Department for Education publication Ref: DFE-RR165 by Andy Ross, Rosie Green, Vicky Brown, Kevin Pickering, Ingrid Schoon and Anna Vignoles
© The Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions (CAYT) October 2011
Previous research and anecdotal evidence has suggested that offering a broader curriculum, and in particular, vocational qualifications, may be a way to motivate young people who have become disengaged from education and improve their subsequent attainment. However, this hypothesis has not been systematically evaluated.
The analyses summarised here explore the educational outcomes of disengaged young people from a nationally representative cohort who reported taking vocational courses in Year 10 compared to similarly disengaged young people who did not.
The study explored outcomes across a range of different subgroups of young people from the Longitudinal Study for Young People (LSYPE), defined using different characteristics of being disengaged in Year 9.
Full report (PDF 45pp)
Hazel’s comment:
You nearly didn't get this. Why, oh why, do government departments not make it easier to find and reference their publications? The DFE is particularly poor in this regard. I need more coffee!
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
The Future of Work in Europe
by Christopher Pissarides via Latest articles from CentrePiece – The Magazine for Economic Performance – produced by the CEP
CEPCP354. October 2011.
Employment in the European Union is still falling short of the objectives set by the continent’s leaders more than 10 years ago. Nobel laureate Chris Pissarides explains why Europe remains behind the United States in job creation, particularly in business services and the health and education sectors.
Full article: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp354.pdf (PDF 3pp)
CEPCP354. October 2011.
Employment in the European Union is still falling short of the objectives set by the continent’s leaders more than 10 years ago. Nobel laureate Chris Pissarides explains why Europe remains behind the United States in job creation, particularly in business services and the health and education sectors.
Full article: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp354.pdf (PDF 3pp)
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Market pressures: youth justice reform in an age of austerity
an article by Harry Angel (Independent Consultant, London) published in Safer Communities Volume 10 Number 4 (2011)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give the author’s opinion regarding youth justice reform and austerity cuts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores current policies and legislation relating to the youth criminal justice system, the role of rehabilitation, prevention and restoration.
Findings
The conclusion to this piece is that, in the opinion of the author, youth justice reform is not succeeding under the current circumstances.
Originality/value
The paper takes many aspects into consideration to support the argument, including the Independent Commission on Youth Crime, current journalism and research on the subject and popular culture references.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give the author’s opinion regarding youth justice reform and austerity cuts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores current policies and legislation relating to the youth criminal justice system, the role of rehabilitation, prevention and restoration.
Findings
The conclusion to this piece is that, in the opinion of the author, youth justice reform is not succeeding under the current circumstances.
Originality/value
The paper takes many aspects into consideration to support the argument, including the Independent Commission on Youth Crime, current journalism and research on the subject and popular culture references.
Information quality assessment of community generated content: …
A user study of Wikipedia
an article by Eti Yaari, Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and Judit Bar-Ilan (Department of Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) published in Journal of Information Science Volume 37 Number 5 (October 2011)
Abstract
This study examines the ways in which information consumers evaluate the quality of content in a collaborative-writing environment, in this case Wikipedia. Sixty-four users were asked to assess the quality of five articles from the Hebrew Wikipedia, to indicate the highest- and lowest-quality article of the five and explain their choices. Participants viewed both the article page, and the article’s history page, so that their decision was based both on the article’s current content and on its development.
The analysis shows that the attributes that most frequently assisted the users in deciding about the quality of the items were not unique to Wikipedia: attributes such as amount of information, satisfaction with content and external links were mentioned frequently, as with other information quality studies on the web.
The findings also support the claim that quality is a subjective concept which depends on the user’s unique point of view. Attributes such as number of edits and number of unique editors received two contradictory meanings – both few edits/editors and many edits/editors were mentioned as attributes of high-quality articles.
an article by Eti Yaari, Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and Judit Bar-Ilan (Department of Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) published in Journal of Information Science Volume 37 Number 5 (October 2011)
Abstract
This study examines the ways in which information consumers evaluate the quality of content in a collaborative-writing environment, in this case Wikipedia. Sixty-four users were asked to assess the quality of five articles from the Hebrew Wikipedia, to indicate the highest- and lowest-quality article of the five and explain their choices. Participants viewed both the article page, and the article’s history page, so that their decision was based both on the article’s current content and on its development.
The analysis shows that the attributes that most frequently assisted the users in deciding about the quality of the items were not unique to Wikipedia: attributes such as amount of information, satisfaction with content and external links were mentioned frequently, as with other information quality studies on the web.
The findings also support the claim that quality is a subjective concept which depends on the user’s unique point of view. Attributes such as number of edits and number of unique editors received two contradictory meanings – both few edits/editors and many edits/editors were mentioned as attributes of high-quality articles.
The dog ate my homework
via 3quarksdaily by Sarah Firisen
So let's talk about college. Or to be more specific, let's have a look at how prepared our children are go to college. And I'm not talking about their academic readiness, though clearly many, many words could be devoted to that. I'm talking about their work habits.
My 11-year old daughter, Anya, just entered middle school. If you're even an occasional reader, you'll know that my children go to a small, independent progressive school - the Robert C. Parker school. A conscious, intentional part of both the run-up to middle school in 5th grade and of 6th and 7th grade is to teach the children how to engage in independent study. The purpose of homework, which Anya didn't really get in any meaningful, regular way up until 5th grade, is less about what she learns, and more about how she learns to study. It's about learning to be organized enough that she makes sure she leaves class with all the information she needs to work at home; that she brings the right books and papers with her; that she learns how to prioritize the workload she has - start with the homework due tomorrow, not the work due in three days.
Hazel’s comment:
I was tempted to simply reproduce the whole article but … please go and read it for yourself here and it will help you understand what is going wrong for so many of our young people.
So let's talk about college. Or to be more specific, let's have a look at how prepared our children are go to college. And I'm not talking about their academic readiness, though clearly many, many words could be devoted to that. I'm talking about their work habits.
My 11-year old daughter, Anya, just entered middle school. If you're even an occasional reader, you'll know that my children go to a small, independent progressive school - the Robert C. Parker school. A conscious, intentional part of both the run-up to middle school in 5th grade and of 6th and 7th grade is to teach the children how to engage in independent study. The purpose of homework, which Anya didn't really get in any meaningful, regular way up until 5th grade, is less about what she learns, and more about how she learns to study. It's about learning to be organized enough that she makes sure she leaves class with all the information she needs to work at home; that she brings the right books and papers with her; that she learns how to prioritize the workload she has - start with the homework due tomorrow, not the work due in three days.Hazel’s comment:
I was tempted to simply reproduce the whole article but … please go and read it for yourself here and it will help you understand what is going wrong for so many of our young people.
Revised matrix Standard
The Skills Funding Agency Update – Issue 79
The revised matrix Standard was launched last week. The revised Standard has been developed to assure individuals that providers of careers guidance are delivering a high quality service. The revised Standard will be the quality Standard for the National Careers Service. All prime and sub contractors to the National Careers Service are required to achieve the revised Standard by no later than 1 April 2013.
It is a contractual requirement that Next Step contractors hold the matrix Standard. All organisations must be re-accredited every three years. Other Agency funded organisations that hold the Standard but are not Next Step contractors will be accredited against the revised Standard as a matter of course when their re-accreditation is due.
Further information can be found on the matrix Standard website.
The revised matrix Standard was launched last week. The revised Standard has been developed to assure individuals that providers of careers guidance are delivering a high quality service. The revised Standard will be the quality Standard for the National Careers Service. All prime and sub contractors to the National Careers Service are required to achieve the revised Standard by no later than 1 April 2013.
It is a contractual requirement that Next Step contractors hold the matrix Standard. All organisations must be re-accredited every three years. Other Agency funded organisations that hold the Standard but are not Next Step contractors will be accredited against the revised Standard as a matter of course when their re-accreditation is due.
Further information can be found on the matrix Standard website.
Online grocery systems design through task analysis
an article by Mark Freeman and Alison Freeman (University of Wollongong, Australia) published in Journal of Enterprise Information Management Volume 24 Issue 5 (2011)
Abstract
Purpose
Modelling users’ interactions online is envisaged to allow developers to increase the usability of online systems and will aid system developers in building better systems to meet users’ needs, hereby creating better system design processes. This paper aims to investigate this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The normative task model that was developed in this paper was created through an expert review of 14 online grocery stores, using a reverse engineering technique to model the features of the stores' ordering process.
Findings
The research identified three main areas of user experience when undertaking the process of adding a product to an online trolley:
Practical implications
The findings present a model that can be used to further understand the processes of customers as they engage in an online grocery shopping visit. The normative task model presented is expected to help in the future design of online grocery stores by identifying the possible errors that users can encounter, and methods to reduce the occurrence of these errors. Errors are one area that traditional task-modelling processes ignore, due to their focus on successful processes.
Originality/value
This paper presents the innovative process of the development of a normative task model for modelling user interactions when using online grocery stores.
Hazels comment:
OK, so there is a profit motive in ensuring that customers find their required groceries in the online store and making adjustments to the process can facilitate this.
Why does no-one think that even a simple log-file analysis is necessary to improve the information finding/retrieval of potential learners using courses databases online?
Abstract
Purpose
Modelling users’ interactions online is envisaged to allow developers to increase the usability of online systems and will aid system developers in building better systems to meet users’ needs, hereby creating better system design processes. This paper aims to investigate this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The normative task model that was developed in this paper was created through an expert review of 14 online grocery stores, using a reverse engineering technique to model the features of the stores' ordering process.
Findings
The research identified three main areas of user experience when undertaking the process of adding a product to an online trolley:
- attempting to retrieve the product,
- receiving the results of the retrieval attempt, and
- adding the product to the trolley.
Practical implications
The findings present a model that can be used to further understand the processes of customers as they engage in an online grocery shopping visit. The normative task model presented is expected to help in the future design of online grocery stores by identifying the possible errors that users can encounter, and methods to reduce the occurrence of these errors. Errors are one area that traditional task-modelling processes ignore, due to their focus on successful processes.
Originality/value
This paper presents the innovative process of the development of a normative task model for modelling user interactions when using online grocery stores.
Hazels comment:
OK, so there is a profit motive in ensuring that customers find their required groceries in the online store and making adjustments to the process can facilitate this.
Why does no-one think that even a simple log-file analysis is necessary to improve the information finding/retrieval of potential learners using courses databases online?
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