March/April 2004
News

University unit making waves

A unique online radio project - which brought broadcast technology into ten Leeds schools as a new means of encouraging pupils to participate - has been evaluated by the University's Unit for Educational Research and Evaluation (UERE).

The Unit was commissioned by the project managers - CAPE UK (Creative Partnerships In Education) - to carry out the evaluation.

The Unit team looked at whether the 'Radiowaves' project, which was initially aimed at young people for whom the traditional curriculum was failing, had encouraged students in the schools to improve their personal, social and learning development.

Schools were given their own radio facilities and website home page to publish news stories and interviews, and participating students were trained in skills such as interviewing, writing and editing stories and jingles, sound editing and planning schedules.

The Unit carried out both qualitative and quantitative research by conducting in-depth interviews and analysing a large corpus of quantitative data.

They found that the project was reported as being "extremely successful in the case of individual pupils, some of whom seem to have been utterly transformed by the project."

As well as showing that the website was an "excellent resource and way of showcasing the work done by pupils", the research found that 'Radiowaves' was reported as providing "meaningful and alternative learning situations" for pupil groups.

Research Fellow in the Unit Louise Comerford-Boyes said: "The 'Radiowaves' project led to students, that were previously disaffected, becoming more actively involved.

"A real indication of its success was that there was a marked improvement in the attitude of some pupils - who were previously in danger of opting out of education altogether."

The pilot was funded by the European Social Fund and administered by the Learning and Skills Council for West Yorkshire.

The scheme has been granted further funding to be rolled out to 15 more schools throughout the Yorkshire region.

16 April 2004

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