (118 gastroscopies, 41 colonoscopies and 15 flexible sigmoidoscopies) were performed in 162 children. The median (interquartile range) age was 11.5 (5-14) years. Sixty-nine percent of patients were referred by paediatricians and 31% by general practitioners /other adult specialties. Children referred as outpatients waited a total of 50 (23.5-95) days from referral to procedure. Inpatient children waited 3 (1-4) days for their procedure. General anaesthesia was used in 89% (63 of 71) endoscopic procedures in children aged below 11 years and 100% of 47 procedures in children aged below 6 years. In contrast, 96% (99 of 103) procedures in children aged 11 years or older were done in the endoscopy unit with intravenous or no sedation. Organic disease was identified from 90 (52%) procedures. The most common diagnoses were coeliac disease (41), inflammatory bowel disease (26), gastro-oesophageal reflux (six) and foreign body removal (seven). No endoscopic complications occurred.General gastroenterologists supported by paediatricians can provide endoscopic services for children safely and promptly in their local hospital. This is appropriate for the management of common gastrointestinal problems affecting children.
In England, there are proportionately more White British teachers than White British pupils, and so there is a mismatch between the proportion of teachers and pupils of each ethnic minority group. This mismatch may reduce the number of appropriate role models for some pupils and has been linked to differences in school processes and the behaviour and treatment of ethnic minority pupils. The evidence is weaker regarding any link between ethnic disproportionality and attainment. This paper uses school-level school workforce and pupil attainment data to assess this link. The results are presented as correlations between teacher/pupil characteristics and attainment scores at ages 11 and 16 and as regression models predicting attainment scores using teacher/pupil characteristics. There is no evidence here that ethnic (dis)proportionality is linked to discernible differences in pupil attainment once relative poverty is taken into account. However, as the data are linked at the school level rather than the individual level, we cannot separate the attainment of pupils of different ethnic origins, and the ethnic classification for teachers is simply binary. We are working to overcome these data limitations and hope to present future analyses based on individual data with more detailed ethnic groupings to provide a more definitive result.
Abstract The creation of technologically-based 'virtual education' has been portrayed as a means of widening access to learning opportunities for those currently excluded from participation in lifelong education and training. Now in the UK these claims are being operationalized under the 'University for Industry' initiative and associated Virtual College programmes all of which aim to make real the concept of Britain as a 'learning society' for all with an emphasis on reaching those traditionally seen as non-participants in learning. This paper examines these claims in the light of current knowledge about the characteristics of non-participants in lifelong learning and the barriers that they face. It is suggested that the application of 'technological fixes' to underlying socio-economic determinants of participation will solve some problems, create others, and leave many unaffected. In this way the paper argues for independent research on the impact of the 'virtual college' movement, and begins to outline the form such research could take.
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