The Influence of Family, Social, and Work Socialization on the Construction of the Professional Identity of Young Adults

The article examines the role of social and professional experiences undertaken by young adults in order to construct their Professional Identity. More particularly, two determining dimensions in this identity construction are studied. The first one concerns socialization for work which corresponds to social experience undergone in the family and in education from childhood. The second one concerns socialization by work which corresponds to professional experience undergone by young adults. The latter dimension is studied from a perspective which comprises two methods: direct integration and assisted integration in the world of work. This article ends by pinpointing the most significant characteristics of the contexts and experiences undergone by young adults in the construction of their Professional Identity, and by discussing what measures might be useful to accompany the school to work transition.     

Homework: a cross-cultural examination

Cultural differences in the amount of time spent on homework and in beliefs and attitudes about homework were investigated through interviews with more than 3,500 elementary school children, their mothers, and their teachers. The children lived in 5 cities: Beijing, Chicago, Minneapolis, Sendai (Japan), and Taipei. Chinese children were assigned more homework and spent more time on homework than Japanese children, who in turn were assigned more and spent more time on homework than American children. Chinese children also received more help from family members with their homework than American and Japanese children. Chinese children were found to have more positive attitudes about homework than American children; Japanese children's attitudes were between those of the Chinese and American children. Relations between amount of time spent on homework by children, amount of time parents spent assisting their children with homework, and children's achievement were also explored. The views of both parents and teachers about the value of homework are discussed.     

Identifying students with dyslexia in higher education

An increasing number of students with dyslexia enter higher education. As a result, there is a growing need for standardized diagnosis. Previous research has suggested that a small number of tests may suffice to reliably assess students with dyslexia, but these studies were based on post hoc discriminant analysis, which tends to overestimate the percentage of systematic variance, and were limited to the English language (and the Anglo-Saxon education system). Therefore, we repeated the research in a non-English language (Dutch) and we selected variables on the basis of a prediction analysis. The results of our study confirm that it is not necessary to administer a wide range of tests to diagnose dyslexia in (young) adults. Three tests sufficed: word reading, word spelling and phonological awareness, in line with the proposal that higher education students with dyslexia continue to have specific problems with reading and writing. We also show that a traditional postdiction analysis selects more variables of importance than the prediction analysis. However, these extra variables explain study-specific variance and do not result in more predictive power of the model.     

Long-term high fructose and saturated fat diet affects plasma fatty acid profile in rats

As the consumption of fructose and saturated fatty acids (FAs) has greatly increased in western diets and is linked with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a moderate (10 weeks) and a prolonged (30 weeks) high fructose and saturated fatty acid (HFS) diet on plasma FA composition in rats. The effects of a few weeks of HFS diet had already been described, but in this paper we tried to establish whether these effects persist or if they are modified after 10 or 30 weeks. We hypothesized that the plasma FA profile would be altered between 10 and 30 weeks of the HFS diet. Rats fed with either the HFS or a standard diet were tested after 10 weeks and again after 30 weeks. After 10 weeks of feeding, HFS-fed rats developed the metabolic syndrome, as manifested by an increase in fasting insulinemia, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as by impaired glucose tolerance. Furthermore, the plasma FA profile of the HFS group showed higher proportions of monounsaturated FAs like palmitoleic acid [16:1(n-7)] and oleic acid [18:1(n-9)], whereas the proportions of some polyunsaturated n-6 FAs, such as linoleic acid [18:2(n-6)] and arachidonic acid [20:4(n-6)], were lower than those in the control group. After 30 weeks of the HFS diet, we observed changes mainly in the levels of 16:1(n-7) (decreased) and 20:4(n-6) (increased). Together, our results suggest that an HFS diet could lead to an adaptive response of the plasma FA profile over time, in association with the development of the metabolic syndrome.     

Sources of difficulty in assessment: example of PISA science items

ABSTRACT

The understanding of what makes a question difficult is a crucial concern in assessment. To study the difficulty of test questions, we focus on the case of PISA, which assesses to what degree 15-year-old students have acquired knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. Our research question is to identify PISA science item characteristics that could influence the item’s proficiency level. It is based on an a-priori item analysis and a statistical analysis. Results show that only the cognitive complexity and the format out of the different characteristics of PISA science items determined in our a-priori analysis have an explanatory power on an item’s proficiency levels. The proficiency level cannot be explained by the dependence/independence of the information provided in the unit and/or item introduction and the competence. We conclude that in PISA, it appears possible to anticipate a high proficiency level, that is, students’ low scores for items displaying a high cognitive complexity. In the case of a middle or low cognitive complexity level item, the cognitive complexity level is not sufficient to predict item difficulty. Other characteristics play a crucial role in item difficulty. We discuss anticipating the difficulties in assessment in a broader perspective.     

Learning and design with online real-time collaboration

This paper explores the use of emerging Cloud technologies that support real-time online collaboration. It considers the extent to which these technologies can be leveraged to develop complex skillsets supporting interaction between multiple learners in online spaces. In a pilot study that closely examines how groups of learners translate two kinds of collaborative writing tasks, the paper critically investigates some of the positive individual- and group-based strategies that embody effective, genuine online collaboration. Taking into consideration the relationship between the elements of task design, learning experiences and the learning environment, the paper addresses need to come to a fuller understanding of how learners interact in real time and use this understanding to inform future designs in e-learning.     

Learned Helplessness and Psychological Adjustment II: Effects of learning disabilities and low achievement

The present study, a continuation of Valås (2001), is concerned with two categories of low achieving students. The focus is particularly on the consequences of being diagnosed as having learning disabilities compared with not having such a diagnosis. The sample consisted of 1833 students with data collected in grades 4, 7 and 9. Multivariate analyses of variances and analyses of structural equation models showed that students with learning disabilities and low achieving students attributed success in mathematics and first language to ability to a greater extent than other students. They also expressed lower performance expectations in mathematics and verbal skills and showed more helplessness and reported inferior psychological adjustment compared with other students. Moreover, students that were diagnosed as having learning disabilities (LD) and received special education showed more helplessness than the other low achieving children. They also reported lower academic expectations and lower self-esteem. In addition, the results revealed that boys showed more helpless behaviour, as assessed by teachers, than girls. However, on the other hand, girls reported more psychological maladjustment. The conclusion and request is that the process of selection (diagnosing the student as LD) and the organization and implementation of special education should be reconsidered.     

THE RACIAL STRESS OF MEMBERSHIP: DEVELOPMENT OF THE FACULTY INVENTORY OF RACIALIZED EXPERIENCES IN SCHOOLS

Research on the experience of faculty of color in predominately White independent schools (PWIS) is limited. This study explored faculty of varying racial backgrounds and their initiation of, interactions with, and stress reactions to racial conflicts within the school settings using an online survey. Several measures were developed according to the Racial/Ethnic Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (recast) model and administered to 339 faculty participants. Using factor analytic and correlational analyses, results from the highly reliable measures found that Black faculty show significantly less trust in schools to manage racial conflict, lower sense of school membership, greater racial stress, and more racial socialization than their White counterparts do. With reliable and valid measures on the racialized experiences of faculty in PWIS, future research can ask better questions on how much racial politics influence diversity initiatives, including faculty and student recruitment and retention, supportive racial and intellectual climate, and organizational mission and professional development. Implications for the development of racially relevant measures in schools are discussed.     

Role of Significant Life Experiences in Building Environmental Knowledge and Behavior Among Middle School Students

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.