'...we're not designing for a specific user at key stage 3'. Teachers' lack of planning of user-centred tasks in Design and Technology at key stage 3 in England and implication this has for pupils’ understanding of complex design tasks

This paper discusses the importance of user-centred design by outlining its history , embodiment in national and international standards (for example, British Standards Institute, 2005) and its relevance in addressing the needs of an ageing population. It also outlines how a user-centred approach to design and technology has been part National Curriculum in England since 1989. Using data collected from two schools which includes, teacher interviews (n=4); pupil focus group interviews (12 pupils comprising 6 boys and 6 girls from two schools); a pupils survey (n=50) and departmental documents such as schemes of work, we found that many of the tasks teachers plan for students, do not provide them with the opportunities that allow for a user-centred approach. We discuss the implications of this and make some initial conclusions as part of our on-going research

Additional file 1: of Perceptions of northeast Thai breastfeeding mothers regarding facilitators and barriers to six-month exclusive breastfeeding: focus group discussions

Table S1. Characteristics of participants involved in the six FGDs. (DOCX 29 kb

Associations between maternal mortality rate or ratio and potential drivers of variation, Nepal.

<p>Data source: Maternal mortality and morbidity survey, 2008 weighted by number of live births. β is the slope of the regression line and R² the coefficient of determination.</p><p>**Denotes statistical significance of difference at less than 1%.</p>a<p>Drivers are of district variation unless stated otherwise, depending on availability of data.</p

Non-maternal mortality, women of reproductive age, Nepal.

<p>Data source: Nepal demographic and health surveys 1996 and 2006.</p>a<p>Timing of the estimates is 3.5 years prior to the dates of the surveys.</p><p>*Denotes statistical significance of difference at less than 5%.</p

Estimates of maternal mortality with 95% confidence intervals, Nepal.

<p>Estimates of maternal mortality with 95% confidence intervals, Nepal.</p

Maternal mortality rate by fertility for eight districts in Nepal.

<p>Maternal mortality rate by fertility for eight districts in Nepal.</p

Trend in Nepal's national estimate of maternal mortality rate, adjusted for respondent characteristics using Poisson regression.

<p>Data source: Nepal demographic and health surveys 1996 and 2006.</p>a<p>maternal mortality rate from the later survey was used as the reference, so the incidence rate ratio in the earlier survey was 2.69 times greater.</p><p>**denotes statistical significance at p<0.001;</p><p>*p<0.01.</p

Estimates of maternal mortality ratio by births with a health professional for eight districts in Nepal.

<p>Estimates of maternal mortality ratio by births with a health professional for eight districts in Nepal.</p

National and sub-national maternal mortality rates, Nepal.

<p>Data source: Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys 1996 and 2006.</p>a<p>Timing of the estimates is 3.5 years prior to the dates of the surveys.</p><p>*Denotes statistical significance of difference at less than 5%.</p

Regional estimates of changes in Caesarean section rates, Nepal.

<p>Regional estimates of changes in Caesarean section rates, Nepal.</p