ETHNIC COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY: An Examination of Factors Influencing the Personal Adjustment of International Students

International students frequently encounterproblems in adjusting to their new social environmentwhen studying at American institutions of highereducation. This paper contends that an importantstrategy used by international students in theadjustment process is to establish social relationshipswith other persons with a similar cultural background ornationality and form ethnic communities within the context of the university. Participation insuch an ethnic community serves to buffer internationalstudents from problems associated with a lack ofassimilation of American culture and an inability to effectively interact with Americans. This papertests the conditional hypotheses that assimilation ofAmerican culture and the establishment of social tieswith Americans influence the personal adjustment of an international student, only when thestudent has not established strong ties with otherpeople from a similar cultural background. The number ofstrong ties established with other coculturals was found to have the strongest relationship withthe personal adjustment of international students. Therelationship between assimilation of American cultureand personal adjustment was found to be conditional on the number of strong ties established withother coculturals whereas the establishment of strongties with Americans was found to be independentlyrelated to personal adjustment.     

The Relationship of Learning and Performance Diagnosis at Different System Levels

The importance of performance diagnosis to the success of performance improvement interventions is widely recognized. Yet, while research in the last decade has sought to distinguish between learning and performance improvement, the relationship between learning and performance diagnosis remains unexamined. It is important to examine this relationship because human resource development professionals are urged to develop expertise in performance diagnosis, and it should be clear whether they are supposed to learn better or something else. This paper examines learningad performance diagnosis, separately and in relation to each other, asthey function in organization systems. Using a three-levels of performance model, the relationship between learning and performance diagnosis are examined at the individual, process, and organizational levels.     

Faculty research productivity at women’s universities through the lens of preference theory

Higher Education - Women’s universities are common in South Asian countries, such as Pakistan, where females are at a disadvantage. These universities are agencies of freedom for female...     

Subject dispersion of LIS research in Pakistan

A subject analysis of 5195 publications in library and information science (LIS) research in Pakistan over a period of 62 years revealed that the majority of Pakistani LIS research focused on a few subject areas. Pakistani LIS researchers gave little attention to many subjects and completely ignored others. More than a quarter (26.72%) of the total items focused on “information treatment for information services” while 22% were related to “libraries as physical collections.” Other areas with some attention included “industry, profession and education” (12.32%) and “theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information” (11.40%). Researchers paid little attention to “housing technologies,” “technical services in libraries, archives and museums,” and “management.”     

Library and Information Services in Pakistan:A Review of Articles Published in Foreign Journals

The paper presents a statistical and subjective review of the journal articles on various aspects of library and information services in Pakistan. Only the articles published in the journals outside Pakistan are included. Articles are selected from four abstracting services, i.e. LISA, ISA, LSA, and ERIC. Authorship characteristics of 97 articles are analysed and compared with the previous studies of LIS periodicals. Authorship details include collaboration, occupation, affiliation, and the author's country. Other publication details of the articles include year, language, journal, and the country of publication. The findings show that library science teachers write more than the other professionals and the most popular subject is the library and information science education. Library science faculty at Karachi University contributes more articles in international journals. The articles are mostly published in English language journals and in English speaking countries, i.e. UK and USA.International Information and Library Reviewpublished more articles on this topic. Problems in library research in Pakistan are discussed and recommendations are made. A brief review of the articles is given according to 16 major subjects. A bibliography of the articles reviewed is also compiled.     

Effect of high intensity ultrasound on the allergenicity of shrimp

The tropomyosin fraction of shrimp proteins is potentially responsible for allergic reaction in individuals with genetic predisposition to allergy. However, there are no efficient and safe methods to reduce its allergenicity. High intensity ultrasound is known to change the structure of proteins. This study is aimed at assessing high intensity ultmsound＇s effect on the allergenicity of shrimp allergen. Shrimp and purified shrimp allergen were treated with high intensity ultrasound for 30-180 min. Extracts of treated samples were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） with pool serum of shrimp allergy patients and polyclonal anti-allergen antibodies and by immunoblotting after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Shrimp treated with high intensity ultrasound showed a decrease in allergenicity measured with ELISA. A linear relationship between the immune response induced by treated shrimp allergen and the applied treatment time was observed. The decrease in allergenicity was confirmed by immunoblot assays with shrimp allergic patients serum. Allergenicity of shrimp allergen extracted from treated shrimp was higher than that of purified shrimp allergen with the same treatment time. Gel-filtration HPLC was applied for analysis of shrimp allergen after treatment with high intensity ultrasound. Some fractions were appeared with increasing treatment time. The results suggested that high intensity ultrasound could be used to reduce the allergenicity of shrimp.     

Anti-allergic effects of ethanol extracts from brown seaweeds

Ethanol extracts of brown seaweeds from Pakistan and China were isolated and compared for their antiallergenic activities.They included Sargassum tennerimum (ST) and Sargassum cervicorne (SC) from Pakistan,and Sargassum graminifolium turn (SG),Sargassum thunbergii (STH),and Laminariajaponica (LJ) from China.The ethanol extracts of these brown seaweeds were optimized at 85% (v/v) ethanol for the maximum yield of phlorotannin,an inhibitor against hyaluronidase.Total phlorotannins contained in the crude extracts were measured as 1.71% (SG),0.74% (STH),0.97% (LJ),3.30% (SC),and 5.06% (ST).The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of Pakistani SC and ST were 109.5 and 21 μg/ml,respectively,lower than those of Chinese SG,STH,and LJ (134,269,and 148 μg/ml,respectively).An antiallergic drug,disodium cromoglycate (DSCG),had an IC50=39 μg/ml,and a natural inhibitor of hyaluronidase,catechin,had an IC50=20 μg/ml.The IC50 of ST extract was found similar to that of catechin (21 vs 20 μg/ml) and lower than that of DSCG (21 vs 39 μg/ml).This suggests that ST is a potent inhibitor of hyaluronidase,indicating a promising future development of natural antiallergic medicines or functional foods.     

Teachers’ motivations for master’s degree programs in education in Israeli teacher training institutions and the implications for government policy-making concerning those programs

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to identify teachers’ motivations to study Master of Education (M.Ed.) programs offered by teachers’ training colleges. M.Ed. degree programs have become available in Israel since 2004, with a rapid increase since then in the number of colleges offering various programs and a consequent increase in the number of graduates. M.Ed. degrees follow one of two teaching approaches: (1) top-down/transmission of knowledge (2) bottom-up transformative studies to support teachers’ professional autonomy. The first approach complies with the policy of the Council for Higher Education (CHE). The other is promoted by the Israeli Ministry of Education as an integral part of teachers’ professional development. The study’s methodology included examining data from multiple sources: documentation concerning the academic programs, government policy statements, and surveys administered to teachers who had graduated successfully from M.Ed. programs over the past decade and are now working in the field. We found that after the first decade of M.Ed. courses in Israel, significantly more programs incline towards the bottom-up/transformative approach, aiming to promote individual, personal and professional development instead of adopting the transmission approach. Teachers prefer M.Ed. programs at universities that include research. Yet their motivation to study is primarily intrinsic motivation, whether they aspire to study at universities or at teachers’ training colleges. Results are pertinent for government planning of teachers’ professional development. Further study into the needs of teachers is required to endorse these conclusions.     

Using insider research in MEd final projects to bridge the theory/practice gap

This paper aims to identify key issues involved in MEd final project supervision and to highlight the potential of supervision from an academic institution to change educational reality through the postgraduate student-teachers’ work-based final project as insider researchers in Israeli schools. It draws on analysis of case-study data from two supervision workshops for student-teachers (Although most students studying for MEd degrees in Israel are teachers or even principals with years of experience of teaching and sometimes management they will be referred to in this paper as student-teachers for uniformity and clarity.) in a master’s degree programme in Educational Leadership. It focuses on data generated from interviews with three supervisees. The paper’s findings highlight the supervision process, indicating stages of this process that assist students to develop their research skills in order to change school reality in different scopes and dimensions and to adopt inquiry as a stance. The student-teachers identify difficulties in schools and motivate and help to implement educational change. In short, the paper provides a model that can potentially enrich practice in the field with knowledge generated by academic research and bridge the gap between theory and practice.