Comparison of anxiety levels of students in introductory earth science and geology courses

Students in geology and earth science courses were not anxious about taking these courses as measured by the State-Triat Anxiety Inventory. Students in each course were split into two grade groups. It was shown that students whose grades were in the higher group had low anxiety, which continued to be reduced during the course. Students in the lower grade group had high anxiety, which increased during the course. There was no difference between anxiety scores of males and females. In general, students who planned to elect additional courses had lower state anxiety and higher grades than students who did not plan to elect additional courses in geology and earth science.     

Relationships among conceptions of control and autonomy and other personality variables: A developmental approach

In total 131 children from fourth- and sixth-grades (mean ages 9.10 and 11.9 years) participated in this study with as its purpose to explore the relationships among conceptions of control and autonomy and various personality characteristics. To achieve this aim, the children were presented with questionnaires indexing their conceptions of control (CCQ), conceptions of autonomy (CAQ) and two diagnostic instruments: 1) the Amsterdam Biographical Questionnaire for Children (ABVK) and 2) the Achievement Motivation Test for Children (PMTK). The results reveal complex patterns of interrelated variables, indicating among others that children's conceived ability to cope with problems in the social environment does not relate to children's understanding of the variables affecting the outcomes of their behavior.     

The decomposition of sociology

This essay was originally presented as part of the panel “The Social Sciences, An Intellectual Balance Sheet,” at “On the State of Academic Discourse,” the third national conference of the National Association of Scholars, held in Minneapolis, October 18 to 20, 1991. It is part of the opening chapter of a book scheduled for publication in 1993 by Oxford University Press tentatively entitledThe Decomposition of Sociology.     

Misconceptions of culture and perversions of multiculturalism

Current practices of multicultural education are based on some unsound conceptions of the nature of culture. Especially unsound is the notion of cultural relativism which claims that it is inappropriate for a given culture to be judged by the standards of other cultures. But all cultures can and should be judged by the standard of how well they allow their members to adapt to the circumstances in which they exist. These circumstances include nature and, increasingly, other cultures. The core error is the belief that cultures are integrated systems, which is based on an organic metaphor which discourages piece-meal criticism and leads to a romantic embrace of the totality of a culture. Rather than fostering an identity with, and celebration of, dysfunctional cultures, multiculturalism should encourage maximum interaction of all elements of a society and the forging of an emergent pluralism.     

Examining the Meaning of Vague Quantifiers in Higher Education: How Often is “Often”?

Research in Higher Education - Researchers, assessment professionals, and faculty in higher education increasingly depend on survey data from students to make pivotal curricular and programmatic...     

Structural and physiological changes of the human body upon SARS-CoV-2 infection

Since December 2019, the novel coronavirus(severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)) has spread to many countries around the world, developing into a global pandemic with increasing numbers of deaths reported worldwide. To data, although some vaccines have been developed, there are no ideal drugs to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia(coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)). By examining the structure of the coronavirus and briefly describing its possible pathogenesis based on recent autopsy reports conducted by various teams worldwide, this review analyzes the possible structural and functional changes of the human body upon infection with SARS-CoV-2. We observed that the most prominent pathological changes in COVID-19 patients are diffuse alveolar damage(DAD) of the lungs and microthrombus formation,resulting in an imbalance of the ventilation/perfusion ratio and respiratory failure. Although direct evidence of viral infection can also be found in other organs and tissues, the viral load is relatively small. The conclusion that the injuries of the extrapulmonary organs are directly caused by the virus needs further investigation.