Biomedical students' satisfaction with and engagement in laboratory e-learning support are related to their self-regulation.

Laboratory e-learning support tools can assist students' learning while preparing for laboratory classes. To successfully work in such virtual experimental environments (VEEs) outside class, students require self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. A deeper understanding of the continuous reciprocal interactions between SRL, satisfaction, and online engagement is needed to develop more effective online learning experiences. This study therefore aimed to explore the interconnection between students' satisfaction with, effort/importance and engagement in an exemplary VEE, and to relate this to their perceived SRL and learning outcomes. Based on surveys in 79 university students, SRL was related to VEE engagement, effort/importance, and satisfaction. VEE engagement and satisfaction were not related to learning outcomes, while SRL and effort were. Students with different SRL also tended to interact differently with the VEE and experienced differing degrees of procedural and feedback support by the e-environment. We conclude that, for optimal learning experience and outcomes, students' effort regulation and SRL need to be supported while interacting with the VEE, preferably by interventions that integrate personalized and adaptive features. This study has implications for designing and optimizing VEEs and indicates that future research should focus on VEEs taking students' SRL and effort regulation into account to support individual learners effectively.

The prevalence of patent lungworm infections in herds of dairy cows in The Netherlands.

The results of a survey on the prevalence of patent lungworm infections in herds of dairy cows in the Netherlands are presented. Low patent infections were recorded in February-March on six out of 40 farms in at least one out of 40 cows. Between mid-April and mid-June low patent infections were detected on 28 out of 39 of these farms in one to four of 40 cows. Two farms on which cows were positive in the first round were negative in the second round. One to three positive cows were found on six out of a total of 15 farms revisited in July-August. These results show that lungworm infections are cycled within herds of dairy cows in the Netherlands at a low level. This indicates that dairy cows are important as carriers for lungworm, particularly in spring. The increased patency of lungworm in cows from winter to spring may be explained by maturation of inhibited larvae.