BSc Students Research Articles

Developing a Partnership between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre and Charles Sturt University

AbstractA collaborative partnership has evolved between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) and Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. The Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) is one of 24 Department of Education and Training environmental education centres in New South Wales (see www.reec.nsw.edu.au). As part of this partnership relationship, final year BTeach(Sec)/BSc students have worked with REEC and CSU staff on developing learning materials that support and enrich the programs offered through the REEC. In particular, these students have developed materials focussing on exploring student understanding about biodiversity and salinity. Additionally, the development of web based learning activities that use regional scientists as exemplars of current scientific research and possible career options (called Real Science) has occurred. Through this partnership arrangement, it has been a ‘win-win’ outcome for REEC staff, CSU staff and the CSU final year secondary science students with all participants gaining valuable insights and pedagogical understandings from the partnership.

An environmental management qualification through distance education

The department of geography and environmental studies of the University of South Africa recently played a pivotal role in implementing an inter‐ and multidisciplinary undergraduate programme in environmental management. This programme prepares students for entry‐level occupations, and equips them with the knowledge, skills and values needed to contribute to sustainable development. Both BA and BSc students are catered for, which contributes to the broadening of undergraduate education. This programme is unique because of its inclusion at undergraduate level and because it is offered through distance education. The teaching approach acknowledges that the causes of environmental problems are not simple, and are rooted in the nature of political, social and economic systems. It acknowledges that the solutions to environmental problems are equally complex, requiring not only specialist inputs, but also value and structural shifts. In line with the latest trends in education, a student‐activating approach is followed, with emphasis on real case studies, the flexible application of knowledge, and formative and integrated assessment. An overview is given of the experience that has been gained through designing and implementing this programme. This experience may serve to stimulate discussion on how to improve education and training in this field. The results of a pilot survey conducted among the students enrolled for this programme are presented. Their responses reflect a positive attitude to the programme, especially concerning the interconnectedness of modules, the fostering of environmental awareness, and its usefulness for career objectives.

Practical aspects in supporting the St George's Graduate Entry Programme.

Practical aspects in supporting the St George's Graduate Entry Programme.

A dynamic project allocation algorithm for a distributed expert system

Abstract One of the major concerns of a distributed expert system is to provide optimal solution to a business process characterized by an operations research model. Based on the concept of dynamic programming, the paper presents an efficient computer algorithm which solves an Integer Programming Model for optimally allocating Final Year Projects to more than 200 fourth year BSc students in Department of Civil Engineering (CE), National University of Singapore (NUS), subject to the operation constraints of students' ranking, personal preference and project availability. Having been implemented as part of a distributed project allocation system, the algorithm has improved tremendously the operation efficiency of FYP allocation, by a factor of more than 600 times with a flawless accuracy as compared to its counterpart generated by a previously-adopted manual processing procedure. In light of the dynamic programming pattern abstracted from this system, the allocation algorithm has the potential of being extended to building other distributed merit-based expert systems.

Promoting the integration of theory and practice by the use of a learning contract

This qualitative study presents occupational therapy BSc students' perceptions of the value of learning contracts to promote the integration of theory and practice within a problem-based learning course. Focus groups, consisting of first- and third-year students, were used to generate data. Content analysis was carried out to establish common themes. The main findings indicated that students use learning contracts within the academic field to structure their learning, identify knowledge and remain client-centred. Within the fieldwork setting, learning contracts were influenced by supervisory styles and the ability of the students to negotiate their learning needs. The key factor that promoted integration was negotiation, enhanced greatly when students were given the lead role as negotiator. Learning contracts were perceived as being of value in integrating theory and practice. Placements using group or long-arm (off-site) supervision were seen as making the best use of learning contracts. Recommendations centre on the need for the continuing education of students, staff and clinicians on the process and benefits of using learning contracts to enhance development.

Student nurse satisfaction levels with their courses: Part II – effects of academic variables

The degree of student satisfaction with their educational experiences is an important dimension in the assessment of institutional effectiveness. All nursing education teams are currently working on ways to improve the quality of their educational provision and increase the satisfaction of their students. This is the second of a two-part article on the factors that influence student satisfaction with their courses. Part I examined how the four demographic features of gender, disability, ethnicity and age influenced student satisfaction and their performance on nursing modules. This paper complements Part I by examining the effects of three educational factors (academic level of the module, mode of study, and the qualification aim) on the accomplishment and satisfaction levels of 460 students attending multidisciplinary health care modules at the School of Health Care, Oxford Brookes University, 2000/2001. The study found that in contrast to Level 1 students, Level 3 participants felt the need for modules to stimulate more interest, that module teams be more skilled and knowledgeable and that library resources be more abundant. The findings also suggested that part-time students required significantly more attention than full-time participants in terms of the need for smaller seminar groups that would facilitate contributions and decrease inhibitions among students, and were more concerned with the utility and relevance of their learning in relation to their chosen professions. Diploma participants had the highest satisfaction followed by the BA and then the BSc students. The findings raise issues which are of interest to academic staff and nursing students, and the implications for nurse education and curriculum design are discussed within the context of student nurse satisfaction and quality issues of learning and teaching in higher education.

Communication strategies used in the writing of answers in biology by ESL first year science students of the University of Botswana

This paper reports on a study of the communications strategies used in the writing of answers in biology by ESL first year BSc students of the University of Botswana. The researcher examines the four macro-strategies used by the subjects: risk taking, risk avoidance, L2-based strategies and semantic simplification. The results showed that while many ESL students preferred to use L2-based strategies such as circumlocution, generalisation and paraphrase, these strategies did not help the students in their performance because of the restrictive nature of scientific genre which requires the use of specific and precise registers for a given writing task. The study further showed that those students who were prepared to take risks by exploiting their resource expansion strategies, regardless of the correctness of their grammatical constructions, tended to do better while those students who opted for semantic simplification and risk avoidance under-achieved. This supports the empirical observation that the overall writing proficiency of the L2 learners could be greatly enhanced if ESL and EAP teaching paid greater attention to those tasks and activities which enhance their strategic competence.

Withdrawal of funding for intercalating BSc students

Withdrawal of funding for intercalating BSc students

Is an intercalated BSc degree associated with higher marks in examinations during the clinical years?

Do medical students taking an intercalated BSc degree obtain higher marks during their subsequent clinical examination? Fourteen students who did a BSc during the academic year 1988-89 were matched, by sex and preclinical grades, with students in the year they left, and with students in the year they subsequently joined. Marks or grades in 10 subsequent examinations were compared. Seven of 10 comparisons with the year the BSc students left were to the advantage of the intercalated students, and two comparisons were statistically significant. Seven of 10 comparisons with the year the BSc students subsequently joined were to the advantage of the non-intercalating students, though none reached statistical significance. No consistent short-term academic advantages arising from having done a BSc could be found. We suggest the study be replicated in other medical schools with different course examination structures.

Old wine new bottles: policy options for the former colleges of education

Abstract A group of 60 or so institutions in England and Wales, referred to as colleges or institutions of higher education, have fought hard over the last ten years to establish a role for themselves in higher education. The ‘college sector’ includes institutions with a variety of backgrounds whose acceptance as a legitimate part of British higher education has only been gained in the face of competition, and at times, opposition, from polytechnics and universities The results from a recent project, involving a number of institutions whose origins were in teacher education, indicates strong support from college students for this form of higher education. However, many former BA and BSc students from this sector experienced difficulties when attempting to pursue graduate careers outside of teaching. The purpose of the present article is to consider the policy implications of the results, and review a number of possible models for the future direction and identity of those institutions known as the former ...

COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT ATTITUDE

ABSTRACT A mastery learning strategy was used to teach undergraduate microbiology to part‐time HNC and BSc students. Their performance was cognitively assessed in terms of Bloom's taxonomy. Their changes of attitude were measured by comparison of questionnaires after the introduction to the strategy and after the return of the assessed post‐test. Two performance groups were discovered. Both groups showed positive attitude changes toward the tutor controlling the learning experience and toward the quality of the learning materials. The low group showed negative change toward the strategy and expressed a preference for more traditional teaching, whilst the high group did the reverse. The students’ conception of the academic level of the package and its level of assessment appeared to be canalised by their knowledge of their course status in the academic hierarchy and not by their performance. It was concluded that cognitive assessment more clearly detects students failing to achieve mastery whilst indicatin...

A simple v.h.f. oscillator and its uses

The oscillator is constructed round an inexpensive double-triode valve and is suitable for the demonstration of transmission line propagation and the radiation of electromagnetic waves in the 160-170 MHz region. It is suitable for GCE A-level students, telecommunication technicians and BSc students. This apparatus is considered to be a good example of an LC oscillating circuit. The details necessary for construction are provided as is an explanation of how the oscillator can be used for Lecher line experiments. Radiation experiments possible with dipole receivers and transmitters are also described.

(1) Practical Physics for Inter BSc Students (2) A Textbook of Light (3) Light (4) A Textbook of Light (5) Elementary Physics: (6) College Physics

IN 1934 a committee of the Physical Society published a valuable report on the teaching of geometrical optics. The committee made a unanimous recommendation with regard to the convention to be observed for the sign of the power of an optical system. This convention is universal among opticians, and may be expressed briefly by saying that a positive lens tends to converge and a negative lens to diverge the light. A more difficult problem to solve is that of obtaining agreement as to the sign conventions to be adopted when discussing the relations between object and image. Two alternative methods were advocated, which may be called the Cartesian and the non-Cartesian systems. (1) Practical Physics for Inter. B.Sc. Students By Dr. H. M. Browning L. Starbuck. Pp. x+146. (London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1936.) 3s. 6d. net. (2) A Textbook of Light By L. R. Middleton. Second edition. Pp. viii + 288. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1937.) 6s. (3) Light By Vivian T. Saunders. Third edition. Pp. vii+328. (London: John Murray, 1937.) 6s. (4) A Textbook of Light By G. R. Noakes. Pp. viii+355. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1937.) 6s. (5) Elementary Physics: for Medical, First Year University Science Students and General Use in Schools. By G. Stead. Fifth edition. Pp. xv+559. (London: J. and A. Churchill, Ltd., 1936.) 12s. 6d. (6) College Physics By Prof. John A. Eldridge. Pp. x+616. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1937.) 18s. 6d. net.