Corporate Research Update, July 2004 Page Camborne College 1- 11 Centre for Arts and Media, Camborne 1 Centre for Leisure, Tourism, Sport, and IT, Camborne 1-2 Cornwall Health Research Unit 2-3 The Air Quality Unit 3 Cornwall Dermatology Research Project 3-4 Centre for Science, Camborne 4-6 Centre for the Built Environment, Camborne 6-7 Cornwall Business School, Camborne 7 - 10 Centre for Applied Zoology, Newquay 10 - 11 Falmouth Marine College 11 - 12 Saltash College 12 - 13 Duchy College, Stoke Climsland 14 - 15 Duchy College, Rosewarne 15 - 17 St Austell College 17 - 19 Business, Admin & Secretarial Department, St Austell College 18 - 19 The Transforming Learning Cultures in FE Group 19 - 20 Department of Art, Design & Media 20 Leo Salter, Corporate Research Director Corporate Research Update, July 2004 Camborne College Centre for Arts and Media, Camborne There is a continuing enthusiasm for pursuing personal development within the centre. Some staff involved in postgraduate study have benefited from research funding from Cornwall College. The Arts and Media Research Collective will meet after the final assessment boards in July to evaluate the activity this year. But there is a firm commitment to research and scholarly activity as essential to teaching and learning development within our specialist areas. Staff are being encouraged to update their research profiles on the intranet/internet. Jacqui Boddington has just completed the third module of the MA Mass Communications (by distance learning) from the University of Leicester. She remarks, “I believe the increased theoretical knowledge provided by my study is starting to benefit my teaching – and has implications for course structure and delivery next year.” The MA should be completed in October ’05 and her PGCE will be completed in June ‘05. Peter Grout completed an MA in History of Modern Art & Design this term. David Wheatcroft completed an MA in Contemporary Visual Arts at Falmouth College of Art this summer and, in addition to a show at Lanhydrock this July, his work has been displayed or screened at the Hall for Cornwall, Falmouth Arts Centre, Bodmin Community College, the Barbican Theatre Plymouth and the Plymouth Theatre Royal. Patrick Lowry will complete the written elements of his MA early this summer and an exhibition in Penzance is in the planning stage as a shared show with Katherine Pepper, a part time member of staff on the Fine Art Team. Matt Osmond intends to undertake an MA in Illustration at FCA. He is exploring the use of narrative with imagery. Mark Benattar will complete a Postgraduate Cert Ed this summer. Keith Harris will complete a Cert Ed this summer and then undertake an MA in Creative Advertising at FCA. Centre for Leisure, Tourism, Sport and IT, Camborne Rebecca Biddle a member of the Tourism Department presented a paper at the Camborne College Research Day (April 20th) entitled “Journeys to the ‘Dark Side’: The Motivations and Perceptions of the Thanatourist”. The paper reflects Rebecca’s current doctoral research at the University of Exeter. The paper started with a definition of Thanatourism which is also known as dark, death or black spot tourism and is the visiting of sites which have experienced death 1 in some form or other. The paper went on give examples of sites which attract Thanatourists such as Terezin concentration camp and Althorp House where Princess Diana is buried. Thanatourism also takes the form of battle re-enactments such as those carried out by the Sealed Knot Society. Her paper considered a number of points such as who visited such sites and what factors influenced their visits. Also discussed was how these visitors perceived their visits, for instance: are they mourners or tourists? Mike Peters a member of the IT and Computing Team has registered for a doctorate with the University of Plymouth. His doctoral studies will investigate how technology can be used as a mediator in the teaching and learning process in mathematics. Cornwall Health Research Unit (John Bastin, Simon Bennett, Jenny Morris (UoP), Leo Salter, Alex Watt) 1. The CERT (Cornwall Education Research Trust) funded project comparing NHS funding to Cornwall to that of other UK rural areas is completed. The research findings have generated interest by local Primary Care Trusts, Cornwall County Council and Matthew Taylor MP. 2. CHRU has again been contracted by Cornwall Stop Smoking Service to continue its follow-up studies of those who have used the Service to give up smoking. Some of the key findings of the first part of the project are: Women were more inclined to contact the Service than men despite there being more men smokers in the population. Smokers in the 16-24 age group were far less inclined to contact the Service. Proportionately more clients were attracted from the most deprived areas of Cornwall, most of which are to be found in the west of the county. Of the forms of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) offered by the Service, no single type was found to be of significantly greater benefit to those attempting to quit. The drug Zyban attracted significant interest after first being introduced in the UK, but interest later fell away, partly due to media reports of side-effects. The factors identified as being most helpful to successful quitters were NRT (by 44% of quitters) and willpower (35%). Quitters who dealt with a Specialist Nurse were more successful than those whose principal contact was a Pharmacist or GP. There was a high level of approval for the Service registered by users. There was some evidence of the usefulness of group therapy as part of a quit attempt. 2 The Air Quality Unit (Barbara Parsons, Leo Salter, Emma Blight) The Air Quality Unit is funded by Local Authorities and the County Council and by air quality related consultancy income. Newquay and Liskeard: Two large-scale nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube monitoring programmes have been undertaken in Newquay and Liskeard. The programmes will run concurrently from June to September 2004 and the data provided will be used to produce isolevel concentration maps of air pollutant concentrations for each town. The Newquay and Liskeard surveys are a continuation of the nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube programme which has so far examined traffic-related pollution levels in eight other Cornish towns. The Bodmin nitrogen dioxide report can be viewed along with other reports on the CAQF website Falmouth: Nitrogen dioxide diffusion tubes are also being used to examine air quality in Falmouth. The data will be used to determine whether traffic restrictions imposed for the summer months are having a beneficial effect on local air quality. China Clay Dust Forum: The China Clay Dust Forum (CCDF) is comprised of representatives from Imerys, Goonvean, Restormel Borough Council, Advanced Environmental and the Air Quality Unit. The CCDF is in the process of overseeing an extensive air quality monitoring programme in the St Austell china clay area which is being used to feed into china clay working practices. A report on work undertaken at Par is available on the CAQF website (www.cornwall-airquality.org.uk). St Stephen: Airborne particulate matter is being monitored at two sites in St Stephen in response to local concerns about china clay dust. Monitoring is being undertaken on behalf of the Parish Council and will provide baseline data which will be used for comparison when tipping starts on the nearby Scarcewater tip. The forum maintains an excellent spirit of co-operation between the County Council and the Local Authorities with the added bonus of academic links with Cornwall College. An Air Quality Strategy for Cornwall is being published later this year. Air quality data for Cornwall as well as publications and leaflets can be viewed on the CAQF website (www.cornwall-airquality.org.uk). Cornwall Dermatology Research Project (Alison Curnow (PMS), Sandra Campbell (RCHT), David Gould (RCHT), Leo Salter) The Cornwall Dermatology Research Project (CDRP) has continued its research in the UV light induced reactive oxygen species, antioxidant status and photodynamic therapy. PhD student Andrew Pye has been now been successfully enrolled with the Peninsula Medical School for an MPhil/PhD investigating the optimisation of photodynamic therapy (PDT), a promising new cancer therapy. His work will look primarily at the enhancement of this therapy using a novel iron chelating agent and will use cell cultures and patients to examine the effects of this drug. 3 Fluorescence microscopy, the comet assay and the cell viability assays will be involved in this work. The laboratory work will complement the existing clinical trials being carried out within the Cornwall Dermatology Unit. A report of previous investigations of Foscan PDT has recently been accepted for publication by the British Journal of Dermatology and will form part of Sandra Campbell’s MD research. There are several other papers which are in preparation or which have been submitted for publication by the group. A number of new research projects have started in the group. Katja Adie is about to start a clinical trial titled ‘A preliminary study to investigate whether therapeutic paracetamol use reduces glutathione levels and predisposes to oxidative stress and increased DNA damage in peripheral white blood cells after exposure in vitro to UV light’. Which will further the previous paracetamol work carried out by the group. Also Adrian Flynn will be starting an investigation into the effects of the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine on DNA damage and antioxidant status. Zoe Lyle is undertaking research into the potential synergistic mutagenic effects of UV light and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH). Zoe is a PhD student supervised jointly by the CDRP (Alison Curnow, David Gould, Leo Salter) and the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Plymouth (Awadhesh Jha). Wendy Bradfield (Cornwall College) has completed the practical elements of her final year BSc project into increases in genotoxicity induced in human cells by the combination of heavy metal and UV light exposure. Centre for Science, Camborne Martin Roberts has completed the first year of a taught MSc in ‘Applied Statistics with Statistical Education’ undertaken with Sheffield Hallam University. This three year degree is delivered by distance learning. Assignments in the first year have included the application of regression modelling to air quality data from the United Downs landfill site (data kindly supplied by Barbara Parsons) and the implementation and evaluation of a change in the delivery and assessment of inferential methods in the first year of foundation degree courses in science. In his role as coordinator for the ‘HE Mapping & Evaluation Project’ he has created a database of the curricula taught on all 1108 modules of the College’s current HE courses and has investigated ways in which delivery of these courses might be rationalised. The database has been made available to all staff via the College intranet and research into the existing curricula has resulted in changes to the procedure by which new courses are created. Steve Brown has recently completed a PhD within the Applied Mathematics department at the University of Plymouth on theoretical aspects of magnetic recording head design during which he published four papers in refereed journals and had his work presented at national and international magnetism conferences (York 1999, Sendai 2000, Cardiff 2001). He will now continue this research along with co-workers from CRIST (Centre for Research into Information Storage Technology) at the University of Plymouth by working on a simulation of the critical switching current density in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cells. 4 This project extends existing work on spin-tunnelling structures for MRAM by attempting to explore phenomena associated with spin dependent electronic transport, spin injection, spin torque and spin induced switching in magnetic and magnetic/semiconductor nano-devices in classic diffusive and quantum mechanic ballistic regimes. These new nano-scale spintronic films and devices will have important technological applications in data storage, spintronic computing or biomedics. His theoretical work will complement earlier experimental research by Michael Hunt when he was an EU funded OXSEN (Oxide Spin Electronics Network) fellow at the Laboratoire Louis Neel at the CNRS Grenoble. That work sought to fabricate and test thin-film spin tunnelling devices by laser ablation techniques and then to establish by neutron reflectometry at the ISIS neutron spallation source whether depolarization of injected spin-polarised currents was occurring as a result of surface magnetic disorder. Chris Bevington has sought to establish a web presence for HE courses within the department. He has worked with colleagues to produce pages that link to the college web site and which rank high on a list of hits by major search engines. Michael Hunt and Keith Dingley have established a renewable energy test site at the Camborne School of Mines Test Mine in Troon. A weather station and solar panel have been erected, along with a wind-turbine on a 10 m tower. This installation will serve principally as a vehicle for teaching but will also provide data that will inform any future major investment into the site as a test-bed for large-scale renewable energy projects. It is also a tangible manifestation of collaboration between the hub and rim components of CUC. Michael Hunt and Mike Williams are both about to begin distance learning modules within the Masters programme of CREST (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology) at the University of Loughborough, on hydroelectric and solar power respectively. During the first full year of his doctoral research Geoff Garbett has made steady progress on the search for further evidence for the vegetational history of the Lizard. With the help of his two supervisors (Charles Turner of the OU and James Scourse of Bangor University) he has found four promising sites from which peat cores have been collected. The department’s centrifuge has been upgraded with research project funding from the College to enable the pollen to be separated from the peat. Since September last year it has been possible to prepare slides from the peat cores. The counting of pollen from the first two sites is now almost complete and Geoff will be constructing preliminary diagrams within the next few weeks. The first of these, from atop Goonhilly Downs, looks very promising. It contains a large proportion of Ericaceae pollen. With a refinement of identification techniques it should be possible to separate the different species and so shed some light on the development of the unique Lizard heather community. The two longest cores are still to be extracted and counted. An absolute counting technique will be used here using Lycopodium spores. These have already been sourced. A second trip to Cambridge is planned for the summer to further upgrade identification skills. Bruce Forrest has been continuing his research into the metal contamination of Cornish rivers. Under his supervision, BSc student Fran Thomas investigated the effect of metal contamination on larvae of the caddisfly Hydropsyche siltalai. 5 The investigation showed a clear link between the concentration of zinc in the water and gill abnormalities. In addition, growth of the larvae was retarded by high concentrations, possibly showing a reduced scope for growth. Experiments also indicated that growth of larvae was stimulated by low concentrations of cadmium and this was reflected in an increased mean mass of larvae. This project was an extension of an earlier project carried out by Matt Wilson (BSc student, 2003) who investigated the effects of metal contamination upon freshwater invertebrates with the aim of identifying indicator community assemblages. Following a series of experiments investigating hormesis in blowflies Bruce has decided to move away from blowflies to concentrate on freshwater ecology. Twelve BSc and eighteen Foundation Degree projects have been supervised this year within the department on subjects ranging from atmospheric optics to wave prediction and palynology. The BSc projects in particular were highly praised by the external examiners. Especially noteworthy among these were those by Jo Barnes, Andrew Venton and Fran Thomas. Jo Barnes: Following a period of voluntary work for English Nature at the Cornwall Heathland Project, Jo undertook a research project at the request of Ian Davies, the Project Manager. This involved the design and execution of an analysis of the acidifying effect of elemental sulfur on a re-profiled, reseeded clay spoil tip. Soil phosphate tests were conducted throughout the four months of the investigation involving many hours of painstaking laboratory work. Detailed plant species lists were made both before and after the sulfur treatment and indicated a shift towards an acid grassland flora. The standard of work maintained by Jo was outstanding and, despite time constraints she made an important and valuable contribution to the understanding of heathland regeneration techniques. Andrew Venton: Andrew spent much of his childhood fascinated by the large woodland on his doorstep, Cabilla and Redrice wood. He grasped the opportunity to investigate its history further by means of a palynological study of a 2 m peat core from the centre of the wood. The investigation involved both the learning of the pollen separation techniques and the identification and counting of several thousand pollen grains from successively deeper levels in the peat core. Andrew pursued this painstaking work with vigour and enthusiasm. He augmented the vegetational data obtained from the peat with studies of the historical records. His final presentation developed a fascinating picture of the massive vegetational changes that have occurred in the valley, mostly as a result of human activities. The large amount of data collected, however, still has much information to offer. Within the college Chris Bevington and Michael Hunt both gave talks at the April research days, Chris on his work with internet search engines while Michael described how a public lecture designed to attract people to science might be built around the phenomenon of levitation. The Centre has held training sessions for the county science advisory service and three more sessions are planned. 6 Centre for the Built Environment, Camborne Phil Whitfeld has two current research areas: 1. British Contemporary Furniture Design and the Festival of Britain, 1951. (This is the final PG/Dip module (20th Art & Design: Histories and Theories) and feeds directly into Phil’s MA dissertation – "British Modernism and its Relation to the Traditions of the Arts and Crafts Movement".) British Contemporary Furniture Design of the 1950s, while claiming to be a celebration of Modernity was not a commercial success and failed to produce the sort of iconic images that associated with early European Modernism. Few designs displayed at the Festival of Britain went into production even though many won awards. The reasons for this are complex and the British obsession with its sense of heritage and tradition perpetuated by the British class system play a large part. The aim of Phil’s project is to understand this failure by examination of the relationships between the organisers, the designers, the public and the media and their relative positions within the class system. Sandwiched, as it was between the austerity of the war years and the flamboyant emerging "pop" culture of the late 50s and 1960s, Contemporary, or Festival "style" seemed a moment that exemplified the zeitgeist. Is this an accurate assumption or has the mythology created around the festival distorted its meaning? Britain in the 1950s was still very much in the grip of class-culture, although this hierarchy had been affected by two world wars. The "Establishment" and its inherent class agenda was an imposing force very much in control of everyday life. The festival, a venture initiated and organised by middle-class professionals, would have little effect on the taste and consumption of the upper classes but was expected to have great effect on the taste and lifestyle of the lower-middle and working classes. 2. The HTP Motor Co. Ltd. Building, Malpas Road, Truro. This building, recently refurbished in 1996, was built in 1910/11 by the architect Alfred Cornelius, a partner of the renowned Cornish architect Sylvanus Trevail. A chance conversation with a local councillor and Cornish historian led me to believe that the building was the first steel-framed structure to be built in Cornwall. If this is true it has important architectural significance and yet it has not been listed. I have been in contact with several archives, planning departments, and local historical societies and have tracked down the original plans and drawings, signed by Cornelius at the Cornwall Records Office. A major coup has been tracking down Phil Hosken (a descendent of "H" in HTP) who has a mass of original documentation, including details of accounts, letters, drawings, press cuttings etc. He has offered me access to all this information, as has the Cornwall Records Office to theirs. The next stage of the research will be to access this documentation to clarify dates and construction details. Should the results of this research have a positive outcome then this will be a very important historical find and could have consequences with regard to the building being listed. Cornwall Business School, Camborne David Ager has completed a second book on sports management (‘Handbook of Football Club Management’) and has seen his other book (‘The Soccer Referees Manual’) published in a fourth edition. 7 He is attempting to find a publisher for a further book, which is an outline of the structure of British Transport. He presented a paper to the College Research Day on April 20th on travel to work patterns in the college, based on research done amongst staff. Earlier in the year he presented a paper on East Anglian agricultural trade union history to a CBS research seminar. He will be undertaking an MA research dissertation next year on managing parking and travel to college for staff and students. David Atfield completed an evaluation of e-learning as part of a MA in Management and delivered a paper on this subject to a CBS Research Seminar. With Martin Burgess he will be shortly delivering a paper on Carn Brea Leisure Centre showing its success as a community regeneration initiative. He will be presenting a joint paper with Martin Burgess to the Regional Science Association conference in Cork in August 2004. He also gave a paper to the Cornwall College Research Day on Gerard Manley Hopkins. Janet Bardsley has started work on a study into ethnic minority issues in Cornwall for the Race Monitoring Group in conjunction (with Barbara Wright). She is also establishing a group of people with learning disabilities to advise and develop research issues in relation to people in this category and to develop capacity for user empowerment. This is linked to the research development steered through DDREG (Development Delay Research in Education Group, South West). She is also evaluating a course which is run by Social Services/Health in conjunction with Cornwall College to train people with learning disabilities to train others about disability issues. Martin Burgess has completed some research into the Sports Action Zone in the Pool area. With David Atfield he will be delivering a paper on Carn Brea Leisure Centre showing its success as a community regeneration initiative. He will be presenting a joint paper with David Atfield to the Regional Science Association conference in Cork in August 2004. Cath Camps has conducted research into Feast Week in Roche which has been published as an article. She has also written a piece on gender involvement in Methodism which has been published in a book, and has delivered a conference paper on life history as a tool in education (jointly with R Simpson). Sue Child has been engaged in assessing owner/manager attitudes towards SME growth in Cornwall alongside the relevance of vocational education. It is expected that this will result in working papers and journal articles. She is writing further papers for publication in refereed journals based on her experiences of doing ethnographic research and the representation of identity in the field. Claire Cohen has published ‘Dangerous work: the gendered nature of bullying in the context of higher education’ in Gender Work and Organisation. She has also completed to a study concerning DNA celebrations in Slovakia for the British Council. She is contributing to a piece on the Beacon project in Falmouth ‘Developing a sustainable social capital in Cornwall: A community partnership for health and well being’ which has been accepted for publication this August. Andrea Collins is completing work towards a MA degree in Social Research which will be completed this summer. She is also involved with a research project evaluating the experience of multi-agency training in the Connexions context. 8 This will evaluate the past three years of delivery of this training and will be provided to the Dfes for help in formulating a new framework for multi-agency training for children’s services in line with current policy for children and young people. Mark Glasson is developing an on line journal for education students at Plymouth University. He is also starting a PhD. Rachel Godwin has completed an evaluation of ESF projects including Multimedia, Learning Shops, Action Women and Open Doors. These are part of a consultancy for the Government. She is currently working on two projects: WiSPR – women in senior management and professional roles, a Learning and Skills task force activity funded through Objective 1, and Tailor MaDe jointly undertaken with Truro College to attempt to develop a ‘benchmarking’ exercise to find the relationship between assistance offered to small businesses and the benefits this created. She is also conducting research as required for CBS Research. Jane Jackson is exploring the relationship between discourses of teacher education and excellence in post compulsory education and training. She is intending this as research towards a PhD and hopes to have conference papers published. Mercedes Kemp will be a keynote speaker at a Conference of Hospice Social Workers in Bath in September 2004. She is involved with a European Culture 2000 project in Malta with the Kneehigh Theatre Company in May 2004. She will be giving a paper at the University of Plymouth conference and Cornwall College Research Days in 2005. Andy Knowles is researching social exclusion in Cornwall as part of the 5.4 project. He has formulated a research design that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods and has completed an analysis of deprivation in Cornwall. He has material for, and is currently writing, three papers; ‘Networks’ (with Sue Child), ‘Measuring social exclusion: a critique of the Index of Multiple Deprivation’ and ‘A deprivation profile of Cornwall’. Roy Ledger has conducted an evaluation of the trainee social worker scheme for Cornwall County Council Social Services. This will be completed in December 2004. Maureen Mason has conducted research into issues of identity in the second generation Irish with a view to a possible future PhD. Bryan Mills has written an article for a refereed journal on ‘Bounded rationality and decision making in SMEs’. He has also delivered papers on this subject at the College Research day and to the Research Conference at Newquay in April. Deborah Phillips is co-ordinating a major research project for CBS (funded by Objective One/ESF) on social exclusion and regeneration. She is the Director of the newly established SISE at CBS (Cornwall Research Centre for Social Identity and Social Exclusion). She delivered a paper on this subject at the Newquay conference in April. She is also undertaking an evaluation of service users/carers involvement in the interview process for the new Social Work Degree. Deborah has also set up a ‘Methodologies’ Research group (Learning Difficulties) in conjunction with colleague Janet Bardsley and the University of Plymouth. She is delivering papers at conferences in Montpellier, Lancaster University and the Open University during the summer. 9 Sue Parker is researching the development of models for working with anger and rage in psychotherapy counselling and counselling training practice. She gave a presentation on this at a CBS research seminar in May 2004. This will contribute to a published book, refereed journal articles and consultancy work. Mike Trenerry is studying the irregular issues of coins under King Stephen, and also Henry 1st coinage issues. These will contribute to a refereed journal article. Vicki Wallens has been conducting interviews for a project looking at communications within the college and an analysis of the views of college staff in the ‘Talkback’ project. She is also involved with evaluation of skills and knowledge projects within the Objective 1 programme and LSC funded courses. She has assisted in a project to research attitudes to ‘sustainable tourism’ in the industry in Cornwall for SW Tourism and CoaST. Her current work is research funded under Objective One which is looking at the issues concerning women in senior management and professional roles prompted by the learning and skills task force. Celia Webster has developed a customised computer system for use by Cornwall ASA and Truro City swimming club. She is also currently developing a system to process the findings of Claire Cohen’s DNA research exercise. Peter Wills is researching towards a MA dissertation on the perception of Plymouth as a growth pole. He also contributed to a seminar on local economics issues at Truro in March 2004 on the subject of transport in the county. Centre for Applied Zoology, Newquay Mike Kent is continuing his research into the conservation status of Onchidella celtica, the Celtic sea slug, a rare British marine mollusc. He is conducting field and laboratory investigations into the choice of microhabitat on rocky shores on the North and South coasts of Cornwall, and he is examining chromosomes to determine the genetic differences between the populations. In addition to his marine biology research, Mike has been involved in academic writing. He is continually updating his 'A' level text book, "Advanced Biology" and has been commissioned to compile the third edition of "The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science and Medicine". The dictionary has been recently translated into Spanish, German, and Italian. Mike is also a member of the curriculum development team for "Science for the Twenty First Century", a new GCSE course in Applied Science jointly sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation, York University and Oxford University Press. As part of his contribution to the project, he has co-authored with his wife two books, 'Life Care' and 'Products from Living Organisms'. In the past few months Lawrence Moores' research has continued on the survival of Corn Bunting populations in North Cornwall. The project has been accepted for registration for a PhD at University of Bristol, and links with other workers in the field have been strengthened through further liaison with RSPB and attendance at the British Ornithologists’ Union conference on Lowland farmland Bird ecology in March 2004. 10 Rebecca Allen is using photo ID to study a local colony of grey seals Halichoerus grypus. The seals frequent a headland and reef close to Newquay. Images of seals are captured from video footage and used to build up a catalogue. Over the last yearthe records suggest that whilst some seals are resident in the area and regularly appear, the majority are transient. On occasion seals have been observed hauled out in peer groups (of the same sex or age) and on occasion individuals have been seen repeatedly together. This suggests that the animals may have more of a social structure and culture than has been previously suspected, but many more observations will be needed to resolve these questions.Rebecca also contributes to the work of the Cornwall Seal Group which is monitoring the county’s population of seals. Axel Bamberger, lecturer in Marine Aquaculture, is completing his PhD research into developing an environmentally-friendly salmon hatchery on the River Camel. With his marine aquaculture students, he is also investigating moulting in shore crabs. Matt Slater, part-time lecturer at the Centre and displays curator at Blue Reef Aquarium, has won a licence from English Nature to breed pink sea fans (Eunicella verrucosa) in captivity. Marine aquaculture students will be helping him to research the optimum conditions to grow and breed this relatively rare and beautiful British coral with the aim of helping to conserve it. A number of students at the Centre have been actively engaged in research and have produced outstanding projects. These include Donna Caswell's research into the methods of reducing stress in rescued cats at the St Columb RSPCA centre; Paul Martin's production of an 'Octobox', a special device designed to test the learning abilities of octopuses at Blue Reef aquarium, and Kerrie-Anne Rayner's studies of aggression in Siamese Fighting fish. Paul's project had the dubious distinction of featuring as a double-page spread in Bizarre magazine. Falmouth Marine College Jason Birt is researching Feeding Behaviour in Marine Gastropods by investigating the feeding strategy and food choice in a range of marine gastropods. Once any particular foodstuff has been identified for a particular species, the research will move towards identifying the group of compounds and ultimately the compound that initiates preference in that species. Jason is also starting to research Physiological Issues in Marine Mammals with an emphasis on pinnipeds. JP Eatcock is undertaking Masters in Business Management; developing the new sport of coasteering and investigating the canoe hull-form as a viable tool in expedition making and team building. Treve Eddy is studying towards a Degree in Politics, Government and Social Science with OU. Toby Field is completing a Masters in Education (IMP) thesis on the impact of newmanagerialism in FE and HE Colleges and has commenced an integrated series of projects collaborating with Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Seal Sanctuary in marine wildlife management. 11 Drystan Jones is working towards membership of the International Marina Institute and researching the logistics of dry berthing small craft within a one-stop marina facility. Rory MacPhee was awarded a research grant for 2003/04 to investigate widening participation in boat design and build. The project has encompassed a demonstration build at the National Maritime Museum, running a summer camp with Perranporth Primary School, running team building events for fathers and sons, and publishing a book advancing the thesis that design and build is an intuitive skill that can be developed in a team environment. The book will be sold commercially to raise funds for further research, and the methodology of intuitive design and build is being entered into a British Marine Federation competition supported by the Environment Agency. Research is supported by publishing data at www.potagerworkshop.co.uk Professor Richard Mathews has (since 1990) collaborated on government funded research projects particularly with Mott-MacDonald and Woods of Colchester. Over the last 10 years research projects have involved the study of the aerodynamics and design of tunnel emergency ventilation systems, particularly impulse systems using jet fans and Saccardo nozzles. The Centre for Tunnel Aerodynamic Research, (CenTAR), was established by its current Director Professor Matthews at South Bank University in 1995 and uses laser anemometry and multiport low range pressure transducers to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of tunnel impulse ventilation systems using scale models of tunnels, trains and motor vehicles as well as theoretical analysis. CenTAR also has a mobile anemometry array which is used to investigate flows in full size tunnels by studying flow distributions, to obtain commissioning data and to measure system start-up times. Commissioning work has been carried out in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system tunnels. Professor Matthews is currently the sole academic consultant with Rail Link Engineering and is responsible for the design of the Saccardo nozzle based emergency ventilation system in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Thames Tunnel. He is also working with Bechtel on certain aerodynamic aspects of the London Tunnels 1 & 2 from St Pancras round to Ripple Lane in East London. He acts as a consultant to Mott-MacDonald, Symonds, Mouchel-Parkman and ETA on Tunnel Aerodynamic problems both in the UK on the M1/25 motorway tunnels, the Thames Rail Tunnel and the 2 London Tunnels, and overseas on road tunnels in Thessalonica and Kuala Lumpur, and on the underground tunnels for the Delhi Metro. The outline design of a sky-diving simulator has recently been completed for the British Skysports and he is currently researching the design of a ventilation system for a chromium ore mine in Kemi in Finland. David Warren is investigating the use of pine trees for land-based navigation in rural Cornwall. Saltash College Karen Dolman completed a PGDip in Information Technology in Education (April 2003). She studied the different aspects of technology assisted education from the perspective of learner, teacher and manager as well as the strategic implications of change for the institution and individuals. In 2003/04 she completed a further Post Graduate Diploma in Management (CMI Executive Diploma) to reflect the change in professional interest following a career move into middle management. She is seriously considering progression to the MA in Management in 2004. 12 Michelle Pooley (Travel and Tourism) presented a research paper at the Saltash research day entitled “A Comparative Study of Sustainable Tourism Development in Cornwall and Andalucia” which investigated and compared the ways in which the popular tourist destinations of Cornwall and Andalucia are attempting to change their traditional holiday image and develop a new, more sustainable, tourism product. Both areas were immensely popular in the post-war period as sun, sand and sea destinations, but popularity declined in the 1980s. One of the reasons for this change was a deterioration of environment and image caused by inadequate planning, overdevelopment and a failure to react to changing tourist demands. The 1990s have seen attempts by both regions to upgrade their image in order to appeal to a more discerning tourist, and to develop a sustainable tourism product which is more sympathetic towards local social and environmental values. The research finds that local concerns for economic development often override desires to preserve culture and protect the environment. Achieving the aims of sustainable tourism to develop a product which is capable of both conserving culture and heritage and also capable of protecting vital resources and the environment, and yet also develops something which is economically beneficial to the host community, is an extremely difficult task. Different districts within Cornwall and Andalucia have different priorities, depending on the type of tourism and the level of dependence on tourism in the area. Andalucia is an autonomous community, and as such has greater control over the collection and distribution of local taxes. This, together with a clear tourism policy since 1990, has been an effective planning tool for sustainable tourism development in inland areas and for redevelopment of coastal areas. Kevin Smale, IMP student and lecturer at Cornwall College Saltash gave a presentation on the Saltash Research Day entitled “A reflection on the academic development of Access to HE students in a Further Education setting with consideration of the impact of teaching style and approach” or “The metamorphosis of Access students”. The aim of this research was to investigate the academic and personal development of students engaged in the Access to HE programme. Students were tracked throughout the 34 week course using a variety of methodologies to assess their actual and perceived progress. The objectives for this research were two-fold. In the first instance the investigation planned to ‘open up’ or ‘reveal’ the main development areas within students and give explanation for their apparent growth. In addition, the research would be used to stimulate a personal reflection on teaching styles and approach and how these impact on the achievement of students. The results of the research indicated that students do in fact undergo recognisable changes throughout the life of the course located around differing binaries, for example, engagement with a posteriori /a priori (Kant) learning, transition from extrinsic to intrinsic learning motivations, development of independent learning styles, and demonstration of Mastery-Oriented Patterning (Dweek). On a personal level, the author drew heavily from the work of Donald Schon and Carl Rogers and reflected on his own approach to Access students. The result was a recognisable deviation away from a technical-rational model towards a humanistic “facilitation” role for the teacher, encouraging a sharing in the learning experience. This field of study will be the focus of attention for Kevin’s dissertation. Broadly speaking he will be problematizing “language” as a barrier for Access to HE students. 13 Duchy College, Stoke Climsland Phil Le Grice has been invited to become a member of the South West Regional Research Priorities Board. This board has been formed by the SW Regional Development Agency, and is part of the Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy Delivery Plan for the SW. The role of the board is to advise Government Office for the SW, SW Regional Development Agency and the National (DEFRA) Research Priorities Group and other relevant bodies of strategic priorities for publicly funded research in support of sustainable farming and food industries and the rural economy in the SW of England. Phil is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Exeter University, Centre for Rural Research with research interest in knowledge transfer in agriculture. Cameron Tonkin is undertaking a research Masters in Management through Cornwall Business School. This work-based MA programme is focusing on project management planning in the context of publicly financed projects. The aim of Cameron’s research is to identify key planning tools and methods that can be formulated into project management planning methodologies. The MA dissertation is due in August. Jurie Intachat is investigating the impact of forestry management practices on natural forest regeneration in Cornwall. Foundation degree students have assisted Jurie in monitoring two areas of woodland close to Stoke Climsland with the aim of assessing the success of local forestry practices. This is an ongoing project which aims to be able in the future to make recommendations on policy and practice in forest management to maximise any forested area’s success in terms of renewable energy production, biodiversity and conservation, and as a carbon sink. Carrie Atkinson is researching the stained and painted glass at Exeter Cathedral for her MPhil/PhD in Art History at the University of Plymouth. Sharon Byles is registered with the University of Reading for a PhD, her research hypothesis being: “Lifelong learning has an effect on farmers and their businesses”. The project links readily with her other role at the College, working with Grassland Challenge and VTS projects, and is already resulting in some interesting findings regarding what sort of learning activities farmers undertake and how these affect their businesses. In addition to its academic merit this information is also, providing the College with some excellent marketing feedback. Martin Robinson is in the final stages of an MBA through the University of Plymouth, and is assessing the feasibility of establishing an activity centre in Spain. He is currently seeking feedback from potential stakeholders, college and commercial, and has spent some time researching suitable properties in Andalusia and Majorca. Tony Connell is in the planning stages of a project which is to take place in the Urambo region of Tanzania, observing the effects of villagers’ lifestyles and traditions on the forest, with the aim of making practical suggestions for sustainability. 14 Lorna Button has recently completed her MSc dissertation on Individuality in Equine Response to Anthelmintic Dosage, and is planning two further areas of research investigating the effectiveness of cold therapy on horses’ legs and the use of protective boots on the limbs; the distal limbs of equine athletes are the site of a number of serious and potentially career-ending injuries, and this area of research aims to provide some advice to trainers and riders in their prevention. Tessa Counsell is continuing her prospective study investigating pre-weaning sociability scores in thoroughbred foals and its later correlation with racecourse performance. This is the second year of the study, with data collected from the National Stud in Newmarket. Tessa also supervises Honours students on the University of Plymouth Animal Science (Equine) programme, successful research projects from this year included: An investigation of memory and learning in horses; The role of worming plans in the control of worms in horses; Body score and weight estimation on horses; Welfare implications of the New Forest pony sales at Beaulieu Road, Hampshire; Equine free choice profiling; A study of injuries sustained at five racing greyhound tracks in the UK and an investigation into contributing factors to injury. Jan Welch is studying a Post-Graduate Executive Diploma in Management with Cornwall Business School. This part-time course is applied to current employment situations such as Management issues, Human Resources, Operations Management, Finance and many more subject areas. Jan hopes to utilise the skills and knowledge learnt from the course and apply it within her current role as Project Administrator for the Vocational Training Scheme which she has been in for two and a half years. As this course is part-time and requires a lot of study Jan hopes to complete the course by the end of 2004. Grassland Challenge, Stoke Climsland This is a new project organised by Duchy College with the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) and driven by Cornwall Grassland Society, with the aim of technology transfer of grassland & forage crop knowledge and techniques to Cornish livestock farmers. A benchmarking initiative is being developed through the project. A methodology for evaluation of the impact of uptake on farm business performance in economic, environmental and social terms, which would be applicable to other projects is also being developed. Kate Allingham and Laura Biddick work as Extension Officers at Duchy College, with two colleagues at IGER, Tim Martyn and Victoria Westbrooke; the project is managed by Paul Ward at Duchy College. Website: www.farm-management-sw.co.uk Duchy College, Rosewarne The Department of Animal Care and Veterinary Nursing The Department has a number of research projects undertaken by HE students which are likely to develop into short publications over the summer. Marcus Kreft, Clive McCormack and Gareth Williams undertook a study of Hyacinth Macaw at Paradise Park as part of their Bird Biology course and this was presented at the Duchy Stoke Climsland Research Day. 15 Gareth Williams has also undertaken a project on peregrine falcon in Cornwall which should be completed over the summer, and Marcus Kreft has undertaken a behavioural project with Paradise Park which has led to some valuable results. Another final year student Emily King has undertaken behavioural research on captive rays at Blue Reef, Newquay. Work following up the dog rescue research (with the RSPCA) completed last year has been undertaken by Emma Bouffler (cat rescue) and Zoe Tompkins (stray dogs) and this looks likely to lead to further work in the area. Andrew Smart’s work over the last two years on mammal road kills on the A30 is now completed and near submission. Unfortunately the sand lizard survey begun two years ago with the Herpetological Conservation Trust has been put on hold due to a lack of survey time. It is hoped to recommence survey work in August/September. Andrew Smart’s work with the University of Leicester is still ongoing with three papers published in 2002, another planned for 2005 (hippo surveys) and, laboratory work permitting, a further paper for 2006 (macroinvertebrate surveys). Andrew is also in discussion with Paradise Park and Peter McGregor (University of Copenhagen currently based at Newquay) about the possibility of research into parrot sexing and identification using calls. He has recently begun a county wide survey of the little egret with help from the local press. Notices in the West Briton and Cornish Guardian have led to over 30 members of the public working with Duchy College on the survey. Two other new projects this year are the start of a pond survey of Cornwall (with Julia Gilbert) and a survey of research in Zoological Gardens in the UK – ready to begin in August. Organic Studies Centre (OSC), Rosewarne An in depth study of organic farming in Cornwall was conducted by the Organic Studies Centre during the period August 2002 to February 2003. All 130 registered organic producers (Soil Association Certification Ltd. and Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd.) were contacted. Of these 120 were farming and 119 were interviewed. One of the main objectives was to describe current practices and identify constraints to organic production in order that a research and training strategy might be developed to meet the needs of Cornish organic farmers. In February 2004 the Centre published a comprehensive report on the study entitled Organic Farming in Cornwall: results of the 2002 farmer survey. Copies of this and all other OSC publications can be obtained from www.OrganicStudiesCornwall.co.uk. The Organic Studies Centre Technical Bulletin has been reviewed by CAB International against stringent selection criteria. They found the subject area to be very relevant to their areas of interest and the content to be both novel and important and asked our permission for it to be indexed in both CAB Abstracts and Global Health. This means that the Technical Bulletin will soon appear in these internationally recognised bibliographic databases and be available to a world wide audience of users. DEFRA awarded the OSC funding towards a one-year research contract entitled ‘Welfare benchmarking and herd health plans on organic dairy farms’ in January 2004. This is the first time that Duchy College has played the role of lead organisation for a DEFRA contract. Jean Burke will be project leader for this contract, the objectives of which are to use qualitative research interviews to evaluate farmer responses to on-farm animal welfare assessment and benchmarking, assess the impact and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in delivering animal health and welfare improvements and as a tool to develop herd health plans for organic systems. 16 The project is also supported by the Soil Association and the Scottish Organic Producers Association. Rachel Moss has been appointed facilitator for a group of organic beef and sheep farmers who wish to form a benchmarking group and participate in the Meat and Livestock Corporation Red Meat Industry Forum (RMIF). The RMIF aims to improve performance and profitability of British livestock and meat industries and in so doing guarantee a sustainable long term future for the British red meat industry. OSC projects include: welfare benchmarking and herd health plans on organic dairy farms, the provision of guidance on fertility building crops in organic farming, a comparison of grass ley mixtures for organic farming, the use of sweet white clover as a fertility building crop, potato variety trials, cereal variety trials, protein crops for livestock, integrating organic cereals and poultry in the south-west, small mammal surveys, the use of on-farm faecal egg monitoring in sheep flocks and commercial organic cauliflower monitoring. Partners include DEFRA/ADAS/IGER/Abacus, Organic Associates, Cotswold Seeds, Bioselect UK, Sivaro Research Trust, the Arable Group, Organic South West, Cebeco UK, Soya UK, Biotal, Devon Grain Stores Ltd, South West Grain Marketing Ltd, and Lloyd Maunder Ltd. St Austell College Karl Rodgers recently studied for an MEd in Science Education at Sheffield University and completed the course in October 2001. During the dissertation research Karl developed an interest in two areas of science education: assessment and language in science with a major research interest in assessment methods in AS Biology. Currently Karl is developing a research project on assessment at AS and A2 in the Sixth Form Centre. The main purpose of this project is to develop an understanding of student and staff attitudes to assessment in particular how the use of Target Minimum Grades and Personal Target Grades is viewed. It is hoped that the results and analysis may inform future assessment policy. Kate Gibbons is currently studying for an MSc in Biomedical Sciences through the University of Ulster. Having started at the end of September 2003 she has completed the first 2 modules (Current Controversies in Biomedical Science and Recombinant DNA techniques and Oncology). Topics covered in these modules include xenotransplantation, embryonic stem cell therapy, cancer genetics and genome analysis. Next semester the modules studied will be Immunology and an option from Cellular Pathology, Haematology, Microbiology and Clinical Chemistry. Successful completion of the first 4 modules will lead to Postgraduate Certificate, while the Postgraduate Diploma is awarded with the successful completion of 6 modules. The full MSc is awarded after completing 6 modules and a Research Project. The course is delivered via the internet with assignments being critical reviews, essays, poster presentations and online tests/ exams. Sue Horsfield is currently doing an Open University degree in science. The first 2 years were general science courses covering all science disciplines and Sue has now started her specialist subject, which is chemistry. This should enable her to gain a BSc in Applied Science with Chemistry. The course is delivered by distance learning, with some tutorials in Exeter or Bristol, and of course, the inevitable summer school. 17 Linda Jones is studying for the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Falmouth School of Art. The programme provides a wide range of experience in the principles of art and design. It gives opportunities to expand and develop individual strengths, critical judgement and understanding of visual arts in preparation for studying for a degree in art. Looking to the long term of course, Linda would end up qualified to teach art courses (as well as legal secretarial ones). Sue Sprague: The medical secretaries employed by Cornwall Partnerships Trust have been holding bi-annual conferences for 2 years now. They felt a need to network with each other as they are quite isolated in Cornwall, often only seeing the Consultants for whom they work. They also felt a need to develop and keep up-todate with the constant changes within the NHS. They wrote to Sue at St Austell College and also Wendy Sheer at Camborne as AMSPAR Co-ordinators within the county and invited them (together with a representative number of our students) to attend the first conference. Since that time there has been subsequent conferences at St Austell and Camborne. The conferences have been extremely successful and have covered interesting topics, as well as involving professional speakers during the day. The students have found these conferences very beneficial and they have been able to meet with their counterparts within the Cornwall College Group. The last conference held at Penrice Hospital, St Austell was particularly beneficial as Sue was able to set up important work placement contacts. It is to be hoped that future conferences will be held within the Cornwall College Group. Chris Gary is researching learning styles and methodologies in relation to adults with poor levels of literacy and numeracy. She is then intending to produce on-line resources which are multi-purpose i.e. fit for adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills, future pathways students (who generally do not like to follow lengthy written instructions) and introductory materials for full time students. Chris would like to focus on IT and Administration/Office Studies. She also recently attended the following courses - Connecting with Employers (vocational education), OCR delivering basic skills (Future Pathways - office skills) and two network meetings (Certificate in Administration and Entry level qualifications). Business, Admin & Secretarial Department, St Austell College Nicola Horley is working towards an Institute of Management - Diploma In Management Studies (Camborne). Chris Pascoe is working towards an Institute of Management - Diploma in Management Studies (Camborne) and attended the ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives) annual conference in June. David Corns attends the annual Law conference in London (this ILEX conference was entitled 'Developments in Law') and together with Eric Boucher has published GCSE Law Casebook (3rd edition), published by Oxford University Press and Business Law Casebook, published by Pitman. Jackie Hanton is undertaking an MA in Education with research into vocational based qualifications and also the Institute of Management - Diploma In Management Studies (Camborne). She attended the ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives) annual conference in June. 18 Julian Spencer spoke at the AAT awards ceremony in Harrogate recently and attends AAT CPD regularly. Shirley Crawford has attended the COVE away day (12/12/02), the Bett Show London (8/9 Jan 03), ECDL Advanced Exams - Oxford (3-5 March 03), Microsoft Innovative Teachers Reading (13-15 April 03), CoVe, GlosCat (June 24-25 03), Microsoft Innovative Teachers, website launch (29-30 June 03), Microsoft Innovative Teachers, IC3 exams Reading (29-30 September 03), Microsoft Office Specialist Exams CPR (27-31 October 03), Ferl Pracitioners Forum, Taunton (13 Nov 03), Ferl Annual Conference, London (23-25 November 03). The Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education Group Has four participating tutors from St Austell (Kay Blewett (KB), Amanda Fisher (AF), Shirley Oliver (SO) and John Perry (JP)) and two research fellows were Jennie Davies (JD) and Michael Tedder (MT). The university director of the Exeter-St Austell partnership was Professor Gert Biesta. The Project team continued to study the same four learning sites as last year: BTEC Health Studies (2nd year) (HS), AVCE Travel (2nd year), Future Pathways (FP), GNVQ ICT (ICT). There were questionnaires to all students at the start and end of the year; interviews with six students in each cohort near the start and end of the year; at least two interviews with the participating tutors; observations of classes; journal writing. For each site a summary of the full case study has been produced, referred to as a ‘Green Paper’, used for discussion at staff development and other public events. The Green Papers also provide data for two analytical sweeps that are being undertaken across all 16 learning sites in the four TLC partnerships. The first is a cultural analysis of each site making use of a theoretical tool devised by Phil Hodkinson and colleagues in Leeds. All four participating tutors in St Austell were engaged in dialogue with JD or MT about the content of the cultural analysis of their site. JD and MT have also written an intervention analysis for each site which evaluates either a tutor-initiated ‘intervention’ or a tutor’s response to an externally-driven ‘intervening event’. Six ordinary meetings of the team took place during the year, normally on Friday afternoon. While much of the agenda was concerned with organisational matters, increasing time was spent in discussion of what the team could say about the Research Questions, particularly: How do different participants value different learning experiences, and how can quality/value be assessed in changing learning contexts?; How can the research process be utilised to transform cultures of learning to enhance the quality of learning in the selected sites, from the perspectives of different participants?; What other interventions could be made at the level of the learner, to transform and enhance learning cultures and quality? There were two full day meetings: an Awayday in Truro on 5 September 2003 and a cross-partnership meeting in Exeter on 29 January 2004 with colleagues from the City of Bristol / UWE partnership. Contacts continue to be close with Bristol colleagues and all the participating tutors and research fellows from both partnerships will contribute Workshops to the SW LSRN Conference on 9 July 2004. The research team are starting to present insights and experiences from the project on the advantages for practitioners and managers of working with a cultural understanding of learning. There will also be findings about the processes of being a tutor/researcher in FE. Publications related to the TLC produced during the year or due to emerge in the near future include, Learning & Skills Research Journal, a Learning and Skills Research Centre publication, a special edition of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training (JVET) dedicated to the TLC project and a supplement to the TES FE Focus about research in post-compulsory education. 19 Conference Presentations include Discourse, Power, Resistance (Plymouth, 6th April 2004), the SW LSRN (Dillington House, Ilminster, 9th July 2004), BERA (Manchester 15th – 18th September 2004) Department of Art, Design & Media Will Teakle is undertaking an MA at in Photography: Critical Practice at Falmouth College of Arts and Rob Smith is also undertaking an MA at Falmouth. 20 19