Serving Others and Gaining Experience: A Study of University Students Participation in Service Learning

Unlike other countries, Italy has no 'service learning', the method enabling students to join accredited voluntary organisations in order to gain experience in serving others. An investigation was conducted in 2006 and 2007 to understand the opportunity that service learning provides to young adults, community and volunteer associations. The objectives were, first, to determine whether there is a need to forge links between the university and the world of volunteer work and, second, to describe the specific areas of action in the local context. A total of 603 video-recorded interviews were conducted. The findings show that there is a need to create a network for helping institutions, neighbourhoods and young adults to assess the demand and provide an organised response for educational and community needs. As a result, starting from this year, Turin University will be operating the first service learning in Italy.     

Considerations for Integrating Technology in Developing Communities in Latin America

This article discusses issues related to introducing new information and communication technologies (ICT) into Latin American countries. Latin American countries are gaining world focus with political changes such as the death of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the election of the first Latin American Pope. This region will host the World Cup, Olympics and IMF World Bank annual meetings in the next 5 years; meanwhile they are projected to continueto experience moderate economic growth (IMF Survey, 2013). We suggest that successful innovation may be achieved through a combination of fundamental concepts of change with a culturally sensitive approach. This article discusses general concerns related to the diffusion of new technologies, the importance of cultural context, and the organization needed within the community for success. The literature review is based three assertions the characteristics of the native culture, general concerns of innovation for new technologies, and the context and organization needed by the community. We assert that to have successful integration of ICTs, innovators must understand the needs of the individuals who will use the innovation, as well as, the key factors that influence the culture, stakeholders, and common goals of the community and employ a strategy that utilizes industry, government and educators to produce lasting change.     

The Influence of 16‐year‐old Students’ Gender,Mental Abilities,and Motivation on their Reading and Drawing Submicrorepresentations Achievements

Submicrorepresentations (SMRs) are a powerful tool for identifying misconceptions of chemical concepts and for generating proper mental models of chemical phenomena in students’ long‐term memory during chemical education. The main purpose of the study was to determine which independent variables (gender, formal reasoning abilities, visualization abilities, and intrinsic motivation for learning chemistry) have the maximum influence on students’ reading and drawing SMRs. A total of 386 secondary school students (aged 16.3 years) participated in the study. The instruments used in the study were: test of Chemical Knowledge, Test of Logical Thinking, two tests of visualization abilities Patterns and Rotations, and questionnaire on Intrinsic Motivation for Learning Science. The results show moderate, but statistically significant correlations between students’ intrinsic motivation, formal reasoning abilities and chemical knowledge at submicroscopic level based on reading and drawing SMRs. Visualization abilities are not statistically significantly correlated with students’ success on items that comprise reading or drawing SMRs. It can be also concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between male and female students in solving problems that include reading or drawing SMRs. Based on these statistical results and content analysis of the sample problems, several educational strategies can be implemented for students to develop adequate mental models of chemical concepts on all three levels of representations.     

Quantification of Helicobacter pylori levels in soil samples from public playgrounds in Spain

Helicobacter pylori are ubiquitous Gram-negative bacteria with a high estimated level of infection in the world populations, but a majority of the infected persons are asymptomatic. This pathogen has been classified by the World Health Organization as a class I carcinogen and recognized as the causal agent of most peptic ulcers and chronic gastritis that might lead to stomach cancer. Although not all the transmission pathways of these bacteria into humans have been properly identified, enough data have suggested that the oral-oral or fecal-oral ones are the main infection routes. Helicobacter pylori have been detected in non-treated water and in drinking water, which suggested that water might be an important infection source. As childhood is the critical period of infection, the aim of the present work was to examine the presence of Helicobacter pylori in soil samples from public playing areas of Spanish parks.     

Organisationsentwicklungen und De-Institutionalisierungsprozesse im Sport

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research -     

‘You want the best for your kids’: improving educational outcomes for children living in poverty through parental engagement

Background: Existing evidence suggests a relationship between family social contexts, family relationships and interactions, children’s social and cognitive development and educational outcomes. Interventions that assist families in relation to parenting and supporting children’s development can have positive effects on both parents’ skills and the educational progress of their children.

Purpose: This article reports on a study conducted in an area with high levels of social and economic deprivation in Scotland, which aimed to investigate the nature and effectiveness of the services in place to support poor families. The project focused on capturing the experiences of parents and what they perceived as effective support from the nursery and school staff in terms of getting them more involved in their children’s learning.

Sample: There was a particular focus on the four-to-seven-year age group, thus covering the crucial transition from pre-school (or non-school) provision to primary school. A sample of three Early Education & Childcare Centres (EECCs) and three schools were selected. The schools and EECCs were all from areas of high social deprivation and had a high proportion of children on free school meals.

Design and methods: The study was qualitative in design and included in-depth semi-structured interviews with 19 service managers and practitioners, six focus groups with parents and six activity groups with children. Data were analysed using both pre-determined and emerging codes.

Results: While all parents recognised the value of education for their children’s social mobility and opportunities and were keen to engage in activities, they remained aware of the limited resources they could draw upon, mainly in terms of their restricted academic competencies, specialist knowledge and qualifications. The desire to help their children overcome their families’ economic circumstances was also hampered by the absence of strong social and kinship networks that they could draw upon.

Conclusions: We draw on concepts of social and cultural capital to examine parents’ positioning in relation to their children’s education. The conclusion highlights parents’ strategic orientation to school/nurseries, often seen as a resource of cultural capital, and calls for a more positive discourse of parental engagement in relation to disadvantaged groups.     

Empowering Staff in Dementia Long-Term Care: Towards a More Supportive Approach to Interventions

This pilot-study aimed to assess a psychoeducational program for staff in care homes. The program was designed to increase knowledge regarding dementia care, promote skills to integrate motor and multisensory stimulation in daily care, and develop coping strategies to manage emotional work-related demands. Six staff members received eight psychoeducational sessions held fortnightly and individualized assistance during the provision of morning care to six residents with dementia. An audio-recorded focus group interview with staff and video recordings of residents' behavior during morning care were made and used to assess the program. Staff reported several benefits: acquisition of new knowledge; demystification of preexisting beliefs related to dementia; group cohesion; self-worth feelings; and positive coping. A trend towards improvements at residents' levels of interaction was found. The findings suggest the need of interventions to go beyond the objectives exclusively centered on staff education and the promotion of residents' well-being. This should be achieved by also allowing workers to feel supported and empowered.