Who seeks career counselling? A prospective study of personality and career variables among Swiss adolescents

This study investigated whether career adaptability, personality, attitude towards career counselling and some demographic variables predict the help seeking behaviour in career counselling among 330 Swiss adolescents in eighth grade. The results indicated that boys were less likely to seek help and that career related variables and attitude but not personality significantly predicted help-seeking. Specifically, help seeking related positively to undecidedness and positive perception of career counselling. Implications for school and career counsellors and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Provision of Counselling Services in Secondary Schools: A Survey of Local Education Authorities in England and Wales

This paper explores the current state of counselling as provided by local education authorities (LEAs) to secondary schools in England and Wales. A questionnaire was sent to all 172 LEAs in England and Wales. The data suggest that the counselling provision is highly variable and somewhat fragmented in scope. The data also indicate that the perception of the role of school counselling services by educational professionals varies considerably, and that there were a number of issues concerning integrated versus decentralized forms of provision. The study has a number of implications for the main stakeholders, including schools, LEAs, pupils and parents, concerning future developments in this increasingly important policy area. These relate to minimum qualifications for counsellors, confidentiality, accessibility to pupils and funding.     

Unnecessary repeated total cholesterol tests in biochemistry laboratory

Introduction

We aimed to determine the number of repeated cholesterol (RC) tests and the ratio of unnecessary-repeated cholesterol (URC) tests among patients admitted to Pamukkale University Hospital (Denizli, Turkey) and provide solutions to avoid URC testing.

Materials and methods

Total cholesterol (T-cholesterol) tests (N = 86,817) between June 2014 and May 2015 were evaluated. The tests performed more than once per patient were determined as RC test (N = 28,811). RC test with an interval shorter than 4 weeks were determined as URC test (N = 3968) according to the shortest retest interval stated in ACC/AHA blood cholesterol guideline. RC testing included internal medicine, surgery and paediatric outpatients and inpatients. Reference change value (RCV) of total cholesterol was calculated.

Results

The 33.1% of the T-cholesterol tests were RC tests (N = 28,811), 13.7% of them were URC tests (N = 3968). Our RCV value was 25%. The percentage change between consecutive tests was less than RCV in 86.1% (N = 3418) of URC tests. URC tests were performed more frequently in patients with desirable total cholesterol value (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

There is a significant part of repeated T-cholesterol tests requested in our hospital. URC test requests can be evaluated by laboratories and the obtained data should be shared with clinicians. Laboratories can calculate RCV for the tests they performed and report this value with the test result. To prevent from URC tests, a warning plug-in can be added to hospital information software in accordance with guidelines to prevent from URC test requests.Key words: unnecessary repeated cholesterol test, cholesterol retest interval, reference change value, laboratory costs, preanalytical phase, test requesting     

Inclusion in education: A step towards social justice

This article discusses the theoretical relationships between inclusion in education and social justice. It draws on Martha Nussbaum's use of the capability approach is given as one of the few philosophical and political theories that places disability/impairment in the social justice debate. The article goes on to present findings from the initial stages of a three-year participatory action research project involving eight primary schools located in Dar es Salaam and Pwani (Coast) regions of Tanzania. The project aims to develop an Index of Inclusion in Tanzania. There are numerous barriers to inclusion at national, community and school levels. Both the literature review and the emerging findings of the project suggest some progress has been made towards inclusive, just and quality education in Tanzania but there is still a long way to go.     

Evaluation of the Steelex M600H coagulometer prothrombin time-international normalized ratio assay with Steelex test reagents

Introduction

The aim of the present study was to validate prothrombin time (PT) international normalized ratio (INR) results obtained using Steelex test reagents and a Steelex coagulometer (Steelex Scientific Instrument Company, Beijing, China), in comparison with use of a well-established standard test employing Pacific Hemostasis reagents (Fisher Diagnostics, Middletown, VA, USA) and Teco Coatron A4 coagulometer (Teco Medical Instruments GmbH, Neufahrn, Germany).

Materials and methods:

Between- and within-day coefficients of variation (CVs) of both assays were calculated using control samples provided by the test manufacturers. Samples from 90 subjects were collected and INR values were determined in a double-blind parallel manner employing both systems.

Results:

The within-day coefficients of variation (CVs) in INR estimates ranged from 2.6% (INR = 1.12) to 3.1% (INR = 2.51) for the Steelex system and from 2.1% (INR = 1.09) to 1.8% (INR = 2.8) for the Pacific test; the between-day values ran from 3.4% (INR = 1.16) to 7.9% (INR = 2.64) and from 3.3% (INR = 1.1) to 2.3% (INR = 2.7), respectively. Passing-Bablok fit of the of the Steelex and Pacific methods yielded the equation: Steelex INR = 0.85 (0.79–0.91) × Pacific INR + 0.12 (−0.02–0.21), whereas the CUSUM linearity P value was < 0.01. The mean bias as determined by the Bland-Altman test was −0.156 (−0.912–0.600).

Conclusion:

The results obtained using Steelex reagents and the M600H coagulometer are not equivalent to those obtained using Pacific Hemostasis reagents and a Teco Coatron A4 coagulometer, at least in the therapeutic range.     

Elementary teachers’ perceptions about the effective features of explicit-reflective nature of science instruction

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explored elementary teachers’ perceptions about the effective features of explicit-reflective nature of science (NOS) instruction. Our participants were four elementary teachers from a public charter school located in the Southwestern U.S.A. The four elementary teachers participated in an academic year-long professional development about NOS which consisted of NOS training and NOS teaching phases. After each phase of the professional development, we specifically asked our participants which features of the explicit-reflective NOS instruction they found effective in improving their NOS conceptions by presenting pre- and post-profiles of their NOS conceptions. We identified nine features perceived by the participants as effective components of explicit-reflective NOS instruction: (1) specific focus on NOS content, (2) participation in hands-on NOS activities, (3) introductory NOS readings, (4) multiple types/forms of reflection, (5) multiple exposure to NOS content, (6) structural consistency in the presentation of NOS content, (7) the evaluation of secondary NOS data from elementary students, (8) the analysis of national and state science standards in terms of NOS content, and (9) NOS teaching experience.     

Pre- and in-service teachers’ beliefs about ELLs in content area classes: a case for inclusion,responsibility, and instructional support

This study documents differences between pre- and in-service content area teachers’ beliefs about: whether English language learners (ELLs) should be included in content area classes, the kind of instructional support (IS) they should receive, and responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic achievement. Questionnaire data were collected from 94 in-service and 101 pre-service content area teachers. Although several significant differences were found in pre- and in-service and female and male teachers’ beliefs about responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic development, both service and gender groups appeared to hold similar beliefs about ELLs’ inclusion in mainstream classes. Results also revealed that some beliefs held by female teachers about IS for ELLs significantly differed from those of males’; however, the effects of service and gender on certain beliefs may be contingent upon a number of background factors. The article concludes with pedagogical implications for teacher education for classrooms with linguistically and culturally diverse learners.     

Harem education and heterotopic imagination

Education can cease to be a showcase for political projects and start serving women’s lives only when the agency of women in their own education is acknowledged. In this paper I have addressed issues concerning harem education to emphasise that possible solutions to issues of girls’ education require an awareness concerning the history of girls’ education in different geographies. In this article, this agency is pursued in the homosocial production of knowledge in the harem, which is an exoticised space. Questioning the limitations and benefits of the concept of the harem is especially important in understanding processes such as the accommodation of public practices of education in women’s homes. Using Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, the harem is contextualised to shed light upon its liberating and dominating aspects, as a sphere where public and private practices of education converge.