Career and workplace experiences of Australian university graduates who are deaf or hard of hearing

This article reports on the experiences of a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing alumni of Griffith University in south-east Queensland, Australia. Participants completed a survey answering questions about their communication patterns and preferences, working lives, career barriers or difficulties anticipated and encountered, and workplace accommodations used or sought. Results revealed a range of career barriers and workplace difficulties encountered by these participants, as well as solutions found and strategies used by them. Differences in employment sector, job-search activities, difficult workplace situations, and use of accommodations were noted between 2 groups: those who communicated primarily in Australian Sign Language and considered themselves to have a Deaf or bicultural identity and those who communicated primarily in spoken English and considered themselves to have a hearing identity. Implications for university services supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing students are outlined, and suggestions for further research are made.     

The genetic-environmental etiology of cognitive school readiness and later academic achievement in early childhood

Using a genetic design of 840 60-month-old twins, this study investigated the genetic and environmental contributions to (a) individual differences in four components of cognitive school readiness, (b) the general ability underlying these four components, and (c) the predictive association between school readiness and school achievement. Results revealed that the contribution of the shared environment for cognitive school readiness was substantial. Genetic effects were more important for the core abilities underlying school readiness than for each specific skill, although shared environment remained the largest factor overall. Genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental factors all accounted for the predictive association between school readiness and early school achievement. These results contribute to a better understanding of the early determinants of school readiness.     

Physical violence and psychological aggression towards children: five-year trends in practices and attitudes from two population surveys

OBJECTIVE: To present prevalence rates of child psychological aggression and physical violence from a population survey conducted in 2004 and to compare the rates with the rates obtained in the 1999 edition of the survey. METHODS: The survey used a randomly generated telephone number methodology. Interviews were conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interview system with a representative sample of 3,148 mothers living in Quebec province, Canada. Responses relating to psychological aggression, minor and severe physical violence were collected using the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the mothers reported the use of psychological aggression towards a child by an adult living in the household, 43% reported at least one episode of minor violence, and 6% reported at least one episode of severe physical violence. When compared to the 1999 surveys, mothers reported 5% less minor physical violence in 2004, a result that is counterbalanced by a similar significant increase in the report of repeated psychological violence towards children in a year. Results also reveal a significant decrease in attitudes favoring the use of violence for discipline purpose between 2004 and 1999. CONCLUSIONS: The trends observed in violence towards children over the 5-year period may partly be attributed to a change in mother's attitudes concerning methods of disciplining children. Findings support the need to promote alternative methods of firm discipline that do not involve violence.     

Researchers' attitudes and perceptions towards data sharing and data reuse in the field of food science and technology

This work analyses the perception and practice of sharing, reusing, and facilitating access to research data in the field of food science and technology. The study involved the coordination of a focus group discussion and an online survey, to understand and evince the behaviour of researchers regarding data management in that field. Both the discussion group and the survey were performed with researchers from several institutes of the Spanish National Research Council. The lack of a data sharing culture, the fear of being scooped, and confusion between the concepts of the working plan and the data management plan were some of the issues that emerged in the focus group. Respondents' previous experience with sharing their research data has been mainly in the form of appendices to peer‐reviewed publications. From the survey (101 responses), the most important motivations for publishing research data were found to be facilitating the reproducibility of the research, increasing the likelihood of citations of the article, and compliance with funding body mandates. Legal constraints, intellectual property, data ownership, data rights, potential commercial exploitation, and misuse of data were the main barriers to publishing data as open data. Citation in publications, certification, compliance with standards, and the reputation of the data providers were the most relevant factors affecting the use of other researchers' data. Being recent or recently updated, well documented, with quality metadata and ease of access were the most valued attributes of open research data.     

Perception of Faculty of the Bologna Process at a Spanish Technical University: A Perspective of Change and Improvement

The Bologna Process affects the academic community, particularly faculty members who have to implement the process. This study is an initiative by a group of lecturers to evaluate the perception of faculty members in the implementation of the Bologna Process. The aim was to assess the evolution of their opinion on the process since a 2011 survey, and their degree of agreement with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The results show that faculty members call for more adequate training for the new EHEA process and more institutional support. The study reveals the need for greater involvement and collaboration among faculty members to improve the reform process.     

How do students process complex formative feedback in question-answering tasks? A think-aloud study

Metacognition and Learning - The goal of this study was to examine how students process formative feedback that included corrective and elaborative information in online question-answering tasks....     

An Analysis of the Effect of Student Prepared Notecards on Exam Performance

Allowing the use of student-prepared notecards has been suggested as a way to increase student performance, with the literature showing mixed results. By allowing students to utilize a notecard on some, but not all, tests in principles of macroeconomics, we examine the effect notecards have on student performance. Our analysis utilizes a novel method of controlling for student aptitude and instructor biases in each sample. The results show improvements in performance both as a whole and by level of question based on Bloom’s taxonomy and question difficulty levels. In addition, we find notecard usage by students leads them to become more optimistic and realistic about their test performance, as well as leading students to study more efficiently.     

Educational Neuromyths Among Teachers in Latin America

Neuroscientific knowledge has undeniably gained interest among educators worldwide. However, not all “brain facts” believed by teachers are supported by science. This study sought to evaluate the belief in these so‐called neuromyths among 3,451 Latin American teachers. We found that, consistent with prior research among teachers in other geographic areas, teachers in Latin America hold major misconceptions about neuroscience, especially as it relates to factual information about its structure and functioning. Differences across South American nations were observed with moderate and slight effect sizes for general knowledge of the brain and neuromyths, respectively. Teachers working in higher education had slightly superior performance. Teachers at all levels who reported knowing more about the brain, however, were more likely to believe invalid assertions known as neuromyths. These results shed light on trends in the field of education, hoping to encourage the development of strategies aimed at correcting the use of science as it relates to education. The implications regarding teaching practice, policy, and teacher training are discussed.     

Factors (not) affecting what students do with computers and internet at home

This paper presents the results of an analysis of secondary students’ computer use, aimed at understanding how different factors influence the profile of activities carried out by students with computers. The analysis is based on the data from a national study aimed at measuring students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for learning. A factor analysis was carried out to categorize students’ activities with computers and several indexes were constructed to define the comparison groups. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explain the frequency of the activities. Results show that students with access to computers at home mainly perform activities categorized as Socializing, Academic, Gaming and Production and that although the absolute frequency of these activities differs across groups, the profiles of computer use are surprisingly similar for groups based on students’ socio-economic group, experience with ICT, and self-confidence in the use of ICT. The only variable that discriminates user profiles is gender. Based on these findings, it can be claimed that Chilean secondary students with access to computers at home tend to show a rather homogenous computer-use profile, once access is equated.