Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
On the tenth anniversary of the international Open Access journal PLOS ONE we received an email to inform us that one of our articles was among the top ten per cent of most cited articles in this journal. The email referred to our paper ‘Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal: A mixed-methods study’ [1]. Not bad considering that PLOS ONE has published over 4,300 articles since its inception.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Thanks to the QR funding from the Faculty of Media and Communication, I recently had the privilege to attend the Computer Graphics International 2017 in Yokohama, Japan. CGI is a prestigious conference in the graphics world for many years and attracts interest from people all over the world. We have one paper presented on the conference, as a full paper, it will be published in the Visual Computer Journal by Springer-Verlag.
We have hosted the CGI2012 at Bournemouth. CGI2017 is held at Keio University, Yokohama chaired by Prof. Issei Fujishiro and Prof. Xiaoyang Mao. The first day (27th June) events are majorly tutorials and workshops. The shining part is the keynote by Prof. Marina Gavrilova from University of Calgary, discussing how to use machine learning for social data analysis through image and video processing, especially multiple modal biometric data acquisition, feature matching, fusion and recognition. One interesting application is gender prediction using image aesthetics.
The second day’s keynote is “reconstructing reality: from physical world to virtual environments” by Prof. Ming Lin from University of North Carolina. She firstly gave an introduction on the history of VR and AR, then talked about her work on human tissue material property estimation from real surgery videos, virtual dressing, crowd and traffic pattern learning from videos of real world, finally the sound and haptic rendering in VR environment. Daniel Thalmann (chair of the conference) held the panel discussion on the future of machine learning in graphics. There were lots of other paper presentations on the second day covering many topics including image, texture, modelling, rendering, deformation and visualization.
The third day’s keynote is “Studies on Humanlike robots” by Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro. He showed the latest state-of-the-art robot in Japan, the mimic version of himself. Obviously lots of small human robots have been used in some restaurants to entertain guest during food ordering. My student Tao Jiang presented his paper in the morning session.
I chaired a session on the fourth day on papers working on image & example based modelling. There are also some posters presented during the conference.
This is a very good opportunity to network with top experts in the world. I had good chat with many people such as Prof. Henry Fuchs (Guru in the VR world), Prof. Ming Lin, Prof. Marina Gavrilova, Prof. Kwan-Liu Ma (leading expert in the visualization, chaired the top visualization conferences in the world), Prof. Shimin Hu (Tsinghua University), Prof. Enhu Wu (Chinese Academy of Science), and also some other experts from Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, USA and China etc. There is also a discussion with a professor from German about collaboration on 3D living environment reconstruction from old photos for dementia patient/old people. This is a very exciting and intensive experience for four full days, sharing different ideas, building links and research collaborations.
What is MS?
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating and progressive condition that affects the fatty tissue sheath surrounding nerves. Loss of the myelin sheath is largely responsible for uncoordinated movements because the nerves cannot transmit signals smoothly across the complex neural circuitry. A common symptom of MS is excessive yawning together with fatigue.
Research study
Following recent completion of a study at the Osborne Centre, West Parley, we found that people with MS had higher cortisol levels when yawning compared with healthy participants.
Previous research at Bournemouth University
This research follows several years of research by the author at Bournemouth University with the first report on the “yawning envelope”, identifying the electrical trace during yawning (Refs. 1-2), and the first report on the association between yawning and cortisol levels following provoked yawning (Refs. 3-6).
Yawning “envelope”
“Contagious” yawning is seen in animals as well humans; it may involve empathy to perceived social cues in humans.
Yawning: (clockwise) Fox, Pig, Human, Hippopotamus
A series of 3 Q and A events with talks about findings was held at the MS Society local branch which facilitated an interesting and lively debate among participants, researchers and staff at the Centre.
Further research planned
We believe that threshold levels of cortisol trigger the yawn response which lowers brain temperature, particularly important in MS where brain temperatures can be elevated considerably following fatigue. A funding bid is in preparation to examine early detection of MS using these findings.
About the author
Simon B N Thompson is Associate Professor, Bournemouth University; and Visiting Professor, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France. He has presented to His Excellency Bernard Emié, the French Ambassador at the French Embassy, signalling formation of the Anglo-French International Scientific Council for Research into Multiple Sclerosis.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all volunteers; Alister Coleman and Nicola Williams for assisting in data collection and analysis; Rod Slip, Group Co-ordinator and Kay Bundy, Fundraising Co-ordinator of the MS Society Osborne Centre for providing free facilities.
References
1. Thompson, S.B.N., 2013. How to catch a yawn: initial observations of a randomised controlled trial. WMC Neurology, 4(8), doi: 10.9754/journal.wmc.2013.004371.
2. Thompson, S.B.N., Frankham, C., & Bishop, P., 2014. The art of capturing a yawn using the science of nerve impulses and cortisol levels in a randomized controlled trial. Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis as a potential predictor of neurological impairment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 7(3), 529-543.
3. Thompson, S.B.N., 2011. Born to yawn? Cortisol linked to yawning: a new hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, 77, 861-862.
4. Thompson, S.B.N., & Bishop, P., 2012. Born to yawn? Understanding yawning as a warning of the rise in cortisol levels: randomized trial. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 1(2), e4, 1-9, doi: 10.2196/ijmr.2241.
5. Thompson, S. B. N., Daly, S., Le Blanche, A., Adibi, M., Belkhiria, C., Driss, T., de Marco, G., 2016. fMRI randomized study of mental and motor task performance and cortisol levels to potentiate cortisol as a new diagnostic biomarker. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 7(2); 92: 1-8.
6. Thompson, S.B.N., 2017. Hypothesis to explain yawning, cortisol rise, brain cooling and motor cortex involvement of involuntary arm movement in neurologically impaired patients. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 8(1); 167: 1-5.
Rehearsal in the Black Diamond
Gemmeleg is a composition by Laura Reid cellist/composer for the performance system The Feral Cello developed by Dr Tom Davis.
This piece was performed at the prestigious Black Diamond concert venue in Copenhagen as part of the international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIME.
The Feral Cello is a performance system developed by Tom Davis that incorporates machine listening and actuated feedback to alter the response of an acoustic cello in real time during a performance. A description of the performance system was also presented as a poster at the conference.
Previous performances have been at NoiseFloor 2017, Staffordshire University.
The Black Diamond Venue
MS is a chronic debilitating and progressive condition that affects the fatty tissue sheath surrounding nerves. Incomplete innervation due to loss of the myelin sheath is largely responsible for uncoordinated movements. Brain temperature fluctuations are also often seen in people with MS together with fatigue when carrying out mentally or physically demanding tasks. These are commonly associated with excessive yawning yet the cause of fatigue in MS is not well understood.
A recently completed study asked participants to produce saliva into a small tube so that their cortisol levels could be analysed. They were also asked to look at presentations that provoked a yawning response. Results revealed that all of the participants had elevated cortisol levels after yawning and that there was a marked difference in cortisol levels between the healthy participants and those with MS.
Yawning: Pynq Thompson aged 28 days
Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis (Ref.1) proposes threshold levels of cortisol trigger the yawn response which lowers brain temperature. Correlation between brain temperature and cortisol is to be further examined together with comparison between UK and Norwegian participants with MS since the incidence of MS is greater in Scandinavian countries (and Canada and Scotland) possibly due to vitamin D and K reduction with reduced sunlight.
Previous studies have examined electromyograph (EMG) activity during yawning and manipulation of conditions to provoke yawning (Refs. 2,3). Brain regions and cortisol activity has been identified in MS in an international study (Ref. 4); and a new understanding proposed of communication between the motor cortex and brain-stem (Ref.5).
Yawning EMG “envelope” of activity
A funding bid is being prepared to examine the feasibility of producing the early detection of MS and cortisol-insufficiency syndromes using observed yawning frequency and cortisol levels.
Simon B N Thompson is Associate Professor, Bournemouth University; Visiting Professor, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France. Member of International Scientific Council for Research into Multiple Sclerosis following presentation to French Ambassador, His Excellency Bernard Emié, French Embassy.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all volunteers; Alister Coleman and Nicola Williams for assisting in data collection and analysis; Rod Slip, Group Co-ordinator and Kay Bundy, Fundraising Co-ordinator of the MS Society Osborne Centre for providing free facilities.
Note
The author would welcome interest in collaborating in writing bids for funding international work.
References
1. Thompson, S.B.N., 2011. Born to yawn? Cortisol linked to yawning: a new hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, 77, 861-862.
2. Thompson, S.B.N., & Bishop, P., 2012. Born to yawn? Understanding yawning as a warning of the rise in cortisol levels: randomized trial. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 1(2), e4, 1-9, doi: 10.2196/ijmr.2241.
3. Thompson, S.B.N., Frankham, C., & Bishop, P., 2014. The art of capturing a yawn using the science of nerve impulses and cortisol levels in a randomized controlled trial. Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis as a potential predictor of neurological impairment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 7(3), 529-543.
4. Thompson, S. B. N., Daly, S., Le Blanche, A., Adibi, M., Belkhiria, C., Driss, T., de Marco, G., 2016. fMRI randomized study of mental and motor task performance and cortisol levels to potentiate cortisol as a new diagnostic biomarker. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 7(2); 92: 1-8.
5. Thompson, S.B.N., 2017. Hypothesis to explain yawning, cortisol rise, brain cooling and motor cortex involvement of involuntary arm movement in neurologically impaired patients. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 8(1); 167: 1-5.
Two items have dominated this week – the Queen’s Speech at the state opening of Parliament, and the TEF results.
Queen’s Speech
The Queen’s Speech sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the session of parliament. In a rare departure this year the parliamentary legislative session is planned to last for two years, instead of one, to accommodate Brexit and the Repeal Bill. Both the Commons and Lords will debate the planned legislative programme for six working days. Education will be debated on Tuesday 27 June by the Commons and Thursday 29 June by the Lords. Usually during the final days of debate two Opposition amendments are considered and one is voted upon – it will be interesting to see what they pick. The Commons vote on the final motion takes place on Thursday 29 June. The government must win this vote -although the DUP are likely to support the government, Labour are hovering in the wings ready to capitalise on any opportunity.
The significance of the Queen’s Speech for HE was more about what it did not contain. Across the board many manifesto commitments were absent or lacked detail, but that is not unusual.
Schools were addressed with a commitment to increase the schools budget further and to make schools funding fairer. Furthermore, of importance to HE, in line with the ‘Schools that work for everyone’ consultation, the Queen’s Speech makes reference to encouraging more people, schools and institutions to come forward to help to create more good school places. This falls short of promising legislation to force universities or independent schools to sponsor or open free schools, as mentioned in the manifesto. However, legislation isn’t required to force universities into sponsorship. We await the next steps in the response to the Schools consultation. Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Angela Rayner, has tabled the parliamentary question: What her policy is on the involvement of universities in academy sponsorship and the founding of free schools and charging maximum tuition fees. We’ll bring you the response in next week’s policy update. Grammar schools were not mentioned. While the policy has not been officially dropped the BBC cite a DfE source who stated ”the Queen’s Speech was an unambiguous decision not to go ahead with creating more grammar schools”.
The commitment remains to refreshing technical education, funding and delivering the new Institutes of Technology as part of the Industrial Strategy. Angela Rayner has also tabled a parliamentary question on reviewing funding across tertiary education. HEPI published a report on technical and professional education this week.
Immigration – the government pledged “A Bill to establish new national policies on immigration, completed by legislation to ensure that the UK makes a success of Brexit”. The new factor in this debate is the role of the DUP which has indicated it wants a policy that meets the skills needs of Britain. This may not completely dovetail with May’s commitment to the net migration target. In the election aftermath there have been rumours that the government will soften their immigration stance. However, the migration cap was confirmed again by Damien Green on Wednesday.
The Queen’s Speech also addressed Social Care, Mental Health and the tech sector. Please contact Sarah for a summary if these areas interest you.
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
Relish or rubbish it TEF is one of the most significant policy initiatives in recent years. Despite sector opposition and Lords legislative amendments, Jo Johnson’s drive to bring teaching excellence into focus survived largely intact with a review promised in 2019. The categorisation of universities into a single label of Gold, Silver or Bronze gives a highly visible message to the public. A debate rages on how much influence TEF will have on prospective students’ choices and their parents’ opinion. However, including the awards on unistats, and UCAS course pages means that TEF is a force to be respected. Jane’s blog for Wonkhe gives a personal perspective – the good outweighs the bad.
What is TEF?
TEF is a government endorsed evaluation of teaching excellence. Wonkhe have a useful beginner’s guide to the TEF which sets out the component parts within the three categories of Teaching Quality, Learning Environment and Student Outcomes and Learning (also see diagram, and explanation of TEF flags). Controversy within the sector (and Lords debate during the HE and Research Bill) centred on the metrics- which use measures of student experience, retention, and outcomes as a proxy for teaching excellence. In May Jo Johnson stated that TEF was ‘an iterative process’ and would ‘evolve and develop’ over the years. New metrics including LEO will be considered for inclusion as TEF matures.
The government’s aims for TEF are to:
Read Wonkhe’s interesting political history of the methods successive policy makers have attempted to drive progress. And HEPI’s (short!) idiots guide to the arguments for and against the TEF.
Participation in TEF was voluntary but most (nearly all in England, fewer in the devolved administrations) chose to participate. TEF is linked to the raising of the higher fee cap. However, to allow the HE and Research Act to pass swiftly the government agreed to postpone the further link which differentiated the fee cap based on TEF ratings. This has been postponed until 2020 and can only be reinstated after an independent review of TEF has been conducted. Read John Vinney’s research blog which highlights the Lords unease over the TEF fees link as the HE and Research Bill made its way through parliament.
TEF also aligns with the government’s social mobility agenda. The metrics deliberately split out widening participation indicators such as BME and part time students to ensure consideration of these groups at institutional level.
TEF – the outcome
As the data that underlines the metrics are widely published, he sector already had a ball park idea of where institutional ratings would fall, although the subtlety of the individual benchmarking process did make it hard to predict with confidence. For some the TEF heralds a refreshing shake up of the sector, a move away from research influenced league tables. For pre-results release comment see TEF will check the most complacent and privileged and Performance management is here to stay, but TEF needs a rethink.
The TEF results for all participating providers were released by HEFCE on Thursday 22 June. At the time of writing the HEFCE TEF webpages were very slow, as an alternative see this Times Higher page which lists all institutions results but not the provider results statements. The Times Higher page also compares each provider’s TEF result with their THE World University Ranking and REF GPA.
As the policy wonks digest the national results picture, questions emerge about the relative influence of the provider statement against metrics, and a good article by Wonkhe provides volumes and information on institutions that were up or downgraded against their initial metric based ranking. There are interesting results analysis tweets and diagrams by the University of Huddersfield. Chris Husbands, the chair of the TEF, has responded to the reaction with a strong defence of the system on Wonkhe.
Jo Johnson, in the TEF results release, harks back to the original TEF objectives: “These results, highlighting the extraordinary strengths of our higher education system, will help students choose which university or college to study at. The Teaching Excellence Framework is refocusing the sector’s attention on teaching – putting in place incentives that will raise standards across the sector and giving teaching the same status as research. Students, parents, employers and taxpayers all have a shared interest in ensuring that higher education equips the next generation of graduates for success.” He also tweeted “Kudos to all 295 institutions that volunteered for the first Teaching Excellence Framework assessment”.
BU’s approach
BU’s continuing approach to TEF reflects our fundamental commitment to Fusion. Read John Vinney’s HEPI blog which addresses the importance of both research and teaching in inspiring learning excellence, and the comments from Professor Holley on this research blog: “BU is unusual in the sector in drawing together preparation for both REF and TEF, mirroring their Fusion agenda of excellence in research, education and professional practice. It is exciting to be at the centre of these policy opportunities, to build synergy in a way that will further enhance the student experience. At BU we pride ourselves on delivering innovative teaching and learning that works for all of our students, regardless of background.” If you missed it, you can read about BU’s silver award here.
The Future
Amid the excitement of ‘results day’ it is easy to forget that TEF is still evolving. There will be an extended two-year subject level pilot in 2017/18 and 2018/19, with a final version rolled out in 2019/20 (TEF year 5). Despite extensive sector consultation and comment over the past year few decisions have been made about the complexity and level of detail that will dictate the subject level structural framework. The approach based on many categories of disciplines will most genuinely reflect the learning experience of students but could be burdensome and costly – some say broader groups will be easier and less time consuming to manage but will have a masking effect by grouping together subjects that don’t really belong together. For example, subjects as diverse as geography and nursing could banded together under a social sciences heading. Subject level TEF will also make labelling harder. How will a silver institution with a range of gold and bronze subject judgements market themselves effectively but unambiguously? Will parents and prospective students (who need clear, simple branding to make decisions) pay more attention to the Gold rating for their intended subject or an overall Bronze for the intended institution? If that doesn’t have you reaching for the headache medication read Wonkhe’s article which delves further into the complexities of subject level TEF.
Also don’t forget postgraduates. Postgraduate TEF was scheduled for TEF year 4 (assessed in 2018-19 based on 2017-18 data); however, many speculate that given the extension of the subject level TEF pilot and the independent review of TEF, as well as everything else, postgraduate TEF may be shelved until further notice. See Wonkhe’s TEF article about postgraduate TEF.
But with the Bill passed, what will the Universities Minister do during this parliament? Perhaps focus more on the Science and Research part of his portfolio, with the Industrial Strategy and Brexit issues to deal with.
Lastly, at a June Wonkhe TEF conference Mark Jones (HEA) called on the sector to ‘take back control’ of teaching excellence and play a part in developing teaching metrics rather than simply critiquing them. He advocated engaging with Gibbs (2010) Dimensions of quality research and looking at international initiatives as part of potential metric development. Chris Husbands repeated this call in his blog this week.
Media Coverage
Times Higher has a hub page where they gather together key articles and comment on the TEF, and Wonkhe gather together many articles and blogs whilst also providing key results analysis. You may like eight first lessons from the TEF results.
Media coverage has focussed mostly on the mixed ratings achieved by Russell Group members:
Sector response
Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: ‘The Teaching Excellence Framework would have comprehensively failed if it had simply replicated existing hierarchies. It was always designed to do something different to other league tables and rankings – namely, to show where there are pockets of excellence that have been ignored and to encourage improvements elsewhere.
‘So the fact that some of the results seem surprising suggests it is working. I visit around 50 universities a year so know the Gold ratings have been hard won by committed staff and students and are very well deserved.
‘Nonetheless, in this early guise, the TEF is far from a perfect assessment of teaching and learning. While it tells us a lot of useful things, none of them accurately reflects precisely what goes on in lecture halls. I hope university applicants will use the results in their decision making but they should do so with caution, not least because the ratings are for whole universities rather than individual courses.’
Jane Forster Sarah Carter
VC’s Policy Adviser Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Last week Senior Midwifery lecturer Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler, member of CMMPH, had the opportunity to attend and present at the prestigious international 3 day conference organised by MAINN @ UCLAN. Nutrition and Nurture in Infancy and Childhood: Bio-Cultural Perspectives. It took place in the beautiful surrounds of Grange-Over-Sands in Cumbria. It was attended by speakers and researchers from India, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, USA, Canada as well as the UK and therefore an ideal networking opportunity. The title of Luisa’s presentation was “Is it 2 breastfeeds and then a bottle, or is it one breastfeed and a bottle? Not sure”?, based on her PhD study, supervised by Professor Ann Hemingway, Dr. Jaqui Hewitt-Taylor. The paper reported on women’s experiences of feeding their late preterm baby/babies (LPBs), born between 340/7 and 36 6/7 weeks gestation, especially pertinent as the rates for these births is rising. A feminist approach to the study had been utilised using in depth two phase qualitative interviews.
Luisa says of the conference: ‘ I got to meet researchers that I have used widely within my PhD such as Renee Flacking from Sweden who has undertaken research around preterm babies, Virginia Schmied internationally renowned midwifery professor and Professor Paula Meier who has extensively researched late preterm babies and breastfeeding. She came and listened to my presentation and enjoyed it. Thought my findings were very interesting but was a little dismayed that practice had not moved forward. It was also a good opportunity to meet up with twitter buddies such as Laura Godfrey-Isaacs @godfrey_issacs, who took the photos!’
Luisa may be contacted further about her study but the findings indicate that women caring for LPBs frequently encountered contradictory advice regarding infant feeding and often felt their own experiences, intuition and instincts were devalued. The research concludes that the practice of feeding of LPBs should be revisited in partnership with women, so their experiences and perspectives can be utilised to develop satisfying nurturing relationships whilst also meeting nutritional requirements and that breastfeeding is a feminist, human rights issue. The full abstract is published in the conference proceedings.
On Wednesday 28th June, the Writing Academy will be hosting a Lunchbyte session with Sara Ashencaen Crabtree. During the session Sara will talk about her personal publishing experience, her approaches to research and writing, her tips on developing a publication strategy, working with co-authors, reviewers and editors. She will talk about all types of publishing drawing on personal experience, focusing on international reach.
Aims:
…unless you are Allan Young, who currently is at Bournemouth, after six weeks of travelling across the USA (Hawaii, California, North Carolina and Florida) and Barbados, as part of his Churchill Fellowship on coastal management.
Allan is an urban planner, from Sydney (Australia), currently in the role of Planning Service Leader at EMM Consulting after a long spell as senior manager (Coastal and Natural Resources Policy) for the New South Wales government. The focus of his fellowship research is to identify ways in which implementation of retreat from coastal areas at high risk of erosion or flooding can be more successful. Allan explains that “There is an understandable preference for [coastal] protection in most cases due to the significant behavioural, political and systemic biases at play. Yet we also recognise that, for economic or geo-technical reasons, protection cannot occur everywhere.” He points out that while there are many alternatives (‘products’) on offer for coastal protection, a wide range of retreat options could potentially be effective risk management options, but have not yet been tested – he is trying to understand the reasons.
Allan has learned about my work on managed realignment and coastal management and decided to include BU as one of his destinations to find out more about the approach the UK is taking on coastal retreat. Managed realignment usually involves breaching of embankments or seawalls to create multiple benefits, usually more sustainable flood risk management and creation of intertidal habitats to compensate for habitat loss. I compiled a database of about 145 of such projects in Europe, nearly 60 are in the UK. On 20th June, Allan, Marin Cvitanovic and I visited Medmerry managed realignment site in West Sussex, the largest open coast project in the UK.
The land was purchased by the Environment Agency and is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. On site, we were greeted by Tim Callaway (RSPB Area Manager) and Stephen Webster (RSPB Site Manager) and Adam Hammerton (Flood and Coastal Risk Management Officer at the Environment Agency). They showed us a 3D printing of the site before and after the breaching and passed on great insights about how the project evolved, stakeholders engagement, changes in perception of local people and the management of the site. Besides the guided field visit, I was also able to collect samples for a pilot study I’m undertaking with colleagues from the Department of Life & Environmental Sciences.
Allan is writing blogs about his visits in LinkedIn – later this week he will post one about his visit to the UK/BU. In the meantime, you can read what he learned in Barbados or the other places.
Interested in finding out more about the Churchill Travel Fellowship? The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust funds UK citizens to investigate inspiring practice in other countries, and return with innovative ideas for the benefit of people across the UK. Deadline for applications this year: 5pm on 19th September 2017.
As promised to our audience at the 31st International Confederation of Midwifery Triennial Congress in Toronto today: the slides used on our session ‘Mental health training for community maternity workers in Nepal. The slides in PDF format can be accessed here: Nepal THET ICM 2017. Our project brought together academics, midwives, nurses, and other health workers in Nepal and the UK to help in the training of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi on key aspects of mental health and mental health promotion. The project led by Bournemouth University was funded under the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) which is managed by a London-based organisation called THET (Tropical Health & Education Trust).
Can I also take the opportunity to list all our collaborators in Nepal and UK:
Padam Simkhada, Bhimsen Devkota, Shyam K. Maharjan, Lokendra Sherchan, Ram Chandra Silwal, Krishna Acharya, Bishnu G.C., Ram K. Maharjan, Bibha Simkhada, Jillian Ireland, Jane Stephens, Colette Fanning, Edwin van Teijlingen, Geeta Sharma, Samridhi Pradhan, Seam MacKay, Ish Fawcett, Andrea Lawrie, Dave Havelock, Liz Murphy, Rose Pringle, Sapana Bista, Chrissy Reeves & Flora Douglas.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
Sometimes we use the BU Research Blog to report on our own research and publications, sometimes post blogs about the works of colleagues. Occasionally we have the pleasure to report on something written about, or in reply to, our own studies. This book review in The Practising Midwife [1] falls in the latter category as it reviews our recently published edited volume New Thinking on Improving Maternity Care: International Perspectives. This volume is edited by academic from across the varies countries [2]. The book is the result of years of comparative international research, funded by the EU (European Union) through its COST Action. The book sets out to generate the best possible evidence across a range of childbirth practices, contexts, and issues in Europe (and beyond). 
The reviewer is Sophie Clare a Staff Midwife at Wexford General Hospital finds it an insightful book which is “a collection of chapters examining issues pertinent to maternity care and midwifery practice across cultures and continents.” She concludes that our book “demonstrates the value of international comparative research in learning what kind of care is best and for whom, in any given setting.”
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
References:
BU academics from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences had a strong presence at the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) in Canada this lunch time. They presented four separate academic posters today at the ICM conference in Toronto. First, Dr. Alison Taylor presented her poster ‘Mothers need to talk, midwives need to listen: Insights from breastfeeding mother’s video diaries’. Secondly, Sara Stride and Dr. Sue Way presented their poster on ‘UUPP Study: Updating the Understanding of Perineal Practice at the time of birth across the United Kingdom’.
Prof. Vanora Hundley, Dr. Ann Luce (BU Faculty of Media & Communication), Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and two students, Sofie Edlund and Sian Ridden also presented their poster on ‘Changing the narrative around birth: midwives’ views of working with the media’. 
And, last but not least, Prof. Vanora Hundley and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen also contributed to a poster produced by Dr. Andrew Symon and colleagues from across the UK: ‘Midwifery-led antenatal care models: Mapping a systematic review to an evidence-based quality framework to identify key components and characteristics of care’.
New Parliament – On Monday we sent out a special edition policy update to keep you current on the political arrangements as the new government is formed. If you missed it you can read it here. Locally, all the incumbents were re-elected, meaning the whole of Dorset continues to be represented by Conservatives. A breakdown of the local MPs, the profile of their vote share, and current political interest areas is available here. It has now been confirmed that the Queen’s Speech and state opening of Parliament will take place on Wednesday 21 June. Since Monday’s update it has been confirmed that Jo Johnson remains in post as Universities Science Research and Innovation Minister. Anne Milton is the new Apprenticeships and Skills Minister. Locally Tobias Ellwood will move to the Ministry for Defence.
Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data – The full longitudinal education outcomes (LEO) data was released this week. It shows graduate earnings and employment outcomes from 2014/15 taking data from the students graduating 1, 3 and 5 years before 2014/15. The methodological of how the data measured prior attainment has changed and ethnicity identifiers have been removed from the dataset for this release. LEO will be published alongside the Key Information Set on Unistats. Wonkhe ran a live LEO blog on release day (BU got a mention) and have an assortment of articles discussing the LEO findings as well as university rankings for each subject area. Polar data is available so comparison of the class effect on graduate earnings is possible even at a subject level. BU is generally positioned well within the LEO data, which is consistent with our DLHE outcomes data.
Gender pay gaps: Wonkhe reported on the first trial release of LEO data highlighting that the pay gap between women and men is visible from graduation. Wonkhe have explored this gender pay gap through the full LEO dataset released this week. Their new article identifies that, while the gender gap remains, subject area has an affect and where there are lower numbers of men than women on a subject, e.g. nursing, the men outperform the women’s pay by an even greater margin. The article questions whether universities are failing to prepare women to enter the most well-paying graduate jobs, and failing to encourage women’s aspirations on the same par as men. The article also anticipates that when the pay data can be cut by ethnicity that further gender racial divides will been seen. The Guardian also report on the gender pay gap.
Brexit – residency rights for EU citizens wishing to remain in the UK post Brexit are not as black and white as it seems. This report from Migration Watch UK on the EC’s negotiating position explores the shades of grey. There are ongoing rumours of pressure to soften the approach to Brexit but no indication of it – the formal negotiations with the EU start on Monday.
Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) – With Jo Johnson, Justine Greening and Greg Clark’s continuation of their cabinet roles the sector anticipates that both TEF and the HE and Research Act will move forward with more certainty now. UUK have published a briefing on the implementation of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. UUK remain positive in their approach to the act whilst acknowledging the potential risk to institutional autonomy. The act replaces HEFCE with the OfS, establishes the combined UKRI, and begins to establish the new regulatory system for the sector. UUK call for universities to engage and influence how OfS and UKRI approach their remit and to consider the implications of these split bodies with reference to the relationship between teaching and research within universities.
Regulation: The sector will be regulated through the register of HE providers. The OfS can vary the conditions applied to providers (as the pool of providers will be wider) and requirements relating to access and participation. A technical consultation on registration fees is expected during autumn 2017. Student protection plans will be a requirement of registration, including transparency in enabling provision for student transfers. The OfS will consult on whether there are appropriate bodies that could perform quality assessment and data collection in advance of April 2018 and that would command the confidence of the sector.
Teaching quality: During amendment through parliament conditions of registration relating to quality and standards of teaching meant conditions should relate to sector recognised standards. The detail and ownership the sector will have over the definition of standards is unclear. However, amendments within the Lords ensured that ‘quality’ and ‘standards’ should be properly defined and separate and the independent ability of institutions to set their own standards was protected. The UK-wide standing committee on quality assessment is working to coordinate a shared regulatory baseline and is also reviewing how the quality code, including standards, may need to evolve in the context of the new regulations. HEFCE is also expected to conduct a review of the Annual Provider Review in the autumn.
Degree awarding powers: will be subject to independent quality advice from either the designated quality body or an independent committee, and replicates much of the role of the QAA’s Advisory Committee on degree awarding powers (Section 46). A consultation on how the OfS should exercise its new powers, including ‘probationary’ degree awarding powers, and the removal of degree awarding powers is expected. There are additional conditions to be met before OfS can vary or revoke degree awarding powers or university title, royal charters cannot be revoked in full. There is to be additional ministerial oversight of new providers without a validation track record. Amendment discussions secured tightened regulation around degree awarding powers and university title to protect both students and the sector reputation on sector entry for new providers.
Financial powers: OfS will have the ability to make grants or loans to a HE provider, replicating HEFCE’s powers to provider funding for high cost or strategic/vulnerable subjects. It’s likely any support for providers in financial difficulty would require DfE and Treasury input.
Fee limits & TEF: Fee limit changes require (active) approval by both Commons and Lords, even if the increase is below inflation. An approved access and participation plan is required. There are three levels of fee limits:
Until the academic year 2020/21 all providers participating in TEF with approved access plans will be permitted to charge the full inflationary increase up to the higher amount. Before differential fees determined by TEF rating can be implemented an independent review of TEF must take place. The review would need to take place in winter 2018/19 for differential fees to be implemented in 2020/21. The review will cover:
Subject level TEF have been delayed by an additional year but will be piloted in 17/18 and 18/19.
UKRI: will operate from April 2018 and is expected to commence by drafting its research and innovation strategy in collaboration with the sector. Research England will have to consult on the terms and conditions attached to the quality-related funding it provides. The government must publish details of the funding provided to UKRI, the terms and conditions attached, and the amount granted to each of the seven councils. This is designed to give public oversight of the process, and to encourage responsible allocation of funding to the different councils. The dual support system will not be undermined. The Act enshrines the Haldane principle within the legislation ‘decisions on individual research proposals are best taken following an evaluation of the quality and likely impact of the proposals (such as a peer review process)’. UKRI should give equal regard to all nations of the UK.
Widening Participation – The Social Mobility Commission have published the Social Mobility Barometer surveying the public’s attitude towards UK social mobility. The Barometer is new and there will be follow up polls each year until 2021. It was run by YouGov. Press coverage: BBC; TES focus on the belief education will be better in the future.
Fees and Funding
The House of Commons Library have published a clear briefing paper on HE funding in England. It covers the 2012/13 higher fee increase, removal of maintenance grants and student loan repayment threshold decisions. It also summarises the public spend on HE (within England) and the impact of student loans on the national debt.
Jane Forster Sarah Carter
VC’s Policy Adviser Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Today sees the start of the triennial ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) conference in Toronto. BU is well represented in Canada through academics based in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH) presenting posters, papers and workshops. The ICM programme can be accessed on line, click here!
Over the next few days BU staff will present on a collaboration with the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic: ‘Newborn feeding clinic service evaluation: Midwives working in partnership with chiropractors to enhance breastfeeding experiences of mothers & babies in the UK’.
Dr. Rachel Arnold presents on her PhD research at Bournemouth University under the title ‘Ensuring high-quality respectful care in a climate of fear and intimidation’. On Wednesday Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen reports on the maternal mental health training conducted in Nepal in 2016-2017 under the title ‘Mental health training for community maternity workers in Nepal’. Dr. Jenny Hall is co-organiser of a symposium Spirituality and Childbirth with Prof. Susan Crowther and Dr. Celine Lemay.
Moreover there will be many BU poster presentations this week including ones by:
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Toronto, Canada
This week the Oxford Encyclopaedia published our contribution on religious organisations and health promotion [1]. The paper in question ‘Faith Communities and the Potential for Health Promotion’ is co-authored by scholars based in England, Scotland and Canada. This new publication is part of a growing number of publications at Bournemouth University on the contribution of faith communities to public health.
Faith communities often have multiple resources, existing networks and an infrastructure that can be applied to health promotion programmes for their own membership or as an outreach to the wider community. Health programmes in a faith community in high-income countries may include targeted initiatives, ranging from walking groups or weight checks, health events, or health assessments, to diabetes self-management. These activities can be organised by charities and NHS organisation and held at local churches, synagogues or mosques which is referred to as faith-placed health promotion. If the health promotion is part of the ministry of the religious organisation it is referred to as faith-based health promotion.
On top of this encyclopaedia entry, the Open Access journal African Health Sciences [Impact Factor 0.66] accepted our paper in the same field a few weeks ago. This paper ‘Influence of faith-based organisations on HIV prevention strategies in Africa: a systematic review’ formed part of the first author’s M.Sc. in Public Health [2]. Our previous papers reported on a study of faith-based and faith-placed health promotion in and around Dundee [3-4].
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Prenatal Health
References
On 2nd June 2017 Ambrose Seddon (Creative Technology, EMERGE) premiered his new electroacoustic composition Traces of Play at the Klang! Électroacoustique music festival in Montpellier, France. The festival took place over five nights at Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier.
Ambrose’s work was programmed and performed alongside many respected composers from the field of electroacoustic music. The composition was created for 4 channels of audio and was spatialised (diffused) live in concert over the 58-channel Klang! ‘acousmonium’ (loudspeaker system).
Initial work on the composition was carried out during two short residencies at Elektronmusic Studion (EMS), Stockholm with support from Creative Technology.
Ambrose Seddon is a lecturer in Music and Audio Technology at BU.
All HE news has been dwarfed by the election outcome. At the time of writing we have a minority government in place and it looks as if there will be very uncertain times ahead. The obvious HE angle has been the reports of increased turnout, in particular amongst the young – and the power of the student vote to change outcomes in university towns. Again, at the time of writing, there has not been clear confirmation of the actual role of the younger vote – more information will be forthcoming in the next week or so once the analysis is done.
The obvious immediate impact on HE of the result is that, because of the uncertainly, the publication of the TEF results, planned for Wednesday, has been postponed. It is not likely to be postponed for long, though.
Longer term, there are rumours of a possible change of direction towards a softer Brexit and a softer approach to migration. The latter may happen – but possibly only because it will be difficult to pass controversial legislation. Softer Brexit seems unlikely simply because in the end the EU want a hard Brexit – but we will see. The Brexit argument did not help the Lib Dems much – suggesting that the majority is still pro-Brexit. There are also stories of a delay to Brexit – but that also seems unlikely as all the EU member states would need to agree.
Rankings
Universities are carefully considering their messaging relating to rankings position following a complaint to the advertising watchdog. The BBC report the University of Reading will remove their claim to be within the top 1% of the world’s universities after the watchdog stated the figure could not be substantiated and could be misleading. The difficulty over making claims arises because no ranking assesses every HEI and each ranking measures a different set of criteria. While the HE sector has long debated the usefulness and bias within rankings, and the impact on student institution choice, clouding the claims a university can make is likely to weaken international communications particularly within status focussed cultures. This potentially could exacerbate the current recruitment instability following the Brexit vote and the inhospitable atmosphere created by the immigration targets.
Widening Participation
New research from Claire Callender continues the debate on whether fees deter the poorest students from attending university. The researcher is keen to point out that prospective students fully understand the different nature of student loans and critiques the current policy focus on school achievement as the mechanism to boost access. Callender’s research found that debt aversion has increased among working-class and middle-class students and is a much stronger deterrent now than in the past. Recent increases in disadvantaged applications are attributed to few alternative options to the uncapped number of university places. Callender states: “Many potential students, particularly the poorest, do not feel that student loans are affordable, or a safety net against an uncertain future, despite understanding how the loans work. For these young people the idea that student loans are not really debt does not ring true…The current government’s argument that student loans widen participation is misleading. Our study shows that a student funding system reliant on fees and loans, regardless of whether debt is repaid or written off by the state, discriminates against those it claims to help.” These claims have been critiqued in comments left on the Wonkhe article by highlighting that students intention and opinion may not actually translate into university avoidant behaviour.
Action on Access have published Supporting Student Success: What Works Programme. This is the final report following the 6-year retention and success programme, click here for the ‘summary’ (30 pages) and here for the full report. It emphasises the need for a whole-institution approach embedded in the local context and a mixed methodology evaluation to develop an ongoing evidence-informed programme of tailored interventions.
2017 Student Experience Survey
Before the election, this week’s big policy news has been the release of the HEPI-HEA 2017 student experience survey findings. Wonkhe succinctly summarise the findings here, and there has been press coverage on the findings from the BBC, Guardian, and The Times.
In brief, teaching is perceived more positively, learning gain has been reported positively (although Wonkhe disagree), and student wellbeing remains a concern. Most interesting is the consideration of the results dissected by student residency, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Students who live at home and commute score lower on satisfaction and wellbeing than students that relocate and live in. There are also clear ethnicity differences, in particular Asian and Chinese students rate teaching staff and value for money of their degree lower; and non-straight students score lower across the board on wellbeing. As Wonkhe suggest the interplay between race, commuting, attainment, wellbeing, learning gain, part time employment, and student support may make for some interesting personalisation interventions within the sector if the data can be sufficiently interpreted.
For more detail on the findings, read on…
Individual student experience differed greatly depending on ethnicity, accommodation (live in or at home) and sexual orientation. These factors had a direct impact on how engaged students are with their studies and on their overall quality of life. It raises the tricky personalisation agenda for universities and the report encourages deeper thinking about how to respond to the individual characteristics of each student.
The Survey confirms higher education transforms lives but also that it does not currently help all students equally. In particular work is needed to address the less positive academic experience of minority groups, and to realise the potential benefits from studying alongside non-UK students. The conclusion states: Accusations that curricula, teaching and learning practices and assessment methods unintentionally favour white students have proved controversial. Yet the Survey confirms that all these areas, and more, must be considered if we are to understand fully the different performance of students with different ethnic backgrounds. (Page 54.)
Contact hours: The report suggests student expectation around contact hours may be evolving because of the peak of 10-19 hours compared to 2016 peak of 20-29 hours. The report suggests that beyond this tipping point of contact time student satisfaction is also about using the right teaching methods in the right volume.
Value of money: Perceptions of value for money are falling. 34% of students think they are receiving poor value (35% think they are receiving good value). Students want universities to provide information on where fees go, taxpayers to cover more of the costs and policymakers to provide stronger arguments for future fee rises. The decline in perception of value is of concern, and highlights how complex this issue is. For the third year running students have complained about the lack of information on how ‘their’ fees are spent. Only 19% of students believe they receive enough information, the report suggests therefore that institutions need deeper engagement and personalisation of approach with students at every stage of their higher education experience to meet their expectations better. There are ethnic differences in perception of value for money too. Among the UK-domiciled students the differences between white and non-white student groups are significant.
Learning gain: Two-thirds (65%) of students in UK higher education say they have learnt ‘a lot’. Evidence that perceptions of teaching quality are rising includes year-on-year increases in students’ perceptions of teaching staff characteristics. Compared to 2016, a higher proportion of students think: course goals are explained clearly (up from 63% to 65%); teaching staff motivate students to do their best work (from 51% to 54%); and staff help students explore their own areas of interest (from 33% to 37%).
Delving into the document there is a focus on how living arrangements affect learning. On average, students who live at home perceive themselves to be learning less, perhaps showing they are not as well integrated as others. Some institutions are now usefully exploring the concept of the ‘sticky campus’ to ensure all students have access to the non-academic aspects of student life. In addition undertaking paid employment for more than a few hours a week can be detrimental to academic work, including – potentially – the class of degree obtained. However, universities can potentially make life easier for students in need of extra income by providing on-campus jobs, acting as caring employers and providing managers who understand the rhythms of student life.
Students that live at home are much less likely to report strong gains in learning and more likely to wish they’d chosen another course or institution – this raises issues of isolation and access to learning support.
The report states the results highlight economic and cultural factors affect a student’s decision to live at home, particularly students within Polar areas 1 and 2 and the Asian community.
Teaching quality: Perception of teaching quality differs by ethnicity. Staff characteristics are consistently rated lower among UK-domiciled Asian and Chinese students, these are also the cohorts with the lower scores for learning gain and value for money.
Differences by student ethnicity in perception of teaching staff characteristics
Student wellbeing: Students are less happy and more anxious than non-students. The Survey confirms student wellbeing is lower than for the rest of the population. Only one-in-five students (19%) report low anxiety, compared to twice as many (41%) people in the population as a whole. Students who say they have learnt ‘a lot’ have higher levels of wellbeing, indicating how more positive results could be achieved in future.
Sexual orientation & wellbeing: Students who identify as straight do better on each of the four wellbeing measures than other students, the report suggests HEIs have further to go in providing a fully supportive environment for people of all sexual orientations.
University spending: Students were asked their most and least preferred ways to save money – wellbeing and support services emerged as a priority for retaining spending.
Global diversity: A new question asked UK-domiciled students about studying alongside students from outside the UK, 36% responded positively, 32% were unaware of any benefits and the remainder were neutral. The report suggests more needs to be done to explain the benefits of learning within a diverse environment to students.
Teaching Excellence Framework: The survey reports the vast majority of students (76%) are firmly opposed to TEF-linked fee rises (or perhaps just opposed to fee rises).
Responses to the survey findings
Julia Goodfellow, UUK responded: “students understandably have higher expectations of their universities following the introduction of the current fee and income-contingent loan system in England. Universities have increased investment in teaching and learning and are continuing to respond to student feedback. Students are now reporting record levels of satisfaction with their courses across all the UK’s universities, and that is down to the hard work and commitment of university staff. Universities are also publishing more information about what universities spend their money on, making sure it is accessible and meaningful to students and parents.”
At the HEPI conference Jon Wakeford (UPP) spoke about how a focus on the role of transition to the university environment could help.
Coming soon…
On Tuesday 13 June the full LEO (longitudinal education outcomes) data will be released showing the connection between university graduate earnings and employment. It is expected to be released on this site – unless this is also postponed because of the election result.
Jane Forster Sarah Carter
VC’s Policy Adviser Policy & Public Affairs Officer
It is all going on with Interreg at the moment!
Not only is Bournemouth University hosting an Interreg Channel Programme workshop on 21/6/17 but there are regional events for the Interreg 2 Seas Programme too, as per this inviation from Solveig Burfeind, Facilitator – Interreg 2 Seas Mers Zeeën:
Are you still interested in applying for Interreg funding from the Two Seas Programme? The next Call for Proposals (August – October 2017) will be one of the last opportunities to do so. If you want to work with European partners on topics such as technological innovation, social innovation, climate change adaptation, low carbon economy and circular economy we have a series of local workshops coming up in the next month. We will discuss the range of themes the Two Seas Programme funds, how to develop a successful proposal and hints and tips on what makes a good application. Each workshop is supported by local partners and we will focus on specific objectives most relevant for participants.
Plymouth: 23/6/17, 10.15am – 3pm
Swindon: 29/6/17, 12.45pm – 5pm
Hove: 4/7/17, 10am – 2.30pm
To register and for the detailed agendas, please follow this link: http://www.interreg2seas.eu/en/news/interreg-workshops-uk
If you cannot make any of the workshops but want to discuss a potential project idea or would like to hear about project applicants looking for partners, please contact Solveig Burfeind, (Solveig.Burfeind@communities.gsi.gov.uk) or Paula MacLachlan ( p.maclachlan@interreg2seas.eu ).
BU staff interested in applying to this or other EU calls, should contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International to arrange help and support.
BU staff can login below:
FHSS academics teaching in Nepal
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MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 Call – internal deadline
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Horizon Europe – ERC CoG and MSCA SE webinars MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 Call – internal deadline Horizon Europe – ERC CoG and MSCA SE webinars
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ERC grants – series of webinars Last reminder – MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 internal deadline next week
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