A Study of the Decision-Making Behaviours of Turkish Adolescents

The research reported in this paper aimed to examine the relationships between decision-making behaviours, self-esteem, and the perceived problem-solving skills of adolescents and to investigate the contributions of self-esteem and perceived problem-solving skills in predicting decision-making behaviours (decision response styles, decisional self-esteem, and decisional stress). Another aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a difference in the decision-making behaviours of adolescents considering gender and school type. For this purpose, Decision Behaviour Questionnaire, Self-Esteem Inventory, and Problem-Solving Inventory were administered to 511 adolescents (276 females and 235 males) in Turkish high schools. The findings revealed that decisional behaviours were positively correlated with self-esteem and problem solving. At the same time, self-esteem (general, social, academic, and home/family) and problem-solving were significant predictors of decisional behaviours. There were significant differences in decisional behaviours according to gender and type of school.     

The relationship of melatonin concentration in preterm infants and adverse outcomes in the late neonatal period

IntroductionThe aim of research was to assess the melatonin concentrations in the early neonatal period as a predictor of adverse outcomes of late neonatal period in preterm infants and to estimate its optimal predictive cut-off values.Materials and methodsA total of 115 preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit were screened for eligibility, five did not meet the criteria, six parents declined the participation. So, a total of 104 preterm infants with gestational age 25-34 weeks were included in research. The concentration of melatonin in urine was determined by the Enzyme Immunoassay method (Human Melatonin Sulfate ELISA kit, Elabscience, China). The Mann-Whitney U-test and analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used in statistical analysis.ResultsAnalysis of the ROC curves has revealed optimal cut-off values for urinary melatonin concentration to predict late outcomes. Melatonin concentration below 3.58 ng/ml with sensitivity of 72% can predict development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (AUC = 0.73; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.61-0.86). Good diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.80; 95% CI 0.67-0.93) has been shown for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The optimal cut-off value for melatonin concentration in BPD prediction is 3.71 ng/ml (sensitivity 80%, specificity 64%). Urinary melatonin concentration below 3.79 ng/ml can be associated with late-onset sepsis (AUC = 0.76; 95% CI 0.64-0.87; sensitivity 72%; specificity 62%). There were no significant associations between melatonin concentration and necrotizing enterocolitis (P = 0.912).ConclusionUrinary melatonin concentration below the certain cut-off values in the early neonatal period may serve as one of the predictors of adverse outcomes such as BPD, ROP, and late-onset sepsis in the late neonatal period in preterm infants.     

顾客价值驱动要素剖析

在回顾相关理论的基础上,提出了一种顾客价值定义,重点分析了顾客价值的主驱动要素和相应的亚驱动要素。并对顾客感知价值要素和顾客感知成本要素的对应关系进行了讨论。     

顾客感知价值决定要因与关系质量的影响研究

对感知价值和关系质量的维度构成分析的基础上,梳理了他们之间的因果关系,将感知价值决定要因定为功能价值、情感价值、社会价值,探讨了他们对关系质量影响的作用机理,并分析了关系质量内部满意、信任、承诺的相互关系。结果显示功能价值对信任和承诺影响显著,社会价值对承诺影响显著,情感价值对顾客满意、顾客信任和承诺影响均比较显著,满意和信任对于承诺有不同程度影响。     

Multiple Outcomes of Class Visits to Natural History Museums: The Students’ View

The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the range of outcomes of class visits to natural history museums. The theoretical framework is based on the multifaceted process of learning in free choice learning environments, and emphasizes the unique and individual learning experience in museum settings. The study’s significance is in highlighting several possible cognitive as well as non-cognitive learning effects in museums class visits, by providing the student’s point of view. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews with 50 students in grades 6–8 on the day following the visit. We present evidence that students expressed several learning outcomes, connected directly and indirectly to the scientific content of the visit. Content oriented outcomes included acquiring scientific knowledge and making connections to prior knowledge; social oriented outcomes were identified in students’ statements regarding communicating knowledge and social aspects of learning; and interest oriented outcomes were evidenced by students’ expressions about emotions, interest and curiosity. The aggregate data addressed the common outcomes and the impact of class visits to natural history museums in the short term. Comparisons between two types of museums show significant differences in several aspects, regarding the exhibit and/or the activity type. Practical ideas for structuring the ultimate experience are included.     

提高大学生学习自我效能感的团体心理辅导策略

自从班杜拉提出自我效能感的理论之后,很多研究者对此做了深刻而细致的研究。学习自我效能感源于班杜拉的自我效能感理论,大学生的学习自我效能感的高低对学业水平和发展有着直接影响。文章从心理辅导层面提出团体心理辅导在提高大学生学习自我效能感中的应用。     

Student-perceived organizational support and perceived employability in the marketing of higher education

In the current context, the need for marketing in institutions of higher education is undeniable. The specification of the student not merely as a ‘customer’ means that traditional marketing no longer has sufficient capacity to explain the behavior of the student body. In this study, a four-level relationship marketing model is tested to check the influence of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived employability on identification with the institution and the perceived price-quality ratio and how these influence student satisfaction. In addition, the constructs prior to POS and perceived employability are identified, which are explicit enough to enable specific marketing actions to be carried out. As POS is a construct defined for the labor market, its use applied to relational marketing comes up as something innovative.

To this end, Likert scales have been designed and validated to measure these constructs. The results of this test show how the perception of organizational support depends on the relationship of the student body with the administration and management of the center. Likewise, the perception of employability depends on the perceived reputation and the perception of the promotion of employability. Furthermore, it is confirmed that satisfaction is positively related to identification and the perceived price-quality ratio, which in turn are positively related to organizational support and perceived employability.     

Response to Grace’s reflections on Allen and West’s paper

Since the 1970s, school effectiveness research has looked for process-variables filling the black box between mainly structural school features and cognitive outcomes in students. Two concepts came to the fore: school climate and school culture. Both concepts are currently used interchangeably, although it is open to debate whether both are actually the same thing. Because of the way culture and climate are defined and subsequently measured, we propose school culture is a better frame from which to study school effectiveness. This article goes through the premises of perceptual measurement usually overlooked in climate research, and we demonstrate empirically by means of very basic and simple methods and techniques that perceptual measurement and measurement based on assumptions are different approaches and might yield totally different results on an aggregated level. We conclude by demonstrating how culture can be probed and integrated in the models traditionally used in school effectiveness research in an advantageous and theoretically sound way.     

Prospective teachers’ perceptions of instrumentality,boredom coping strategies,and four aspects of engagement

This study examined the mediating roles of prospective teachers’ boredom coping strategies (i.e. cognitive-approach, behavioral-approach, cognitive-avoidance, and behavioral-avoidance strategies) in the relationships between their perceptions of instrumentality and four aspects of engagement (i.e. agentic engagement, behavioral, engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement). A total of 521 prospective teachers participated voluntarily in the study. In addition to the latent factor and observed factor correlation analyses, a series of structural equation modeling analyses were conducted in order to examine the mediating roles of boredom coping strategies. The results demonstrated that perceived instrumentality, boredom coping strategies with the exception of cognitive-avoidance orientation, and four aspects of engagement were significantly related to each other. The results also showed that the relationships between perceived instrumentality and agentic engagement, behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement were slightly, but significantly mediated by cognitive-approach orientation. Implications for teacher education and directions for future studies were also discussed in the present study.     

Engaging with holistic curriculum outcomes: deconstructing ‘working theories’

International debates persist about what constitutes desirable outcomes from early childhood education experiences. The New Zealand early childhood curriculum brings together academic and social-pedagogic outcomes as interdependent holistic constructs named ‘dispositions’ and ‘working theories’. These constructs are complex notions that require interpretation by researchers and teachers in order to be recognised as outcomes by those with a vested interest in children's education: parents and policy-makers. This paper engages with the construct of working theories. It explains its genesis and outlines research activity thus far. The paper draws on findings from a two-year qualitative research project exploring children's interests, inquiries and working theories. The paper analyses two vignettes of working theories into mutually constitutive components of knowledge, skills and strategies, and attitudes and expectations. It argues that deconstructing working theories into elements able to be recognised by those outside early childhood education provides a way to demystify these innovative outcomes. Such scrutiny may assist parents and policy-makers to understand ways that the learning they value is present in the early years. Further, holistic outcomes are responsive to research and scholarship on appropriate pedagogy that encourages children to develop identities as learners, identities critical to living in the twenty-first century.