Career guidance in the Middle East and North Africa

The results are presented of a policy-focused review of career guidance services in 10 Middle East and North African countries. A range of economic, political, socio-cultural and educational factors which seem likely to have constrained the development of such services, and to have influenced the forms they have taken, are discussed. A number of drivers for change are outlined, the nature of the main current services is described, and a number of common issues are explored. Six broad themes are identified for the future development of career guidance services within the region.     

Career-first: an approach to sustainable labour market integration

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - Active labour market policies aim at supporting people entering and, importantly, remaining in the labour market. Initiatives to this...     

Disturbance Decoupled Observers Having Unrestricted Spectrum

The problem of observing the state of a linear finite dimensional system in the presence of unknown disturbance noise is considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions are developed for the existence of a minimal order observer capable of producing an asymptotic estimate of the state of the given system. The approach used leads to a computationally attractive procedure for obtaining an observer having specified eigenvalues.     

Absolutism's Hidden Message for Medical Scientism

Systemic and paradigmatic problems inherent in science instruction are a genuine threat to our health, and that of future generations. By examining the discoveries of two unsung heroes of 20th century medical science, and the poor acceptance of their dietary interventions in disease processes, we have sufficient evidence to incite a careful re-evaluation and alteration of the methods with which we teach science, and, in fact, all subject areas in our schools and postsecondary institutions. F.C. Dohan and W. Dicke each discovered answers to pathologies through dietary exclusion of gluten. Neither has enjoyed the just fruits of their labours.     

Support from Spouse as Mediator and Moderator of the Disruptive Influence of Economic Strain on Parenting

A model is presented regarding associations between economic strain, support from spouse, and quality of parenting. The model was tested using a sample of 451 2-parent families, each of which included a seventh grader (age 12-13). Parent and adolescent reports, as well as observational ratings, were used as indicators of constructs. Analysis using structural equation modeling procedures indicated that level of spouse support was positively related to supportive parenting, whereas economic strain operated to undermine parental involvement. As posited, economic strain produced its effect through a direct relation with parenting and indirectly through its association with spouse support. These findings held for mothers and fathers, regardless of the gender of the child. Spouse support moderated the impact of economic strain on supportive parenting for mothers but not fathers. Possible explanations for this gender difference are presented.     

Predicting university preference and attendance: Applied marketing in higher education administration

A multi-attribute attitude model, based on the efforts of Rosenberg and Fishbein, was used to determine whether a multicriteria scale can be used to predict student preferences for and attendance at universities. Data were gathered from 241 freshmen attending five state universities in Ohio. Responsents were asked to weight the importance of 18 selection criteria and evaluate seven universities using those criteria. These data were processed through the model, and the results were compared to the respondents' preference ordering of the universities. The results indicate a high level of predictability, particularly for highly ranked universities. Implications for the marketing of higher educational institutions are discussed.     

Deaf college students' comprehension of relational language in arithmetic compare problems

In this study of deaf college students' performance solving compare word problems, relational statements were either consistent or inconsistent with the arithmetic operation required for the solutions. The results support the consistency hypothesis Lewis and Mayer (1987) proposed based on research with hearing students. That is, deaf students were more likely to miscomprehend a relational statement and commit a reversal error when the required arithmetic operation was inconsistent with the statement's relational term (e.g., having to add when the relational term was less than). Also, the reversal error effect with inconsistent word problems was magnified when the relational statement was a marked term (e.g., a negative adjective such as less than) rather than an unmarked term (e.g., a positive adjective such as more than). Reading ability levels of deaf students influenced their performance in a number of ways. As predicted, there was a decrease in goal-monitoring errors, multiple errors, and the number of problems left blank as the reading levels of students increased. Contrary to expectations, higher reading skills did not affect the frequency of reversal errors.     

The Effects of Antecedent Cues on Teachers’ and Mental Health Workers’ Perceptions of Students’ Life Event Stressors

This study examined point‐in‐time and point‐of‐view antecedent cue effects on teachers’ and mental health workers’ perceptions of life events’ impact on students. Increased congruence between student and adult perceptions of life events’ impact was demonstrated via systematic variation of cue conditions designed to limit the contribution of historical and personal referents. Implications are discussed in terms of future research and training efforts.