A look back and a glance ahead.

So, what has 2013 brought, and what does 2014 hold?

On a mundane level, as has been the case for the past two years, in 2013 I've spent a lot of time on trains commuting to and from York and travelling around the country for various (often exam board) meetings.  I've improved my crochet skills, watched a lot of Pointless on my tablet, and earned enough loyalty points to swop for 24 bottles of wine!

As an educator who has left the classroom, I have regularly been asked if I would ‘go back’.  My stock answer is that I started out teaching adults in an FE college, and have now come full circle again.  I am still teaching, just not in any single school.  This year has, once again emphasised how much I enjoy working with teachers, both those who come onto our residential courses at NSLC and also those who are in schools that I’m involved in.

One of the areas that I’ve really delved into more this year has been education research and education policy.  The connectedness of twitter meant that I was able to be part of @tombennett71 (and not forgetting his fabulous deputy-in-arms @Hgaldinoshea) ResearchEd2013 conference, and also to get involved (in a very small way) with @HeadsRoundtable.  Both have given hope about education.  The ResearchEd conference showed how enthusiastic some teachers are about improving their teaching.  HTRT introduced me to some great head teachers who are working towards improving the life-chances of students in their schools in quite different circumstances, as well as who are speaking out about their beliefs.  Getting to know @RosMcM has been a particular pleasure.

On the policy front, it feels like I’ve been completing consultation forms constantly both for myself, and as part of various organisations I'm involved with. Not forgetting the latest two from Ofqual on A-levels and GCSEs, which close on 17^th and 31^st January.

I’ve also enjoyed reading blogs this year (though it’s hard to keep up with them all).  I particularly enjoy @johntomsett’s and @tombennett71 for the quality of their writing.  One of my ambitions is to write books – probably text books – and reading these two blogs in particular challenge my writing significantly.  Writing my own blog, and also writing blogs for work (such as on embedding the impact of CPD and this on science investigations), has (slowly) helped me to work on my writing.  Writing mainly about science subject specific topics mean that I don’t necessarily get as many views as some of the more general blogs (not that I’m counting, of course), but hopefully some of the ideas find their way into science lessons and that is always good to know.  I was also able to publish a paper, about the ASE summer conference session that I coordinated, in the SSR journal.

This year has also taught me, both personally and in the wider educational world, that times of change are hard.  It has proved important for me to look at what it is I’m good at, what is important, and keep doing those things.  This is also the ethos that I recommend to teachers on the courses.  As educators we are buffeted on all sides and if we are to do the best for those we teach we need to focus on the things that are important.  With the increase in accountability and measurement that teachers and students are subject to this is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly for classroom teachers.

Next year

Well, I’m trying not to look at my diary too much.  It’s already pretty full up until August, and I’ve said ‘yes’ to a number of freelance projects which need to be squeezed in before then somewhere.  I may be able to write more about those as, and when, details are firmed up.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the Stimulating Physics Network project develops as the tender renews in April.  Hopefully the IOP will be able to develop this further, but we’ll have to see what the outcome of the tendering process before I know how I’ll be affected by any changes.

With NSLC I’m taking a group of 50 science teachers on a study visit to CERN, a slightly daunting, but very exciting prospect.  I shall be counting heads madly to make sure I don’t leave anyone behind!  Also at work, a number of my colleagues are moving on to pastures new in the next few months and will be sorely missed.  

I’m also looking forward to meeting more twitter folk at various tweet-ups, conferences and courses (if you’re in York at NSLC, do say hello).  One of the really good things about twitter is the opportunity to meet lovely people who would otherwise have passed me by.

In a song, John Lennon says 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.  So this year I'm trying to avoid making the other plans, and will just get on with experiencing life as it happens.

Atlas of Risk

The National Health Service website has a really interesting tool on it - the Atlas of Risk.  The aim is to put the relative risks that we all face into context.  It's well animated, and quickly and easily shows different risks to males and females, to different age groups and to different areas of the country.

You can also click through to find out more information about each type of risk.  Great fun, and a very visual way of thinking about the ideas of risk with students - for example the difference between percieved and actual risk, the size of risk and how it is measured, making informed decisions about the management of a given risk and that everything we do carries some form of risk.

I was particularly struck by the difference in risk for males and females in the North East.

Another excellent use of taxpayers money!

Fizzy drinks and Liver disease

Confusing Cause and Correlation.

The Daily Express had a front page story about the Danger of Just Two Fizzy Drinks. It reported work by researchers at a liver unit in Israel who had apparently found that drinking a litre of fizzy drinks or fresh juice were five times more likely to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Although the Express story gives some details about the study design, there aren't many. Reading it we don't know how many people took part in the study, if it was a dietary intervention, or just an observational study. We have no information about how long the study continued.

There are a couple of suggestions from the researcher, Dr Nimer Assy, about problems that drinks high in fructose could cause, but these are not backed up by data.

The NHS Behind the Headlines site has, as usual, an excellent breakdown of what was done, and what it all means.

The paper itself is a conference poster report from April 2009. There isn't much to go on in it, so I had a look to see where the other information in the article could have come from. There was no sign of a press release on the news services Science Daily or EurekaAlert. Nothing from the Ziv Medical Centre (where Dr Assy works) itself. Strange.

Eventually I found a link to Israel 21C where there is more detail about the study and quotes from Dr Assy.

Interestingly, when you read the paper, and the interview, you find that the Daily Express have got a few, quite important, details wrong.

Israeli scientists at the Ziv Liver unit in Haifa compared two groups of
volunteers – neither of which was at risk of developing the condition.

When they finished the study they found that 80 per cent of those who had consumed fizzy drinks and fruit juices had fatty liver changes.
But only 17 per cent of the control group – who had not drunk fizzy drinks – developed fatty ­livers.

What isn't clear here, is that there were three groups of people taking part in the test.

• 32 patients with NAFLD who had typical metabolic risk symptoms (such as obesity and diabetes)
• 28 patients with NAFLD who didn't have risk symptoms
• 17 patients without NAFLD

The amount of fat in the liver was measured using ultrasound. At the beginning and end of the six month study the volunteers were asked to keep a 7 day food and drink diary.

What the researchers found was that 70% of the patients with NAFLD drank more than 1/2 litre of soft drinks compared with 20% of the controls.

So, there is a correlation between drinking lots of soft drinks and having NAFLD. Does that mean that drinking lots of soft drinks will cause liver disease?

No, not necessarily. This study can't tell us if it does. Unfortunately, the Daily Express (and to be fair, the Daily Telegraph who also carried the story) didn't realise that.

Abed A, Nseir W, Ali T et al. Soft drink consumption linked with fatty liver independently by metabolic syndrome. Journ of Hepat. April 2009