This paper offers a systematic critical review of controlled outcome studies of the 'Philosophy for Children' (P4C) method in primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools. Ten studies met the stringent criteria for inclusion, measuring outcomes by norm-referenced tests of reading, reasoning, cognitive ability, and other curriculum-related abilities, by measures of self-esteem and child behaviour, and by child and teacher questionnaires. All studies showed some positive outcomes. The mean effect size was 0.43 with low variance, indicating a consistent moderate positive effect for P4C on a wide range of outcome measures. The implications for practice, policy, and future research were explored, particularly in relation to cost-effectiveness.

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Philosophical enquiry involving interactive dialogue led not only to significant gains in measured verbal cognitive ability but also generalization to non-verbal and quantitative reasoning ability, consistent across schools and largely irrespective of pupil gender and ability. The effect sizes from this large-scale field trial in one local authority exceeded those reported in the literature. Implications for theory building, replicability and sustainability are addressed.

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Given the pattern of sample attrition, the group difference seems likely to be underestimated. The study provides evidence of maintained cognitive gains from collaborative philosophical inquiry, transferred across contexts. Implications for future research, policy and practice are discussed.

This work first considers a review of the dominant current methods for fibre Bragg grating wavelength interrogation. These methods include WDM interferometry, tunable filter (both Fabry-Perot and acousto-optic) demultiplexing, CCD/prism technique and a newer hybrid method utilizing Fabry-Perot and interferometric techniques. Two applications using these techniques are described: hull loads monitoring on an all-composite fast patrol boat and bolt pre-load loss monitoring in a composite beam in conjunction with a state-space modelling data analysis technique.

This work explores the role of empirical dynamical models in deducing the level of preload loss in a bolted connection. Specifically, we examine the functional relationship between data gleaned from locations on either side of the connection using nonlinear predictive models. This relationship, as quantified by a measure of prediction error, changes as a function of bolt loosening, thus allowing both the presence and magnitude of the axial load to be identified. The models are based on a phase space portrayal of the system dynamics and require only that the structure’s response be low dimensional. The technique is demonstrated experimentally on a composite beam fastened to steel plates with four instrumented bolts. Results are compared to a similar approach using an auto-regressive (AR) modeling technique.