The Effects of Collaborative Care of Living Animals in Biology Lessons on Students’ Relatedness Toward Their Teacher Across Gender

Research in Science Education - The transition from elementary school to the upper grades can lead to ambiguous feelings toward the new, male teachers. This study investigated whether collaborative...     

Dual market structures and the likelihood of repeated ties - evidence from pharmaceutical biotechnology

This paper analyses the role of repeated ties in the high-tech pharmaceutical biotechnology industry, a sector that is characterized by a strong dual market structure. Our most important finding is that previous ties in pairs of large pharmaceutical companies and small biotechnology firms have a negative effect on their subsequent partnering. An explanation for this result is found in the context of understanding the specifics of large-small coalitions in a high-tech dual market structure. Unlike what is known about repeated ties in many other industries, this high-tech dual market structure indicates that R&D partnerships between a small number of very large companies and a large group of dependent, small firms are not characterized by mutual dependence, similarity, or equality.     

Understanding effects of COVID-19 on undergraduate academic stress,motivation and coping over time

The rapid and unprecedented shift from face-to-face instruction to remote online learning as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on teaching and learning in Higher Education: students had to adapt to a new way of learning, away from typical campus settings and their peers, and to new forms of assessments. This study examined academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and ways of coping from a sample of 177 unique students from a large London university, collecting primary data via survey at three time points during the academic year 2020/21 when teaching was remote and online only. Our findings show how patterns in academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and coping vary over the course of the academic year giving novel insight into how student learning and adaptation to the situation changed over time. We also report on differences in these patterns according to year group and for those students who are the first-in-family to attend university and those who are not. Based on these findings we identify priority areas where higher education institutions should support undergraduate students and provide evidence that some groups of students may need more and targeted support to secure their ongoing learning and well-being.     

Relationship between Modern-Dance Experience and Balancing Performance

Abstract

Nicholls's theory of achievement motivation (1989) assumes one's goal orientation in an achievement activity is consistent with one's views concerning what is acceptable behavior in that setting. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of a task and ego goal orientation (i.e., the tendency to focus on personal mastery or beating others, respectively) to sportsmanship attitudes and perceptions of the legitimacy of aggressive acts by testing this assumption in the context of interscholastic sport. Fifty-six male and 67 female high school basketball players completed a three-part questionnaire assessing (a) individual differences in goal orientation, (b) approval of “unsportsmanlike play/cheating,” “strategic play,” and “sportsmanship behaviors,” and (c) subjective ratings of the legitimacy of intentionally injurious behaviors. All measures were basketball-specific. Results indicated a low task orientation and high ego orientation corresponded to an endorsement of unsportsmanlike play/cheating. Ego orientation positively related to the rating of aggressive acts as more legitimate. Gender differences in goal orientation, sportsmanship attitudes, and legitimacy ratings were observed.     

The Shifting Relationship between Vocational and Higher Education in France and Germany: towards convergence?

In Europe, the Bologna and Copenhagen Processes in higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) are on the agenda, aiming to create a European educational area. Acknowledging important differences between countries, we compare the evolving relationship between HE and VET. We ask whether and how these two distinct organisational fields in France and Germany have changed in recent decades. Comparing institutional shifts, the article analyses whether long-standing differences in postsecondary education and training systems and the education/economy nexus in these two countries have remained stable. We argue that these countries’ skill formation systems have begun to converge, departing from their original institutionalisation paths. Thus, while the traditional typologies that contrast France and Germany have served as useful heuristic devices, they require revision to adequately represent incremental institutional change in these skill formation systems resulting from endogenous reforms and exogenous pressures due to Europeanisation.     

Rebuilding: Organizing and Operating Under New Management

In 2014, the highly experienced Head of Electronic Resources and Serials Services at Auburn University Libraries retired. Parallel changes in workflows, staffing, and organizational structure were also taking place, resulting in an intense period of transition that included merging two units. This presentation describes the transition process from the perspective of the new Head of Technical Services and one paraprofessional staff in the merged units. The presentation focuses on the processes of change, guiding philosophies, and lessons learned.     

Language in science performance: do good readers perform better?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Science performance is highly affected by students’ reading comprehension. Recently, there has been a growing attention to the role of linguistic...     

Higher education students’ experiences of a short-term international programme: Exploring cultural competency and professional development

Background: Globalisation trends such as increased migration to and within European countries have led to even greater cultural diversity in European societies. Cultural diversity increases the demand of cultural competency amongst professionals entering their work field. In particular, healthcare professionals need knowledge and skills to equip them to work with clients from different cultural backgrounds. Within higher education (HE), the professional development of cultural competency should ideally feature in undergraduate education and is often promoted as a by-product of a study abroad period. However, recognising that logistical and financial barriers often exist for extended study abroad, one alternative approach could be participation, at home or abroad, in a short-term international programme set within students’ own HE institutions.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore HE students’ experiences of participating in international ‘short-term mobility week’ programmes at three European universities.

Methods: Each university involved in the research offered short-term programmes for healthcare professions students at their own institution, where both local students and students from abroad could participate. Participants were healthcare students in the programme at one of the three universities. Data were collected through focus group interviews (4–8 students per group; n = 25). The data were transcribed and then analysed qualitatively, using a content comparison method.

Results: The analysis identified six categories, which reflected students’ journeys within the short-term international experiences.

Conclusions: The analysis suggested that, for these students, engagement in a short-term mobility week programme provided valuable opportunities for encounters with others, which contributed to personal and professional development, greater confidence in the students’ own professional identities, as well as an increasing sense of cultural awareness.