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The purpose of the present study is to take an overview of the use of computers, internet, computer skills and information searching behaviour on the web as well as the OPAC in a university setting among students at the postgraduate level from rural and urban backgrounds in a comparative analogue.

This survey‐based study utilized the questionnaire as its major data collection instrument. However, the interview method and general observations were also used, whenever required, to supplement the data and make the information more explicit. The data, thus collected, were analysed with the aid of SPSS statistical software. The Chi‐square test was also performed to identify significant comparability among urban and rural background students.

The study revealed that most postgraduates (95.5 per cent) belonging to rural areas were computer literate. Further, most of them had accessed the web for communication purposes and for locating general and academic information. The results showed no significant differences between rural and urban students for the use of computer and internet, usage patterns of OPAC like search engines and the ease of OPAC use and their expectations from OPAC. The only significant differences found among both groups were for their reactions during unsuccessful searches. Thus, the background of users at the postgraduate level does not significantly affect the use of computer and internet, information searching behaviour patterns on the web and library systems, especially OPAC.

This is a pioneering work to examine whether postgraduates from differing backgrounds searched for information required by them differently through varying information channels for academic purposes in a university library system in India.

This article presents findings from an investigation which had as its purpose to compare and contrast the attitudes and aspirations of British and American secondary school students as regards education and occupations. The intention was also to increase understanding of those aspirations and expectations by placing them within the context of peer group culture. It is hoped that through a comparative study insight may be gained into the relation between schooling and cultural values in each country.

Retention of medical doctors and nurses in remote and rural areas is a key issue in India. The purpose of this paper is to assess the relevant policies and provisions with respect to health care professionals, aiming to develop feasible retention strategies in rural areas of Odisha state of India.

The study employed documentary review and key informant interviews with policy elites (health planners, policy maker, researchers, etc.). The document review included published and unpublished reports, policy notifications and articles on human resources for health (HRH) in Odisha and similar settings. Throughout the study, the authors adapted World Health Organization’s framework to study policies relevant to HRH retention in rural areas. The adapted framework comprised of the four policy domains, education, regulation, financial incentives, professional and personal support, and 16 recommendations.

In Odisha, the district quota system for admission is not practiced; however, students from special tribal and caste (Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste) communities, Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of citizens, and Persons with Disabilities have some allocated quota to study medicine and nursing. Medical education has a provision of community placement in rural hospitals. In government jobs, the newly recruited medical doctors serve a minimum of three years in rural areas. Doctors are given with location-based incentives to work in remote and difficult areas. The government has career development, deployment, and promotion avenues for doctors and nurses; however, these provisions are not implemented effectively.

The government could address the rural retention problems, as illustrated in the study and put in place the most effective policies and provisions toward recruitment, deployment and attraction of HRH in remote and rural areas. At the same time, implementation HRH strategies and activities must be rigorously monitored and evaluated effectively.

The purpose of this study was to explore how my gradually growing teacher knowledge has changed and shaped a new interpretation of the same interview data through those years of learning and teaching in different cultural contexts, and furthermore, to deeply understand how the shift of teacher identity impacts the comprehension of Schwab's (1973) commonplaces theories. Through the interview data, I shared students' and teachers' experiences in a new culture and lay alongside my own stories as an international student, a teacher, and a researcher. This research reveals the perceived future needs consist of teachers' higher English proficiency, more classes on professional communication skills courses, more opportunities for professional instructors' professional development, more ESL teacher assistance, scaffolded instruction within mainstream classes, and a better educational atmosphere. The investigation process itself was important but more important was whether or not the discussions and results provided useful information to the community. Having an overall outlook of commonplaces is as essential as the curriculum design. This dialectical shift caused me to investigate the balance among Schwab's commonplaces and the findings will contribute to the future developments in curriculum design as a researcher. Upon reflection, I utilized this research by investigating the equilibrium between the four common places and the current curriculum as well as comparing all the stakeholders' perspectives to the common places identified within the target curriculum.

Access to higher education (HE) in rural and coastal communities has been a developing area of research over the last two decades. This chapter looks at the particular issues of access and participation facing tertiary institutions in the context of Tasmania (Australia) and New Zealand. Both locations in the southern hemisphere have particular cultural, social and geographical circumstances and are characterised by dispersed rural and regional communities over extensive geographical areas and considerable tracts of remote territory. They share strong similarities to the issues facing access and inclusion in HE in the northern hemisphere and globally.

Recent educational research has demonstrated rural‐urban gaps in achievement and schooling conditions. Evidence from developing countries is still sparse. This study seeks to report rural‐urban disparities in achievement, student, teacher, and school characteristics based on a nationally representative sample of grade four students from four provinces of Pakistan. The study aims to take into account the limitations of previous research, mainly the issues of non‐representative samples and inadequate sampling techniques, by using proportionally adequate sample to address the potential differences in achievement of rural and urban students and how schooling, students and teacher‐related factors account for gap in achievement.

The primary data source for the study was the 2006 national assessment survey of year four students in government school across four provinces in four core subjects. The sample design included a two‐stage stratified random sample, where the major strata of national interest were student and school gender, geographical location and region. First stage involved selecting schools and in the second stage students were selected from schools. The procedure of estimation involved computing the average of each group's achievement scores and attached standard errors, the gap of standard errors and statistical significance of standard errors at 0.05 level.

The results show that rural and urban students had comparable levels of achievement in some of the tested learning areas. In Balochistan province, rural students outperformed their urban counterparts in three out of the four tested subjects. In Punjab and Sindh, urban students performed significantly better in social studies and language tests; scores on social studies and language did not differ significantly across location in the North West. The differences appeared to be partly explained by variation in schooling conditions, students' home background, and teachers' characteristics. Teachers' training turned out to be decisive in determining students' achievement, whereas availability of resources and multi‐grade teaching was less important.

Recent educational research from around the world has demonstrated rural‐urban gaps in achievement and schooling conditions. Evidence from developing countries is still sparse. This study is the first attempt to report rural‐urban disparities in academic achievement, student, teacher, and school characteristics based on a nationally representative sample. The study has employed an appropriate sampling strategy and proportionally adequate sample to address the potential differences in achievement of rural and urban students in four provinces. The findings could therefore be used to guide policy interventions in areas of curriculum differences, schooling conditions, teachers' training and multi‐grade teaching across provinces.

Prior to Brown v. Board of Education 1954, Black female educators played a significant and vital role in segregated schools. Despite Black female teachers’ historic presence in the field of education, presently Black female teachers are disproportionately under-represented in the US teacher workforce. Acknowledging the shortage of Black female teachers in K-12 classrooms, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore why Black female educators teach in under-resourced, urban schools. By examining Black female educators’ initial draw to urban schools in what we conceptualized as the urban factor, we hope to reframe the implicit biases surrounding under-resourced, urban schools as less desirable workplaces and unearth reasons why those Black female teachers who enter teaching gravitate more toward urban schools. Three themes emerged about Black female teachers’ thoughts on and preference for urban schools with an unexpected finding about Black female teachers’ perceptions of student behavior. Concluding, recommendations are offered for policy and practice.

Urban schools serve a diverse student population that includes African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and “poor” European Americans. The school size and location and the composition of student population play a major part in determining learning outcomes of a particular school (Mukuria, 2002). The Carnegie Report (1988) described many urban schools as having a large, diverse population and located in “poor” neighborhoods. The report indicated that many schools lack purpose, coherence, and unifying culture and that they have neglected buildings that give them a negative appearance. In addition, these schools lack meaningful instructional programs and regular routines as well as a strong sense of community. As a result, they demonstrate the instability to establish a consensus on a unifying culture, which to a large extent, leads to disciplinary problems.

The purpose of this paper is to know the frequency, place, and purpose of use of computer. It also aimed to know the various problems faced by the students in using the computer and to know the reasons for not using computer by rural and urban students.

A total of the 2,592 sample population were selected from 64 rural and urban high schools of two districts of Karnataka state. A structured questionnaire was used for the data collection and data have been analyzed using Software Package for Social Science. Statistical tests, namely, χ² and one-way ANOVA were applied to test the formulated hypotheses.

The results of the study showed that only 20.66 percent rural students and 69.70 percent of urban students used computer for various academic purposes. Further, most of the rural and urban students opined that “electric power failure” and “lack of computer” skills were major problem in using computer.

Today, the computer education in schools plays an important role in student’s career development and enhances the quality of learning among students. Thus, the local government/school authorities may provide the minimum ICT infrastructure in both schools and more particularly in rural schools.

This paper aims to supplement existing research on a joint approach to integrate sustainability into higher planning education (HPE) by facilitating an international transformative learning process. It looks at three different urban master’s programs in Serbia (Belgrade) and Germany (Berlin and Stuttgart).

In this paper, students' assessments of the pedagogical model, individual learning outcomes and the long-term value of the pedagogical model in respect of key competences for sustainability are presented and discussed. Basic assumptions of the study include that assessment from the students' perspective can provide feedback on the transformational learning experience with the aim of improving the experience and thus learning outcomes; help identify limitations and target specific areas for improvement in the pedagogical model; and improve the evaluation of effectiveness in developing knowledge and skills for sustainability in HPE.

The paper provides evidence that a learner-centered and action-oriented approach, as well as a global dialogue among peers from different backgrounds and nationalities, is an effective way to educate future generations of urban planners to become “change agents” for societal transformation toward a more sustainable future within their respective contexts.

The paper is a supplement to the existing research on educational initiatives that attempts to integrate sustainability into the curricula, especially of urban-related programs; showcases outcomes of the pedagogical model(s) for sustainable development applied, especially when addressing the competences of students working in developing, transitional and developed countries or different geographic contexts; and shows long-term learning outcomes after the students move into work practice.