Does STES‐Oriented Science Education Promote 10th‐Grade Students’ Decision‐Making Capability?

Today’s society is continuously coping with sustainability‐related complex issues in the Science‐Technology‐Environment‐Society (STES) interfaces. In those contexts, the need and relevance of the development of students’ higher‐order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as question‐asking, critical‐thinking, problem‐solving and decision‐making capabilities within science teaching have been argued by several science educators for decades. Three main objectives guided this study: (1) to establish “base lines” for HOCS capabilities of 10th grade students (n = 264) in the Israeli educational system; (2) to delineate within this population, two different groups with respect to their decision‐making capability, science‐oriented (n = 142) and non‐science (n = 122) students, Groups A and B, respectively; and (3) to assess the pre‐post development/change of students’ decision‐making capabilities via STES‐oriented HOCS‐promoting curricular modules entitled Science, Technology and Environment in Modern Society (STEMS). A specially developed and validated decision‐making questionnaire was used for obtaining a research‐based response to the guiding research questions. Our findings suggest that a long‐term persistent application of purposed decision‐making, promoting teaching strategies, is needed in order to succeed in affecting, positively, high‐school students’ decision‐making ability. The need for science teachers’ involvement in the development of their students’ HOCS capabilities is thus apparent.     

Endurance of Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Older Adults

This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate attitudes toward older adults and attitude endurance 3 to 18 months after aging coursework. Survey respondents included 349 students who took an aging elective and 430 comparison students. Aging-elective students indicated more positive attitudes than comparison students. Attitudes did not vary across 3 groups staggered by time elapsed from completing the course until testing (3 to 18 months). 4 variables accounted for the variance in attitudes toward elders at a statistically significant level: majoring in biology, having frequent or occasional contact with unrelated older adults, taking an aging course, and post-course knowledge of aging.     

Four year old children’s acquisition of print knowledge during electronic storybook reading

The experiment reported here explored the importance of engaging 4-year-old children’s interest in the print itself during storybook reading. We explored the effect of computer animation of the print in order to draw the child’s attention to each word as it was read. We also investigated the influence of illustrating that not all visual displays are readable print on the child’s print knowledge. The measures of interest were print concept knowledge and early reading skill. Results indicated that simply drawing children’s attention to the print during shared reading was insufficient to facilitate children’s learning of print conventions, but this attention to print while hearing stories read did improve children’s letter reading. The child’s active engagement with the print during shared story reading led to further improvements in written language skills, as illustrated by gains in knowledge about print concepts.     

Let’s Clear the Air: a campaign that effectively increased compliance with a university’s tobacco-free policy

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Let’s Clear the Air campaign, a print-based campaign guided by the theory of planned behavior, designed to increase compliance with a University’s tobacco-free policy among undergraduate student smokers. We hypothesized that individual-level compliance behaviors would increase with greater campaign exposure and that population-level compliance would improve post-intervention from baseline. To assess individual-level compliance, we collected survey data from 284 randomly selected undergraduate student smokers. To assess population-level compliance, we collected observational data by counting smokers in 10 violation locations for 10 weeks (three 30-minute periods per week). Data supported the hypotheses: Campaign exposure was related to an increase in individual-level compliance behaviors, and results from a negative binomial regression supported that population-level compliance improved from baseline to post-intervention. Implications regarding support for the campaign as an effective strategy for increasing tobacco-free policy compliance behaviors are discussed.     

Carbohydrate gel ingestion during running in the heat on markers of gastrointestinal distress

The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of carbohydrate ingestion during exercise in the heat by measuring markers of gastrointestinal damage and inflammation. Methods: Active subjects (n?=?7) completed two 60-min running trials in a heated environment (70% VO₂max, 30°C). At minute 20 of exercise, subjects consumed a carbohydrate gel (Cho) (27?g), or a non-carbohydrate placebo (nCho). Plasma endotoxin, I-FABP, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10, and MCP-1 were measured pre-exercise, 20-min post-exercise, and again 2-h, and 4-h post-exercise. Results: Endotoxin increased 20-min post-exercise compared to pre in the Cho trial only (p?=?.03). I-FABP levels increased 20-min post-exercise in the Cho trial only compared to pre-exercise (p?=?.003). I-FABP levels were also increased in Cho trial 20-min post-exercise when compared to same time point in the nCho trial (p?=?.032). TNF-α increased 20-min post-exercise in the Cho trial only compared to pre (p?=?.03). Plasma IL-6 concentration increased 20-min post-exercise when compared to pre in both the Cho (p?=?.002) and nCho (p?=?.009), but remained elevated at the 2-h time point in the nCho trial (p?=?.03). I-FABP and several plasma cytokines (TNF-α, MCP-1, Il-6) returned to baseline sooner in the Cho trial. Conclusions: Ingestion of carbohydrate gel during exercise in the heat enhances markers of gastrointestinal wall damage.     

Emergence of a Unique German‐Israeli Academic Exchange Programme: Attributes and Dilemmas

This article describes a unique student exchange programme that has been operating for more than five years and which links students in the Department of Non-formal Education at Beit Berl College in Israel and students in the Department of Social Work at Fachhochschule Wiesbaden in Germany. The uniqueness of this programme lies not only in the co-operation between countries but mainly in the form of a professional study programme involving two educational institutions having different approaches and with different methods for the training of social workers that are embedded in different socio-cultural atmospheres and historical traditions. On top of these complexities, there was the need to cope with the question of how to rebuild relations between two societies loaded with the historical heritage of the Holocaust. The focus of this article is on the emergence and the development of the programme and on some of the dilemmas with which it was faced.