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This study examined the experiences of students taking the same courses in the humanities by distance learning when tutorial support was provided conventionally (using limited face-to-face sessions with some contact by telephone and email) or online (using a combination of computer-mediated conferencing and email). The results showed that, given a choice between face-to-face and online tutorial support, students with and without disabilities were equally likely to choose online support rather than face-to-face support. There were no significant differences in the reasons given by students with and without disabilities for choosing online rather than face-to-face support, although there was a nonsignificant tendency for students with disabilities to refer to "another reason" (including disablement or chronic illness) as a reason for choosing online support. Students with and without disabilities obtained similar grades for their courses, and this was true regardless of whether they had chosen face-to-face or online support. Students with and without disabilities were also equally likely to pass their courses, regardless of whether they had chosen face-to-face or online support. Even so, there was a nonsignificant tendency for students with disabilities to achieve a lower pass rate than students without disabilities with face-to-face support, whereas with online support their pass rate was marginally higher than that of students without disabilities.

Although the attainment gap between black and minority ethnic (BME) students and white students has persisted for decades, the potential causes of these disparities are highly debated. The emergence of learning analytics allows researchers to understand how students engage in learning activities based on their digital traces in a naturalistic setting. This study investigates the attainment gap by analysing the differences in behavioural engagement between different ethnic groups. Using multilevel models of academic performance, demographics, and online traces of 149,672 students enrolled in 401 modules in a distance learning setting, we confirmed the existing attainment gap. After controlling for other demographics, module characteristics and engagement, BME students were between 19% and 79% less likely to complete, pass or achieve an excellent grade compared to white students. Given the same academic performance, BME students spent 4-12% more time on studying than white students. While the attainment gap remained persistent after controlling for academic engagement, our study further highlighted the inequality of attainment between BME and white students.

A literature review published in 2008 outlined known relationships between gender, ethnicity, and academic attainment in UK higher education. In the period since this publication, many changes to the higher education sector have occurred, including raising tuition fees, an increased focus on widening participation, and an increasing interest in diversifying the curriculum. There is a need for an updated and expanded literature review to highlight whether the relationships between gender, ethnicity, and academic attainment remain the same one decade later. This article synthesises the current literature related to the impact of gender, social class, and ethnicity on higher education participation and academic attainment. We highlight the important role of intersectionality in understanding overarching trends. Altogether, this literature review shows that there are persisting inequalities in both participation and attainment based on gender, social class, and ethnicity. To conclude, we provide several suggestions for improving our understanding of these phenomena in the decades to come.

Increasingly, universities are embedding reflective activities into the curriculum. With the growth in online tertiary education, how effectively is reflection being promoted or used in online learning spaces? Based on the notion that teachers' beliefs will influence their approaches to teaching, this research sought to understand how a group of distance tutors at the UK Open University conceptualised reflection. It was hoped that these findings would illuminate their approaches to promoting reflection as part of their online pedagogies. Phenomenographic analysis indicated that these tutors conceptualised reflection in four qualitatively different ways. Furthermore, the data suggested that these educators held a combination of two conceptions: one that understood the origin of being reflective and one that understood the purpose of reflection. Analysis of structural aspects of these conceptions offered insight into tutors' own perspectives for what is needed to make online learning environments fertile territory for reflective learning.

This investigation compared attainment in 196,405 students with and without disabilities who were taking courses by distance learning with the Open University in the United Kingdom in 2009. When the effects of demographic variables were statistically controlled, students with mental health difficulties showed poorer course completion than nondisabled students; students with restricted mobility showed poorer course completion and lower pass rates than nondisabled students; students with unseen or other disabilities showed lower pass rates than nondisabled students; and students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties showed lower pass rates and poorer grades than nondisabled students. In addition, the presence of additional disabilities led to poorer attainment in different respects in students who were blind or partially sighted, students who were deaf or hard of hearing, students with impaired speech, and students with unseen disabilities. Accommodations to support disabled students in distance education need to be focused on different groups of students with particular disabilities.

The UK National Student Survey (NSS) is a sound and widely used instrument for assessing students' academic experiences. We aimed to translate the NSS for Portuguese students and to validate the instrument in a sample of medical undergraduates. The research team translated and adapted the NSS for Portuguese students (NSS-P). The survey was administered on an online platform to 1,256 final-year students at eight Portuguese medical schools. A total of 329 medical students (69.9% female) replied to the NSS-P, a response rate of 26.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original six-factor structure had an adequate fit to the data. Adequate internal consistency was observed for all the subscales. Medium to large correlations were found among all the subscale scores and between the subscale scores and the students' overall satisfaction. Multiple regression showed that the scores on the Teaching, Organization and Management and Personal Development subscales significantly predicted the students' overall satisfaction. Approximately 64% of the students reported being satisfied with the quality of their courses. Significant differences among the medical schools in their NSS-P scores were found. The NSS-P is a valid and reliable measure for assessing medical students' perceptions of academic quality.

A mailed survey compared the experiences of distance-learning students with print disabilities who were supported by audio recordings of materials, the experiences of students with print disabilities who were supported by an electronic system that permitted more effective access to the same materials, and the experiences of students with no disability. Findings showed that the students with print disabilities rated their courses less favorably and were more likely to adopt a surface approach to studying than were students with no disability. However, the students with print disabilities were just as likely to adopt a deep or a strategic approach to studying as were the students with no disability, and there was no significant difference in the satisfaction ratings of the students with and without print disabilities. Finally, there were no significant differences between the experiences of the students with print disabilities who used the electronic system and the experiences of those who used audio recordings, and no significant differences between the experiences of the students with print disabilities who were visually impaired and the experiences of those with another kind of disability. (Contains 6 tables.)

The purpose of this paper is to argue that though the Communicative Approach to Language teaching in its original sense has long been theoretically dead, it has for an almost equally long time at least potentially existed in a new form, and continues to thrive. By no means here for the first time is this sort of proposal made, but what remains to be done is to firmly pronounce the death of "Communicative Approach to Language Teaching Mark II" and to formally welcome, if somewhat belatedly, that is to say, by at least 17 years, its successor: "Communicative Approach to Language Teaching Mark II". At the same time, the attempt to disambiguate "Communicative Approach to Language Teaching" from "Communicative Methodology" is made again, because students of Applied Linguistics often reveal a complete failure to grasp the difference, as well as failure to understand why the term "Communicative Method" is meaningless. The story related here will be very familiar to some, but less so to others, which is why it is detailed. It is, of course, only one story, one interpretation, and there are others.

This investigation studied attainment in students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) who were taking modules by distance learning with the UK Open University in 2012. Students with ASDs who had no additional disabilities were as likely as non-disabled students to complete the modules that they had taken, to pass the modules that they had completed and to obtain good grades for the modules that they had passed. Students with ASDs who had additional disabilities were less likely than non-disabled students to complete the modules that they had taken, but they were as likely as non-disabled students to pass the modules that they had completed and to obtain good grades for the modules that they had passed. Their lower completion rate presumably reflects the impact of their additional disabilities rather than their ASDs. In distance education, at least, students with ASDs tend to perform on a par with their non-disabled peers.

Objective: Thyroid surgery carries risks that significantly impact patients. This paper describes the landscape of thyroid surgery related litigation claims in the National Health Service from April 2015 to April 2020, to establish learning points in order to improve patient care and minimise litigation risk. Methods: Data were requested from National Health Service Resolution and Hospital Episode Statistics. Claims were classified into operative and non-operative causes. Subspecialty information, incident details and claim costings were analysed. Results: Sixty claims were identified. Thirty-eight claims (63.3 per cent) were closed, with an average total claim cost of £68 816 and average damages paid of £36 349. Claims related to diagnostic issues were most common (n = 19); of claims associated with operative causes (n = 30), those relating to nerve injury were most common (n = 8), with issues of nerve monitoring and consent being cited. Conclusion: Utilisation of well-established protocols will likely reduce litigation in thyroid surgery, as we move towards a landscape in which the patient journey is thoroughly scrutinised for targeted improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on student learning in higher education has identified clear associations between variations in students' perceptions of the academic environment and variations in their study behaviour. This study investigated a general theoretical model linking students' demographic characteristics, perceptions and study behaviour with measures of outcome, and in particular, compared three accounts of the causal relationship between perceptions and study behaviour. Data were obtained from 469 postgraduate students at six British business schools. Path analysis was used to assess the causal relationships among the students' age and gender, their scores on the Course Experience Questionnaire, their scores on the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory and their ratings of general satisfaction with their programmes. This yielded evidence for the causal efficacy of most of the paths identified in the general theoretical model. In particular, as in the case of students taking more traditional academic subjects, there exists a bidirectional causal relationship between variations in students' perceptions of the academic environment and variations in their study behaviour.

Universities in many countries are developing strategies to enhance the student experience. This focus has never been so important since the development of rankings and the use of student experience measures in institutional performance assessment. Australian government policies to link student experience measures to performance funding were a key driver to increase the prominence of the student voice between 2004 and 2008. This paper analyses the strategic plans of 33 Australian universities with the aim of outlining the extent to which the enhancement of student experience is embedded as one of their key priorities. This review comes at a time when universities in Australia and elsewhere are realigning their future strategies and directions to achieve government aspirations for tertiary education with the introduction of various policy instruments including the possibility of rewarding universities on the basis of student experience measures. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of government policies in Australia and the UK on the measurement and enhancement of the student experience.

In the UK and other countries, the use of end-of-module assessment by coursework in higher education has increased over the last 40?years. This has been justified by various pedagogical arguments. In addition, students themselves prefer to be assessed either by coursework alone or by a mixture of coursework and examinations than by examinations alone. Assessment by coursework alone or by a mixture of coursework and examinations tends to yield higher marks than assessment by examinations alone. The increased adoption of assessment by coursework has contributed to an increase over time in the marks on individual modules and in the proportion of good degrees across entire programmes. Assessment by coursework appears to attenuate the negative effect of class size on student attainment. The difference between coursework marks and examination marks tends to be greater in some disciplines than others, but it appears to be similar in men and women and in students from different ethnic groups. Collusion, plagiarism and personation (especially "contract cheating" through the use of bespoke essays) are potential problems with coursework assessment. Nevertheless, the increased use of assessment by coursework has generally been seen as uncontentious, with only isolated voices expressing concerns regarding possible risks to academic standards.

In UK higher education, the attainment of ethnic minority students is lower than that of white students, and this remains the case when differences in entry qualifications have been taken into account. The present study investigated whether the under-attainment of ethnic minority students might be due to the nature of the feedback that they received for their assignments. The assignments submitted by 470 ethnic minority and 470 matched white students taking a distance-learning course were compared using a computer system, Open Mentor, to categorise the feedback given by tutors based on a scheme devised by Bales. Asian and black students and students of mixed ethnicity obtained lower marks for their assignments than did the white students. However, there were only small differences between the ethnic minority students and the white students in terms of the pattern of feedback that they received, and these disappeared when the marks that they had received for their assignments had been taken into account. It is concluded that students from all ethnic groups received feedback that was commensurate with their marks, and that the origins of the attainment gap in ethnic minority students in UK higher education must be sought elsewhere.

This study compared outcomes in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students and nondisabled students taking courses by distance learning with the UK Open University in 2012. DHH students who had no additional disabilities were more likely to complete their courses than were nondisabled students, and they were just as likely to pass the courses that they completed and to obtain good grades on the courses that they passed. DHH students who had additional disabilities were less likely to complete their courses, less likely to pass the courses that they completed and less likely to obtain good grades on the courses that they pass than were nondisabled students. It is concluded that hearing loss itself has no effect on academic attainment, but that additional disabilities may have an impact on DHH students' academic performance.

In UK higher education, ethnic differences in academic attainment are ubiquitous and have persisted for many years. They are only partly explained by ethnic differences in entry qualifications. They vary from one institution to another and from one subject area to another. This suggests that they result in part from teaching and assessment practices in different institutions and subjects. We do not really know whether ethnic differences in attainment are reflected in variations in the student experience. We do not know what factors are responsible for the ethnic differences in attainment that remain when differences in entry qualifications have been taken into account. Finally, we do not know what aspects of teaching and assessment practices are responsible for variations in the attainment gap.

In June 2010, a survey was carried out to explore access to digital technology, attitudes to digital technology and approaches to studying across the adult life span in students taking courses with the UK Open University. In total, 7000 people were surveyed, of whom more than 4000 responded. Nearly all these students had access to a computer and the Internet, but younger students were more likely than older students to have access to other technologies, to spend longer time using those technologies and to have more positive attitudes to digital technology. However, there was no evidence for any discontinuity around the age of 30, as would be predicted by the "Net Generation" and "Digital Natives" hypotheses. Older students were more likely than younger students to adopt deep and strategic approaches to studying and less likely to adopt a surface approach to studying. In addition, regardless of their ages, students who had more positive attitudes to technology were more likely to adopt deep and strategic approaches to studying and were less likely to adopt a surface approach to studying. (Contains 9 tables.)

Background midlife hearing loss is a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. Addressing comorbid hearing loss and cognitive impairment in services for older adults may offer opportunities to reduce dementia risk. Objective to explore current practice and views amongst UK professionals regarding hearing assessment and care in memory clinics and cognitive assessment and care in hearing aid clinics. Methods national survey study. Between July 2021 and March 2022, we distributed the online survey link via email and via QR codes at conferences to professionals working in National Health Service (NHS) memory services and audiologists working in NHS and private adult audiology services. We present descriptive statistics. Results 135 professionals working in NHS memory services and 156 audiologists (68% NHS, 32% private sector) responded. Of those working in memory services, 79% estimate that >25% of their patients have significant hearing difficulties; 98% think it useful to ask about hearing difficulties and 91% do so; 56% think it useful to perform a hearing test in clinic but only 4% do so. Of audiologists, 36% estimate that >25% of their older adult patients have significant memory problems; 90% think it useful to perform cognitive assessments, but only 4% do so. Main barriers cited are lack of training, time and resources. Conclusions although professionals working in memory and audiology services felt addressing this comorbidity would be useful, current practice varies and does not generally address it. These results inform future research into operational solutions to integrating memory and audiology services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown reduced survival in Lewy body dementia (LBD) compared to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the reasons for this are not known. We identified cause of death categories accounting for the reduced survival in LBD. Methods: We linked cohorts of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) and AD, with proximal cause of death data. We examined mortality by dementia group and hazard ratios for each death category by dementia group in males and females separately. In a specific focus on the dementia group with the highest mortality rate versus reference, we examined cumulative incidence to identify the main causes of death accounting for the excess deaths. Results: Hazard ratios for death were higher in PDD and DLB compared to AD, for both males and females. PDD males had the highest hazard ratio for death across the dementia comparison groups (HR 2.7, 95% CI 2.2–3.3). Compared with AD, hazard ratios for “nervous system” causes of death were significantly elevated in all LBD groups. Additional significant cause‐of‐death categories included aspiration pneumonia, genitourinary causes, other respiratory causes, circulatory and a “symptoms and signs” category in PDD males; other respiratory causes in DLB males; mental disorders in PDD females; and aspiration pneumonia, genitourinary and other respiratory causes in DLB females. Conclusion: Further research and cohort development is required to investigate differences by age group, to extend cohort follow‐up to the whole population and to investigate the risk‐balance of interventions which may differ by dementia group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of "the Chinese learner" have confounded the effects of culture and context or have used heterogeneous samples of students. In this study, 134 British students and 207 students from mainland China following 1-year postgraduate programmes at six British business schools completed the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI). The two groups yielded the same factor structure on both instruments. There were no significant differences in their scores on the CEQ. On the RASI, the British students produced higher scores on deep approach and strategic approach. These differences could not be attributed to differences in response style. In short, when British and mainland Chinese students were compared within the same educational context, their perceptions and approaches to studying showed the same underlying constructs, but in the present context Chinese students were less likely to exhibit deep or strategic approaches to studying.

Attainment in higher education tends to be poorer in ethnic minority students than in white students. This study examined whether this attainment gap was affected by the introduction of online tuition. Data were obtained from students who had taken courses in either arts or management with the UK Open University and had opted for either face-to-face or online tuition. The arts courses had a higher proportion of white students and lower proportions of Asian and black students than the management courses. Nevertheless, white and ethnic minority students gave similar reasons for choosing face-to-face tuition or online tuition. In the management courses but not in the arts courses, the pass rate was lower in students who had received online tuition than in students who had received face-to-face tuition. Regardless of the discipline or mode of tuition, black students tended to obtain lower marks and lower pass rate than white students, but Asian students did not. It is concluded that online tuition is an appropriate form of student support in both campus-based and distance education but that the attainment gap in ethnic minority students probably does not arise from the nature and quality of their interactions with teachers and other students.

At UK institutions of higher education, the academic attainment of White students tends to be higher than that of students from other ethnic groups. A postal survey of Open University students found very little difference in academic engagement in those from different ethnic groups. The differences in pass rates and course grades remained statistically significant even when any effects of differences in academic engagement had been controlled. This is consistent with previous findings that quantitative variations in the attainment of students from different ethnic groups are not reflected in concomitant qualitative variations in their experience of higher education. The explanation for the attainment gap in ethnic minority students must be sought elsewhere than in the nature of their experience of higher education. (Contains 5 tables.)

The California Psychological Inventory's Dominance scale was investigated for inconsistencies in item-trait associations across four samples (one American normative and three culturally dissociated manager groupings). The Kim, Cohen, and Park procedure was used, enabling simultaneous multigroup comparison in addition to the traditional differential item functioning focus on paired-group contrasts. Framing comparisons within Hofstede's cultural dimensions, Dominance construct-item association inconsistencies were predicted to occur across Indian manager responses (when contrasted relatively with U.S. and U.K. responses). Results are consistent with the Hofstede predictions and have particular implications for empirically keyed assessments, multigroup contrasts, the cross-cultural expression of individual differences, and the generalizability of trait definitions across cultures. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

National student feedback surveys are administered in a number of countries, and several of these encompass both campus-based and distance learning students. The UK Open University achieves a high ranking in the annual National Student Survey (NSS), but there are some anomalies in the results. The NSS questionnaire was administered to three samples of students to explore the origins of these anomalies. The reliability and the validity of the questionnaire were satisfactory, but a substantial proportion of the respondents did not produce valid data. There was a high proportion of "not applicable" responses to items concerned with learning resources and personal development. Other students responded "neither agree nor disagree" to these items when "not applicable" would have been more appropriate. This would have led to low rankings on these scales in the national surveys. Distance learning institutions need to advise their students about the importance of only rating items they have actually experienced or to negotiate changes to the questionnaires themselves if they are to ensure that their activities and achievements are properly represented in national student feedback surveys. (Contains 6 tables.)

Background: The attainment of White students at UK institutions of higher education tends to be higher than that of students from other ethnic groups, but the causes of this are unclear. Aims: This study compared White students and students from other ethnic groups in their conceptions of learning, their approaches to studying, and their academic attainment. Sample: A stratified sample of 1,146 White students and 1,146 students from other ethnic groups taking courses by distance learning with the UK Open University. Methods: The Mental Models section of the Inventory of Learning Styles and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory were administered in a postal survey. Results: The students' questionnaire scores were contaminated by response bias, which varied across different ethnic groups. When adjusted to control for response bias, the scores on the two questionnaires shared 37.2% of their variance and made a significant contribution to predicting the students' attainment. White students were more likely to exhibit a meaning-directed learning pattern, whereas Asian and Black students were more likely to exhibit a reproduction-directed learning pattern. However, the variation in attainment across different ethnic groups remained significant when their questionnaire scores and prior qualifications were taken into account. Conclusions: There is a strong relationship between students' conceptions of learning and their approaches to studying, and variations in conceptions of learning in different ethnic groups give rise to variations in approaches to studying. However, factors other than prior qualifications and conceptions of learning are responsible for variation in attainment across different ethnic groups.

There is little systematic evidence on the experience of disabled students in higher education. In this study, equal numbers of disabled and nondisabled students taking courses with the UK Open University were surveyed with regard to their approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic quality of their courses. Students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, students with mental health difficulties and students with fatigue were more likely to exhibit a surface approach, and less likely to exhibit organised studying, than were nondisabled students. In the first two groups, this was associated with lower ratings of the quality of their courses. Nevertheless, the differences were not large, either in absolute terms or in the proportion of variance in the students' scores that they explained. The impact of disability on students' perceptions of the academic quality of their courses and on their approaches to studying appears to be relatively slight. (Contains 8 tables.)

This investigation compared outcomes in disabled and non-disabled students taking courses by distance learning with the Open University UK in 2003. Students with mental health difficulties showed poorer course completion than non-disabled students. Students with restricted mobility and students with other disabilities showed lower pass rates than non-disabled students. Students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties showed lower pass rates and poorer grades than non-disabled students. Finally, students with multiple disabilities showed poorer course completion, lower pass rates and poorer grades than non-disabled students. Accommodations to support disabled students in distance education need to be focused on different groups of students with particular disabilities. (Contains 5 tables.)

Questionnaire responses of 457 students and 602 tutors were used to investigate conceptions of a "good tutor." In each case, factor analysis identified scales that reflected key constructs; cluster analysis identified subgroups with different patterns of scale scores; and discriminant analysis determined the scales that contributed the most to differences among the clusters. Both sets of data yielded conceptions of tutoring that were described as task-oriented and student-oriented, respectively. The students' data yielded an additional, career-oriented conception. The tutors' data yielded two additional conceptions that were described as knowledge-oriented and impersonal, respectively. The distribution of the tutors' conceptions (but not that of the students' conceptions) varied across different faculties, suggesting that tutors from different disciplines have different beliefs about effective tutoring. The study suggests that both tutors and students would benefit from having a better appreciation of the importance of support in facilitating learning. (Contains 8 tables.)

In the UK, the attainment of White graduates (as measured by the class of honours that they have been awarded) tends to be higher than that of graduates from other ethnic groups. This is apparent, in particular, in graduates who have taken courses by distance learning with the Open University. Analysis of data from Open University graduates over three successive years yielded no evidence that the latter trend could be attributed to confounded demographic variables. A postal survey found little variation in perceptions of academic quality or reports of personal development among Open University graduates from different ethnic groups. Quantitative variations in the attainment of graduates from different ethnic groups are not necessarily reflected in qualitative variations in their experience of distance education.

Background: Students in higher education are known to vary in their conceptions of learning, their approaches to studying, and the personal development and personal change that result. Aims: This study aimed to explore the relationships among these four aspects of students' experience; to examine whether there were variations across academic subjects and across departments in each subject; and to explore whether there were changes from first year to after graduation. Sample: Students in the first year and the final year of the undergraduate programmes at 15 departments, five offering each of three subjects: bioscience, business studies, and sociology. Method: Participants completed a questionnaire containing four instruments and were given a similar questionnaire roughly two years later (when the entering students were in their third year, and when the exiting students were in their second year after graduation). Results: The students' conceptions of learning showed a clear relationship with their approaches to studying, but the relationships with their personal development and personal change were much weaker. The students' scores were significantly related to age and gender and showed some significant differences across academic subjects and departments. However, there was little change in their scores over time. Conclusion: Students' approaches to studying are influenced by their conceptions of learning and are relatively consistent across different contexts. In contrast, their reports of personal change and development seem to be determined by their implicit theories on entering higher education.

In an earlier study of disabled graduates from campus-based institutions in the UK, students who had previously declared that they had an unseen disability were less likely to obtain good degrees (with first-class or upper second-class honours). The present study investigated the role of disability as a factor in the attainment and experiences of 2351 distance-learning students awarded first degrees by the UK's Open University in 2002-2003. In contrast to the earlier study, students who had previously declared that they were dyslexic, were deaf or hard of hearing, or had multiple disabilities were also less likely to obtain good degrees. In a self-report questionnaire, graduates with multiple disabilities provided lower ratings of the quality of their courses and their personal development. Nevertheless, the attainment and overall experience of graduates who reported disabilities that they had not previously declared to the University were similar to those of graduates with no disability. (Contains 7 tables.)

This study investigated the role of disablement as a predictor of academic attainment among students awarded first degrees by UK institutions of higher education in 2004-05. Disability explained only 0.1% of the variation in attainment, as measured by whether the graduates had obtained good degrees (i.e. with first-class or upper second-class honours). Graduates with dyslexia and graduates with multiple disabilities were less likely to obtain good degrees than graduates with no known disability, but this was mainly due to the confounded effects of demographic and institutional variables. Graduates with an unseen disability were the only group to show significantly poorer attainment when the latter variables had been controlled. In overall terms, disablement per se does not play a significant role in predicting attainment. (Contains 6 tables.)

The experiences of students taking the same courses in the humanities by distance learning were compared when tutorial support was provided conventionally (using limited face-to-face sessions with some contact by telephone and email) or online (using a combination of computer-mediated conferencing and email). The Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory were administered in a postal survey to 1264 students taking two different courses with the UK Open University. There were no significant differences between the students who received face-to-face tuition and those who received online tuition either in their perceptions of the academic quality of their courses or in the approaches to studying that they adopted on those courses. Provided that tutors and students receive appropriate training and support, course designers in the humanities can be confident about introducing online forms of tutorial support in campus-based or distance education. (Contains 5 tables.)

A 60-item questionnaire on conceptions of learning was mailed to students taking preparatory courses by distance learning with The Open University in the United Kingdom. Complete data were provided by 372 respondents. Their scores on six factor-based scales showed satisfactory internal consistency, cluster analysis identified five groups of students with distinct patterns of scores, and discriminant analysis identified the scales that served to distinguish among the clusters. Three groups had conceptions of learning based on critical thinking, personal development, and personal change, but the other groups had conceptions that were defined in largely negative terms. Adult learners embarking on distance education seem to hold distinctive conceptions of learning, which suggests that conceptions of learning are culturally and contextually dependent.

Recent studies have suggested that academic attainment by ethnic minority graduates at UK institutions of higher education is lower than that by White graduates. This was confirmed using a database of all UK-domiciled graduates from UK higher education institutions in 2004-05. The trend was greater in older students than in younger students, in women than in men, in part-time students than in full-time students, and in some subjects and at some institutions than others. It was only partly explained by variations in the students' qualifications on entry into higher education. The available evidence suggests that these quantitative variations in academic attainment are not reflected in concomitant qualitative variations in the experience of higher education among students from different ethnic groups. It is premature to consider widening participation in terms of access to higher education until this is matched by parity in terms of educational outcomes. (Contains 8 tables.)

A pilot study investigated the feasibility of a survey of students completing undergraduate programmes in the UK regarding their experiences of learning and teaching. A questionnaire containing 45 items in six scales was distributed to 44,209 students from 22 institutions. It was returned by 17,173 students, and analysis of their responses broadly confirmed the integrity of the scales. A second pilot study investigated the feasibility of a survey of final-year undergraduate students. A questionnaire containing 35 items in nine scales was distributed to 25,838 students at 10 institutions. It was returned by 9723 students, and again analysis of their responses broadly confirmed the integrity of the scales. The findings informed the National Student Surveys administered to final-year students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2005, 2006 and 2007. (Contains 5 tables.)

Background: Interview-based research has shown that students in higher education hold a number of different conceptions of learning and of themselves as learners. There is debate about whether these conceptions constitute a developmental hierarchy. Aims: This study evaluated the Mental Models section of Vermunt and van Rijswijk's (1988) Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) as a measure of students' conceptions of learning and sought to identify conceptions of learning as qualitatively different patterns of scores. Sample: A random sample of 1,000 students who were taking courses by distance learning with the Open University in the UK. Method: A translated and adapted version of the Mental Models section of the ILS was administered in a postal survey. Complete data were obtained from 441 students and were subjected to principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis. Results: The five scales in the Mental Models section of the ILS were homogeneous and achieved a satisfactory level of internal consistency, but two of the five scales could not be differentiated from each other in the students' responses. A cluster analysis identified four subgroups of students who had different patterns of scores on two discriminant functions. Conclusion: The four mental models identified in this study were broadly similar to those identified by Vermunt (1996) in an interview-based study. However, these do not seem to constitute a developmental hierarchy, and, following Vermunt, it is suggested that they are better interpreted as aspects of four overarching "learning styles" or "learning patterns".

The experiences of students taking the same course by distance learning were compared when tutorial support was provided conventionally (using limited face-to-face sessions with some contact by telephone and email) or online (using a combination of computer-mediated conferencing and email). Study 1 was a quantitative survey using an adapted version of the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory. Study 2 was another quantitative survey using the Academic Engagement Form. Study 3 was an interview-based examination of the students' conceptions of tutoring and tuition. In all three studies, the students receiving online tuition reported poorer experiences than those receiving face-to-face tuition. Study 3 showed that tutoring was seen not only as an academic activity but also as a highly valued pastoral activity. To make online tuition successful both tutors and students need training in how to communicate online in the absence of paralinguistic cues. (Contains 12 tables.)

Primary objective: To examine perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in students taking six technology courses by distance education. Research design: Students taking four courses received an end-of-course questionnaire. The following year, students taking all six courses received a mid-course questionnaire. Method: The Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory were administered in a postal survey to 3539 students of the UK Open University. Outcomes and results: Across successive levels of study, students were progressively less likely to adopt a deep approach, were more likely to adopt a surface approach and rated their courses less favourably, especially with regard to the workload and materials. Between the middle and end of a course, students were more likely to adopt a deep approach and gave more positive ratings with regard to the materials and amount of choice. Conclusions: The survey instruments can be recommended as useful tools for monitoring the experiences of engineering and technology students. (Contains 5 tables.)

It has been suggested that only 8% of postsecondary students in the United States who have a hearing loss have disclosed that hearing loss to their institutions. Consistent with this suggestion, two anonymous surveys of students enrolled in courses with the Open University in the United Kingdom suggested that there were roughly 9,000 students in the Open University itself and over 42,000 students in higher education across the United Kingdom as a whole who had a hearing loss that they had not disclosed to their institutions. These students tended to be older people with a relatively mild hearing loss that did not disrupt their communication with other students or their active engagement with learning activities. The impact of the students' hearing loss upon their approaches to studying seemed to be relatively slight, but it was associated with an increase in the students' perceived academic workload.

Students taking courses by distance learning were asked to complete the Academic Engagement Form and the Course Experience Questionnaire. Usable data were obtained from 238 students with a hearing loss and 166 students with no reported disability. Their scores on the two instruments were highly correlated and shared over 80% of their variance. However, they showed different patterns of relationship with background variables (age, faculty, gender, hearing status and prior qualifications) and made distinct contributions to students' ratings of their general satisfaction with their courses. The role of course tutors in supporting academic engagement was crucial to the students' perceptions of the academic quality of their courses, and this relationship mediated the association between the reported attitudes and behaviour of the tutors and the students' general satisfaction with their courses. (Contains 7 tables and 1 figure.)

Compares United Kingdom college students with dyslexia and those with no reported disabilities in terms of demographic properties, programmes of study and academic attainment. Finds that students with dyslexia were more likely to withdraw during their first year of study and were less likely to complete their programmes of study, although with appropriate support the completion rate of students with dyslexia can match that of students with no disabilities. (SG)

Investigated predictors of attainment in British students awarded first degrees. Those aged under 21 or between 26 and 50 at graduation were more likely to obtain good degrees (with first-class or upper second-class honors), but the pattern of age-related variation was different across different subjects of study. Overall, women were more likely to obtain good degrees than men. (EV)

Discusses the formation and lifespan of the journal entitled "Punch" or the "London Charivari" that contained a variety of political cartoons and led public opinion in the 19th century. States that the journal portrayed doubts as to the direction of elementary education and showed a revulsion toward the overarching power of the school boards. (CMK)

Aim: Locally advanced intestinal neoplasms including colon cancer may require radical en bloc pancreaticoduodenectomy and right hemicolectomy (PD‐RC) to achieve curative, margin‐negative resection, but the safety and benefit of this uncommon procedure has not been established. The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland IMPACT initiative has also highlighted a lack of awareness about current services available within the UK for patients with advanced colorectal cancer and concerns about low‐volume centres managing complex cases. Thus, we aimed to review the feasibility, safety and long‐term outcomes of this procedure at a single high‐volume hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery unit in the UK. Method: A retrospective cohort study was performed using a database of all consecutive patients with intestinal cancer who had been referred to our regional advanced multidisciplinary team and undergone PD‐RC in a 7‐year period (2013–2020). Clinico‐pathological and outcome data were reviewed. Results: Ten patients (mean age 54 ± 13, 8/10 men) were identified. Final histology revealed the primary tumour sites were colon (n = 7) and duodenum (n = 3). R0 resection was achieved in all cases. The major complication rate (Clavien–Dindo ≥ 3) was 10% (1/10) with no deaths within 90 days of surgery. The Kaplan–Meier estimated 5‐year overall survival was 83.3% (95% CI 58.3%–100%). Univariate survival analysis identified perineural invasion and extra‐colonic origin as predictors of poor survival (log‐rank P < 0.05). Conclusion: En bloc PD‐RC for locally advanced intestinal cancer can be performed safely with a high proportion of margin‐negative resections and resultant long‐term survival in carefully selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with a prior diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) have a higher risk of developing melanoma and exhibit poorer outcomes than patients without CLL. However, there are limited data reporting the clinicopathological features of melanoma diagnosed in patients with CLL. Aims: To review clinicopathological characteristics of patients with coexisting diagnoses of melanoma and CLL. Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken for patients with coexisting diagnoses of melanoma and CLL between 2005 and 2015 in 11 centres in the UK and Ireland. Results: Overall, 46 cutaneous melanomas identified in 45 patients were included. In 28 (62.2%) patients, melanoma was diagnosed after an existing diagnosis of CLL. In this group, mean Breslow thickness was 2.7 mm (range 0.2–25 mm). Ten patients (35.7%) developed locoregional recurrence and 8 (28.6%) developed distant metastases. Melanoma‐specific mortality was 5 of 28 (17.9%) and all‐cause mortality was 13 of 28 (46.4%). In 17 patients, melanoma was diagnosed before CLL. In this group, mean BT was 2.9 mm (range 0.4–14 mm); five patients (29.4%) developed locoregional recurrence and three (17.6%) developed distant metastases. Melanoma‐specific mortality was 1 of 17 (5.8%) and all‐cause mortality was 5 of 17 (29.4%) in this group. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first and largest cohort study to report clinicopathological data of coexisting melanoma and CLL in the UK and Ireland. Although the thickness of primary melanoma was not different before or after a CLL diagnosis, melanoma recurrence and melanoma‐specific mortality appear to be more common in patients with a prior diagnosis of CLL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]