Student Population (student + population)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Making White: Constructing Race in a South African High School

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 1 2002
Nadine Dolby
As a social and cultural phenomenon, race is continually remade within changing circumstances and is constructed and located, in part, in institutions' pedagogical practices and discourses. In this article I examine how the administration of a multiracial, working-class high school in Durban, South Africa produces "white" in an era of political and social transition. As the population of Fernwood High School (a pseudonym) shifts from majority white working class to black working class, the school administration strives to reposition the school as "white," despite its predominantly black student population. This whiteness is not only a carryover from the apartheid era, but is actively produced within a new set of circumstances. Using the discourses and practices of sports and standards, the school administration attempts to create a whiteness that separates the school from the newly democratic nation-state of South Africa. Despite students' and some staff's general complacency and outright resistance, rugby and athletics are heralded as critical nodes of the school's "white" identity, connecting the school to other, local white schools, and disconnecting it from black schools. Dress standards function in a similar manner, creating an imagined equivalence between Fernwood and other white schools in Durban (and elite schools around the world), and disassociating Fernwood from black schools in South Africa and the "third world" writ large. This pedagogy of whiteness forms the core of the administration's relationship with Fernwood students, and maps how race is remade within a changing national context. [source]


GIRLS AND ECONOMICS: AN UNLIKELY COUPLING?

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 3 2006
ALEX MILLMOW
While total undergraduate enrolments at Australian universities are increasing, enrolments in Economics are falling,a source of alarm for economists. By appealing to females, economics could effectively tap into the largest sector (58%) of the undergraduate student population. This study suggests that gender is contributing to the falling enrolments. Males need the prospect of money to entice them to study more economics but females require a connection between studying economics and employment opportunities. Providing visible role models may be a practical step to encouraging more females to read economics. More concentration on ,feminising economics' in the undergraduate curricula could help women to believe that they have a contribution to make to the discipline. [source]


Personality types of dental school applicants

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2000
David O. Morris
A questionnaire-based prospective study was carried out to measure the personality styles of students being interviewed for a place on the 1997/98 dental undergraduate course in Leeds, England. A total of 334 applicants attended for interview between November 1997 and March 1998, of which 311 anonymously and voluntarily completed a personality questionnaire. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter was used to measure the strength and nature of preferences along four dimensions: extroversion-introversion (E-I), sensing-intuition (S-N), thinking-feeling (T-F) and judging-perceiving (J-P). 4 personality types accounted for 79% of the students, 21% were divided among nine personality types with no type comprising more than 6.7% of the students. The remaining 3 possible personality types were not represented in this student population. Further comparisons revealed significant differences between this student sample and the general population in the judging-perceiving preference and also an intra-group gender difference with regard to the thinking-feeling (T-F) preference. A predominance of the S-J (sensing with judging) temperament type was also confirmed. Personality questionnaires may be a useful adjunct in the selection process of dental school applicants. The identification of a student's working and learning style preference has implications for both the dental undergraduate curriculum and the teaching methods employed by dental school staff. [source]


Self-preventive oral behavior in an Italian university student population

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
Lia Rimondini
Abstract Background, aim: The aim of this study was to assess the oral hygiene attitude and the professional preventive examination compliance in Italian university students. Method: A sample of 202 students attending the University of Bologna was randomly selected and interviewed about their preventive oral health attitude and compliance. All students reported using toothpaste and most of them (92.1%) brushed their teeth at least 2× a day using artificial, medium stiffness bristles. The toothbrush was generally (81.6%) replaced within 3 months. Few subjects (14.9%) said they used dental floss daily or utilized other devices. A majority of subjects (59.9%) had a dental examination within the year previous to the interview. Cluster analysis was performed. Results: 4 groups were identified with homogeneous oral hygiene behavior and compliance toward professional preventive examination. Only one cluster, representing 33.6% of the sample, showed consistent frequency and modalities of oral hygiene habits. The other clusters seemed to be defective with interproximal cleaning procedures and compliance toward professional preventive care. Since the sample was characterized by a young, urbanized, homogeneous group with a high educational level and frequently from an upper middle class social status, the analysis probably gives a supra-estimation of the positive behavior. Conclusion: It is rational to suppose that strategies to promote dental service utilization, patients' compliance and a professional style oriented toward prevention may be useful to improve the oral health condition in the young adult Italian population. Zusammenfassung Das Ziel dieser Studie war es bei Studenten einer italienischen Universität die Einstellung zur Mundhygiene und die Compliance mit einer professionellen Vorsorgeuntersuchung zu bestimmen. Eine Gruppe von 202 Studenten, die die Universität von Bologna besuchten wurden randomisiert ausgewählt und hinsichtlich ihrer Einstellung zur Mundhygiene und Compliance befragt. Alle Studenten berichteten, dass sie Zahnpasta gebrauchten und die meisten (92.1%) putzten ihre Zähne wenigstens 2× täglich und verwendeten eine Zahnbürste mit mittelharten Kunststoffborsten. Im Allgemeinen wurde die Zahnbürste innerhalb von 3 Monaten (81.6%) ersetzt. Wenige Personen berichteten, dass sie täglich Zahnseide benutzen oder andere Hilfsmittel verwenden. Die Mehrheit (59.9%) hatte innerhalb des zurückliegenden Jahres eine zahnärztliche Untersuchung. Es wurde eine Clusteranalyse durchgeführt. 4 Gruppen mit homogenem Mundhygieneverhalten und Compliance bezüglich professioneller präventiver Untersuchung wurden identifiziert. Nur ein Cluster, welches 33.6% der Gruppe repräsentiert zeigte eine Konsistenz in der Häufigkeit und Art der Mundhygienegewohnheiten. Die anderes Cluster schienen Defizite bei der Approximalraumreinigung und der Compliance mit professionellen Präventionsmaßnahmen zu haben. Da die Population charakterisiert war durch eine junge, städtische homogene Gruppe mit einem hohen Bildungsniveau und häufig den Sozialstatus der gehobenen Mittelklasse aufwies, gibt die Analyse wahrscheinlich eine Überbewer+tung des positiven Verhaltens wieder. Es ist vernünftig anzuhenmen, dass Strategien zur Förderung der zahnärztlichen Behandlung, der Patienten-Compliance und einer professionellen Ausrichtung hin zur Prävention nützlich sein können um in einer Population von jungen italienischen Erwachsenen den Zustand der Mundgesundheit zu verbessern. Résumé Le but de cette étude a été de vérifier l'attitude vis-à-vis de l'hygiène buccale et l'attitude vis-à-vis d'un examen préventif professionnel d'étudiants universitaires italiens. 202 étudiants de l'Université de Bologne ont été sélectionné au hasard et interviewéà propos de leur attitude préventive et leur complaisance vis-à-vis de leur santé buccale. Tous les étudiants disaient utiliser du dentifrice et la plupart d'entre eux (92%) brossaient leurs dents au moins 2× par jour avec une brosse à dents à poils artificiels de souplesse moyenne. La brosse à dents était géneralement (81.6%) remplacée tous les 3 mois. Peu d'entre eux (15%) disaient utiliser le fil dentaire tous les jours ou d'autres systèmes interdentaires. La plupart d'entre eux (60%) avaient passé une visite chez leur dentiste dans l'année précédent l'interview. L'analyse par groupe a été effectuée. 4 groupes ont été identifiés avec un comportement homogène vis-à-vis de l'hygiène buccale et une complaisance envers l'examen préventif professionnel. Seul un groupe représentant 34% de l'échantillon montrait une fréquence constante vis-à-vis de l'hygiène buccale. Les autres groupes semblaient porter moins d'attention au processus de nttoyage interdentaire et avoir une complaisance vis-à-vis des soins de prévention professionnels. Comme l'échantillon était caractérisé par un groupe homogène de jeunes des villes avec un niveau d'éducation élevé et provenant fréquemment d'une classe sociale assez élevée, l'analyse donne probablement une surestimation du comportement positif. Il semble logique de supposer que les stratégies visant à promouvoir l'utilisation des services dentaires, la complaisance des patients et un style professionnel orienté vers la prévention peuvent être utiles pour améliorer la condition de la santé buccale des jeunes adultes de la population italienne. [source]


Socio-economic, socio-political and socio-emotional variables explaining school bullying: a country-wide multilevel analysis

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 6 2009
Enrique Chaux
Abstract Why do some countries, regions and schools have more bullying than others? What socio-economic, socio-political and other larger contextual factors predict school bullying? These open questions inspired this study with 53.316 5th- and 9th-grade students (5% of the national student population in these grades), from 1,000 schools in Colombia. Students completed a national test of citizenship competencies, which included questions about bullying and about families, neighborhoods and their own socio-emotional competencies. We combined these data with community violence and socio-economic conditions of all Colombian municipalities, which allowed us to conduct multilevel analyses to identify municipality- and school-level variables predicting school bullying. Most variance was found at the school level. Higher levels of school bullying were related to more males in the schools, lower levels of empathy, more authoritarian and violent families, higher levels of community violence, better socio-economic conditions, hostile attributional biases and more beliefs supporting aggression. These results might reflect student, classroom and school contributions because student-level variables were aggregated at the school level. Although in small portions, violence from the decades-old-armed conflict among guerrillas, paramilitaries and governmental forces predicted school bullying at the municipal level for 5th graders. For 9th graders, inequality in land ownership predicted school bullying. Neither poverty, nor population density or homicide rates contributed to explaining bullying. These results may help us advance toward understanding how the larger context relates to school bullying, and what socio-emotional competencies may help us prevent the negative effects of a violent and unequal environment. Aggr. Behav. 35:520,529, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Social enrichment by virtual characters , differential benefits

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 6 2005
A. Gulz
Abstract It is frequently held forth, within the area of virtual pedagogical characters, that such characters are beneficial for learning as they strengthen the social dimension of electronic learning environments. This article presents more details on this proposal together with a survey of corresponding empirical evidence. In addition, materials from a recently conducted empirical study are presented. Ninety school children, 12,15-year-old, were asked (i) to grade the idea of virtual characters in electronic learning environments and (ii) to chose between a strictly task-oriented, socially ,shallow' and a more socially oriented pedagogical character. The participants were also asked to articulate the reasons behind their answers, and to share their thoughts and opinions on the issues. The results of the study, as well as of several of the studies reviewed, indicate that responses and attitudes towards social aspects of virtual pedagogical characters are highly divergent. In particular, the notion that social dimensions of virtual characters increase learners' motivation and engagement may be less generally applicable in a student population than is sometimes hypothesized. An ensuing design guideline suggests interface solutions with an emphasis on flexibility regarding social orientation and communicative style in virtual characters. [source]


Test-based accountability: Potential benefits and pitfalls of science assessment with student diversity

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2010
Randall D. Penfield
Abstract Recent test-based accountability policy in the U.S. has involved annually assessing all students in core subjects and holding schools accountable for adequate progress of all students by implementing sanctions when adequate progress is not met. Despite its potential benefits, basing educational policy on assessments developed for a student population of White, middle- and upper-class, and native speakers of English opens the door for numerous pitfalls when the assessments are applied to minority populations including students of color, low SES, and learning English as a new language. There exists a paradox; while minority students are a primary intended beneficiary of the test-based accountability policy, the assessments used in the policy have been shown to have many shortcomings when applied to these students. This article weighs the benefits and pitfalls that test-based accountability brings for minority students. Resolutions to the pitfalls are discussed, and areas for future research are recommended. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 6,24, 2010 [source]


Examining the effects of a highly rated science curriculum unit on diverse students: Results from a planning grant

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 8 2005
Sharon Lynch
This article reports on the results of a planning grant studying the effects of a highly rated curriculum unit on a diverse student population. The treatment was introduced to 1500 eighth grade students in five middle schools selected for their ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity. Students were given pre-, post-, and delayed posttests on a Conservation of Matter Assessment and measures of motivation and engagement. This quasi-experiment found statistically significant posttest results for achievement, basic learning engagement, and goal orientation. Analyses of disaggregated data showed that subgroups of students in the treatment condition outscored their comparison group peers (n,=,1500) in achievement in all cases, except for students currently enrolled in ESOL. Analysis of video data of a diverse group of four students as the unit was enacted suggests that students entered a learning environment that permitted them to function in different, but consistent ways over time; that is, the frequency of students' manipulation of objects showed a different pattern of engagement for each of the four students compared with patterns of verbal responses such as the use of scientific terms. The results of this planning grant paved the way for a large study of the scale-up of highly rated curriculum units. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 912,946, 2005 [source]


A Noisy Screening Model of Education

LABOUR, Issue 1 2005
Pedro Landeras
The aim is to explore the effect of noise on the screening equilibrium. By assuming that labour contracts take the form of reward schedules based on inaccurate academic qualifications, one can show that separating equilibrium turns out to be unique but insufficiently revealing, and both high and low ability types become overeducated. Also, even when separation is uncompleted, we show that a firm could still profitably cream-skim the market so that no pooling equilibrium exits. As in the non-noise case, the existence of an equilibrium is assured when the student population is made up mainly of a small proportion of high-ability individuals, but in that case the fraction required is even lower. [source]


Students, mental health and citizenship

LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2004
Neville Harris
This paper examines the developing and complex legal relationship between universities and students, or would-be students, who have mental health problems. Discussion takes account of the wider social and policy contexts, including the extent of mental ill-health among the student population, the market for higher education, and government policies towards universities. It contends that the legal position of students with mental health problems demonstrates that there is a need for the relationship between students and universities to be conceptualised with reference to the citizenship ideal rather than the consumer paradigm with which it has tended to become associated in public policy terms. [source]


English as a Second Language at the Community College: An Exploration of Context and Concerns

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, Issue 117 2002
Amy J. Blumenthal
Issues relating to instruction in English as a second language (ESL) in community colleges are the diversity of the student population, the position of ESL programs within institutions, the employment and training of instructors, the newly defined Generation 1.5 population, and financial and funding concerns. [source]


New Modes of Productivity for Student Learning

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Issue 121 2003
Barbara E. Walvoord
Productivity strategies such as delegating instruction to computers, minimizing redundant course taking, and the like may not work. To enhance the productivity of today's students, this chapter recommends that institutions take five steps: delineate learning goals, assess student performance, understand how to achieve learning with the particular student population, consider options for increasing productivity, and ensure institutionwide support. [source]


Disaggregating qualitative data from Asian American college students in campus racial climate research and assessment

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 142 2009
Samuel D. Museus
The disaggregation of qualitative data can provide a more nuanced understanding of the diverse experiences within the Asian American student population. [source]


Implementing the web of student services

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 112 2005
Janet Ross Kendall
Providing high-quality student services to students enrolled in distance education programs is a critical link to the academic success of this growing student population. [source]


Teaching statistics by taking advantage of the laptop's ubiquity

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 101 2005
Paul Hyden
This chapter reports on a mathematics professor's experience leveraging laptops in a required intermediate statistics course with a challenging student population. Use of laptops streamlined course delivery, enhanced classroom interaction, and improved both his students' and his own overall course experience. [source]


Upper extremity pain and computer use among engineering graduate students: A replication study

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009
Cammie Chaumont Menéndez PhD
Abstract Background Recent literature identified upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms at a prevalence of >40% in college populations. The study objectives were to determine weekly computer use and the prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms in a graduate student population, and make comparisons with previous graduate and undergraduate cohorts. Methods One hundred sixty-six graduate students completed a survey on computing and musculoskeletal health. Associations between individual factors and symptom status, functional limitations, academic impact, medication use, and health services utilization were determined. Logistic regression analyses evaluated the association between symptom status and computing. Cross-study comparisons were made. Results More symptomatic participants experienced functional limitations than asymptomatic participants (74% vs. 32%, P,<,0.001) and reported medication use for computing pain (34% vs. 10%, P,<,0.01). More participants who experienced symptoms within an hour of computing used health services compared to those who experienced symptoms after an hour of computer use (60% vs. 12%, P,<,0.01). Years of computer use (OR,=,1.59, 95% CI 1.05,2.40) and number of years in school where weekly computer use was more than 10 hr (OR,=,1.56, 95% CI 1.04,2.35) were associated with pain within an hour of computing. Cross-study comparisons found college populations more similar than different. Conclusion The overall findings reinforced previous literature documenting the prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms in college populations, suggesting an important population for participating in public health interventions designed to support healthy computing practices and identify risk factors important to evaluate in future cohort studies. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:113,123, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Considerations in the identification, assessment, and intervention process for deaf and hard of hearing students with reading difficulties

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 2 2008
Donna Gilbertson
Problematic assessment and intervention issues present substantial challenges when making educational decisions for deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) students who are experiencing reading difficulties. These students present a diverse set of language acquisition skills, hearing ability, and orientation to early school learning activities that are different from the hearing student population. Given the importance of selecting assessment approaches that lead to effective interventions for D/HH students, three assessment procedures for identification of at-risk children and learning disabilities within the D/HH population are examined. Assessments reviewed are teacher referral, norm-referenced testing, and student response to intervention. Challenges to each process and the need for additional assessment and empirically validated treatment options are discussed. Finally, a case example is presented to illustrate a framework that may help school psychologists promote early identification of learning problems and outline interventions that meets a D/HH child's unique needs by focusing on reading outcomes in the curriculum. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Student attitudes to surgical teaching in provincial hospitals

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2003
Martin H. Bruening
ABSTRACT Objective:The ever-increasing pressure on metropolitan teaching hospitals to rationalise budgets and increase productivity has resulted in a dwindling amount of teaching opportunity for the medical student population. One solution to the problem was to utilise a largely untapped resource in South Australia, namely the provincial hospitals, however, student opinion regarding such a radical change had yet to be determined. Design:A questionnaire was circulated among an entire year group of medical students who would be undertaking the revised surgical curriculum with rural attachments. Setting:In October 1997, a decision was made by the Department of Surgery at the University of Adelaide to proceed with optional rural surgical attachments in 1998. Subjects:The survey was distributed to the 125 members of the 1997 fifth year medical student group. Results:A total of 92 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 75%. Thirty-nine students ranked a rural term in their top half of preferences, while a further 18 indicated that they would go to a rural centre if they had to. Conclusion:Despite having little warning of the impending changes to their surgical curriculum, the majority of students who responded to the questionnaire stated that they would be willing to venture to the country locations. Before planning significant changes to an established curriculum, the student group should be consulted to gauge their opinion. What is already known:Within the medical literature, studies have been performed with regard to student opinions regarding postgraduate internships in rural locations, but to our knowledge, this survey represents the first study into student opinion with particular reference to rural surgical attachments prior to their commencement within a medical school curriculum. What this study adds:As a result of this study, it can now be concluded that a considerable amount of interest exists within the student population to undertake rural surgical rotations. [source]


Supporting student learning: the use of computer,based formative assessment modules

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Mary Peat
This paper describes the development of a variety of computer,based assessment opportunities, both formative and summative, that are available to a large first year biology class at The University of Sydney. These materials include: weekly quizzes; a mock exam; quiz sections in tutorials; and special self,assessment modules (SAMs). The weekly quiz is password protected and secure but the remaining materials are available on,line from a Virtual Learning Environment (http://FYBio.bio.usyd.edu.au/VLE/L1/). Evaluations over a number of years of the use and usefulness of the formative assessment materials indicate that the student population is making significant use of materials and that these materials are helping students in their learning [source]


"Even if I Don't Know What I'm Doing I Can Make It Look like I Know What I'm Doing": Becoming a Doctor in the 1990s,

CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 3 2001
Brenda L. Beagan
Les processus de socialisation des médecins documentés dans Boys in White et d'autres textes classiques n'ont guère changé, 40 ans plus tard, malgré une population étudiante manifestement plus variée. La plus grande différence se trouve dans la façon dont les étudiants d'aujourdhui intègrent leur identité professionnelle naissante au moi établi avant l'école de médecine. L'identité professionnelle pourrait moins bien correspondre au moi quand les étudiants sont des femmes, plus âgés, de la classe ouvrière, homosexuels ou de groupes minoritaires. Pourtant, ces étudiants pourraient posséder une certaine capacité de résistance à la socialisation professionnelle. The processes of medical professional socialization documented in Boys in White and other classics remain remarkably unchanged 40 years later, despite a markedly more diverse student population. The greatest difference lies in how students today integrate their emerging professional identities with the selves they were before medical school. The professional identity may "fit" less easily when students are women, older, working-class, gay or lesbian, or from visible minority groups. Yet these students may also enjoy a particular ability to resist professional socialization. [source]


Academic Paths, Ageing and the Living Conditions of Students in the Late 20th Century,

CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 2 2001
Arnaud Sales
Le monde étudiant est profondément marqué par la diversité des tra-jectoires individuelles, qui sont souvent très éloignées d'un déroule-ment linéaire des études. Les conséquences sur l'âge des étudiants sont majeures, et la condition étudiante ne peut plus être définie comme une expérience strictement juvénile. Or, entre 20 et 30 ans, l'âge engendre des impératifs différentiels sur le plan des conditions et des modes de vie qui ne sont pas toujours compatibles avec la condition étudiante classique. Cette étude des parcours et de la situation financière des étudiants des universités québécoises de langue françhise et anglaise montre comment s'opère la déconnexion entre jeunesse et condition étudiante, et comment cette déconnexion influe sur la différenciation des conditions de vie et de financement des études. Student life is profoundly marked by the diversity of individual trajectories, which are in stark contrast with the linear path traditionally taken by students. The impact on the age of the student population is significant: indeed, student life can no longer be qualified as strictly for the young. Between the ages of 20 and 30 years, different imperatives come into play in terms of living conditions and lifestyle. These imperatives are not always compatible with the conditions of classic student life. This study of the academic paths and the financial situation of Quebec university students shows how the disconnection between student condition and youth occurs and how this disconnection impacts the differentiation of student's living conditions and modes of financing university studies. [source]


Increasing the pool of academically oriented African-American medical and surgical oncologists,,§

CANCER, Issue S1 2003
Lisa A. Newman M.D., M.P.H.
Abstract BACKGROUND In the United States, breast cancer mortality rates are significantly higher among African-American women than among women of other ethnic backgrounds. Research efforts to evaluate the socioeconomic, environmental, biologic, and genetic mechanisms explaining this disparity are needed. METHODS Data regarding patterns in the ethnic distribution of physicians and oncologists were accumulated from a review of the literature and by contacting cancer-oriented professional societies. This information was evaluated by participants in a national meeting, "Summit Meeting Evaluating Research on Breast Cancer in African American Women." Results of the data collection and the conference discussion are summarized. RESULTS Ethnic minority specialists are underrepresented in academic medicine in general, and in the field of oncology in particular. This fact is unfortunate because ethnic minority students are more likely to express a commitment to providing care to medically underserved communities and, thus, they need to be better represented in these professions. Correcting these patterns of underrepresentation may favorably influence the design and implementation of culturally and ethnically sensitive research. CONCLUSIONS Efforts to improve the ethnic diversity of oncology specialists should begin at the level of recruiting an ethnically diverse premed and medical student population. These recruitment efforts should place an emphasis on the value of mentoring. Cancer 2003;97(1 Suppl):329,34. Published 2003 by the American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11027 [source]


Europe and the Crisis in Scientific Vocations

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 4 2005
BERNARD CONVERT
During the 1990s, the number of students enrolling in science subjects at universities was declining each year in Germany, France, Italy, amongst other countries. These decreases are too readily attributed to a general disaffection caused by the image that younger generations have of scientific studies: they are seen as being the most ,difficult'. This explanation is true but not sufficient. Over and above the similarities that can be seen between European countries , which stem from the fact that they are simultaneously experiencing strong growth in and democratisation of their student populations ,, profound differences continue to exist, resulting in apparently similar effects, but with very different causes. Not only do higher education structures taken as a whole remain very different despite the Bologna process, but more fundamentally, the very meaning of the higher education system within each national society, its relationship with employment, and its position in individuals' personal career paths all vary. A comparison between Germany, Italy and France shows three ideal types of relationship between training and employment and three ways of explaining symptoms that appear similar. [source]


Differences in principals' leadership behavior in high- and low-performing schools

JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 4 2010
Ronald A. Lindahl
This study was based on data from the 2008 Take20: Alabama Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey and focused on a comparison of teachers' perceptions of how school principals exercise their role in both high- and low-performing elementary and middle schools that serve high-poverty student populations. Teachers in the high-performing schools consistently viewed their principals' behavior more positively than did their counterparts in the lower-performing schools. Teachers reported less difference in regard to engaging the community to create shared responsibility for student and school success. Very little difference existed in the principal's involvement of teachers in key school decisions; neither population of principals scored high in this area. [source]


An Asian American Perspective on Psychosocial Student Development Theory

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 97 2002
Corinne Maekawa Kodama
Psychosocial student development theory based on predominantly white student populations may not be appropriate for Asian American students. The authors propose a new model of psychosocial development for Asian American students that takes racial identity and external influences into account. [source]


Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission among high school students in Greece

PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2005
Christos Hadjichristodoulou
AbstractBackground:,The aim of this study was to investigate the requirements and practical steps for screening of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) transmission among high school student populations in two regional high schools of central Greece. Case-matched control populations from other regional schools were included. Methods:,Case study of two indexed cases, 61 close contacts, 212 casual contacts and 369 controls were investigated. Detailed questionnaires, tuberculin-skin test (PPD test), chest radiography, medical evaluation and DNA fingerprinting of sputum isolates were used. Results:,In case A, three (1.97%) of 152 close and casual contacts developed tuberculosis, and a further 25 (16.4%) were classified as infected. In contrast, none of the 121 close or casual contacts investigated for Case B developed tuberculosis or were classified as infected. None of the control populations contained infected individuals. Contacts of case A had a much higher risk (3.08 < RR = 22.29 < 161.69, P < 0.001) of being infected than contacts of case B. Two different strains of MTB were found responsible for these outbreaks. Conclusion:,There was a considerable difference in the infectivity of the two cases presumably due to environmental and clinical factors, although two different MTB strains were responsible. It is proposed that the extent of case investigation should be individualized with particular emphasis placed among close contacts. [source]


Civic Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Alternative Paths to the Development of Political Knowledge and Democratic Values

POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
Steven E. Finkel
Despite the proliferation of civic education programs in the emerging democracies of Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe, there have been few recent evaluations of the effectiveness of civics instruction in achieving changes in democratic orientations among student populations. We present findings from a study conducted in 1998 that examined the impact of democratic civic education among South African high school students. Using a battery of items to gauge democratic orientations, including measures of political knowledge, civic duty, tolerance, institutional trust, civic skills, and approval of legal forms of political participation, we find that civic education had the largest effects on political knowledge, with the magnitude of the effect being approximately twice as large as the recent Niemi and Junn (1998) finding for the United States. Exposure to civic education per se had weaker effects on democratic values and skills; for these orientations, what matters are specific factors related to the quality of instruction and the use of active pedagogical methods employed by civics instructors. Further, we find that civic education changed the structure of students' orientations: a "democratic values" dimension coalesces more strongly, and in greater distinction, from a "political competence" dimension among students exposed to civic education than among those with no such training. We discuss the implications of the findings for our theoretical understanding of the role of civic education in fostering democratic attitudes, norms, and values, as well as the practical implications of the results for the implementation and funding of civic education programs in developing democracies in the future. [source]


Performativity in the Bilingual Classroom: The Plight of English Learners in the Current Reform Context

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010
Mariana Pacheco
This article analyzes illustrative classroom events documented during an ethnographic study of bilingual classrooms in a "high-achieving" school. Through a performativity lens that emphasizes the discursive constitution of subjectivities, I demonstrate how discourses around achievement and success in the current reform context exacerbated one bilingual teacher's deficit-oriented ideologies about English learners and their families. This analysis has implications for practitioners and researchers interested in effectively supporting our most vulnerable student populations, and their teachers, in public schools.,[English learners, accountability, literacy, performativity, bilingual education] [source]


Seeing Possible Futures: Khmer Youth and the Discourse of the American Dream

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2009
Theresa A. McGinnis
In this article, I add to the critique of the myth of the American Dream by examining ethnographically the ways its dominant discourse is circulated to Khmer American middle school children of migratory agricultural workers. Drawing on social theories of discourse, I juxtapose the ideology embedded in the American Dream Discourse with the complexities of urban immigrant life. By looking at four Khmer students' worldviews and experiences, I provide a nuanced analysis of the complexities involved in the students' responses to the Discourse. The findings challenge the notion of meritocracy and suggest that educators need to investigate their role in supporting and promoting student agency.,[Khmer American (Cambodian), Discourse, urban education, immigrant student populations] [source]


(Un)Necessary Toughness?: Those "Loud Black Girls" and Those "Quiet Asian Boys"

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003
Assistant Professor Joy L LeiArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200
This article examines the process of identity construction and its relationship to discursive and representational acts in producing students as academic and social beings. Drawing on Judith Butler's work on gender performativity, I focus on two student populations,black females and Southeast Asian American males,and analyze the symbolic and material effects of the production of them as racialized, gendered Other through the repeated stylization of their bodies and behavior. The materialization of the students as "loud black girls" and "quiet Asian boys," however, opens up the potential for disrupting the hegemonicfbrces of regulatory norms. [source]