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This article considers the potential ways for coaching and mentoring practices in higher education to support the development of learner autonomy, a key espoused aim of university education. I argue that coaching and mentoring can foster self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and goal-setting among students, empowering them to take greater responsibility for their learning, and that higher education institutions should make greater use of coaching and mentoring practises, particularly for non-traditional learners [what in the UK are identified as 'widening participation' students]. The aim is to stimulate reflection and discussion among higher education practitioners.

The present study explores the self-regulated learning (SRL) research published in English or Turkish language journals included in the Web of Science database from the beginning to 2021 via bibliometric analysis. The 2197 articles that met the eligibility criteria were included in the study. The results reveal that the research on SRL has been carried out mostly by scholars from the USA and has gained increased attention since the 2000s. The three most influential scholars of self-regulated research are Chia-Wen Tsai, Philip H. Winne, and Roger Azevedo; however, the two top documents by local citations belong to Barry J. Zimmerman (2008) and Paul R. Pintrich (2004) in the study. The analyzed studies cited the Journal of Educational Psychology and Contemporary Educational Psychology most. The results reveal that motivation, metacognition, self-efficacy, and learning strategies are the keywords that most frequently occur and co-occur in the analyzed studies along with SRL. The trend topics of SRL research have been learning analytics, flipped classrooms, and MOOCs since 2018.

Participation in authentic research in the field and online through Community and Citizen Science (CCS) has shown to bring learning benefits to volunteers. In online CCS, available platforms present distinct features, ranging from scaffolding the process of data collection, to supporting data analysis and enabling volunteers to initiate their own studies. What is yet not well understood is how best to design CCS programmes that are educational, inclusive, and accessible by diverse volunteers, including young people and those with limited prior science experiences who are rather few in CCS. In this study, we interviewed 31 young people, aged 7-20 years old, who used iNaturalist, an online biodiversity monitoring platform, and identified how different forms of participation online and in the field facilitated (or inhibited) certain forms of learning, as defined by the Environmental Science Agency framework. Findings revealed that iNaturalist enabled participation of young people including those with limited science experiences and facilitated science learning such as the development of science competence and understanding. A blended learning framework for biodiversity monitoring in CCS is presented as a means to support the development of hybrid, educational, and inclusive CCS programmes for young people.

Specialized research training is a key component of graduate education, yet sexual and gender diverse (SGD) emerging scholars may not receive quality training and networking opportunities at their home institutions. International and interdisciplinary trainings by SGD scholars may develop research competence and academic networks, but few such extracurricular research training programs exist. This article presents the curriculum and mixed-method evaluation of the International Student Training Network (ISTN), a two-year bilingual training program designed to train SGD emerging scholars in Canada, the USA, Mexico, and the UK to conduct research with SGD youth. The racially diverse and interdisciplinary trainees (N = 38) completed a competence self-assessment at pre-test, midpoint, and post-test. Significant improvements in knowledge and skill were found, while importance of the concepts remained consistently high. Twelve trainees participated in interviews to reflect on their experience. Thematic analysis produced three themes, describing benefits of the ISTN: (1) 'You do stick out a lot': Fostering SGD scholarly community in academia; (2) 'We were all working together': Bridging the disciplinary and geographic gaps; and (3) 'A transformative experience': Developing scholarly self-concept and academic self-efficacy. The findings highlight the utility of specialized research training for emerging SGD scholars limited by geographical and disciplinary siloes.

University rankings have gained prominence in tandem with the global race towards excellence and as part of the growing expectation of rational, scientific evaluation of performance across a range of institutional sectors and human activity. While their omnipresence is acknowledged, empirically we know less about whether and how rankings matter in higher education outcomes. Do university rankings, predicated on universalistic standards and shared metrics of quality, function meritocratically to level the impact of long-established reputations? We address this question by analysing the extent to which changes in the position of UK universities in ranking tables, beyond existing reputations, impact on their strategic goal of international student recruitment. We draw upon an ad hoc dataset merging aggregate (university) level indicators of ranking performance and reputation with indicators of other institutional characteristics and international student numbers. Our findings show that recruitment of international students is primarily determined by university reputation, socially mediated and sedimented over the long term, rather than universities' yearly updated ranking positions. We conclude that while there is insufficient evidence that improving rankings changes universities' international recruitment outcomes, they are nevertheless consequential for universities and students as strategic actors investing in rankings as purpose and identity.

Students' perceptions towards synchronous and asynchronous online delivery modes of three engineering courses, in a large UK university is conceptualised, inspired by the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework. Using a qualitative methodology, 76 written student narratives were analysed. An overwhelming focus on the elements that helped them to process the information being taught and to synthesise their understanding (cognitive presence) was found, regardless of the delivery mode. Furthermore, despite the perceived benefits in terms of time management, narratives of asynchronous learning lacked connectivity between such cognitive elements and those allowing them to interact, share, and communicate their understanding with their peers and teachers (social presence). Student reflections on which delivery mode best supported their learning were conflicting at times, but a balance between cognitive and social presence is recommended to integrate the opportunities that stem from both.

As a group of researchers representing England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, we previously carried out a comparative analysis of the health discourses evident within the physical education (PE) curriculum of each UK nation (Gray et al., 2022b). We uncovered complex 'health' landscapes, represented through different discourses of health across contexts and shifting discourses within contexts. The purpose of the present proof of concept study is to extend this cross-border work by exploring how UK PE teachers conceptualise health and wellbeing (HWB), and to identify the ways in which their conceptualisations align (or not) with their respective curricula. We found some alignment between the teachers' understanding of HWB and their respective curricular documentation, which was highlighted in the similarities and differences across contexts. Furthermore, all of the PE teachers had some understanding of HWB as a holistic and broad concept. We argue that understanding the various conceptualisations of HWB within and across contexts can serve as a useful foundation for cross-border dialogue, which may support the development of PE teachers' critical reading of curriculum and their capacity and authority to contribute to future curriculum developments.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is projected to require 60,000 jobs in the UK by 2025, but there are a series of barriers to the industrial application. One of the most problematic is non-comprehensive knowledge in design for AM (DfAM). This study aims to test the effect of two undergraduate DfAM teaching approaches. A visual and audial approach (design lecture) and a kinaesthetic, problem-based learning (PBL) approach (manufacturing laboratory) were compared against technical and participant perspective criteria to assess the learning, engagement, and self-efficacy of the students. The participants were set a DfAM challenge; to redesign a bracket. The technical merits of the designs were evaluated after teaching through a design lecture alone or after a design lecture and manufacturing-laboratory. The participant's perspective was evaluated at the end of the study. The groups who undertook both the design lecture and manufacturing laboratory showed a mean technical mark of 100% for criteria (C) 13 ("Parts have been consolidated into one part"), 91.7% for C14 ("The bracket is hollowed where possible") and 100% for C16 ("Manufacture was successful"). These technical marks demonstrate a statistically significant increase over those of the groups who undertook the design lecture alone. The participant evaluation reinforced this result; the manufacturing laboratory was chosen more frequently in answer to questions on applicability (Q13 = 83%), preparedness (Q15 = 83%), and gaining confidence in DfAM (Q31 = 74%). This study demonstrates the importance of PBL in DfAM, both to increase technical aptitude of the student (creativity and manufacturing) and their perspective on their own learning and self-efficacy.

Prenatal and postpartum depression are highly prevalent worldwide, and emerging evidence suggests they contribute to impairments in children's executive functions. Studies of maternal depression, however, have focused on the postpartum and postnatal periods with relatively less consideration of prenatal influences on child development. This study of the large population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children U.K. cohort estimates latent classes of maternal depression across the prenatal, postpartum, and postnatal periods to capture heterogeneity in the developmental timing and length of maternal depression, as well as to test whether latent classes differ in children's executive function impairments in middle childhood. Repeated measures latent class analysis yielded five groups demonstrating unique patterns of change in maternal depression from pregnancy through early childhood (n = 13,624). Latent classes differed in executive functions at age 8 among a subsample of children (n = 6,870). Children exposed to chronic maternal depression beginning in utero showed the most impairments in inhibitory control while accounting for child sex, verbal IQ, parents' highest education level, and average family income in childhood. The critical roles of the timing and length of children's exposure to maternal depression are discussed in relation to executive function development, prevention, and intervention.

Background: People with intellectual disabilities' voting rate within the United Kingdom remains significantly below the population average despite government enacted voting promotion measures. No published academic literature directly involves people with intellectual disabilities when considering their UK general election experiences -- this study aims to address this omission. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with people with intellectual disabilities (N = 20) about their election experiences during the 2017 (n = 18) and 2019 (n = 8) general elections. Six participants were interviewed around both elections. Data was analysed with template analysis. Results: Eight themes were produced -- election information, political knowledge, political opinions, voting choice process, polling station experience, voting outcome, capacity and support. Theme interactions impacted on election experiences. Conclusions: While acknowledging diverse experiences, voting outcomes and experiences were particularly impacted by factor interactions concerning election information and/or polling station accessibility, capacity and support. Voting promotion interventions and future research should consider these areas.

The present study explored the effects of the pandemic on individuals with Down Syndrome (DS; n = 67) compared to other groups with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND; n = 48) and their Typically Developing Siblings (TDS; n = 56). In total, 115 caregivers reported on their own anxiety and worries and of their children. Anxiety levels for individuals with DS appeared to be lower compared to other SEND populations and to TDS. In terms of worries, individuals with DS worried more about social-related worries but worried less about family-related aspects compared to the other groups. In sum, individuals with DS might show less anxiety but still worried more about specific aspects related to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their lives.

Purpose: Treating Active Citizenship as a sum of behavioral indicators requires certain prerequisites that can be difficult to meet in practice (e.g. structural validity and measurement invariance). We explore a different approach, in which we treat Active Citizenship as a categorical, rather than a linear, construct. Design: Based on longitudinal data from eight European countries, we discovered the patterns' structure based on the first-year data and then replicated the analysis on the second-year sample to confirm it. Next, we explored the change between the years and its' trajectories. We compared countries profiles and their change. Finally, we used multinomial logistic regression to explore the most common trajectories. Findings: We describe six patterns: fighter, activist, volunteer, backer, online and indifferent. The pattern structure is replicable and 41.8% of respondents preserve their pattern. For those respondents who changed their pattern, we identified political interest, religiosity, gender and age as the main factors behind this change. Research implications: The study contributes to the understanding of youth Active Citizenship and the factors that support and promote it.

This study extends the doctoral education literature by examining how social support and social identification, as they apply to peers, supervisors, and the academic community, are related to mental wellbeing and psychological distress in doctoral students by using person-centred analysis to create social profiles. Doctoral students (N = 200) completed a cross-sectional survey including measures of perceived support, received support, social identification, mental wellbeing, and psychological distress. Adopting a person-centred analysis approach, we identified six distinct social profiles for mental wellbeing, and four social profiles for psychological distress. Further between-profile analysis indicated that the 'high support-identification' profile was associated with higher levels of mental wellbeing and lowest levels of psychological distress. In comparison, the 'low support-identification' profile reported significantly lower mental wellbeing and significantly higher psychological distress. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the value of person-centred analysis and offers new insights into the nuances of relationships between social support, social identification, mental wellbeing, and psychological distress in doctoral students. The theoretical and practical implications arising from this research are discussed.

This study at The Open University in the United Kingdom examined the effectiveness of specifying internship opportunities for underrepresented student groups in two faculties. Our data, gathered through intern focus groups and supervisor interviews, demonstrate that the virtual internship scheme has been successful from both intern and supervisor perspectives, providing flexible and supportive opportunities which help interns to develop transferable skills and confidence. The virtual internship approach therefore provides opportunities for large-scale distance learning institutions to routinely offer work experience to their students, supported by the further development of effective remote working practices. Unexpected benefits of this program emerged through the staff-student partnerships developed in university-based internships. Future research will focus on mechanisms to further improve and scale up the virtual internship program to enhance access for underrepresented students and to explore how virtuality contributes to new perspectives of employability.

Little is known about what features of AAC systems are regarded by AAC professionals as more suitable for children with different characteristics. A survey was conducted in which participants rated the suitability of hypothetical AAC systems on a Likert scale from 1 ("very unsuitable") to 7 ("very suitable") alongside a discrete choice experiment. The survey was administered online to 155 AAC professionals in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Statistical modeling was used to estimate how suitable 274 hypothetical AAC systems were for each of 36 child vignettes. The proportion of AAC systems rated at least 5 out of 7 for suitability varied from 51.1% to 98.5% for different child vignettes. Only 12 out of 36 child vignettes had any AAC systems rated at least 6 out of 7 for suitability. The features of the most suitable AAC system depended on the characteristics of the child vignette. The results show that, while every child vignette had several systems that had a good suitability rating, there were variations, that could potentially lead to inequalities in provision.

The importance of reducing restraint and restrictive interventions in special schools has been recognised across the four nations of the UK. Government guidance for England and Wales, and recommendations produced by Restraint Reduction Scotland, both reference Positive behavioural support (PBS) as an evidence-based approach that can be used to proactively support pupils with, or at risk of, behaviours that challenge. The Department of Education of Northern Ireland recommends the development of behaviour support plans to support children with special education needs and disabilities. Special schools, however, also have a responsibility to set high expectations for every pupil, to provide access to the respective national curricula and to meet individual needs. School-wide positive behavioural support (SW-PBS), originated in the USA in the 1990s in response to a body of evidence that showed improved social and academic outcomes when behavioural interventions were implemented across whole school settings. It is increasingly being adopted in the UK. Drawing upon examples from schools in England and Wales with which the authors are familiar, this paper outlines the rationale for a special schools' model of SW-PBS and illustrates the ways in which this can be adjusted to meet the specific needs of each setting.

The seemingly relentless drive across Higher Education (HE) Institutions to integrate both face-to-face and online forms of delivery to create blended approaches to teaching and learning shows little sign of abating. Yet, as blended forms of delivery become increasingly prevalent, existing literature suggests that the perspectives and experiences of students often remain overlooked. This article adopts the position that students are expertly situated to provide insider perspectives that are not always accessible to, or recognised by, those implementing these developments, with regular, intentional attempts to draw upon students' views and perspectives remaining under-utilised and infrequent. Alongside similar studies internationally, this article reveals the potential of establishing collaborative partnerships between students and staff through a process of pedagogic consultancy to better-inform improvements to curriculum and programme design. Employing a participatory action research methodology, this article explores and analyses the lived experiences of ten undergraduate students and five academic staff members working in student-staff partnership (SSP) within a UK HE context. Findings largely endorse the use of SSP, indicating positive implications for promoting student empowerment, improvements in understanding and engagement, and the overall student experience. However, questions are raised relating to an apparent disconnect between differing epistemologies of staff and some students, the legitimacy and agency of student-researchers, and how SSP can be introduced as part of programme delivery in an authentic way. The authors advocate establishing SSP as part of provision, with the caveat that there must be broader institutional buy-in and robust infrastructure in place for it to be successful.

COVID-19 has affected people across the world. The current study examined anxiety and worries during the first UK national lockdown in March 2020. Parents (n = 402) reported on their own anxiety and worries as well as that of their son/daughter with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and typically developing (TD) child (n = 186) at three time points. Although both groups showed increased anxiety across the three time points, levels of anxiety in the SEND group, but not the TD siblings, were predicted by awareness about COVID-19. In addition, worries differed between the groups showing that COVID-19 impacts the wellbeing of those with SEND differently to that of their TD siblings.

The ITEEA's Council for Technology and Engineering Teacher Education (CTETE) Curriculum Committee solicited, collected, and analyzed several examples of international lesson plans to find out how various countries understand and/or apply the "Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy: The Role of Technology and Engineering in STEM Education" (STEL) in their own technology and engineering education classrooms. Several overarching themes--achieved independently and then confirmed through follow-up discussions among curriculum committee members--appeared in the analysis. These included: (1) Technology and Engineering Education is hands-on; (2) Problem-based learning (PBL) is a central tenet of the curriculum; (3) the STEL standards are/were not equally (or widely) utilized in lesson planning; rather, an emphasis on local (state, region, district, school) standards was evident; and (4) TEE learning is context-driven with an emphasis on the application of knowledge in specific settings/scenarios. As a means of broadening the understanding of what TEE "looks like" around the world, the lessons shared here are brief synopses of the collected lesson plans in addition to a summary of additional findings explored through the means of a follow-up survey sent to each of the contributing teachers.

This study is one of the pioneers in investigating and analyzing the orthographical conventions/norms of the outer circle Asian Englishes using one of the largest databases of English corpus, the Global Web-based English (GloWbE). This study extends the analysis of the current orthographical norms of the new varieties to their colonial parents. Results of this study indicate that there is an evident Americanization in some of the orthographical norms of the outer circle Asian Englishes, even though all of them, except for Philippine English, have British English as parent English. The results can be accounted for the emergence and proliferation of technology, as initiated by the United States as a superpower country today. This huge global influence enables American English to accelerate in indirectly colonizing the orthographical norms of these new English varieties.

This article aims to examine alternative explanations of social disadvantage on the university-to-work transition experiences of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. 'Becoming employable' during the university-to-work transition is reflected in three ways: students' cognition/patterns of thinking (i.e. perceived employability); affect/emotion (i.e. anxiety); and career-related behaviour (i.e. job search and networking). To understand how social disadvantage affects 'becoming employable', we examine three potential explanations: students' social background, type of higher education institution attended and individual financial strain. A cross-sectional survey design targeted at final year students in two UK Higher Education Institutions provided 288 survey responses. Findings show support for an institutional explanation to 'becoming employable'. The study contributes to our understanding of social disadvantage during preparation for labour market entry and the 'employable graduate' identity construction process. Practical recommendations focus on alleviating some of the pressures on socially disadvantaged students.

The United Kingdom and Ireland have a well-established research base in motor competence (MC) research, ranging from reporting and monitoring levels of MC, developing assessment tools for MC, providing innovative curriculum and intervention design to support learning and development, as well as providing advocacy for particular groups, such as those with motor impairments. This expert statement, on behalf of the International Motor Development Research Consortium, draws together what is currently known about levels of MC in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as current approaches to intervention in both countries. Subsequently presented are recommendations for researchers and practitioners to advance the field of MC for the benefit of children and youth in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and worldwide.

Attaining transferable skills is increasingly important for undergraduates and, while such skill development may be embedded within the curriculum, it is often not well recognised by students. This mixed methods study explores the use of skills badges as icons displayed on curriculum materials in several disciplines at two universities. The badges are designed to draw students' attention to skill development opportunities; an approach that is easily scalable in any discipline. Results indicated that more than half of students found the badges helpful and their recognition of the development of some skills increased. Other benefits included understanding the wider purpose of learning tasks, increased motivation and satisfaction and identification of examples for use in the job application process. The badges prompted some staff to communicate with students about skills and to re-evaluate their teaching approach to maximise skill development opportunities. Communication between staff and students is key to ensuring students understand the purpose of the badges and how to use them.

Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.

Learners with disabilities are often denied field-based learning experiences in naturalistic disciplines. Geology can present substantial barriers due to rugged terrain in difficult-to-reach locations. In 2014, a field trip was executed with the dual purpose of 1) designing inclusion in field learning and 2) demonstrating to college faculty an accessible field experience. Direct observations of participants on the trip, as well as pre- and post-trip focus groups, illuminate the student and faculty field learning experience. Geoscience faculty have little guidance or support in understanding what disability is, how to reconcile accommodation with field-geology learning goals, and they cited instances where disability service providers acted as gatekeepers. The net effect of these ontologies is to reduce faculty empathy with, and thus their ability to be inclusive of, students with disabilities in field settings. Recommendations for instructors include taking campus disability-services administrators on field trips, opening and maintaining communications with disability service providers, and designing pedagogically sound field trips that align as much as possible to principles of universal design. An advocacy approach is described, which focuses on the students and the educational process, instead of on institutional compliance. Finally, geoscience faculty should conceptualize disability service providers as accessibility service providers. Keywords: field trips, Earth science, accessibility, inclusive, disabilities.

Introduction: This study provides insights into the talk (defined here as any verbal utterances issued during a search activity) that children (ages 10 and 11) engage in when finding information on the Internet for two teacher-assigned tasks with different search goals: a specific item task where the goal is to find particular information, and a general topical task where the goal is to find information on a topic but no specific information is looked for. Method: Eight children were observed interacting with their teacher and fellow classmates while using search systems in their classroom. Analysis: The talk captured in the classroom was analysed thematically and mapped onto an existing and established search process model. Results: While talk differed for the three key search sub-processes, most noticeable was how talk varied according to search goal. Discussion occurred during the specific item task when children were finding it difficult whereas discussion in the general topical task led children to extend the task. Conclusion: Children's search processes and the support they need are contingent on search goal. Recommendations are made to educators on how best to support children for the two key goal types.

This meta-analytic study compared the effect of peer-led learning versus non peer-led learning on students' cognitive achievement in post-secondary education. Twenty-eight studies published in English from six countries between 1993 and 2017 were identified and used in the analysis. Result of the analysis on the random-effect model showed a moderate but positive effect, meaning that peer-led learning was associated with higher cognitive achievement than non-peer-led learning. Three study characteristics were examined including duration, student leaders' training, and task type. Only the task type was found significant in moderating the effect of peer-led learning. Student leaders' facilitation of problem-based learning tasks outperformed other types of tasks. Results of this study not only provided suggestions for peer-led learning designers and coordinators but also called for future research of student leaders' readiness as well as online peer-led learning.

The value of postgraduates teaching in undergraduate chemistry laboratories has been a subject of interest at universities in the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The role of the teaching assistant (TA) is already well-established in many laboratories in the USA, and such roles have been increasing in popularity in the UK. Postgraduate (PG) demonstrators are however commonplace in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Despite this, reports of formalized postgraduate programs involving a significant teaching component in the UK are rare. Here, we report on the first example of a Chemistry UK Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) program that started at The University of Sheffield in 2010. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first program reported of its type in the UK. For over 10 years, this program has resulted in a cohort of 24 GTAs who work alongside PG demonstrators in the laboratory and graduate with not only a chemistry Ph.D. but also enhanced teaching experience and professional development. Students in the GTA program have taken on a number of valuable roles, which are described herein. Positive outcomes include development of employability skills, contribution to the consistency of teaching, and knowledge transfer through involvement in training other PG demonstrators. The standard and consistency of the efforts of the GTA cohort have been demonstrated by a significant number receiving recognition for their teaching by gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) accreditation, which is often associated with academic staff who are involved in teaching.

Anatomical education in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland has long been under scrutiny, especially since the reforms triggered in 1993 by the General Medical Council's "Tomorrow's Doctors." The aim of the current study was to investigate the state of medical student anatomy education in the UK and Ireland in 2019. In all, 39 medical schools completed the survey (100% response rate) and trained 10,093 medical students per year cohort. The teachers comprised 760 individuals, of these 143 were employed on full-time teaching contracts and 103 were employed on education and research contracts. Since a previous survey in 1999, the number of part-time staff has increased by 300%, including a significant increase in the number of anatomy demonstrators. In 2019, anatomy was predominantly taught to medical students in either a system-based or hybrid curriculum. In all, 34 medical schools (87%) used human cadavers to teach anatomy, with a total of 1,363 donors being used per annum. Gross anatomy teaching was integrated with medical imaging in 95% of medical schools, embryology in 81%, living anatomy in 78%, neuroanatomy in 73%, and histology in 68.3%. Throughout their five years of study, medical students are allocated on average 85 h of taught time for gross anatomy, 24 h for neuroanatomy, 24 h for histology, 11 h for living anatomy, and 10 for embryology. In the past 20 years, there has been an average loss of 39 h dedicated to gross anatomy teaching and a reduction in time dedicated to all other anatomy sub-disciplines.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the globe have been exposed to large amounts of statistical data. Previous studies have shown that individuals' mathematical understanding of health-related information affects their attitudes and behaviours. Here, we investigate the relation between: (1) basic numeracy; (2) COVID-19 health numeracy; and (3) COVID-19 health-related attitudes and behaviours. An online survey measuring these three variables was distributed in Canada, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 2032). In line with predictions, basic numeracy was positively related to COVID-19 health numeracy. However, predictions, neither basic numeracy nor COVID-19 health numeracy was related to COVID-19 health related attitudes and behaviours (e.g. follow experts' recommendations on social distancing, wearing masks etc.). Multi-group analysis was used to investigate mean differences and differences in the strength of the correlation across countries. Results indicate there were no between-country differences in the correlations between the main constructs but there were between-country differences in latent means. Overall, results suggest that while basic numeracy is related to one's understanding of data about COVID-19, better numeracy alone is not enough to influence a population's health-related attitudes about disease severity and to increase the likelihood of following public health advice.

While integrated delivery of anatomy and radiology can support undergraduate anatomical education, the interpretation of complex three-dimensional spatial relationships in cross-sectional and radiological images is likely to be demanding for novices. Due to the value of technology-enhanced and multimodal strategies, it was hypothesized that simultaneous digital and physical learning could enhance student understanding of cross-sectional anatomy. A novel learning approach introduced at a United Kingdom university medical school combined visualization table-based thoracic cross-sections and digital models with a three-dimensional printed heart. A mixed-method experimental and survey approach investigated student perceptions of challenging anatomical areas and compared the multimodal intervention to a two-dimensional cross-section control. Analysis of seven-point Likert-type responses of new medical students (n = 319) found that clinical imaging (mean 5.64 SD ± 1.20) was significantly more challenging (P < 0.001) than surface anatomy (4.19 ± 1.31) and gross anatomy (4.92 ± 1.22). Pre-post testing of students who used the intervention during their first anatomy class at medical school (n = 229), identified significant increases (P < 0.001) in thoracic cross-sectional anatomy interpretation performance (mean 31.4% ± 15.3) when compared to the subsequent abdominal control activity (24.1% ± 17.6). Student test scores were independent of mental-rotation ability. As depicted on a seven-point Likert-type scale, the intervention may have contributed to students considering cross-sectional interpretation of thoracic images (4.2 ± 1.23) as significantly less challenging (P < 0.001) than comparable abdominal images (5.59 ± 1.14). These findings could have implications for how multimodal cross-sectional anatomy learning approaches are implemented within medical curricula.

This article extends the evidence base on childhood circumstances, education and psychological distress. We examine the link between childhood advantage and disadvantage, the type of school attended during adolescence and psychological distress at ages 16 and 42. The analysis uses a large, population-based birth cohort study, the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) (n = 17,198) using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. More advantaged young people were more likely to attend private schools, but we find no evidence for an effect of private schooling on psychological distress for men, and for women there was an association between private schooling and raised psychological distress at age 16. Having a university degree was associated with a modest reduction in psychological distress in mid-life. We establish that maternal psychological distress at age 10 was a risk factor for the offspring's psychological distress both in adolescence and in mid-life, and adolescent psychological distress predicts psychological distress in mid-life. We conclude that schools which are academically successful do not necessarily provide wider benefits in terms of mental health.

We present our outreach program, the "Thailand-UK Python+Astronomy Summer School" (ThaiPASS), a collaborative project comprising UK and Thai institutions and assess its impact and possible application to schools in the United Kingdom. Since its inception in 2018, the annual ThaiPASS has trained around 60 Thai high-school students in basic data handling skills using Python in the context of various astronomy topics, using current research from the teaching team. Our impact assessment of the 5 day summer schools shows an overwhelmingly positive response from students in both years, with over 80% of students scoring the activities above average in all activities but one. We use this data to suggest possible future improvements. We also discuss how ThaiPASS may inspire further outreach and engagement activities within the UK and beyond.

Culture shock and acculturation are salient aspects of any international study trip. Over the years, many institutions have devised several strategies to help international students transition to life in the host country. However, most of these strategies are insensitive to diverse cultural or country specifics. Drawing from Social Learning Theory, this paper provides narratives from four former students from the West African country of Ghana and how they navigated the process of acculturation in their respective host nations. The narratives discuss their feelings during the study abroad trip, some of the challenges they faced, and personal as well as institutional strategies that aided in ameliorating the experience of culture shock. A few recommendations for Student Affairs Practitioners are also provided.

Psychology Participant Pools (PPP) are known to be used within psychology departments in the United Kingdom as a way to promote understanding of psychological research and as a means to aid students and researchers to collect data. However, there is currently no information regarding the different practices undertaken in each department. This article represents a first exploration in this endeavour by asking representatives from these departments to complete a survey. General findings revealed that the number of studies conducted were either under 20 or over 40, Level 4 students had to obtain slightly more credits than Level 5 students, a range of activities were observed for those participants who did not obtain all their credits, and the PPP was more often than not tied to a research methods module. Despite receiving responses from around only a third of departments, the results revealed a wide range of behaviours across the departments. We feel that these are useful for departments who wish to establish, or update, their own PPP, but also recognise that a larger study is required to more accurately capture the use of PPPs in the United Kingdom.

Evidence suggests that children struggle to acquire age-appropriate fundamental movement skills (FMS), despite their importance for facilitating physical activity. This has led to calls for routine school-based screening of children's FMS. However, there is limited research exploring schools' capacity to conduct such assessments. This study investigated what factors might affect the adoption and implementation of FMS assessments in primary schools. School staff (n = 853) completed an online questionnaire developed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior (COM-B) model. A majority reported that knowledge of pupils' FMS ability would be beneficial (65.3%), and 71.8% would assess FMS if support was provided. Barriers included: Capability -- few possessed knowledge of FMS (15%); Opportunity -- teachers reported 30-60 minutes as acceptable for assessing a class, a substantially shorter period than current assessments require; Motivation -- 57.2% stated FMS assessments would increase workload stress. Solutions to these issues are discussed using the COM-B theoretical framework.

The data produced by the scientific community impacts on academia, clinicians, and the general public; therefore, the scientific community and other regulatory bodies have been focussing on ethical codes of conduct. Despite the measures taken by several research councils, unethical research, publishing and/or reviewing behaviours still take place. This exploratory study considers some of the current unethical practices and the reasons behind them and explores the ways to discourage these within research and other professional disciplinary bodies. These interviews/discussions with PhD students, technicians, and academics/principal investigators (PIs) (N=110) were conducted mostly in European higher education institutions including UK, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic and Netherlands. Through collegiate discussions, sharing experiences and by examining previously published/reported information, authors have identified several less reported behaviours. Some of these practices are mainly influenced either by the undue institutional expectations of research esteem or by changes in the journal review process. These malpractices can be divided in two categories relating to (a) methodological malpractices including data management, and (b) those that contravene publishing ethics. The former is mostly related to "committed bias", by which the author selectively uses the data to suit their own hypothesis, methodological malpractice relates to selection of outdated protocols that are not suited to the intended work. Although these are usually unintentional, incidences of intentional manipulations have been reported to authors of this study. For example, carrying out investigations without positive (or negative) controls; but including these from a previous study. Other methodological malpractices include unfair repetitions to gain statistical significance, or retrospective ethical approvals. In contrast, the publication related malpractices such as authorship malpractices, ethical clearance irregularities have also been reported. The findings also suggest a globalised approach with clear punitive measures for offenders is needed to tackle this problem.

Medical education research is becoming increasingly concerned with the value (defined as "educational outcomes per dollar spent") of different teaching approaches. However, the financial costs of various approaches to teaching anatomy are under-researched, making evidence-based comparisons of the value of different teaching approaches impossible. Therefore, the aims of this study were to report the cost of six popular anatomy teaching methods through a specific, yet generalizable approach, and to demonstrate a process in which these results can be used in conjunction with existing effectiveness data to undertake an economic evaluation. A cost analysis was conducted to report the direct and indirect costs of six anatomy teaching methods, using an established approach to cost-reporting. The financial information was then combined with previously published information about the effectiveness of these six teaching methods in increasing anatomy knowledge, thereby demonstrating how estimations of value can be made. Dissection was reported as the most expensive teaching approach and computer aided instruction/learning (CAI/L) was the least, based on an estimation of total cost per student per year and assuming a student cohort size of just over 1,000 (the United Kingdom average). The demonstrated approach to economic evaluation suggested computer aided instruction/learning as the approach that provided the most value, in terms of education outcomes per dollar spent. The study concludes by suggesting that future medical education research should incorporate substantially greater consideration of cost, in order to draw important conclusions about value for learners.

Climate change is a 'super-wicked' problem associated with challenges including food security, mass migration and biodiversity loss. Young people are increasingly expecting their university education to prepare them to address these challenges. This requires universities to go beyond scientific accounts of climate change, and to engage students in the complex interactions between social, economic and environmental systems. Authentic learning develops students' understanding of 'real-world' challenges and is well aligned with pedagogical traditions in geography. We researched the extent to which climate change is framed as a wicked problem and how students undertake authentic learning about it in UK and Ireland undergraduate geography programmes. Our findings show that while authentic approaches to teaching climate change can be well developed at module level, programme design lacks coherence. Teaching focuses on climate problems rather than progressively scaffolding students' skills for finding effective solutions. We propose that academic developers have significant potential to enhance climate change teaching. We present seven principles for geography programme teams to improve climate change teaching in degree programmes. The wicked problems concept emerged at a time of social unrest and growing environmental consciousness and so remains a powerful way to frame teaching about global challenges.

Research quality is often based on the perceived quality of journals in which the research appears. Journal quality is subjectively based on a wide array of objective journal characteristics, including acceptance rates and citations. The authors expand on recently published research by examining the extent in which journal characteristics vary across national boundaries. It also expands upon the prior research by examining accounting journals, finance journals, and information systems journals. U.S. journals are compared with those from the United Kingdom, and other countries in general. Findings demonstrate that significant differences exist across disciplines and nations, thus making it necessary to consider these journal characteristics when gauging journal and research quality.

The UK's "Prime Minister's Questions"--a television program that shows parliamentary proceedings and banter between House of Commons members--can be a free, real-world resource for rhetorical analysis opportunities. In this article, the author presents the inherent value of these sessions in the classroom as a means of creatively addressing those same rhetorical analysis standards. The process and setup for how teachers can use this program, insight on how it looks in the classroom, and, finally, what value these parliamentary sessions promote in addition to rhetorical analysis is also provided.

Domestic abuse prevention education programmes have been found to be effective in bringing about attitudinal and behavioural change. However, there is limited research on theatre-based interventions developed in the UK. This study aimed to assess pupils' responses to a theatre production called 'Love Hurts'. A mixed-methods approach, which incorporated an online survey and focus groups, was used to understand the pupils' perceptions of the play. The survey was completed by 294 pupils aged 11-19 years in five schools. Four focus groups were conducted in two of the schools involved. The pupils were generally very positive about the play, girls more so than boys. One of the strengths was that the young people reported being able to relate to the situations, and they found the use of theatre very engaging. They seemed to respond well to the use of a positive male role in the play, but reported that more could be done to highlight that women can be abusive too. Another theme was around the issue of trust, with some young people reporting feeling cautious about entering relationships following the play. The findings suggest that the young people responded well to the messages conveyed and felt that theatre was an effective means of addressing the issue. However, care is needed as to how to address the issues of gender and trust.

Since the sudden emergence of COVID-19 global pandemic, all educational institutions have looked to move resources and delivery online. Some institutions had already embraced delivering instruction in this way; however, broader adaptation to this teaching style is new to many educators. While the teaching of theoretical concepts is more easily transferred to a blended learning environment, the teaching of practical chemistry poses significant challenges, yet it is crucial to the chemist's identity. Here we describe the establishment of a new, international, network to consider how practical chemistry can be taught outside of the traditional laboratory environment and invite readers of this special edition of the journal to join. Meeting fortnightly and maintaining links through a shared networked drive between meetings, the network has been accessed by over 100 delegates in the U.K., mainland Europe, North America, and Australasia. The traditional siloes of chemistry have not defined the discussions, which have instead focused on logistical aspects such as social distancing and the pastoral role of the laboratory environment. Initial evaluation shows the network is valued by its members and is making progress toward its aims.

Physiology is a key element of "bioscience" education within pre-registration nursing programs, but there is a lack of clarity on what is included. Physiology and bioscience content and delivery are highly varied across both higher education institutions and the related programs in the United Kingdom (UK). Despite evidence highlighting concerns over nurses' lack of bioscience knowledge and unsafe practice, there is no universally agreed on curriculum with detailed outcomes of minimum levels of knowledge to support nurses in practice and patient care. This study aimed to inform the construction of discipline-specific physiology learning outcomes to clarify relevant physiological topics required in pre-registration nursing. Initially, 360 learning outcomes were identified from various sources. Using a modified Delphi approach, an expert panel from the Bioscience in Nurse Education group reviewed and modified the list to 195 proposed outcomes. These were circulated to universities in the UK who teach nursing (n = 65). Outcomes that had 80% consensus were automatically included in the next round, with others recommended with modification (response rate 22%). The panel reviewed the modifications, and 182 outcomes were circulated in the second questionnaire (response rate 23%), and further panel review resulting in 177 outcomes agreed. These learning outcomes do not suggest how they should be delivered, but gives the basic level required for qualification as a nurse commensurate with the Nursing and Midwifery Council new standards for the "future nurse."

In this article, we explore how people revise their belief in a hypothesis and the reliability of sources in circumstances where those sources are either independent or are partially dependent because of their shared, common background. Specifically, we examine people's revision of perceived source reliability by comparison with a formal model of reliability revision proposed by Bovens and Hartmann (2003). This model predicts a U-shaped trajectory for revision in certain circumstances: If a source provides a positive report for an unlikely hypothesis, perceived source reliability should decrease; as additional positive reports emerge, however, estimates of reliability should increase. Participants' updates in our experiment show this U-shaped pattern. Furthermore, participants' responses also respect a second feature of the model, namely that perceived reliability should once again decrease when it becomes known that the sources are partially dependent. Participants revise appropriately both when a specific shared reliability is observed (e.g., sources went to the same, low quality school) and when integrating the possibility of shared reliability. These findings shed light on how people gauge source reliability and integrate reports when multiple sources weigh in on an issue as seen in public debates.

Several UK University Chemistry Departments have former secondary school chemistry teachers employed as School Teacher Fellows (STF) who are heavily involved in outreach work and a range of teaching responsibilities. This study looks at the outreach role from the point of view of several of the STFs; the benefits, and the barriers and how this role can be developed further. A reflective exercise, asking STFs to write a letter to themselves to advise any new incumbent was used to generate data. This mode was preferred to a formal interview after consultation with STFs. All the responses were analysed in terms of their relationships, motivations and other aspects of their posts. It is concluded that the STF provides a number of unique opportunities to progress relationships between university and secondary and primary schools, to assist new undergraduates in making an effective transition from post-16 study to undergraduate study and to review, support and progress teaching practice at tertiary level. However, barriers to the effective utilisation of STFs include; appropriate support and recognition at the tertiary institute and funding.

In the media literacy literature, the challenges associated with assessment have, to a great extent, been ignored. The purpose of this mixed methods study was therefore to explore the views of media literacy scholars and professionals on assessment challenges through qualitative interviews (n = 10) with the intent of using this information to develop a quantitative survey to validate and extend the qualitative findings with a larger sample of media literacy professionals and scholars from around the world (n = 133). The findings offer an overview of the assessment challenges encountered by these participants.