Quality of alternatives,institutional preference,and institutional commitment among first‐year college students

We tested the hypotheses derived from investment theory that quality of alternatives and institutional preference exert additive and interactive effects on institutional commitment in a sample of 1166 first‐year college students at a large state university, who were surveyed within two weeks of the start of their first semester. As predicted, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed: as quality of alternatives increased, institutional commitment decreased; as preference for the university increased, institutional commitment increased; and as institutional preference decreased, the inverse relation between quality of alternatives and institutional commitment increased. The findings of the present study suggest that first‐year college students who do not rank their university as one of their top three choices and who rate the quality of alternatives as high should be classified as at risk of dropping out and targeted for proactive advising.     

‘So you can’t blame us then?’: gendered discourses of masculine irresponsibility as biologically determined and peer-pressured in upper-primary school contexts

In a global climate increasingly shaped by neoliberal agendas that privilege meritocratic individualism, it is apparent that society as a whole and educational policy-makers and practitioners in particular expect students to take more ‘responsibility’ for their own learning and behaviour at school. In the Australian context, as elsewhere, schools are seen as sites in which students should develop and practise responsibility for self and others in ways that are enterprising, productive, civic-minded, and in accordance with social norms. Yet, few studies have critically examined how the concept of responsibility features in the everyday, taken-for-granted, discursive practices of policy-makers, teachers and students. This paper discusses findings from an ethnographic study concerned with how the discursive constructions of responsibility in three regional Australian primary schools shape upper-primary students’ understandings and experiences of responsibility for self and others. Using the theoretical insights of Michel Foucault, Emmanuel Levinas and Judith Butler to interpret data, I argue that gendered discourses of biological determinism and peer pressure work to reinforce the misconception that violence and irresponsibility are ‘naturally’ masculine traits.     

Sexual, physical, verbal/emotional abuse and unexplained chest pain

Objectives

Approximately one third of patients with non cardiac chest pain (NCCP) report a history of abuse, however no data exists on the prevalence of abuse among people with unexplained chest pain in the general population. We aimed to determine if there is a relationship between childhood sexual, physical, emotional abuse and unexplained chest pain, and to identify whether any potential relationship is being driven by an association with psychological distress.

Methods

Subjects were identified from 2 previous random population surveys that included people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and/or functional dyspepsia (FD) and healthy controls. People in the unexplained chest pain group (n = 27) had chest pain in the past 12 months that was not heartburn or heart disease. People in the comparison group (n = 60) did not have chest pain for more than 12 months. Self-reported abuse and psychological variables were assessed using validated measures.

Results

Emotional/verbal abuse (20.8% versus 4.4%, P = 0.032) and physical abuse (16.7% versus 2.2%, P = 0.028) were significantly more common in people with unexplained chest pain versus the comparison group. Only a history of emotional/verbal abuse was a significant independent predictor of meeting criteria for unexplained chest pain (OR = 5.66; 95%CI 1.01–31.80, P = 0.049) even after controlling for IBS and/or FD (OR = 5.45; 95%CI 0.96–30.83, P = .05), but not when depression was controlled for (OR = 4.70; 95%CI 0.90–27.61), P = 0.08.

Conclusions

A history of childhood emotional/verbal abuse is a risk factor for having unexplained chest pain but the association may be moderated by psychological distress, specifically depression.     

Student support for reproductive health education in middle schools: findings from Lebanon

Reproductive health education (RHE) programmes in schools are a well-recognised means of helping young people make informed decisions relating to their sexual health and well-being. Very little research however has investigated attitudes towards such programmes among students in the Arab world. A national HIV education curriculum was developed in Lebanon in 2005. However, in the context of competing priorities and mixed levels of social resistance, curriculum implementation to date is far from universal. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of support for school-based RHE and the main factors associated with such support among young people aged 11–16 years in Lebanon. A secondary analysis of data from the 2011 Global school-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was conducted. Students who supported RHE (58.1%) were more likely to be of higher grade level (adjusted OR [Odds Ratio]?=?1.78, p-value = 0.005), to have ever drunk alcohol (adjusted OR = 1.52, p-value = 0.012), to prefer mixed classes for RHE (adjusted OR = 3.19, p-value < 0.0001), to say RHE should start before or at puberty (adjusted OR = 3.57, p-value < 0.0001), and to be exposed to more health education topics in school (adjusted OR = 1.2, p-value < 0.0001). Identifying such sub-groups in the student body should inform the equitable implementation of RHE in culturally diverse settings like Lebanon.     

Rethinking the learning space at work and beyond: The achievement of agency across the boundaries of work-related spaces and environments

This paper focuses on the notion of the learning space at work and discusses the extent to which its different configurations allow employees to exercise personal agency within a range of learning spaces. Although the learning space at work is already the subject of extensive research, the continuous development of the learning society and the development of new types of working spaces calls for further research to advance our knowledge and understanding of the ways that individuals exercise agency and learn in the workplace. Research findings suggest that the current perception of workplace learning is strongly related to the notion of the learning space, in which individuals and teams work, learn and develop their skills. The perception of the workplace as a site only for work-specific training is gradually changing, as workplaces are now acknowledged as sites for learning in various configurations, and as contributing to the personal development and social engagement of employees. This paper argues that personal agency is constructed in the workplace, and this process involves active interrelations between agency and three dimensions of the workplace (individual, spatial and organisational), identified through both empirical and theoretical research. The discussion is supported by data from two research projects on workplace learning in the United Kingdom. This paper thus considers how different configurations of the learning space and the boundaries between a range of work-related spaces facilitate the achievement of personal agency.     

Is ethical sensitivity in teaching culturally bound? Comparing Finnish and Iranian teachers’ ethical sensitivity

In this study, we investigated the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of teachers’ ethical sensitivity in two countries. Our case study involves teachers from Finland (n = 864) representing Western culture, and from Iran (n = 556) representing Eastern culture. Culturally bound elements of ethical sensitivity were studied with the Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire. The analyses revealed that ‘Caring by connecting to others’ is a central, culturally invariant dimension of ethical sensitivity in both cultures. In the dimensions of ethical sensitivity, the dimension of ‘Taking the perspective of others’ is particularly dependent on culture, given the differences in the cultural dimensions of power distance and the collectivity of the countries studied.     

Using Total Sample Size Weights in Meta-Analysis of Log-Odds Ratios

The log-odds ratio (ln[OR]) is commonly used to quantify treatments' effects on dichotomous outcomes and then pooled across studies using inverse-variance (1/v) weights. Calculation of the ln[OR]'s variance requires four cell frequencies for two groups crossed with values for dichotomous outcomes. While primary studies report the total sample size (n..), many do not report all four frequencies. Using real data, we demonstrated pooling of ln[OR]s using n.. versus 1/v weights. In a simulation study we compared two weighting approaches under several conditions. Efficiency and Type I error rates for 1/v versus n.. weights used to pool ln[OR] estimates depended on sample size and the percent of studies missing cell frequencies. Results are discussed and guidelines for applied meta-analysts are provided.     

Taking a stance: child agency across the dimensions of early adolescents' environmental involvement 1

This article examines the nature of early adolescents' environmental involvement based on a study with 10–13‐year‐olds. Drawing from literal and metaphorical interviews, a visual survey and visual maps, the study points to the dimensions of environmental involvement: connectedness, engagement with the environment, questioning, belief in capacity, taking a stance and strategic action. Children's agency runs across the dimensions, as children intentionally and strategically figure their way through significant life influences, beliefs towards nature and age‐defined barriers. Of interest is what the sources of environmental involvement are, as well as how a child interacts and engages in situations and with resources at hand. Along with awakening to the natural environment, children are discovering themselves and carving a place in the world.