Current status of cadaver sources in Turkey and a wake‐up call for Turkish anatomists

Persisting difficulties in body procurement in Turkey led to the acquisition of donated, unclaimed, autopsied, and imported bodies regulated under current legislature. Yet, no study had investigated the extent of the on‐going cadaver problem. This study was aimed to outline cadaver sources in anatomy departments and their effectiveness by means of an online survey. Additionally, official websites of each department were investigated regarding any information on body donation. Unclaimed cadavers (84.8%) were the major source for anatomy departments, followed by donated (50%) and imported cadavers (39.1%). Foundation‐based medical faculties were more likely to import cadavers (P = 0.008). There was a moderate increase (r_s = 0.567; P = 0.018) in donation registrations to our department after 2000. The departments in cities with significantly higher City‐Based Gross Domestic Product measures (US$9,900 vs. US$16,772, P = 0.041), frequencies for mid‐ or high‐school graduates (30.4% vs. 31.3%, P = 0.041), and frequencies for under‐ or post‐graduates (13.1% vs. 15.8%, P = 0.24) had managed to use donated cadavers. Anatomy departments’ major reasons for using unclaimed cadavers were education (45.9%), unclaimed cadavers being the only source (24.3%), and receiving inadequate donations (21.6%). Nine out of seventy‐four departments (12.2%) provided information regarding body donation on their websites. Body procurement remains as a serious problem in Turkey and it is apparent that current legislature does not provide a sufficient cadaver inflow. Similarly, anatomy departments’ effectiveness in public awareness of body donation and support in the National Body Donation Campaign seems questionable. Anat Sci Educ 11: 155–165. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Do labels matter? Analysis of teachers' self-efficacy towards the autism spectrum disorder depending on the diagnostic label used (ASD or Asperger's)

Changes in the classification of autism and Asperger's syndrome led to changes in social perception of ASD. Since last criteria, studies indicate higher levels of stigma towards ASD than towards Asperger's. These prejudices are barriers to inclusive education. Thus, it is relevant (1) to evaluate pre-service teachers' self-efficacy towards the label of ASD; (2) to evaluate pre-service teachers' self-efficacy towards the label of Asperger's and (3) to compare those results to analyse whether the use of different diagnostic labels brings about different levels of self-efficacy. One hundred and eighty-six primary education pre-service teachers participated in the current study. Two adaptations of the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET) were used: a version with the label of ‘ASD’ (n = 96) and another for ‘Asperger's’ (n = 90). The scores obtained by the group asked about ASD were high according to the ASSET score range, while the scores obtained by the group asked about Asperger's were medium. After comparing the results, participants asked about the label ASD showed higher levels of self-efficacy than participants asked about Asperger's. These results could be a consequence of the consolidation of the ASD diagnosis among society and the higher presence of children with ASD in schools and cultural products, among other factors.     

Teachers of learners with ASD in mainstream schools and classrooms in Spain: attitudes towards inclusive education

This study analyses the attitudes of teachers in Spain towards the inclusion of learners with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream education settings and their relationship with the perceived benefits of inclusion. The ex post facto prospective design included 180 teachers from 14 schools. Data were collected using a questionnaire on teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and a second questionnaire on the benefits of inclusion developed for the specific purposes of this study. The results show teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusion as well as the benefits perceived. This study demonstrates the fundamental role of teachers' previous experience. Implications for inclusive cultures and practices in schools are discussed.     

Classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative curriculum project in science education

A curriculum project can be positively or negatively influenced by the environment of the classroom in which it is implemented. Analysis of the perceptions of students, teachers, and external observers has allowed us to study the influence of classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative project in science education. The main conclusions indicate that even though the global evaluation is positive, more so among teachers than among students, there are differences between the perceptions of the participants, probably due to differences in interests and needs. Moreover, in the classroom environment, the teacher and the actual dynamic and spatial organization are of great importance, and it can be difficult to maintain interest or to achieve a satisfactory evaluation on the part of those students whose academic performance is lowest. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 655–671, 1998.     

Preventive Conservation Applied to Wallpaintings in a Desert Environment in Mexico

ABSTRACT

The church of San Diego de Alcalá, located in Pitiquito, Sonora , in Mexico, lies on a missionary road founded by the Jesuit Eusebio F. Kino, which, with the expulsion of the Jesuit order in 1767, passed into the care of the Franciscans. It contains wallpaintings which presented deterioration problems whose cause was not easy to determine, since the damage appeared to be inconsistent with the techniques used and the environmental conditions. With an interdisciplinary team, a methodology was designed for a combined study of the environment of the church and its wallpaintings. Thermal imaging of the exterior and interior walls indicated that the building was made up of different materials, and the junctions between them explained the different deterioration pathologies between one zone and another. Hydrological maps for groundwater in the locality were studied, to elucidate the presence of water in a desert zone; abundant sources of water in the subsoil were identified, which, because of overexploitation of the land, have been diminishing over time. This allowed the elaboration of a plan for site management, through the identification of those deterioration factors that can be mitigated by simple maintenance actions that are inherent to the environment and the materials, which enabled a scheduled maintenance scheme to be implemented. This improved the condition of the building and its wallpaintings, while reducing the resource invested to achieve this goal.     

Salvador López Gómez: Apostle of Gymnastics in Spain

Abstract

Salvador López Gómez was a great exponent of gymnastics in Spain in the nineteenth and the twentieth century. His role as a teacher, a writer and even as a law developer who promoted gymnastics deserves a detailed study. For that reason, through primary sources of this era and, specially, papers from López Gómez himself, this paper depicts his long professional career, his conception of gymnastics and the constant efforts, not always properly rewarded, that he made for its social respect and acknowledgement during that time.     

The educational e-portfolio: preliminary evidence of its relationship with student’s self-efficacy and engagement

Education and Information Technologies - The educational use of portfolios has been increasing in the last few years, especially as technology has also developed electronic versions of portfolios....     

Measuring the effectiveness of online problem solving for improving academic performance in a probability course

Education and Information Technologies - Research on impact in student achievement of online homework systems compared to traditional methods is ambivalent. Methodological issues in the study...     

A Different View of the Bologna Process: the case of Turkey

Since the beginning of the 20^th century, integration with the Western world has been a determining driver of higher education policies, as well as many other policy areas in Turkey. Becoming a signatory country of the Bologna Process in 2001 brought a new impulse to the higher education policies in this direction. The Bologna Process reforms introduced necessary changes and set new challenges. This article discusses the main implementation activities in the context of the Bologna Process in Turkey and the governance of the reform at the national level with a focus on the roles of the key national bodies.