Bill Porter in Conversation with Howard Anderson
Some of the lessons Bill Porter picked up as a 13-year-old ranch hand in Colorado seem to have lasted a lifetime. When his boss told him to drive over a treacherous mountain pass into town for some chicken feed, Porter said he could not yet drive. He was told, “Just do it.” And when he faced taking a team of horses out to pas
Developing Future Leaders
If Woodie Flowers gets his way, students with the vision and initiative to change the world will be commonplace at MIT – rather than the extraordinary exemplars who speak on his panel: Elizabeth Basha, who’s developing an early storm warning system for rural villages in a Honduras river basin prone to
Supporting community archaeology in the UK
The "Supporting Community Archaeology in the UK" website produced by for The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) publishes an updated report (in PDF format) by Dr Suzie Thomas entitled "Community Archaeology in the UK: Recent Findings". The report concludes that in 2010 up to 215,000 individuals may be available to be involved in such projects, a resource to be assessed against the declining role of universities in excavations due to funding cuts.Professional archaeologists are usually in char
Iridescent : Icograda journal of design research
Iridescent is a new full-text design theory journal, which aims to... "establish a benchmark for innovative design research", published under the auspices of Icograda (aka the International Council of Graphic Design Associations). There does not seem to be a traditional issue format, and papers are presented in a rolling blog-like stream. At April 2010 the freely-available papers include: 'Trans-modern consciousness: Mapping value systems and models for graphic design education'; 'Issue-Based D
5 Additional learning resources
Looking at the theme of surveillance as a multifaceted everyday practice, this unit will show you the value of using audio visual material in your learning. It will show you how to develop the skills you need to make the most of learning from DVDs.
Discover chemistry
Discover Chemistry is an initiative from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) aimed at ensuring that chemistry graduates have the skills required for work in the chemical industry. It comprises a number of projects: Discover Maths for Chemists; Discover Spectroscopy; Discover LabSkills; Discover Molecular interactions; Discover Chemistry Careers Posters; Discover Chemistry Academic CPD; Discover Chemistry Prizes for Excellence in SLQ; and School-Industry Links. The website provides details of th
NGfL Cymru GCaD
NGfL Cymru GCaD is a teaching and learning resource for GCSE students in Wales but the site is also suitable for A-level students. Teaching resources can be browsed by selecting a Key Stage (age range) and then a subject. The site provides a comprehensive guide for students to relevant web resources, including computer skills and best practice for online research. Useful software and other freely available teaching resources are also listed.
Getting British Business Online
This is a partnership between Enterprise UK, Google & e-Skills, with the support of the Department for Business Innovation & Skills. In 2010 they aim to get 100,000 small businesses online for free. They offer small businesses a free co.uk website address, a free customised website and free online marketing. More partners are also wanted, to promote the service and hold events. Online seminars are being held, to tell interested businesses more.
CIPD podcasts
These podcasts are produced by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ) and offer a new way to keep updated with the latest thinking in people management and development. Subjects include preparing for the economic upturn, a career in HR, employment law and managing redundancy. There is one per month and they can be downloaded for free. There are interviews with top speakers and this could be a good alternative way for students to research human resource developments and theor
1.3.7 Encyclopedias
This unit will help you to identify and use information in Science and Nature, whether for your work, study or personal purposes. Experiment with some of the key resources in this subject area, and learn about the skills which will enable you to plan searches for information, so you can find what you are looking for more easily. Discover the meaning of information quality, and learn how to evaluate the information you come across. You will also be introduced to the many different ways of organis
Learning to last - skills, sustainability and strategy
This publication (2002) seeks to encourage integration of sustainability principles and practices into all levels of post-16 learning. Learning to Last is a joint venture from the Learning and Skills Development Agency, Forum for the Future and the government's Sustainable Development Education Panel.
1.4 Law, skills and learning outcomes This unit has a number of learning outcomes. In relation to a course of study, a learning outcome is simply something which you should be able to do (and to show that you can do) at the end of studying a particular unit. The learning outcomes are concerned with ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of company law, and also ability to demonstrate a range of skills, including use of IT, research and problem-solving. In addition to being listed at the beginning of the unit, th
The impact of different modes of assessment on achievement and progress in the learning and skills s
This is a very thorough and comprehensive study into the impact of various assessment modes on achievement and progress in the learning and skills sector. Commissioned to conduct the investigation by the Learning and Skills Research Centre, City and Guilds and the University for Industry, the project team had access to a wide range of institutions in the sector in order to compare and contrast the assessment experiences of learners and to ascertain which assessment regimes work best in which con
Evaluation of Increased Flexibility for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme: The Second Year
The resource is an evaluation report carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills into the second year of the Increased Flexibility Programme (IFP) for 14 to 16 Year Olds. Given the wider availability of vocational and work related learning options for 14-16 year olds since the relaxation of National Curriculum requirements at Key Stage 4, the research offers a valuable insight into the implications of this for young people,
Thinking skills in the early years: A literature review
The focus of this resource concerns the thinking skills specific to the early years of schooling.. The resource reports on the answers to three research questions and
1. Explores the pedagogical approaches currently used to develop generic thinking skills for three to seven year old children;
2. Identifies the demonstrable generic thinking skills of three to seven year old children;
3. Examines the relationship between the thinking capacities of young children and the pedagogical approache
Promoting group talk and higher-order thinking in pupils by coaching secondary English trainee teach
The aim of the project was to investigate whether the quality of pupils’ group talk and higher-order thinking at KS3 could be developed by giving additional training and coaching to a group of self-selected trainees. The project aimed to develop the trainees’ skills in planning challenging tasks for pupils’ group talk in English; and in promoting effective talk through the use of pupil ‘ground-rules’ and varied teacher discourse strategies, drawn from research and the participants’ p
1.1.2 Quiz: Getting started
Learning online is one of the great advantages of information technology. This unit will help you establish a safe and comfortable working environment to ensure that your study time at the computer screen does not impact on your health. It also looks at the basic skills for online study, such as file management and installing software.
Modelling with first order differential equations
This unit lays the foundation of Newtonian mechanics and in particular the procedure for solving dynamics problems. The preresquisite skills needed for this unit are the ability to solve first and second-order differential equations, a knowledge of vectors, and an understanding of the concept of a force
Scientists are being encouraged to become teachers
A new initiative linking the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) with employers aims to ease the way for science experts planning teaching as a second career and address the shortage of appropriately qualified science teachers in schools. Many of England's science teachers have not studied science to degree level.
Modelling pollution in the Great Lakes: a review
This is the fifth and final unit in the MSXR209 series on mathematical modelling. In this unit we revisit the model developed in the first unit of this series on pollution in the Great Lakes of North America. Here we evaluate and revise the original model by comparing its predictions against data from the lakes before finally reflecting on the techniques used. This unit assumes you have studied Modelling pollution in the Great Lakes (MSXR209_1), Analysing skid marks (MSXR209_2), Developing model
