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Fostering a sense of belonging and a personal connection is seen as fundamental by many educational researchers, regardless of the learning environment. Online learning certainly provides flexible learning opportunities but comes with notable issues. For online learners, nurturing a sense of belonging may present a way of improving their experiences and attainment, as well as reducing attrition rates. Research specifically exploring sense of belonging and online learning is limited. This article addresses that gap and reports on a small-scale exploratory study using qualitative data-collection and analysis methods to investigate the importance, or not, of sense of belonging for postgraduates' online education by exploring the origins and nature of their lived experience of online learning and their sense of belonging therein. Our initial findings emphasise its importance for them as online learners and have identified three significant themes: interaction/engagement, the culture of the learning, and support. These early findings highlight the importance of these three themes in promoting a sense of belonging and in ensuring that there are opportunities for meaningful group and peer interactions; they will be of interest to all engaged in online education.

Background: Organised cervical screening programmes are a combination of arrangements designed to maximise benefit and minimise harm associated with cervical cancer at the population level. Many organised programmes are described as 'evidence-based', reflecting an expectation that healthcare should be based on the tenets of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). EBM is both normalised and contested. Aims and objectives: As part of a larger study of how cervical screening came to be the way it is, we conducted a grounded theory study of cervical screening experts' perspectives on evidence and its use in guideline development processes. Methods: We sampled from several countries and across a range of professional backgrounds. Analysis was developed through transcript coding and memo writing, using constant comparison to develop insight and connections between concepts. Findings: We found that the 'evidence-based' descriptor was used rhetorically to indicate scientific trustworthiness; in short 'evidence-based' indicated 'good'. Experts held ideal conceptions of evidence and its use as objective and value-free, yet reported experiences that suggested those ideals were unattainable in practice. The 'evidence-based' ideal included restricting what counts as evidence to matters of science and epidemiology. This produced pronounced attention to matters of efficacy and effectiveness of cervical screening tests, and neglected decisions relating to the other arrangements that combine to produce an organised screening programme. Discussion and conclusions: Rhetorical use of the 'evidence-based brand' appeals to a particular kind of authority: one which is difficult to achieve in practice, and belies the variety of information that is required and the socially negotiated nature of policy and programme decisions.

This paper focuses on collaboration between Australian preschool and primary school teachers co-located on same sites, with a view to understanding and strengthening collaboration for supporting continuity of practice across preschool and primary school settings. Based on findings from a narrative inquiry study framed by Freire's notion of dialogic encounters, we examine teachers' challenges to collaboration within an Australian public education system, understood through their perspectives and enactment of their professional identities as collaborators in this physically shared space. We present a possible framework for creating a shared space in which preschool and primary teachers collaborate to support continuity of learning for children.

This study presents a project undertaken to address a potential problem in getting new students to engage with their academic life. In September 2009, a new course design was introduced into the BA (Hons) Education program at the University of Wales, Newport. The course team was keen to ensure this new development did not lead to a fragmentation of the new cohort, and wanted to develop an approach to aid the formation of a group identity early on. They decided to introduce a non-assessed group activity during induction week: the new cohort was given the task of creating a video guide to information literacy within the first four weeks of the course. The project resulted in the creation of video guides, and demonstrated that students engaged in a focused manner with a range of services and developed a level of awareness and familiarity to support them during their student life.

Self-efficacy has been shown to influence student engagement, effort and performance as well as course selection and future career choice. Extending our knowledge regarding the development of self-efficacy has important implications for educators and for those concerned about the international uptake of science careers. Previous research has identified four sources that may contribute towards self-efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological/affective states. Very little research has been conducted within the school environment that looks at the formation of these sources and yet early school experiences have been posited to be a key factor in girls' lack of engagement in post compulsory science education. This paper investigates children's self-efficacy beliefs in science and reports on findings from mixed method research conducted with 182 children aged between 10 and 12 years. Classroom data were collected through focus groups, individual interviews and surveys. Findings revealed that although girls and boys held similar levels of academic performance in science, many girls underestimated their capability. The four sources of self-efficacy identified by Bandura (1997) plus self-regulation as an additional source, were evident in the children's descriptions, with boys being more influenced by mastery experience and girls by a combination of vicarious experience and physiological/affective states. Girl's appraisal of information appeared to operate through a heuristic process whereby girls disregarded salient information such as teacher feedback in favour of reliance on social comparison. Contextual factors were identified. Implications for science teachers are discussed.

This paper aims to interrogate the potential and challenges in interdisciplinary working across disciplinary boundaries by examining a longitudinal partnership designed to research student experiences of digital technologies in undergraduate medicine established by the authors of this paper (one from Education and the other from Medical Education). The paper is situated in current methodological trends including the changing value of replicability and evidence-based methods and increases in qualitative and mixed methods studies in medical education, whilst education research has seen growing encouragement for randomized controlled trials and large-scale quantitative studies. A critical analysis of the partnership interactions is framed by Holland's positional and imagined identities, negotiated across "figured" worlds and the concept of epistemic games that guide knowledge construction. We consider social, political and cultural challenges; and how "in-between" sites of knowledge were established where the academic identity of each was shaped by engaging with the other and new theoretical, methodological and ethical understandings were co-constructed. The paper concludes that despite the ongoing challenges, "bottom-up" partnerships can contribute to a growth in interdisciplinarity which might itself be understood as a boundary object. Interdisciplinarity necessitates improvisation and boundary crossing and can, therefore, always be considered a matter of negotiation, creativity and collaboration.

This small scale study examined gender differences in self-efficacy. 24 girls and 28 boys aged between 10 and 12 years completed self-efficacy questionnaires and attainment tests. The study was conducted in two primary school classrooms in England and the results indicated that gender differences in self-efficacy were significant with boys holding a lower sense of self-efficacy than girls coupled with lower performance. Boys' self-efficacy scores were significantly correlated with performance but this relationship was lower than that of the girls. Interviews with the two teachers involved in this study showed a lack of understanding and awareness of the self-efficacy beliefs of their students and the impact it potentially had on their students' performance. Implications for teachers are discussed.

Research indicates that information received from feedback seeking is valuable for both individual and organizational outcomes. Previous research examining the feedback seeking process has consistently suggested that individual's feedback behaviors are directly influenced by three motives. Specifically, individuals are instrumentally motivated to obtain valued information but are also motivated to protect and/or enhance their ego and to protect others' impressions of them (Ashford, Blatt and VandeWalle, 2003). The current study simultaneously examined these motives by testing the interactive effects of them on feedback seeking behavior. As predicted, they did significantly interact and the results present a deeper understanding of these motives and how employees weigh various factors in deciding whether to seek feedback within the organization. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

Preparation of high quality personnel to provide educational services to students with disabilities living in rural areas is, at best, challenging. Findings from a comprehensive study concerning the status of the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in rural settings and the issues such implementation presents to teacher education programs in these areas are discussed. Members of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) participated in the study. Results indicated that strategies for enhancing personnel preparation, recruitment, and retention of individuals to institutions of higher education and K-12 schools in rural settings include distance learning, on-site professional development opportunities, salary incentives/increments, and benefits. Linking evaluation data to the general education curriculum and determining how the student's disabilities affect his/her progress in general education are issues for practitioners implementing IDEA in rural settings. Recommendations are provided for enhancing personnel preparation and service delivery based on the results. [Reprinted from "Rural Special Education Quarterly," v21 n4 Win 2002.]

In both China and the United States, educators are committed to the provision of rigorous academic instruction in inclusive environments to students with disabilities. This paper presents the reflections of the authors from the 2004 U.S.-China Conference on Educating Students with Special Needs held in Beijing, China in June 2004. The authors provide a brief status regarding the movement to include students with disabilities in regular schools in integrated classroom settings. In China, this instructional arrangement is termed "Learning in Regular Classes" (LRC). The authors compare this movement with the legislative initiatives of the United States to provide access to the general education environment for students with disabilities. The authors also provide a brief review of the status of teacher training initiatives in both China and the United States to address adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities. Finally, the authors propose a framework for assisting teachers with providing instructional adaptations to support the inclusion of students with disabilities and the academic achievement of these students within LRCs in China and general education environments in the United States.

• Families support antibiotic stewardship but feel responsible for RACF resident's best interests. • If infection is suspected, regular communication and evidence of high-quality care reassures relatives. • Antibiotics are not viewed as a life-sustaining treatment for resistant and refractory infections. • Advanced care planning involving families should be promoted with antibiotic use a specific focus. Antimicrobial resistance makes the misuse of antibiotics in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) a significant concern. Family members influence antibiotic prescribing for RACF residents, but there is limited understanding of the beliefs and knowledge that drive their involvement. Drawing on a fictional scenario, forty-six participants with a parent aged 75 or over took part in eight dialogue groups exploring family members' perspectives on antibiotic use and risks in older relatives. Main themes were identified using framework analysis. Participants supported judicious use of antibiotics in RACFs, but perceived vulnerabilities of older people, both structural and physiological prompt family pressure for antibiotics. Empirical antibiotic use became more acceptable when pathways to a prompt diagnosis are not apparent or confidence in RACF monitoring and care is lacking. The role of antibiotics in end-of-life decision-making was significantly under-recognised. Overall, elevation of discussion around antibiotics and end of life care are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contains reports from National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, National Technical Information Service, National Archives, U.S. Information Agency, National Center for Education Statistics, Library of Congress, Center for the Book, Federal Library and Information Center Committee, National Agricultural Library, National Library of Medicine, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), U.S. Government Printing Office, National Library of Education. (PEN)

Assessment of 84 children diagnosed with controlled or uncontrolled complex partial or absence seizures but no documented learning or emotional disorders found no influence of seizure type on achievement test scores or behavioral ratings. A main effect was found for degree of control, with poorly controlled seizures correlating with lower reading scores, withdrawn behavior, and attention problems. (Author/DB)

The Assessment of Living Skills and Resources (ALSAR) systematically evaluates accomplishment of 11 tasks by separately rating patient skill and resource levels for each task and combining levels to determine risk. Administered ALSAR to 75 elderly veterans. Found ALSAR predicted change to more supportive living arrangements and more structured living environment, nursing home placement, hospitalization, and death. (Author/ABL)