Cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies among Arabic language students

This study investigates cognitive and metacognitive strategies in learning oral Arabic among students at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. The concept of these strategies was derived from the self-regulated learning framework, which consists of five components, namely rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, and metacognitive strategies. The purposes of this study are to investigate the level of cognitive and metacognitive strategies used (1) among UiTM students; (2) between students with different prior experiences, namely, some of them had an experience of 5 years in learning Arabic in secondary school (abbreviated by SWE) and some of them did not have any experience at all (abbreviated by SNE); (3) between students of different gender; and (4) between students with the interaction of different gender and prior experience. The sample of this study consists of 183 students and employs a questionnaire adapted from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The study revealed that (1) all UiTM students used cognitive and metacognitive strategies at a moderate level; (2) SWE scored significantly higher than SNE in all five components of cognitive and metacognitive strategies; (3) females scored significantly higher than males in rehearsal, organization, and metacognitive strategies; and (4) there were no statistically significant differences noted in all components between students with the interaction of prior experience and gender. This study had some classroom implications. It suggested that some improvement and changes in learning oral Arabic should be made in terms of selecting learning materials, implementing oral Arabic activities, and learning tasks, which will stimulate the use of all strategies, as well as conducting proficiency tests instead of achievement tests. Students should also be exposed to the learning techniques which used all these strategies extensively and collaborative activities may be carried out among students with mixed prior experience and gender.     

Teachers' concerns about inclusive education in Ahmedabad,India

This study was undertaken to determine the concerns of primary school teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities in Ahmedabad, India. A total of 560 teachers, working in government‐run schools, returned the completed survey. A two‐part questionnaire was used in this study. Part 1 gathered information relating to personal and professional characteristics of the teachers. Part 2 was a 21‐item Likert scale titled Concerns about Inclusive Education – Gujarati. The major finding of the study was that the teachers in Ahmedabad were moderately concerned about including students with disabilities in their classrooms. The teachers were most concerned about lack of infrastructural resources and least concerned about lack of social acceptance of students with disabilities in inclusive education classrooms. Significant differences existed in teacher concerns based on the following background variables: gender, qualifications in special education, teaching experience and number of students with disabilities in class. A number of implications are discussed to address teacher concerns for inclusive education in India.     

Clinical utility of serum thyroglobulin in acute haemorrhage into the thyroid

Seven cases of suspected haemorrhage In pre-existing adenoma or cyst in the thyroid showed serum thyroglobulin (tg) levels phenomenonly elevated. The serum tg leveis reduced remarkably within one to three montha. During this period all patients were treated with thyroxin. It is concluded that serial serum thyroglobulin determinations may be useful in confirming the clinical suspicion of haemorrhage in the thyroid.     

Exploring the Form and the Function: a Review of Science Discourse Frameworks in the Service of Research and Practice

Research in Science Education - The importance of how classroom discourse can be used to support science learning has gained national attention with respect to both science teaching and research...     

A serial follow up study of cardiac marker enzymes during the week after acute myocardial infarction

Laboratory infarction diagnostics are based on the detection of elevated serum activities of creatine kinase (CK) Creatine kinase Isoenzyme MB (CKMB) and Transaminases. Determination of these cardiac marker enzymes permits the diagnosis of transmural myocardial infarction. However in such patients the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction can be confirmed by the clinical symptoms and changes in the ECG, in addition to the enzyme assays. The 50 AMI patients selected in the present study were those admitted to the ICCU of Shri Krishna Hospital, Karamsad. The blood samples were taken at Zero hours (i.e. at the time of admission of the patient). Within 6 hrs of the starting of chest pain, 1.5 million units of streptokinase were mixed with 100 to 150ml of normal saline and administered by infusion over a period of one hour. The blood samples were further collected at intervals of 6 hrs, 14hrs, 32hrs, 48hrs, 5^th day and 7^th day. The blood samples were analyzed for CK, CKMB, SGOT, α HBDH and Cardiac specific Troponin T. By 6hrs the CK and CKMB values had started rising, the rise continuing at 14hrs with peak values at 32hrs. The CK showed a slight decrease by 48 hrs. The cardiac Troponin T showed wide time window from 4 hrs to 7^th day for detecting myocardial damage. The maximum cardiac Troponin T values were during the first 24hrs. Cardiac Troponin T in serum appears to be a more sensitive and early indicator of myocardial cell injury in comparison to CKMB.     

A Synergistic Role of Myeloperoxidase and High Sensitivity Troponin T in the Early Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome

Aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and high sensitive Troponin T in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This was a cross sectional study that comprised of 120 individuals of which 75 were cases and 45 healthy controls. On the basis of clinical history and 12 lead electrocardiogram initial diagnosis of ACS was made in the cases. MPO and high sensitive Troponin T (hs-cTnT) was measured in all the individuals. Levels of MPO were significantly higher in patients of ACS as compared to those in control group [medians: 15.40 (95 % CI 11.06–20.84) vs 5.84 (95 % CI 5.50–6.44)]. By taking the cut off as >11.87 U/mL for MPO, its sensitivity was 87 % (95 % CI 73.7–95.1), specificity was 97.3 % (95 % CI 90.6–99.7), positive predictive value was 94.6 % and negative predictive value was 92.6 %. Positive likelihood ratio was 33.0 while negative likelihood ratio was 0.13, whereas the corresponding values in case of hs-cTnT were 95.6 % (95 % CI 85.2–99.5), 61.3 % (95 % CI 49.5–72.6), 59.7 %, 95.8 %, 2.47 and 0.07 by taking cut off as >14 pg/ml. The area under the ROC curves (AUC) of MPO and hscTnT at 0–6 h were 0.971 (95 % CI 0.92–0.99, P < 0.001) and 0.797 (95 % CI 0.71–0.86, P < 0.001) respectively. The logistic model combining the two markers yielded sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 95.7, 97.3, 98.2 and 93.7 % respectively. It was concluded that MPO and hs-cTnT may be useful tools for risk stratification of ACS and can be used together with better accuracy in the early diagnosis of ACS.     

International students’ choice to study in China: an exploratory study

Tertiary Education and Management - International higher education is a major source of revenue in many developed countries. Historically the top destination countries for international students...     

Attitudes of Kuwaiti parents toward physical punishment of children

Objective: The major aim was to describe parental attitudes to physical punishments and examine their sociodemographic correlates. A related aim was to assess the association of parents’ own experience of physical punishment with attitudes to punishment of children.Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the second week of December, 1996 in five general clinics covering the major administrative areas of Kuwait: 337 Kuwaiti mothers and fathers with at least one living child were contacted; 95% were successfully interviewed using a structured questionnaire.Results: Eighty-six percent of parents agreed with physical punishment as a means of child disciplining. Agreement with punishment was higher in case of serious misbehaviors such as stealing (63%), sniffing glue and using drugs (77%). Multiple regression results showed that parent’s lower level of education and Bedouin ethnicity were positively associated with agreement on physical punishment. Larger percentages of parents who had experienced physical punishments themselves agreed with such punishment to discipline their children, but this was not statistically significant.Conclusions: In recent years education has become widespread for both sexes. An inverse association between educational level and agreement on physical beating suggest that attitudes to this form of child disciplining are changing. Those with a Bedouin ethnic background still adhere more strictly to the traditional forms of child disciplining including physical beating. There is a need for conducting research on the possible negative psychosocial impacts of physical punishment in view of findings from other countries.     

Quality assessment and institutional change: Experiences from 14 countries

The paper draws on an international study of theeffects of national and institutional quality management systems onhigher education institutions in 14 countries. The study wasundertaken by the authors on behalf of the programme forInstitutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) of theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Over the last decade, almost all European countries have establishednational systems for the assessment of quality in higher education. Similar developments can be found in many other parts of the world. In most countries, these developments have been largely sponsored bythe state even if the national quality agencies so formed generallyhave a significant degree of operational autonomy and mainly use aform of peer review as their primary assessment method.Drawing on the IMHE study, the paper presents a conceptual model ofthe relationships between quality management and institutionalchange in higher education which takes into account variations inthe national and institutional contexts in which quality managementand assessment takes place as well as differences in the methodsused. The impact of quality assessment is considered in terms ofrewards/incentives, policies/structures and cultures ofinstitutions.The paper argues that central to the establishment of qualitymanagement and assessment systems, whether national or institutionalare questions of power and values. One of the central questionswhich the paper explores is the extent to which quality management represents a challenge to the intrinsic value systems of the academicprofession and is a mechanism through which extrinsic values ofsociety and economy are given greater weight in academicinstitutional life. Changes in the balance of power within academic life between system, institutional, basic unit and individual levelsare explored as part of more general processes of institutionalchange.