Fishing upstream: Firm innovation strategy and university research alliances

This paper examines how innovation strategy influences firms’ level of involvement with university-based research. Our results suggest that firms with internal R&D strategies more heavily weighted toward exploratory activities allocate a greater share of their R&D resources to exploratory university research and develop deeper multifaceted relationships with their university research partners. In addition, firms with more centralized internal R&D organizations spend a greater share of their R&D dollars on exploratory research conducted at universities. In contrast to other external partners, we find evidence suggesting that universities are preferred when the firm perceives potential conflicts over intellectual property.     

Grounds for health: the intersection of green school grounds and health‐promoting schools

Despite the growing body of research on green school grounds, relatively little has been written about their relationship with health promotion, particularly from a holistic health perspective. It is this relationship that we explore in this paper – the power and potential of green school grounds to promote health and well‐being and to be an integral element of multifaceted, school‐based health promotion strategies. Specifically, we bring together recent research to examine green school grounds as places where the interests of educators and children’s health advocates can meet, inform and support one another. By grounding our comments in recent thinking about health‐promoting schools, we highlight the growing body of evidence that green school grounds, as a school setting, can contribute to children’s physical, mental, social and spiritual well‐being.     

International trends in health science librarianship Part 9: the UK – Scotland and Wales

This is the 9th in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship. The previous article in this series looked at Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In this issue the focus is Scotland and Wales. There will be three or four more articles this year tracking trends in the Far East, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. JM     

Predictive Variables of Success for Latino Enrollment in Higher Education

It is necessary to better understand the unique variables that serve as predictors of Latino students’ postsecondary enrollment and success. Impacts of various variables were examined among 850 Latino and Caucasian students (76% and 24% of the sample, respectively). Gender, ethnicity, perceived affordability, high school grade point average, and high school credits earned served as significant predictors. Yet the highest mathematics class taken by the 11th grade was not significant, and Latino students’ negative perceptions of college affordability may have hindered students’ postsecondary enrollment aspirations, despite their having access to a guaranteed scholarship.     

Confidence and Expectations About Caring for Older People With Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Student Nurses

Older people who are living with dementia often need healthcare, including hospital admissions, due to additional health conditions. Caring for older people who are living with dementia is, therefore, a core nursing role. This study investigated student nurses’ expectations of, and confidence about, caring for older people with dementia and the effect of students’ age, precourse experience, and their academic year. The design was a cross-sectional survey using questionnaires to collect data. The participants (n = 328), based at one university in England, had all had at least one practice learning placement. Most student nurses (n = 202; 62%) had precourse contact with older people with dementia and had cared for them during the course (n = 291; 89%). The student's academic year significantly affected confidence about caring for older people with dementia (p = .006), but still only 52% (n = 26) of third-year students felt “generally confident.” Precourse contact with older people with dementia had a significant impact on expectations (p = .001) and confidence in caring for people with dementia (p = .002). Students who were >25 years were significantly more likely to have had precourse contact with older people with dementia (p = < .001). Nurse educators should ensure that students entering nurse education appreciate that caring for older people who are living with dementia will be a core part of their role. They must proactively prepare nursing students to care for people with dementia, recognizing that some students have no previous contact, which may affect their confidence and experiences.     

Applying the PROSPER prevention delivery system with middle schools: Emerging adulthood effects on substance misuse and conduct problem behaviors through 14 years past baseline

This study evaluated emerging adult effects of the PROmoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) universal prevention delivery system implemented in middle schools. Twenty-eight rural school districts were randomized to intervention and control conditions, with 1985 nineteen-year-old participants (90.6% White, 54.1% female) evaluated through age 25. Intent-to-treat, multi-level, point-in-time analyses of covariance and growth analyses were conducted. Outcomes were assessed with self-report measures of substance misuse (lifetime, current, frequency) and conduct problem behaviors. Analyses showed very limited point-in-time effects; there were growth pattern effects on measures of illicit drugs, non-prescribed drugs, cigarettes, and drug problems. When risk moderation was observed, it favored higher-risk participants. These emerging adult effects concerning slower growth of lifetime misuse combine with more robust adolescent stage findings to support PROSPER’s public health value.     

The role of achievement,gender, SES,location and policy in explaining the Indigenous gap in high-school completion

Internationally, there is a gap in high-school completion rates for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. In Australia, gap estimates are commonly based on lag indicators, precluding examination of underlying mechanisms. Using two longitudinal representative samples of Australian youth, we explored differences in high-school completion between Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates, and whether the gap varies for students of similar academic ability. Using an intersectional approach, we show the Indigenous gap is significant, is mostly a function of differences in academic achievement, but varies by socioeconomic status (SES) and location. Specifically, high SES and living in urban settings are protective factors for non-Indigenous students, but not for Indigenous students. Conversely, rural and poor non-Indigenous students appeared to have dropout rates as large or even larger than similarly poor and rural Indigenous youth. Overall, the results suggest the need for a more nuanced perspective on ‘Indigenous gaps’ in educational attainment.     

When the Ink Runs Dry: Implications for Theory and Practice When Educators Stop Keeping Reflective Journals

In this article we report on a study that explored educators’ past and current use of reflective journals and if and how these practices influence their pedagogical use of such journals with their own students. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 educators who had kept reflective journals in the past but were no longer doing so; however, they require their own students to keep journals. Several interesting themes emerged including the temporal relevance of using reflective journals in professional practice, the significance of alternative methods of reflection, implications of the “teaching as you’ve been taught” phenomenon, and the importance of lower levels of reflection in development as a professional.     

A fair game or no contest? Contested identities in teacher education

The narrative of one ethnic minority early childhood student teacher tells of her journey as she (re)constructs her identities as a Cook Island woman and as a pre-service teacher, during a teacher education course in New Zealand. This story conveys her experiences of learning across different pedagogical paradigms. Findings show that teacher education lecturers can significantly enhance the learning experience for ethnic minority pre-service teachers by incorporating existing knowledges and understandings in course content and delivery.