College institutional characteristics and the use of barrier methods among undergraduate students

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may be prevented through the use of barrier methods, but rates of use among US college students are low. Previous research focuses on individual-level factors influencing barrier method use, but few studies consider community-level influences. This study examined consistency of barrier use by college institutional characteristics including region, enrolment, control (public or private), locale, type, or religious-affiliation. Data from the Autumn 2013 US National College Health Assessment-II (n?=?13,400; 57 colleges) were analysed. Prevalence ratios were calculated for consistent barrier method use during vaginal, oral and anal sex. Consistent barrier use during vaginal sex was associated with enrolment at a college in the Northeast, compared to the West (aPR: 1.16 [95%CI 1.01–1.29], p = 0.04), and enrolment at larger institutions compared to smaller colleges. Attending a private college or university was associated with more consistent barrier method use during vaginal sex and anal sex compared to those attending a public college or university. Findings demonstrate differences in barrier method use by institutional-level factors, and future research should consider the role of the college community. US college-based health promotion should include barrier method interventions at multiple levels if STIs are to be reduced.     

Teaching Critical Thinking in Undergraduate Science Courses

This paper reports on the design and evaluation of a project aimed at fosteringthe critical thinking abilities and dispositions of first year students at anAustralian university. Novel paper and pencil problems were designed tofoster the range of critical thinking abilities identified by Ennis (1991). Most ofthese critical thinking tasks relate to applications of chemistry and physics ineveryday life. Some of the tasks were developed from information and/orideas obtained from critical incident interviews with scientists in private andgovernment organisations. The first year university students were required toattempt the tasks in co-operative groups and to interact in these groups in waysaimed at fostering the dispositions of Ennis' ideal critical thinker (Ennis 1996).The project was evaluated from discussions with groups of students, fromcomments of tutors who observed the students working in groups and from aquestionnaire. Evidence obtained from these data indicated that many studentsconsidered their thinking skills were enhanced by their experience of attemptingthe tasks in small co-operative groups.     

Measuring the Computer Classroom Environment: Lessons Learned From Using a New Instrument

Research over the last four decades has shown that the classroom learning environment impacts on students' cognitive and affective outcomes. Different approaches have been taken to measure students' perceptions of their learning environment, and this has led to the development of a large number of survey instruments. One such instrument is the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) which was developed in 1987. The CUCEI was recently modified and both the original and modified versions were validated in a number of studies. This article reports the use of the modified CUCEI in two independent studies in computing classrooms in secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Wellington, New Zealand. The statistical performance of the CUCEI was not completely satisfactory in either study and revealed a number of problems common to these two studies. The difficulties are discussed and recommendations made to increase the validity and reliability of this instrument.     

Links between Communication Patterns in Mother-Child, Father-Child, and Child-Peer Interactions and Children's Social Status

Black, Betty, and Logan, Arliss. Links between Communication Patterns in Mother-Child, Father-Child, and Child-Peer Interactions and Children's Social Status . Child Development, 1995, 66 , 255–271. In this study, we examined communication in the family and peer systems in relation to children's sociometric status. Codes measured turn-taking skills and utterance types for 43 children (ages 24–60 months) with mothers, fathers, and peers. Communication differences in the family and peer systems were strongest for popular versus rejected status children and their parents, but differences were also found for controversial and neglected status children and their parents. Rejected status children demonstrated turn-taking styles that included irrelevant turns, interruptions, simultaneous talking, and noncontingent responding. Parents of rejected children used higher proportions of requests than parents of popular children but failed to allow their children time to respond to the requests. Popular status children were more likely to alternate turns, provide explanations to peers, and participate in episodes of cohesive discourse. Interaction patterns were examined for potential mechanisms of transfer between family and peer systems.     

Testing to enhance retention in human anatomy

Recent work in cognitive psychology has shown that repeatedly testing one's knowledge is a powerful learning aid and provides substantial benefits for retention of the material. To apply this in a human anatomy course for medical students, 39 fill-in-the-blank quizzes of about 50 questions each, one for each region of the body, and four about the nervous system, were developed. The quizzes were optional, and no credit was awarded. They were posted online using Blackboard, which provided feedback, and they were very popular. To determine whether the quizzes had any effect on retention, they were given in a controlled setting to 21 future medical and dental students. The weekly quizzes included questions on regional anatomy and an expanded set of questions on the nervous system. Each question about the nervous system was given three times, in a slightly different form each time. The second quiz was given approximately half an hour after the first one, and the third was given one week after the second to assess retention. The quizzes were unpopular, but students showed robust improvement on the questions about the nervous system. The scores increased by almost 9% on the second quiz, with no intervention except viewing the correct answers. The scores were 29% higher on the third quiz than on the first, and there was also a positive correlation between the grades on the quizzes and the final examination. Thus, repeated testing is an effective strategy for learning and retaining information about human anatomy.     

Language Background and Assessment in the Physical Sciences

A project was initiated at the University of Technology, Sydney to look at the role of language and gender in assessment of first‐year university students in Physics. Research on student learning has shown that assessment, to a large extent, determines the curriculum for students and their approaches to learning. Assessment plays a crucial role in students’ interest and motivation in a subject and the quality of their learning outcomes. In this paper, we report on a three‐part study. The first involved an analysis of assessment items. The second involved the use of paired questions to investigate the effect of the format of the question. The third involved investigating the effects of including a range of assessment types. The effects of language background were important and were found to interact with gender. Strategies will be discussed for changing assessments in the physical sciences to make them more equitable.     

The effect of relative age on achievement in middle school

To determine the relationship between relative age and achievement in middle school, standardized math and reading scores for a sample of middle-class, suburban middle school students (N = 933) were examined. Analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among relative age groups in only one area, sixth-grade reading, F(2, 146) = 3.1, p < .05. There was no main effect for gender and no interaction between age and gender in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade. When the birth month of students who had repeated one or more grades was examined, it was revealed that a large percentage of these students would have been the youngest in the class when beginning school. Results suggest that a relationship between relative age and achievement may exist in the lower grades but diminishes or disappears by seventh or eighth grade because of the retention of a larger proportion of the youngest children.