School-university partnerships: a new recipe for creating professional knowledge in school

This paper first reviews the literature on school-university partnerships to evaluate and describe challenges and paradigms of Japanese approaches to school-university partnerships in theory and practice. Secondly, it clarifies the role of three-year school-university partnership between the Nagoya University and the Tokai City Board of Education in the central Japan for creating an effective environment in schools for teachers to learn from each other and for developing more learning-centered education that focuses on the real needs of students. From this study it can be claimed that more effective relationships between Japanese school teachers and university researchers can be established through developing collaborative a school-based research framework especially through the process of jugyou kenkyuu (lesson study).     

How in Spite of the Rhetoric,History of Chemistry has Been Ignored in Presenting Atomic Structure in Textbooks

Recent research in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science. This study has the following objectives:(a) To show how the importance of history of chemistry has been recognized in theclassroom, starting from the 1920s to the present; (b) How criteria based on history andphilosophy of science can be used to evaluate presentation of atomic structure in generalchemistry textbooks; (c) Comparison of the new (1970–1992) and old textbooks (1929–1967)with respect to the presentation of atomic structure. Results obtained show thatmost of the new and old textbooks not only ignore the history and philosophy of sciencebut also present experimental findings as a `rhetoric of conclusions'. It isconcluded that such presentations are not conducive towards a better understanding of scientificprogress. It is suggested that history and philosophy of science can be introduced in theclassroom not necessarily through formal courses in the history of chemistry or commentsand anecdotes, but rather by incorporating the `heuristic principles' that guided thescientists to elaborate their theories.     

Academic oral presentation self-efficacy: a cross-sectional interdisciplinary comparative study

Despite the significant role of oral presentation in the academic context, many university students evade opportunities for participation due to low self-efficacy. The present study has been conducted to compare oral presentation self-efficacy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with undergraduates and postgraduates of Non-EFL majors, and to investigate the relationship of this construct with their teaching and prior academic oral presentation experiences as two modes of Bandura’s [(1995). Exercise of personal and collective efficacy in changing societies. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing societies (pp. 1–45). New York: Cambridge University Press] mastery experience. Extracting the oral presentation sub-skills from the literature, an oral presentation self-efficacy questionnaire with 38 five-Likert scale items was constructed. A two-way between-group ANOVA was run on the responses of a total 48 postgraduates (25 EFL and 23 Non-EFL) and 63 undergraduates (28 EFL and 35 Non-EFL) selected randomly from two of the universities in Iran. The results indicated no difference between EFL and Non-EFL students, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level, in terms of their oral presentation self-efficacy. Spearman’s correlation coefficient, however, showed a strong positive correlation between the two modes of mastery experience and oral presentation self-efficacy (r?=?.44, n?=?111, P?r?=?.42, n?=?111, P?相似文献   

Bibliometric Analysis of Gold Open Access in India

This study analyzes the current state of gold Open Access (OA) in India based on papers published in the Web of Science indexed journals. It specifically focuses on research output published in OA journals and examines the difference between gold OA and general research output for papers authored by Indian researchers. In order to analyze the Indian contribution of gold OA literature and compares with other countries, Web of Science?-Core Collection was used. There is an increasing trend of contributing research papers in OA journals by Indian researchers. Among the top 20 publishing countries India ranks 10th place in terms of the general research output, but secures 8th place in terms of gold OA papers. However, India's position in terms of share of gold OA publications is relatively higher than other leading countries of the world. Researchers in India mostly prefer to contribute their gold OA papers in Indian journals rather foreign journals and the proportion of gold OA research output in Clinical, Preclinical, Health, Life Sciences and Physicals Sciences is much higher than other disciplines such as Arts &; Humanities and Social Sciences. Since most of the research output in India is published in local journals, the study suggests further analyses of publications which are not published in Web of Science indexed journals.     

Cultural acceptability and personal willingness of Iranian students toward cadaveric donation

Cadaver dissection stands as a crucial component in medical curricula around the world, although computer‐based multimedia programs have been introduced in order to replace the need for cadaver donations. Due to a decrease in the number of unclaimed bodies and rather few donations, there is an insufficient number of cadavers for anatomical studies in Iran. This study was carried out to evaluate medical students' awareness and willingness regarding body donation in Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. In this study, a questionnaire was designed to focus on the cultural acceptability and personal willingness to donate one's body after death. Students from the university's anatomy classes (n = 331) participated in this study. Seventy‐seven percent of the students expressed their agreement toward the idea of utilizing body donation services, though only 25.4% of participants were willing to donate their own bodies. None of the demographic factors were associated with cultural acceptability or personal willingness towards body donation. These findings indicated that besides “payment”, other factors were associated with students' willingness to become donors. All factors of awareness except “previous awareness of organization” were associated with cultural acceptability. In this study, students suggested that encouraging people to register for body donation using mass media (25.6%) and teaching students to respect cadavers in the dissection environment (24.8%) were the best solutions for addressing the lack of cadavers. These findings indicated that a lack of awareness about body donation might be the main factor responsible for unwillingness towards body donation; therefore, improving the public's awareness and addressing the willingness of students regarding body donation may help overcome the current lack of donated cadavers. Anat Sci Educ 10: 120–126. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

The resilience of the MBA in emerging economies: student motivations for wanting an MBA in China and the United Arab Emirates

In recent years, domestic demand for MBAs has fallen in most major Western markets but has increased or remained stable in emerging economies such as China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are the two countries globally that host the largest numbers of international branch campuses. Thus, this research aimed to discover why students in China and the UAE still want an MBA. A survey questionnaire was completed by a total of 354 MBA students, at two universities in China and two universities in the UAE. Some of the results were surprising and unexpected. For example, recognition, prestige and networking – all key features in Chinese and Emirati societies – were found not to be key motivators for wanting an MBA. Instead, the desire to acquire knowledge and skills was the strongest motivator among respondents, accounting for 32.4 per cent of variance. This was followed by reasons associated with intrinsic benefits. The findings have implications for institutional strategy, curriculum design, program delivery and the marketing of programs.     

Relationship between social capital and lifestyle among older adults

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study was designed with the purpose of determining the relationship between social capital and lifestyle and their sub-variables among older adults.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using interviews that was conducted in 2017. This study was performed with randomly selected older people over 60 years of age in an urban area of Iran. Data were collected using a questionnaire in 3-month duration. The relationship between the study variables (lifestyle and social capital) was assessed through correlation analysis (in the case of non control of the underlying variables) and general linear modeling (in the case of control of the underlying variables). Data were analyzed using SPSS v.24 software at a 0.05 significant level.

Results: A total of 512 questionnaires were filed out. According to the Pearson correlation test, all social capital variables were associated with lifestyle components. However, in the general linear model test, feeling of trust and safety (p < 0.001), value of life (p = 0.030), and social participation (p = 0.004) had a significant relationship with the lifestyle.

Conclusions: The results indicated that social capital and lifestyle in the older adults were interconnected. Therefore, there is a need to improve social capital factors, especially social participation, feeling of trust and safety, and value of life, which is in-line with the strategies of achieving healthy older population. The results can be used to learn how to increase lifestyle in older adults.     

Dry Skulls and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) for Teaching Orofacial Bone Anatomy to Undergraduate Dental Students

Learning bone anatomy of the skull is a complex topic involving three-dimensional information. The impact of the use of human dry skulls and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging was investigated in the teaching of undergraduate dental students. Sixty-four first-year students in the University of Hong Kong were randomly divided into eight groups. Four teaching methods were tested: (1) CBCT followed by standard lecture, (2) CBCT followed by lecture with skulls, (3) standard lecture followed by CBCT, and (4) lecture with skulls followed by CBCT. After each, students were given a multiple-choice questionnaire to assess their objective learning outcome (20 questions) and a questionnaire for their subjective satisfaction (10 statements). Surveys were assessed with Cronbach's alpha, Kendall's tau-b, and principal components analysis. Data were analyzed with Student's t-test and a one-way ANOVA (significance α = 0.05). Standard lecture followed by CBCT showed the highest learning outcome score (81.6% ± 14.1%), but no significant difference was present among four teaching methods. Cone beam computed tomography followed by lecture with skulls scored the highest overall subjective satisfaction (4.9 ± 0.8 out of 6), but no significant difference was present among teaching methods. Nevertheless, students' perception of learning was positively influenced by the use of skulls (P = 0.018). The timing of administration of the CBCT did not affect students' subjective satisfaction or objective learning outcome. Students perceived to learn more by using skulls, but their objective learning outcomes were not significantly affected. A discrepancy seems to exist between students' perception of learning and their effective performance.     

Reasoning strategies of students in solving chemistry problems as a function of developmental level,functional M‐capacity and disembedding ability

Achievement in science depends among other factors on hypothetico‐deductive reasoning ability, that is, developmental level of the students. Recent research indicates that the developmental level of students should be studied along with individual difference variables, such as Pascual‐Leone's M‐capacity (information processing) and Witkin's Cognitive Style (disembedding ability). The purpose of this study is to investigate reasoning strategies of students in solving chemistry problems as a function of developmental level, functional M‐capacity and disembedding ability. A sample of 109 freshman students were administered tests of formal operational reasoning, functional M‐capacity, disembedding ability and chemistry problems (limiting reagent, mole, gas laws). Results obtained show that students who scored higher on cognitive predictor variables not only have a better chance of solving chemistry problems, but also demonstrated greater understanding and used reasoning strategies indicative of explicit problem‐solving procedures based on the hypothetico‐deductive method, manipulation of essential information and sensitivity to misleading information. It was also observed that students who score higher on cognitive predictor variables tend to anticipate important aspects of the problem situation by constructing general figurative and operative models, leading to a greater understanding. Students scoring low on cognitive predictor variables tended to circumvent cognitively more demanding strategies and adopt others that helped them to overcome the constraints of formal reasoning, information processing and disembedding ability.     

Portrayal of the History of the Photoelectric Effect in Laboratory Instructions

The literature on the pedagogical aspects of the photoelectric effect as used in the undergraduate student laboratory shows that little research has been done in this area. Our current study is an analysis of the instructions in 38, electronically published laboratory manuals for the photoelectric effect. The analyses were based on history and philosophy of science criteria that we had developed for evaluating the presentation of the photoelectric effect in introductory, university-physics textbooks. The results show that writers of laboratory instructions do not pay sufficient attention to the relevant background for the photoelectric effect. In our study, none of the instructions achieved a score of excellent, only 5% were scored as satisfactory, and only 7% mentioned the various aspects contained in our criteria. These results for our analysis of laboratory instructions are significantly less favorable than those achieved for physics textbooks in our previous study. Based on our work, we recommend that several historical aspects be included in all laboratory instructions for the photoelectric effect.