Career and workplace experiences of Australian university graduates who are deaf or hard of hearing

This article reports on the experiences of a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing alumni of Griffith University in south-east Queensland, Australia. Participants completed a survey answering questions about their communication patterns and preferences, working lives, career barriers or difficulties anticipated and encountered, and workplace accommodations used or sought. Results revealed a range of career barriers and workplace difficulties encountered by these participants, as well as solutions found and strategies used by them. Differences in employment sector, job-search activities, difficult workplace situations, and use of accommodations were noted between 2 groups: those who communicated primarily in Australian Sign Language and considered themselves to have a Deaf or bicultural identity and those who communicated primarily in spoken English and considered themselves to have a hearing identity. Implications for university services supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing students are outlined, and suggestions for further research are made.     

The genetic-environmental etiology of cognitive school readiness and later academic achievement in early childhood

Using a genetic design of 840 60-month-old twins, this study investigated the genetic and environmental contributions to (a) individual differences in four components of cognitive school readiness, (b) the general ability underlying these four components, and (c) the predictive association between school readiness and school achievement. Results revealed that the contribution of the shared environment for cognitive school readiness was substantial. Genetic effects were more important for the core abilities underlying school readiness than for each specific skill, although shared environment remained the largest factor overall. Genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental factors all accounted for the predictive association between school readiness and early school achievement. These results contribute to a better understanding of the early determinants of school readiness.     

Mothers' use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study

Mothers read stories to their children (N=41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book reading correlated with their children's later understanding of mental states. Some pragmatic aspects of maternal input correlated with children's later outcomes. Two different factors in mothers' cognitive discourse were identified, suggesting a zone of proximal development in children's understanding of mental states.     

Physical violence and psychological aggression towards children: five-year trends in practices and attitudes from two population surveys

OBJECTIVE: To present prevalence rates of child psychological aggression and physical violence from a population survey conducted in 2004 and to compare the rates with the rates obtained in the 1999 edition of the survey. METHODS: The survey used a randomly generated telephone number methodology. Interviews were conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interview system with a representative sample of 3,148 mothers living in Quebec province, Canada. Responses relating to psychological aggression, minor and severe physical violence were collected using the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the mothers reported the use of psychological aggression towards a child by an adult living in the household, 43% reported at least one episode of minor violence, and 6% reported at least one episode of severe physical violence. When compared to the 1999 surveys, mothers reported 5% less minor physical violence in 2004, a result that is counterbalanced by a similar significant increase in the report of repeated psychological violence towards children in a year. Results also reveal a significant decrease in attitudes favoring the use of violence for discipline purpose between 2004 and 1999. CONCLUSIONS: The trends observed in violence towards children over the 5-year period may partly be attributed to a change in mother's attitudes concerning methods of disciplining children. Findings support the need to promote alternative methods of firm discipline that do not involve violence.     

A novel way of liver preservation improves rat liver viability upon reperfusion

Background/aim： Currently, the liver is cold-preserved at 0-4 ℃ for experimental and clinical purposes. Here, we investigated whether milder hypothermia during the initial phase of the preservation period was beneficial for liver viability upon reperfusion. Methods： In the first set of experiments, rat livers were preserved either conventionally in clinically used histidine-trypthopan-ketoglutarate （HTK） solution （Group A： 45 min and Group B： 24 h） or by slow cooling HTK solution （from 13 ℃ to 3 ℃） during the initial 45 min of preservation （Group C： 24 h）. In the second set of experiments, additional groups of livers were evaluated： Group BB-preservation according to Group B and Group CC-preservation according to Group C. Further, some livers were preserved at 13 ℃ for 24 h. Livers were then reperfused using a blood-free perfusion model. Results： Bile production was approximately 2-fold greater in Group C compared to Group B. Alanine transaminase （ALT） and aspartate transaminase （AST） release into perfusate were 2-3-fold higher in Group B compared to Group C. No significant differences were found in ALT and AST release between Group C and Group A. Livers in Group CC compared to Group BB exhibited significantly lower portal resistance, greater oxygen consumption and bromosulfophthalein excretion into bile and lower lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） release into perfusate. Histological evaluation of tissue sections in Group BB showed parenchymal dystrophy of hepatocytes, while dystrophy ofhepatocytes was absent in Group CC. Livers preserved at 13 ℃ for 24 h exhibited severe ischemic injury Conclusion： These results suggest that the conventional way of liver preservation is not suitable at least for rat livers and that slow cooling of HTK solution during the initial phase of cold storage can improve liver viability during reperfusion.     

Perception of Faculty of the Bologna Process at a Spanish Technical University: A Perspective of Change and Improvement

The Bologna Process affects the academic community, particularly faculty members who have to implement the process. This study is an initiative by a group of lecturers to evaluate the perception of faculty members in the implementation of the Bologna Process. The aim was to assess the evolution of their opinion on the process since a 2011 survey, and their degree of agreement with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The results show that faculty members call for more adequate training for the new EHEA process and more institutional support. The study reveals the need for greater involvement and collaboration among faculty members to improve the reform process.     

Factors (not) affecting what students do with computers and internet at home

This paper presents the results of an analysis of secondary students’ computer use, aimed at understanding how different factors influence the profile of activities carried out by students with computers. The analysis is based on the data from a national study aimed at measuring students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for learning. A factor analysis was carried out to categorize students’ activities with computers and several indexes were constructed to define the comparison groups. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explain the frequency of the activities. Results show that students with access to computers at home mainly perform activities categorized as Socializing, Academic, Gaming and Production and that although the absolute frequency of these activities differs across groups, the profiles of computer use are surprisingly similar for groups based on students’ socio-economic group, experience with ICT, and self-confidence in the use of ICT. The only variable that discriminates user profiles is gender. Based on these findings, it can be claimed that Chilean secondary students with access to computers at home tend to show a rather homogenous computer-use profile, once access is equated.     

Unravelling knowledge creation and management in educational organisations: barriers and enablers

Knowledge Creation and Management (KCM) is one of the main strategies for fostering improvement in any kind of organisation, including educational organisations, on which this paper is focused. While KCM is being widely studied, little attention has been given to KCM in organisations supplying education, training and/or assessment services to learners (i.e., primary and secondary schools or higher education institutions, among others). From an educational management approach, the aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the factors that foster or inhibit KCM processes conducted within educational organisations. Professionals (n=84), moderators and managers or institutional leaders of four selected cases were surveyed and interviewed. Results show the importance of the main organisational and procedural factors (i.e., organisational values and goals, leadership, structure, culture, dynamics, Information and Communications Technologies, KCM processes and people) to improve KCM results in educational organisations.     

An assessment of a social–cognitive model of academic performance in mathematics in Argentinean middle school students

This study tested a set of hypotheses derived from the model of academic achievement in mathematics of the Social Cognitive Career Theory in a sample of Argentinean middle school students. To this aim, 277 students (male and female; age: 13–15 years) were assessed using the following instruments: logical–mathematical self-efficacy scale, mathematics outcome expectations, mathematics performance goals, and mathematics ability test. All of these instruments had been adapted for use in Argentinean students. Academic achievement in mathematics (i.e., grades obtained on regular school exams) was the variable to be modeled through the path analysis technique. The analysis allowed identification of interrelations among the variables and identification of direct and indirect effects. Academic achievement in mathematics was partially explained by the model. Overall, the results support the theoretical postulates of Social Cognitive Career Theory.