Sense of Community in Graduate Online Education: Contribution of Learner to Learner Interaction

Distance learning technologies offer a multitude of ways to build interaction into online courses to support learning. Based on social constructivism theory, this study explored which types of interaction are most predictive of students’ sense of community in online graduate courses at a regional comprehensive university. Surveys were used to measure sense of community and the frequency and importance of nine learner–learner interactions. Interactions that were most predictive of sense of community were introductions, collaborative group projects, sharing personal experiences, entire class discussions, and exchanging resources. The interaction that offered the highest payoff to instructors was exchanging resources. The article discusses implications for online course design

New postnatal urinary incontinence: obstetric and other risk factors in primparae.

Objective To identify obstetric and other risk factors for urinary incontinence which occurs during pregnancy or after childbirth. Design Questionnaire survey of women. Setting Maternity units in Aberdeen (Scotland), Birmingham (England) and Dunedin (New Zealand). Population 3405 primiparous women with singleton births delivered during one year. Methods Questionnaire responses and obstetric casenote data were analysed using multivariate analysis to identify associations with urinary incontinence. Main outcome measures Urinary incontinence at three months after delivery first starting in pregnancy or after birth. Results The prevalence of urinary incontinence was 29%. New incontinence first beginning after delivery was associated with higher maternal age (oldest versus youngest group, odds ratio, OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.35 to 3.02); and method of delivery (caesarean section versus spontaneous vaginal delivery, OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.41). There were no significant associations with forceps delivery (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.51) or vacuum delivery (OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.63). Incontinence first occurring during pregnancy and still present at three months was associated with higher maternal body mass index (BMI > 25, OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.43), and heavier babies (birthweight in top quartile, OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.12 to 2.19). In these women, caesarean section was associated with less incontinence (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.58) but incontinence was not associated with age. Conclusions Women have less urinary incontinence after a first delivery by caesarean section whether or not that first starts during pregnancy. Older maternal age was associated with new postnatal incontinence, and higher body mass index and heavier babies with incontinence first starting during pregnancy. The effect of further deliveries may modify these findings

Does geographic targeting of nutrition interventions make sense in cities?

Although most developing country cities are characterized by pockets of substandard housing and inadequate service provision, it is not known to what degree low incomes and malnutrition are confined to specific neighborhoods. This analysis uses representative household surveys of Abidjan and Accra to quantify small-area clustering in service provision, demographic characteristics, consumption, and nutrition. Both cities showed significant clustering in housing conditions but not in nutrition, while income was clustered in Abidjan, but less so in Accra. This suggests that neighborhood targeting of poverty-alleviation or nutrition interventions in these and similar cities could lead to undercoverage of the truly needy.Food consumption. ,Human Nutrition. ,Urban poor Africa. ,Malnutrition Africa. ,Africa. ,

The constraints to good child care practices in Accra

Life in urban areas presents special challenges for maternal child care practices. Data from a representative survey of households with children less than 3 years of age in Accra were used to test a number of hypothesized constraints to child care, including various maternal (education, employment, marital status, age, health, ethnic group, migration status) and household-level factors (income, calorie availability, quality of housing and asset ownership, availability of services, household size, and crowding). An age-specific child care index was created using recall data on maternal child feeding practices and use of preventive health services. A hygiene index was created from spot check observations of proxies of hygiene behaviors. Multivariate analyses showed that maternal schooling was the most consistent constraint to both the care and the hygiene index. None of the household-level characteristics were associated with the care index, but better housing quality and access to garbage collection services were associated with better hygiene. Female head of household and larger family size were associated with poorer hygiene. The programmatic implications of these findings for nutrition education and behavior change interventions in Accra are discussed. The focus is on using the information to target the right practices to be modified as well as the main constraints to their adoption.FCND ,Child care. ,Ghana. ,Maternal and infant welfare Developing countries. ,Urban health. ,

Good care practices can mitigate the negative effects of poverty and low maternal schooling on children's nutritional status

This study uses data from a representative survey of households with preschoolers in Accra, Ghana to (1) examine the importance of care practices for children's height-for-age z-scores (HAZ); and (2) identify subgroups of children for whom good maternal care practices may be particularly important. Good caregiving practices related to child feeding and use of preventive health services were a strong determinant of children's HAZ, specially among children from the two lower income terciles and children whose mothers had less than secondary schooling. In this population, good care practices could compensate for the negative effects of poverty and low maternal schooling on children's HAZ. Thus, effective targeting of specific education messages to improve child feeding practices and use of preventive health care could have a major impact on reducing childhood malnutrition in Accra.Health services. ,Child care. ,Child Feeding. ,Poverty. ,

Children’s voices in the Framework for Early Learning – a portraiture study

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is developing a Framework for Early Learning to support adults in working with children from birth to six years. The Framework is premised on an understanding of children as being active in shaping and creating their own lives. This perspective supports the inclusion of children’s voices in decisions which affect them. The NCCA is using a portraiture study to facilitate children as partners in developing the Framework. The portraits will provide a detailed description of individual children’s experiences and reflections on their time in early childhood settings and will provide an important benchmark for the NCCA in developing a national framework for early learning and development which is grounded in an Irish context. This contextualisation will help to ensure that the Framework is relevant and helpful to adults in working with children in Ireland

Making sense of the experience of depression : general practitioners' and women's accounts of the management of depression in primary care

Despite UK general practitioners being responsible for helping people to manage most emotional distress and the majority of psychiatric problems very little is known about how they do this in their everyday clinical practice. There has been very little systematic research on general practitioners' views of their work and little critical reflection on the issues of 'problem definition'. In addition, whilst the perspectives of patients have been placed at the core ofthe development of health services, there has been relatively little research on the patient's perspective of depression and its management in primary care. This study explored the management of depression from both general practitioner and patient perspectivesUsing qualitative interviews, 37 women and 20 general practitioners were recruited from practices in four NHS Board areas of Scotland. Each participant was interviewed at the start ofthe study, and 30 women and 19 general practitioners were re-visited approximately 9-12 months later to review the process of care. The interviews explored how women made sense oftheir experiences, and their evaluations of their care; and how general practitioners made sense of the women's experiences and how they subsequently managed these women in the context of everyday practice.In making sense of their depressive experience and its management the women drew upon a range of experiential, biographical and common-sense knowledge surrounding health, illness, emotions, depression, antidepressant medications and medication use in general. However, the generally negative views surrounding depression and antidepressants created a moral dilemma for the women in accepting the diagnosis and its treatment. The women did not passively accept their general practitioner's explanation and advice but evaluated this in relation to their own knowledge. They continually evaluated 'formal medical knowledge' and care in relation to their own understandings and as new knowledge (experiential and common-sense knowledge) emerged. General practitioners recognised that patients brought their own understandings to the consultation and their management involved eliciting patient beliefs and addressing the moral dilemmas that some of these beliefs created for the women. General practitioners had to negotiate care by addressing patients' concerns and sometimes acted strategically in order to persuade, or coerce, patients to accept their advice and treatment.These findings are discussed in relation to the 'medicalisation' thesis through reflecting on patient and professional discourses concerning depression and its management, the doctor-patient relationship, and the doctor-patient interaction. I draw upon the later work of Foucault which affords patient agency through the 'technologies of the self and also on the work of Habermas and the relationship between 'system' and Tifeworld' as a theoretical basis for discussion of these findings. Finally, I consider the implications of the findings for recent policy developments which call for depression to be managed as a chronic disease and comment on the applicability of current guidelines for the management of depression to general practice. I conclude that the development of any management strategies should be based on a consideration of the 'patient's perspective' and acknowledge that 'formal medical knowledge' plays only a part in the management of depression in primary care

Review of the anti-racist standards within anti-oppressive practice

Commissioned by the Practice Learning Business Group; BSc(Hons) Social Work University of Plymouth Research funded by CEPPL. The anti-racist practice standards were originally developed and formalised in conjunction with the Anti-Racist Development Forum, a coalition of programme providers and local practice teachers in the South West region. This forum, now more recently known as FREDA (Forum for Race Equality and Diversity) believed it was timely to review these standards (described below)

Are Teachers Prepared for the Integrated Curriculum?

This project examines integrated curricula and whether teachers have received enough time and money to implement such programs and whether the changes initiated by them will be long-lasting. Long term change involves numerous factors. There must be a consistent belief that integrated curricula are valuable for improved student achievement. Ontario Ministry of Education documents and various board policies must be unified in their approaches to integration and should not change these views in a rapid succession. Fluctuation in opinion about the value and delivery of integrated studies causes educators to suspend implementation of such initiatives. Schools and boards of education need administrative stability. Many times innovation is disgarded when new administrators show a lack of support or understanding of new curriculum initiatives. Staffing must be constant. Too much time, money, and training are wasted when staff are moved for external reasons. Adequate leadership must be provided by the government and the boards of education to facilitate the delivery of integrated curricula. Timetables must be made to accomodate integration and must be consistent through all grades in the school. This project provides a brief historical context for integrated curriculum document trends, contains definitions of integration, and an overview of integration as it appears in For the Love of Learning (1994), The Common Curriculum (1995), and Draft #2 of the Secondary Policy Document for Interdisciplinary Studies (1998). Possible models of integration are reviewed. A brief look at integration initiatives in other provinces is included as well as an observation of the geographical movement of trends in Canadian education. The project describes the development, over six years, of a grade nine destreamed integrated curriculum and its difficulties in effecting lasting change in teacher practice. Possible solutions to problems are given. Finally, the implications of integrating curriculum for educators without sufficient time or funding are evaluated.Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT

FOURTEEN SACRED SOLO SONGS OF HENRY PURCELL ORIGINALLY APPEARING IN HARMONIA SACRA

This paper presents a discussion of fourteen sacred solo songs by Henry Purcell found in Harmonia Sacra. Background material is given on Purcell\u27s career and the poets of the songs. The discussion of the music is divided into four areas, form, melody, texture, and harmony. The final chapter is a detailed analysis of one of the songs, Tell Me, Some Pitying Angel