Meeting the Demands of the Workplace: Science Students and Written Skills

Over the last 15 years, surveys in a range of English-speaking countries, from North America and the United Kingdom, to New Zealand and Australia, have consistently shown that employers rank oral and written communication skills as highly as or more highly than any technical or quantitative skills. However, in New Zealand there has been very little research into determining exactly what is meant by the “written communication skills” employers state they desire. A further issue in this research to date has been a lack of differentiation between employers—no study has specifically targeted the requirements of employers of science graduates. This article reports the findings of ongoing research into the expectations of science students and of employers of science graduates, and centers around several key questions:

• What do New Zealand employers of science graduates specifically want in terms of their new hires' writing skills?
• How can information gained from employers of science graduates be used to motivate science students to take seriously the need to develop their writing skills?
• How can writing programs be evaluated and developed to help science students acquire communication skills that are important for their future learning and for their employment and promotion prospects?

Findings are compared with the findings of the 2004 National Commission on Writing's survey of American businesses.

     

The murder of children by fathers in the context of child abuse

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the backgrounds of fathers who fatally abuse their children and the contexts within which these homicides occur. The type of relationship between victim, perpetrator, and the victim's mother was a particular interest. METHODS: Data were gathered from 26 cases of fatal child abuse perpetrated by fathers derived from the wider Murder in Britain study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from extensive prison case files of men serving life sentences for child murder. RESULTS: This was a group of undereducated, underemployed men with significant criminal histories. All except one victim had been subjected to previous violence by the offender, almost three-quarter of whom had also perpetrated violence against their intimate partners (the child's birth mother). Many men had unreasonable expectations and low tolerance levels of normal childhood behaviors, and many appeared jealous and resentful of these young children. All 26 victims were under 4 years of age. Sixty-two percent of the offenders were stepfathers and in only four cases was the perpetrator a birth father married to the birth mother. Stepfathers had more disrupted and disadvantaged backgrounds and experiences than birth fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that fathers who perpetrate fatal child abuse have a propensity to use violence against children in their care and intimate partners, raising questions about the gender dynamics and generational boundaries operating in these families. The nature and type of intimate relationship (whether married or cohabiting) and fathering relationship (whether birth or de facto) were important differentiating factors in these homicides as well as characteristics of the offender. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Professionals working in child protection strive to provide effective services to children and families, ever vigilant to the possibility of the death of a child as a consequence of an assault. By and large, fathers (either biological or de facto) as the perpetrators of such assaults have received minimal attention in both policy and practice. Findings from this study suggest that practitioners need to be cognizant of men's attitudes towards and expectations of fathering (particularly stepfathering) which may present increased levels of risk to both children and intimate partners.     

A comparison between paper‐based and online learning in higher education

To date researchers have had difficulty establishing reliable conclusions in studies comparing traditional forms of learning (eg paper‐based or classroom based) vs online learning in relation to student learning outcomes; no consistent results have emerged, and many studies have not been controlled for factors other than lesson mode. This paper compares the effects of presenting two versions of lessons on punctuation that differed only in their mode of presentation. 59 students completed a pre‐lesson questionnaire, and after the lessons completed another questionnaire plus the NASA‐TLX which tests subjective cognitive workload stress. The results showed that students who sat the lessons on paper performed 24% better than those who sat the lessons online. Reasons for this difference in learning outcomes are considered, but no clear reason is apparent in the data from this study. The study sounds a note of caution in terms of the move by tertiary institutions to online and/or blended learning, and suggests further studies are required which assess learning outcomes in different mode of learning.     

Acute and chronic effect of sodium bicarbonate ingestion on Wingate test performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the acute and chronic effects of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) ingestion on Wingate performance. Following a search through PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, 9 studies were found meeting inclusion criteria (6 acute and 3 chronic). Random-effects meta-analysis of standardized mean difference (SMD) for peak and mean power was performed. Study quality was assessed using the QualSyst. Results of the meta-analysis showed that acute ingestion of NaHCO₃ did not improve Wingate test peak (weighted average effect size Hedges’s g = 0.02, 95%CI: – 0.19 to 0.23, P = 0.87) or mean power (weighted average effect size Hedges’s g = 0.15, 95%CI: ?0.06 to 0.36, P = 0.92). However, chronic ingestion of NaHCO₃ improved Wingate test peak (weighted average effect size Hedges’s g = 1.21, 95%CI: 0.83 to 1.42, P = 0.001) and mean power (weighted average effect size Hedges’s g = 1.26, 95%CI: 0.96 to 1.56, P = 0.001). Quality assessment of selected articles was classified as strong. This meta-analysis provides evidence that chronic, but not acute, ingestion of NaHCO₃ increases both Wingate test peak and mean power.     

Sodium bicarbonate ingestion increases glycolytic contribution and improves performance during simulated taekwondo combat

Purpose: To investigate the effect of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) on performance and estimated energy system contribution during simulated taekwondo combat. Methods: Nine taekwondo athletes completed two experimental sessions separated by at least 48?h. Athletes consumed 300?mg/kg body mass of NaHCO₃ or placebo (CaCO₃) 90?min before the combat simulation (three rounds of 2 min separated by 1 min passive recovery), in a double-blind, randomized, repeated-measures crossover design. All simulated combat was filmed to quantify the time spent fighting in each round. Lactate concentration [La^?] and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured before and after each round, whereas heart rate (HR) and the estimated contribution of the oxidative (W_OXI), ATP (adenosine triphosphate)-phosphocreatine (PCr) (W_PCR), and glycolytic (W_{[ La^? ]}) systems were calculated during the combat simulation. Results: [La^?] increased significantly after NaHCO₃ ingestion, when compared with the placebo condition (+14%, P?=?0.04, d?=?3.70). NaHCO₃ ingestion resulted in greater estimated glycolytic energy contribution in the first round when compared with the placebo condition (+31%, P?=?0.01, d?=?3.48). Total attack time was significantly greater after NaHCO₃ when compared with placebo (+13%, P?=?0.05, d?=?1.15). W_OXI, W_PCR, VO₂, HR and RPE were not different between conditions (P?>?0.05). Conclusion: NaHCO₃ ingestion was able to increase the contribution of glycolytic metabolism and, therefore, improve performance during simulated taekwondo combat.     

Using expectations and satisfaction to measure the frontiers of efficiency in public universities

Students’ satisfaction with their university and course is of fundamental importance to retain students and promote their positive worth-of-mouth. The objective of this research is to analyse the level of efficiency of Portuguese public universities, according to the expectations and satisfaction of their students. To accomplish the objective, this article uses data envelopment analysis methodology. As our unit of analysis, we selected the faculties making up the universities researched. The analytical input came from the expectations of 1669 students regarding their study programme and their universities. The outputs stem from their satisfaction with their study programmes and their universities. We conclude that university practices do not currently guarantee efficiency. We also observe that efficiency in the relationship between expectations and general satisfaction with the study programme does not represent efficiency in the relationship between expectations and general satisfaction with the university, and vice versa.