Young Diplomats?? Socialization to the Networked Professional Cultures of Their Workplace Communities

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine young diplomats’ socialization to the professional expert culture of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland over a six-month on-job training period, as part of their preparation for service in the diplomatic corps. Using social network analysis, we analyzed departments’ internal social structures, prevailing social relations, and the young diplomats’ role and position in the networks of knowledge acquisition, practical know-how, and professional collaboration. Data collected by contextual event sampling and theme interviews and analyzed by qualitative content analysis were used to characterize the young diplomats’ personal social support networks, resources obtained, as well as associated reflections regarding their functioning in and socialization to the departmental workplace community. The results indicated that across the six-month training period, the young diplomats became involved to the workplace communities’ networked expertise and were socialized to its expert culture, even if their achieved networking positions differed. The results revealed differences between levels of collective operational practices in the workplace communities as well as the nature of assignments in which the young diplomats participated and for which they were responsible. It was proposed that these differences mirrored distinction between expansive natures of young diplomats’ workplace communities as learning environments.     

Culturally Responsive Counseling for Asian Americans: Clinician Perspectives

Research has consistently found acute mental health treatment disparities among Asian Americans. One proposed reason for the underutilization of mental health services by Asian Americans is that available services are not culturally competent. This exploratory study presents qualitative data gathered from interviews with professional counselors who serve Asian American clients. Findings revealed significant barriers to counseling due to cultural stigma and shame, suppression of emotions, and communication gaps between clients and counselors. In response, clinicians frequently made adjustments to therapeutic approaches to accommodate the cultural beliefs and practices of clients and families. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

The role of metacognitive competences in the development of school achievement among gifted adolescents

Gifted underachievers perform worse in school than would be expected based on their high intelligence. Possible causes for underachievement are low motivational dispositions (need for cognition) and metacognitive competences. This study tested the interplay of these variables longitudinally with gifted and non-gifted students from Germany (N = 341, 137 females) in Grades 6 (M = 12.02 years at t1) and 8 (M = 14.07 years). Declarative and procedural metacognitive competences were assessed in the domain of reading comprehension. Path analyses showed incremental effects of procedural metacognition over and above intelligence on the development of school achievement in gifted students (β = .139). Moreover, declarative metacognition and need for cognition interactively predicted procedural metacognition (β = .169), which mediated their effect on school achievement.     

Comparison of digoxin concentration in plastic serum tubes with clot activator and heparinized plasma tubes

Introduction:

Sample type recommended by the manufacturer for the digoxin Abbott assay is either serum collected in glass tubes or plasma (sodium heparin, lithium heparin, citrate, EDTA or oxalate as anticoagulant) collected in plastic tubes. In our hospital samples are collected in plastic tubes. Our hypothesis was that the serum sample collected in plastic serum tube can be used interchangeably with plasma sample for measurement of digoxin concentration. Our aim was verification of plastic serum tubes for determination of digoxin concentration.

Materials and methods:

Concentration of digoxin was determined simultaneously in 26 venous blood plasma (plastic Vacuette, LH Lithium heparin) and serum (plastic Vacuette, Z Serum Clot activator; both Greiner Bio-One GmbH, Kremsmünster, Austria) samples, on Abbott AxSYM analyzer using the original Abbott Digoxin III assay (Abbott, Wiesbaden, Germany). Tube comparability was assessed using the Passing Bablok regression and Bland-Altman plot.

Results:

Serum and plasma digoxin concentrations are comparable. Passing Bablok intercept (0.08 [95% CI = −0.10 to 0.20]) and slope (0.99 [95% CI = 0.92 to 1.11]) showed there is no constant or proportional error.

Conclusion:

Blood samples drawn in plastic serum tubes and plastic plasma tubes can be interchangeably used for determination of digoxin concentration.     

Freelancers and the absorption of external knowledge: practical implications and theoretical contributions

The term absorptive capacity (AC) describes the process of utilising external knowledge. Although firms are becoming increasingly reliant on highly skilled freelancers as a source of external knowledge, the literature on AC has not incorporated this collaboration for freelancers. In this paper, we address this research deficit in two ways: First, we argue that the ability to collaborate effectively and efficiently with freelancers plays a crucial role in the process of absorbing external knowledge. Second, we argue that the example of freelancers challenges researchers to rethink the conceptualisation of organisational boundaries within the concept of AC. Our paper is based upon previous theoretical insights and exploratory empirical data from a research project on German IT freelancers. For the practice of knowledge management, our paper elaborates upon how organisations can enhance their AC by investing in practices and routines that contribute to successful collaboration with freelancers.     

Only a Matter of Education Policy Ideals? German Professors’ Perception of the Bologna Process

Recently, it has been discussed how actors at universities perceive the Bologna Process. However, there is a lack of understanding about the determinants influencing attitudes towards the reform. In particular, the relation between education policy ideals and perceptions of the Bologna Process has gone unobserved. Based on a survey at three universities in North Rhine‐Westphalia in Germany, this article shows that a congruence of education policy ideals with the goals of the Bologna Process leads to a more positive perception of the reform. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models show that these findings are stable when controlled for socio‐demographic characteristics, changes of everyday work and involvement in the implementation of the Bologna Process. Thus, it is worthwhile to take into account the education policy ideals of involved actors when analysing perceptions of educational reforms.     

Critical factors influencing secondary school pupil’s decisions to study computing in tertiary education: Gender differences

This paper aims to determine the factors affecting the decisions of both male and female secondary school pupils whether or not to pursue undergraduate studies in Computing. It is based on research conducted in Greece, on a sample of 248 pupils, 135 of whom were female. All were aged 17 and about to decide on their future undergraduate studies. Questionnaires were used, addressing issues in the following four main categories: a) the reasons pupils chose/rejected Computing, b) how family and friends, the media and the school environment contribute to their decision, c) how pupils perceived their future after studying Computing and d) how pupils perceived the profile of a computer professional in terms of gender.

Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood?

This essay considers the question of why we should teach science to K-2. After initial consideration of two traditional reasons for studying science, six assertions supporting the idea that even small children should be exposed to science are given. These are, in order: (1) Children naturally enjoy observing and thinking about nature. (2) Exposing students to science develops positive attitudes towards science. (3) Early exposure to scientific phenomena leads to better understanding of the scientific concepts studied later in a formal way. (4) The use of scientifically informed language at an early age influences the eventual development of scientific concepts. (5) Children can understand scientific concepts and reason scientifically. (6) Science is an efficient means for developing scientific thinking. Concrete illustrations of some of the ideas discussed in this essay, particularly, how language and prior knowledge may influence the development of scientific concepts, are then provided. The essay concludes by emphasizing that there is a window of opportunity that educators should exploit by presenting science as part of the curriculum in both kindergarten and the first years of primary school.