Coventry University

About: Coventry University is a education organization based out in Coventry, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Higher education. The organization has 4964 authors who have published 12700 publications receiving 255898 citations. The organization is also known as: Lanchester Polytechnic & Coventry Polytechnic.

The Upper Pleistocene deposits at Cassington, near Oxford, England

Abstract: For much of the Middle and all of the Upper Pleistocene the Upper Thames valley has remained outside the limit of ice advance. The main agents of landform evolution have been the River Thames and its tributaries, which have cut down episodically and in so doing have abandoned a series of river terraces. This study reports the findings of an investigation into exposures in the deposits underlying the Floodplain Terrace at Cassington, near Oxford, England. The sequence exposed reveals a stratigraphy of basal, predominantly fine-grained, lithofacies overlain by coarser gravel lithofacies. The fluvial architecture of these deposits indicates a major change in fluvial style from a low-energy (meandering) to a high energy (braided) channel system. The flora and fauna from the lower fine-grained lithofacies display a marked change from temperate at the base, to colder conditions towards the top, indicating a close association between deteriorating climate and changing fluvial depositional style. Amino acid and luminescence geochronology from the basal fine-grained lithofacies suggest correlation with Oxygen isotope Stage 5 and hence it is argued that the major environmental change recorded at the site relates to the Oxygen-Isotope Stage 5-4 transition. Deposition of much of the overlying gravel sequence probably occurred during Oxygen isotope Stage 4, suggesting that the latter half of the Devensian may be less significant, in terms of fluvial landscape evolution in the Upper Thames valley, than was believed previously. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Societal impact of a serious game on raising public awareness: the case of FloodSim

Abstract: This paper presents an evaluation of the societal impact of a simulation-based Serious Game. FloodSim was developed with the aim of raising awareness of issues surrounding flooding policy and citizen engagement in the UK. The game was played by a large number of users (N=25,701) in a period of 4 weeks. Quantitative and qualitative analyses (on a reduced data set) were carried out in order to explore the impact of FloodSim play in raising the general public awareness around flooding in the UK. The results suggest FloodSim was hugely successful in generating general public interest and there was evidence that (a) FloodSim increased awareness at a basic level and (b) that despite the simplicity of the simulation, players perceived FloodSim to be an accurate source of information about flood risk and prevention. This suggests that serious games such as FloodSim have potential to engage the public and raise awareness of societal issues. However, FloodSim only raised awareness at a basic level. It is suggested that more needs to be done to endow serious games with pedagogical principles and more care should be given to the accuracy of the information they convey. The appropriateness of games as an educational medium for raising awareness of complex, real-life issues should also be carefully considered. This study throws some light on the potential of simulation-based Serious Games to offer experiential learning, engage users with serious topics while raising public awareness and understanding of social issues such as flooding and related policymaking. Future research is outlined consisting of identifying the problems and challenges in designing and developing serious games while considering pedagogical principles.

How to use education as an intervention in osteoarthritis

Abstract: Definitions of health education and patient education form the starting point for an overview of patient education interventions for people with osteoarthritis (OA). Recipients, tutors and the key messages that education can deliver are considered, followed by a review of the methods used and the typical content of current educational provision for OA. The theoretical and empirical basis for interventions is illustrated using examples from the somewhat limited field. The outcomes used to evaluate education and the evidence for effectiveness is presented. The issues of which patients benefit most, adherence, length of interventions, optimal timing and frequency are raised. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the best health care system is needed to underpin educational provision and suggestions for a research agenda that will go some way towards addressing the many questions that remain unanswered.