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The purpose of this paper is to describe how a management development programme based on situated learning theory resulted in change for individuals, organisational culture and performance. The case study illustrates how new understandings about learning in the workplace and in higher education points towards the need to take account of the context in which learners utilise their knowledge and skills.

Quantitative and qualitative strategies were used to provide an evaluation of the impact of a management development programme in a group of companies. A questionnaire, focus groups and semi‐structured interviews were used to collect data on three cohorts of supervisors and middle managers at different stages of the programme. A triangulated approach was adopted towards data analysis that illuminated a broad and deep change process.

Positive cultural change was a significant benefit to the host organisation from the training programme. It was apparent that training can move beyond individual development to bring about organisational gains.

Future research might adopt a longitudinal design and facilitate a co‐researcher approach using students' learning logs of workplace experiences.

Situated approaches to learning in higher education and the workplace need to be developed further to enhance workplace performance. A proposal is made for “learning consultants” to move between the two environments and facilitate knowledge exchange and improve understanding of the variety of learning contexts in business and educational settings.

A data driven case study on the relationship between training, culture and organisational performance suggests that new approaches to learning require partnerships between the worlds of work and university that traverses theory, practice and personnel.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the practical use of video cameras during a study with young children.

This paper investigates the use of video cameras in a research study of young children’s utilisation of semiotic tools to communicate during play interactions in a Francophone preschool classroom in British Columbia. It examines the practical in-the-moment decision making of the researcher to support children’s accommodation of the video camera in their play space and ensure rich data were recorded.

Children accommodated the video cameras in four distinct ways. These included: curiosity and investigation of the video cameras; engagement in the video recording process with the researcher; incorporation of the video cameras into their play; and disregard of it.

The findings suggest that video recordings can be an effective method of data collection with young children and provide rich sources of data of the children and their learning through play when the researcher is flexible and responsive and supports children’s accommodation of it.

Recent advances in recording technology have resulted in the increased use of video recordings as a resource for gathering empirical data in qualitative research. Whilst the ethical considerations related to the use of video recordings as data for analysis in research with young children have been the subject of some discussion (Flewitt, 2005), the practical experience of using video cameras has received less attention.

Motor-vehicle-related events (MVEs) are the leading cause of on-duty death for law enforcement officers, yet little is known about how officers view this significant job hazard. The purpose of this paper is to explore officers’ motor-vehicle risk perception and examine how prior on-duty MVEs and the death or injury of a fellow officer influences this perception.

A state-wide random sample of 136 law enforcement agencies was drawn using publically accessible databases, stratified on type and size of agency. In total, 60 agencies agreed to participate and a cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to 1,466 officers. Using six-point Likert scales, composite scores for motor-vehicle and intentional violence risk perception were derived. A linear regression multivariable model was used to examine factors affecting motor-vehicle risk perception.

Motor-vehicle risk perception scores were significantly higher than intentional violence scores. A prior on-duty motor-vehicle crash, prior roadside incident, or knowledge of fellow officer’s injury or death from a MVE significantly increased motor-vehicle risk perception scores. After controlling for potential confounders though, only prior on-duty crashes and roadside incidents impacted motor-vehicle risk perception.

The study comprised primarily small, rural agencies and generalizability may be limited. Also, although the data were collected anonymously, reporting and response biases may affect these findings.

This study involved a large and diverse cohort of officers and explored motor-vehicle risk perception. A better understanding of officers’ risk perceptions will assist in the development and implementation of occupational injury prevention programs, training, and policy.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt an aerospaceplane design with the objective of Low-Earth-Orbit-and-Return-to-Earth (LEOARTE) under the constraints of safety, low cost, reliability, low maintenance, aircraft-like operation and environmental compatibility. Along the same lines, a “sister” point-to-point flight on Earth Suborbital Aerospaceplane is proposed.

The LEOARTE aerospaceplane is based on a simple design, proven low risk technology, a small payload, an aerodynamic solution to re-entry heating, the high-speed phase of the outgoing flight taking place outside the atmosphere, a propulsion system comprising turbojet and rocket engines, an Air Collection and Enrichment System (ACES) and an appropriate mission profile.

It was found that a LEOARTE aerospaceplane design subject to the specified constraints with a cost as low as 950 United States Dollars (US$) per kilogram into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) might be feasible. As indicated by a case study, a LEOARTE aerospaceplane could lead, among other activities in space, to economically viable Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP). Its “sister” Suborbital aerospaceplane design could provide high-speed, point-to-point flights on the Earth.

The proposed LEOARTE aerospaceplane design renders space exploitation affordable and is much safer than ever before.

This paper provides an alternative approach to aerospaceplane design as a result of a new aerodynamically oriented Thermal Protection System (TPS) and a, perhaps, improved ACES. This approach might initiate widespread exploitation of space and offer a solution to the high-speed “air” transportation issue.

Using his Information Scientist pseudonym of Icarus, Alan Gilchrist once called the Aslib Co‐ordinate Indexing Group (CIG) (now Aslib Informatics Group) a bunch of free‐thinkers—the hippy fringe of the information profession. As the leading light of this Group (Leo Jolley was its Chairman from its formal inception in 1970 until his death on Christmas Day 1976) one might have expected him to epitomize these alleged qualities, but this was not so. Leo was neither long‐haired, figuratively or otherwise, nor was he a particularly free‐thinker. His work relating to information retrieval tended to be highly formalized: for a time he was unjusdy criticized for his attempt to rigorously define the fundamental nature of feature card systems. Later he had to suffer similar criticism from the present writer when he attempted to define and standardize the vocabulary relating to co‐ordinate indexing and thesaurus construction. Leo was a highly individual thinker, however, and he certainly existed at the fringe of the information profession. His contacts with the profession appear to have been limited to the CIG and to the Classification Research Group. He was neither a member of the Institute of Information Scientists nor of the Library Association, and was affronted if accused of being a librarian. Thus, he formed a part of that limited band who have contributed much to the profession without really being a part of it. This must be qualified, however, in that he had established a company (J. L. Jolley and Partners) which operated a range of services from consultancy to punching holes in feature cards.