Reducing the number of face-to-face laboratory sessions and supplementing with virtual/online alternatives are critical to managing the combined pressures of increasing first-year student numbers and decreasing university budgets. Most of the research studies about online practicals are hypothesis generating rather than hypothesis testing thus only providing initial support and direction for the generation of pedagogically sound online laboratory teaching. This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of using a combination of online and face-to-face practical sessions to enable students in a Microbiology unit, offered to students completing several health science courses, to connect discipline-specific theory and practical application. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using a paper-based questionnaire from 72 first-year students. Results showed that 65 percent of students preferred a combination of face-to-face and online sessions. Furthermore, determinants for engagement with online sessions varied with student gender.

ObjectiveType 1 diabetes (T1D) is the most common form of diabetes in children, accounting for 96% of cases, with 29 000 children affected in the UK. Studies have recently identified immunotherapies that safely delay the development of T1D for at least 3 years, and further therapies are in development. General population screening programs in other countries can now accurately identify children with presymptomatic T1D who can be entered into prevention studies. The UK does not have such a system in place. We aim to explore whether parents and children in the UK would want to be part of such a program of testing for T1D in the general population, how they would want to be informed and participate in such a program, and how any barriers to recruitment and participation can be addressed. Additionally, the views of stakeholders who would be involved in the testing program will be collected and analyzed.Research design and methodsWe will interview parents/guardians and children aged 3–13 years about their views on screening for T1D. We will recruit purposefully to ensure representation across ethnicities and socioeconomic groups. Interviews will be transcribed, analyzed and used to inform iterative co-design work with additional families to address any issues raised. Similar qualitative work will be undertaken with professional stakeholders who would be involved in implementing any future screening program. Where possible, all aspects of this study will be performed remotely by phone or online to minimize infection risk.ConclusionsThis qualitative study will provide the first insights into acceptability of testing and monitoring for T1D in the general population from the perspective of families and stakeholders in the UK. Co-design work will help establish the barriers and identify strategies to mitigate and overcome these issues, as an important step towards consideration of national testing for T1D.

Although there has been much research in the area of data analytics in recent years (e.g. Shum & Ferguson 2012), there are questions regarding which analytic methodologies can be most effective in informing higher education teaching and learning practices (Gibson & de Freitas 2016). This project focuses on one module within the School of Computing and Communications in the STEM faculty of The Open University, UK, to gain a clearer understanding on why students might, or might not, engage with computer aided learning and teaching (CALT) resources. We explore the use of specific CALT resources on the module 'Communications Technology', a print-based module with a range of online resources designed to supplement the text. In particular we explore the possible correlation between use of CALT resources and student examination performance. The research questions cover two key areas; the effectiveness of the analytics tools and students' perception of the CALT resources. Data analytics were used to determine when students engaged with the CALT resources and whether this was at predicted times during the module. Student feedback via interview was used to explore what motivates students to engage with CALT resources, whether students understand a topic more deeply as a result of using CALT resources, and if students are deterred if the resources are too complicated or time consuming. Our conclusion from this case study is that learning analytics are useful for tracking student engagement. The analytics were very useful to review during module presentation, specifically for analysing students' online behaviour. The supplementary interviews helped to shed light on the potential significance of the data gleaned.

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Narrative research is rarely undertaken in the field of gambling research. For this reason, the present study used narrative methods to explore young adults' personal accounts of gambling in a research situation. It had three interrelated aims: namely (i) to delineate the gambling-related identities of young adults; (ii) to examine how these gambling-related identities were constructed; and (iii) to identify the use of narrative techniques that contributed to narrative credibility. Study participants were young adults aged 18-24 and living in Tasmania. Data were collected through telephone interviews and written stories. A reduced data set comprising one interview transcript and two written stories was selected for the purposes of intensive analysis and publication. The analysis shows how participants who supplied this data set explained and justified their involvement in gambling, managed their identities and endeavoured to construct a shared reality. Some methodological issues arising from the study are discussed.