Explanations of attitudes to change: Colombian mathematics teachers’ conceptions of the crucial determinants of their teaching practices of beginning algebra

This article arises from a study whose overall purpose was to investigate the relationship between Colombian mathematics teachers’ conceptions of beginning algebra and their conceptions of their own teaching practices. The teachers’ understandings of their teaching practices were explored with a view to unravelling their conceptions of change in their teaching. Focusing on the perspectives of teachers afforded opportunities that exposed the powerful role that the teachers’ conceptions of social/institutional factors of teaching played in their conceptions of their practices. The degree to which the teachers attributed these (external) factors as crucial reasons for what they do in their teaching was the basis of a categorisation of their conceptions of the crucial determinants of their teaching practices into three types. The findings are particularly relevant to our understanding of the stability of mathematics teaching approaches in the Colombian context but have likely implications for a range of international education contexts. Specific implications for the development of the research into teachers’ conceptions of mathematics and its teaching, and for teacher education programmes are presented.

北京奥运会对残疾大学生体育态度的影响

使用自编的《北京奥运会社会态度问卷》对长春大学特殊教育学院的329名残疾人大学生进行了测试,结果显示,北京奥运会的成功举办对残疾大学生的体育态度产生了较大的积极影响,残疾大学生对北京奥运会成功举办有着积极的认知。但与健全学生相比,残疾大学生对体育运动的态度比较消极,其参与体育运动的程度较低。应加强对残疾人大学生的体育运动指导和奥运精神的教育。     

Formal and parental sex education differences among Hispanic young women by nativity status

This study sought to investigate the association between nativity status and Hispanic young women’s formal sex education and parental sex education in the USA. We used data from a cross-sectional sample of 310 Hispanic young women aged 18–24 years old from the 2013–2015 US National Survey of Family Growth. We assessed 11 outcomes: four formal sex education topics; receiving any formal sex education; a formal sex education scale; four parental sex education topics; and receiving any parental sex education. The majority of our sample was US-born Hispanic versus foreign born (72.6% and 27.4% respectively). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received any type of formal sex education than US-born Hispanics (adjusted odds ratio = 0.81; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.68, p < 0.01). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received parental HIV sex education than U.S.-born Hispanics (aOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.97, p < 0.05). Nativity status did not have a significant effect on each unit increase on the scale (aB = –0.07, SE = 0.16; aβ = –0.42, p > 0.05). Our results indicate that having appropriate sex education knowledge is better than not being cognisant. Future studies should however examine the quality and content of sex education programmes so policymakers can better understand these young women’s sexual behaviours and decisions.     

Effects of an Educational Film About Body Donors on Students' Empathy and Anxiety Levels in Gross Anatomy

While most German anatomy institutes provide only limited information about body donors and their lives, students have expressed a desire to learn more about these individuals, especially about their motivations to donate their bodies for the sake of medical education. In order to gratify this wish, as well as to further humanize body donors, an educational film was compiled, and a study designed to capture the film's effects on medical students. This is the first study using standardized, validated psychological tools to evaluate the impact of an educational film about body donors on students’ empathy and psychological stress levels. The study followed a longitudinal, controlled, and cluster randomized design, including 77 (48 females/29 males) participants who watched the video either before, midway, or after the dissection course. Questionnaires were completed at four points in time applying the Jefferson Scale for Empathy (JSPE-S) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to measure empathy. Psychological stress levels were recorded by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Overall, students recommended the film to be shown to all students (median 6.0; maximum on the six-point Likert scale). Viewing the film revealed no significant changes between study groups or over time in JSPE-S sum scores. All groups demonstrated a significant reduction of BSI values before the dissection course actually started and increased values during the course, but both developments appeared not to be associated with the intervention. Overall, the educational film did not correlate with any negative effects on students’ empathy and psychological stress levels, and it was strongly approved of by students, as it provided more humanizing personal information about body donors without violating their anonymity.     

高校女生婚恋观认知偏差研究——以丽水学院为例

采用自编问卷,考察丽水学院女生对婚恋观的认知。调查结果表明,环境与心理状态的不同导致部分高校女生对婚恋观的认知存在较大偏差。当代女大学生婚恋观偏差主要有以下几个类型：功利型、虚荣从众型、空虚型、游戏型。分析了这些婚恋观产生的原因,并提出相应的教育对策。     

The relationship between exposure to family violence in childhood and post-traumatic stress symptoms in young adulthood: The mediating role of social support

BackgroundExtensive research has examined the relationship between exposure to family violence and its long-term mental health effects. Social support has been found to moderate this relationship, but there is a dearth of research on its mediating role.ObjectivesThe article presents the results of a study on the relationship between witnessing interparental violence and experiencing parental violence during childhood and adolescence on the one hand, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during young adulthood on the other. In addition, the article presents results on the role of social support as a mediator in this relationship.Method, participants, and settingA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 516 Israeli university and college students (90.7% female, and 9.3% male; M age = 24.9, SD = 2.7) using a retrospective, self-administered questionnaire.ResultsThe results revealed that exposure to each pattern of family violence (i.e., witnessing interparental violence and experiencing parental violence) predicted higher levels of PTSS. Furthermore, social support was found to partially mediate the relationship between exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence and current PTSS as well as its four symptoms, i.e., depression, sleep disturbance, dissociation, and anxiety.ConclusionsThe results of the current study highlight the important role of social support in the association between adversities experienced early in life and young adulthood outcomes. The findings are interpreted on the basis of Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll et al., 1990), which served as the conceptual framework for the study. The limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.     

高职大学生父母教养方式现状及策略研究

父母教养方式对子女的身心健康发展有着最为直接和密切的影响,对高职大学生的心理健康水平有着重要影响,应积极努力构造学生主体、家庭、学校、社会的四位一体的全员育人系统,从而为探索合理的高职大学生家庭教育模式提供良好的架构平台。     

Does religion matter? Italians’ responses towards Muslim and Christian Arab immigrants as a function of their acculturation preferences

A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment examined the role of immigrants’ religion and perceived acculturation strategy on majority members’ attitudes. Acculturation strategies were manipulated along the two dimensions of contact and culture maintenance. Italian majority members (N = 247) read fictitious but seemingly real interviews with Arab immigrants, in which the immigrants’ religion (Muslim vs. Christian) and acculturation preferences (desire for contact and for culture maintenance) were manipulated. MANOVA showed a main effect of contact: majority members associated immigrants who were perceived to favour contact with more positive attitudes, empathy, trust, positive stereotypes and metastereotypes, and lower levels of threat. MANOVA also showed a main effect of culture maintenance: when immigrants were perceived to abandon their culture, majority members reported lower levels of symbolic threat and greater empathy towards them. A significant Religion x Culture maintenance interaction effect emerged on majority members’ stereotypes and contact intentions: Muslim immigrants who were perceived to abandon their heritage culture elicited more favourable responses than Muslim immigrants who were perceived to maintain their heritage culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that desire for intergroup contact amongst immigrants, independently of their religion, can promote harmonious intergroup relations with the majority group.     

Understandings of national identity and outgroup attitudes in culturally diverse Mauritius

This study investigated understandings of national group belonging in relation to attitudes toward foreign and established outgroups in Mauritius. Representative data were collected among the three numerically largest ethno-cultural groups (Hindus, Muslims, and Creoles; N_total = 1770) and results confirmed a distinction between “being,” “doing,” and “feeling” Mauritian among all three groups, with some small differences for Creoles compared to Hindus and Muslims. Furthermore, “being” Mauritian was not significantly related to attitudes toward established and foreign outgroups. In contrast, the “doing” understanding was negatively associated with both attitudes, and the “feeling” understanding showed positive associations with both outgroup attitudes among all three participant groups. The findings make a novel contribution to the literature on how people understand national identity, how these understandings differ between ethno-cultural groups within a nation, and how these relate to attitudes toward foreign as well as established outgroups.     

父母教养方式对大学生子女体重指数和身体活动行为的影响研究

运用问卷调查法和数理统计法,对176名大学生及其父母的饮食、身体活动及教养方式进行调查分析。结果显示,子女同父母在体重指数（BMI）上具有显著正相关关系（r=19,P＜05）,而在每周平均身体活动量上无显著相关（r=08,P=17）。回归分析表明,三类教养方式对子女BMI均无直接预测作用,然而专制型父母教养方式对父母与子女BMI的相关关系起间接调节作用（P＜01）;在子女身体活动行为方面,溺爱型父母教养方式更有可能导致子女的身体活动不足（P＜01）。研究结果表明,大学生离开家庭环境后,父母教养方式仍然对子女BMI和身体活动行为产生持续影响,父母与子女BMI方面存在相关关系。为今后在青少年肥胖干预及身体活动促进研究中纳入教养方式因素提供了实证依据。