How university diversity rationales inform student preferences and outcomes.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Starck JG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8072243 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:This study examined student-teachers' diversity and attitudes toward classroom participation in a Tanzanian university. A mixed research approach was used to answer three research questions: student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation, attitude differences based on their diversity, and the reasons for their attitudes toward classroom participation. The study involved 701 student-teachers in their second and third years of study. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions and were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science and MAXQDA software. Results indicated that student-teachers cooperated with colleagues in groups rather than the whole classroom. The results also indicated diversity in classroom participation by gender, programme, and year of study. Further, it was revealed that student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation were based on prior experiences, cultural aspects, linguistic barriers, lecturer pedagogical practices, and teaching context. It is concluded that the student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation were variably associated with their diversity, and the reasons for the attitudes were mediated internally and externally. Therefore, it is recommended that lectures be conducted by employing apt techniques for fostering active participation to enrich the classroom with student-teachers and lecturers' voices in knowledge construction and sharing. The techniques should be gender, programme, and year of study sensitive while integrating students-teachers' internal and external mediating factors to create interactive classroom moments that encourage knowledge creation and sharing among the classroom members.
| S-EPMC10238682 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC10484318 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveDigital interventions can be effective in preventing and treating common mental health conditions among university students. Incorporating student experiences and perspectives in the design and implementation of these programmes may improve uptake and engagement. This qualitative study explored university students' perspectives of a low-intensity video-based mental health intervention, their recommendations for implementing the programme in university settings, and their views and recommendations to address barriers to engagement.MethodsParticipants (N = 115) were students (mean = 20.63 years, SD = 2.10) with elevated distress from 31 Australian universities drawn from a randomised controlled trial of the Uni Virtual Clinic-Lite (UVC-Lite). Data from students randomised to the intervention condition were collected via semi-structured interviews (n = 12) and open-ended questions during post-intervention surveys (n = 103). Data were analysed using content analysis.ResultsParticipants generally reported positive views of the intervention, and most felt it should be offered to students as a universal intervention. Multiple methods of disseminating the intervention were suggested, including through university counselling, official platforms (e.g. student support services) and informal channels (e.g. word-of-mouth promotion). Difficulty integrating the programme into everyday life, pre-existing beliefs about mental health and technology-related factors were highlighted as barriers to engagement.ConclusionA low-intensity video-based mental health intervention was generally considered to be acceptable and appropriate for students with mild to moderate distress. Participants provided several suggestions to encourage uptake of the intervention and possible pathways to disseminate the intervention to students. The effectiveness of these should be examined in future trials.
| S-EPMC11367696 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To improve student preparedness for anatomy laboratory dissection, the dental gross anatomy laboratory was transformed using flipped classroom pedagogy. Instead of spending class time explaining the procedures and anatomical structures for each laboratory, students were provided online materials to prepare for laboratory on their own. Eliminating in-class preparation provided the opportunity to end each period with integrative group activities that connected laboratory and lecture material and explored clinical correlations. Materials provided for prelaboratory preparation included: custom-made, three-dimensional (3D) anatomy videos, abbreviated dissection instructions, key atlas figures, and dissection videos. Data from three years of the course (n = 241 students) allowed for analysis of students' preferences for these materials and detailed tracking of usage of 3D anatomy videos. Students reported spending an average of 27:22 (±17:56) minutes preparing for laboratory, similar to the 30 minutes previously allocated for in-class dissection preparation. The 3D anatomy videos and key atlas figures were rated the most helpful resources. Scores on laboratory examinations were compared for the three years before the curriculum change (2011-2013; n = 242) and three years after (2014-2016; n = 241). There was no change in average grades on the first and second laboratory examinations. However, on the final semi-cumulative laboratory examination, scores were significantly higher in the post-flip classes (P = 0.04). These results demonstrate an effective model for applying flipped classroom pedagogy to the gross anatomy laboratory and illustrate a meaningful role for 3D anatomy visualizations in a dissection-based course. Anat Sci Educ 11: 385-396. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.
| S-EPMC6381391 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionThe majority of large public universities have exclusive pouring rights contracts with beverage companies that produce and market sugar-sweetened beverages. Pouring rights contracts contain provisions that conflict with recommendations from major public health organizations that institutions reduce sugar-sweetened beverage availability, marketing, and consumption. This study assessed the following among students at 3 public universities: student perception of pouring rights contracts (the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts), the association between student socioeconomic characteristics and perception of pouring rights contracts, student estimates of pouring rights contract revenue, and the association between student pouring rights contract revenue estimates and perception of pouring rights contracts. To contextualize results, actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues was estimated.MethodsA cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted among a convenience sample of 1,311 undergraduate sugar-sweetened beverages-consuming students recruited from 3 large and diverse public universities in Northern California. On an online questionnaire, undergraduate students indicated the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts on a 10-point scale (oppose=1-5, favor=6-10) and provided a numeric estimate of the percentage of total university revenue they thought their university's pouring rights contract generated. Regression models were used to analyze differences in perception of pouring rights contracts by student socioeconomic characteristics and estimates of university revenues generated by pouring rights contracts. In addition, pouring rights contracts and financial reports were obtained from the 3 universities to estimate actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues. Survey data were collected between August and November 2018 and analyzed in August 2022.ResultsA large majority of students (81%) opposed pouring rights contracts, and the opposition did not significantly differ by student socioeconomic characteristics, including by levels of food security, need-based financial aid, participation in federal food assistance or healthcare programs, parental education, or parental income (all ps>0.14). The median student estimate for pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total university revenue was 10%. In contrast, the estimated actual annual revenue generated from the pouring rights contracts ranged from 0.01% to 0.04% at these schools. Revenue estimates were not significantly associated with participants' opposition or favoring of pouring rights contracts (p=0.65).ConclusionsA large majority of students opposed pouring rights contracts, and this opposition was similar regardless of student socioeconomic characteristics or student estimates of pouring rights contract revenues. Students markedly overestimated (by >100-1,000-fold) the percentage of university revenue that came from pouring rights contracts. University administration should consider student views on pouring rights contracts when deciding whether to exit or continue with pouring rights contracts.
| S-EPMC10864850 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objectives: A potential new avenue to address the shortage of country doctors is to change the rules for admission to medical school. We therefore study the link between high-school grade point average and prospective physicians' choice to work in rural areas. To further inform the discussion about rules for admission, we also study the effects of other predictors: a measure of students' attitudes towards risk; whether they waited for their place of study (Wartesemester); whether their parents worked as medical doctors; and whether they have some practical experience in the medical sector. Methods: We conducted two internet surveys in 2012 and 2014. In the first survey, the sample comprised 701 students and in the second, 474 students. In both surveys, we asked students for their regional preferences; in the 2014 survey, we additionally asked students for their first, second, and third preferences among a comprehensive set of specializations, including becoming a general practitioner. In both surveys, we asked students for basic demographic information (age and gender), their parents' occupation, a measure of subjective income expectations, a measure of risk attitudes, and their high-school grade point average (Abiturnote), and First National Boards Examination grade (Physikum). In 2014, we additionally asked for waiting periods (Wartesemester) as well as for prior professional experience in the health-care sector. Results: We find that three factors increase the probability of having a preference for working in a rural area significantly, holding constant all other influences: having a medical doctor among the parents, having worse grades in the high-school grade point average, and being more risk averse. Moreover, we find that those willing to work in the countryside have significantly more experience in the medical sector before admission to medical school. Discussion: Our results suggest that a change in the selection process for medical school may increase the supply of country doctors. Instead of focusing on the high-school grade point average, universities could even more intensely screen for study motivation through interviews or by taking into account students' background, extracurricular activities, or waiting periods.
| S-EPMC5327662 | biostudies-other
Project description:International university students are a growing section of the workforce and are thought to be at greater risk of injury. Qualitative studies have highlighted vulnerabilities, but there is a shortage of quantitative research exploring the injury experience and associated risk factors of this emerging issue. In this study, a total of 466 university student workers across a range of study programs in a single Australian university completed an online survey, with questions relating to their background, working experience, training and injury experience. Risk factors for injury were explored in a multivariate statistical model. More than half had not received any safety training before they started work, and 10% reported having had a work injury. About half of these injuries occurred after training. Statistically significant risk factors for injury included working more than 20 h per week (adjusted odds ratio 2.20 (95% CI 1.03-4.71) and lack of confidence in discussing safety issues (AOR 2.17; 95% CI 1.13-4.16). The findings suggest the need for a more engaging and effective approach to safety education and a limit on working hours. This situation is a moral challenge for universities, in that they are effectively sponsoring young workers in the community. It is recommended that longitudinal studies of international student workers be conducted.
| S-EPMC5877001 | biostudies-literature
Project description:During COVID-19 restrictions in spring 2020, college students experienced closed dormitories and increased unemployment and many students moved in with their families. College students were vulnerable to food insecurity pre-pandemic and this study examined how the living situations and food security status changed for Midwestern university students due to COVID-19 restrictions. An email survey administered to Iowa State University students between the ages of 18 and 30 who physically attended campus prior to its closure produced 1434 responses. Students living with a parent or guardian increased by 44% and were less likely to experience food insecurity or less likely to work. They had lower stress and ate more home-cooked meals. Students living on their own had higher rates of food insecurity, greater stress, poorer health status, higher cooking self-efficacy, and worked more hours. Seventeen percent of all students were food insecure; related factors were non-White ethnicity, lower cooking self-efficacy, undergraduate status, receipt of financial aid, employment, stress, living in the same situation as before the campus closure, and consumption of more take-out or fast food. These individuals had more barriers to food access. Knowledge of these factors provide useful information to inform future support services for this population in similar conditions.
| S-EPMC8229979 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundKitchen sponges are a major source of cross-contamination as they can transfer foodborne pathogens, infectious agents and spoilage causing microorganisms to food contact surfaces. Several studies have revealed that university students adopt poor practices regarding food safety, hygiene, and the handling of kitchen cleaning equipment.MethodsA total of fifty kitchen sponges were collected along with a questionnaire addressing social demographics and kitchen sponge usage by students living at the University of Sharjah dormitories. The effect of storage (3 and 10 days) on the microbial population of kitchen sponges at room temperature (21 °C) was assessed. Enterobacteriaceae isolated from sponges were identified and their antibiotic resistance determined.ResultsStudent responses revealed that kitchen sponges used to clean food contact surfaces were also used to clean the oven (32%), sink (26%), refrigerator (10%), and to clean spills on the floor (4%). Kitchen sponges contained high counts of mesophilic aerobic bacteria (7.9 log10/cm3), coliform (7.2 log10/cm3), Enterobacteriaceae (7.3 log10/cm3) and yeasts and molds (7.0 log10/cm3). After storage of the sponges at room temperature (21 °C) for 3 and 10 days, the number of mesophilic aerobic bacteria, coliform, Enterobacteriaceae and yeasts and molds decreased by 0.4 and 1.3 log10/cm3, 0.7 and 1.4 log10/cm3, 0.4 and 1.1 log10/cm3, and 0.6 and 1.3 log10/cm3, respectively. The most frequently isolated Enterobacteriaceae were Enterobacter cloacae (56%) and Klebsiella oxytoca (16%). All E. cloacae isolates were resistant to amoxicillin, cefalotin, cefoxitin and cefuroxime axetil.ConclusionsThis study showed that students living in dormitories lacked good hygienic practices and were at increased risk of food poisoning. Kitchen sponges were highly contaminated with potentially pathogenic bacteria which could be transferred from the general kitchen environment to food contact surfaces and consequently lead to food contamination.
| S-EPMC7460773 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19-associated university closures moved classes online and interrupted ongoing research in universities throughout the US. In Vanderbilt University, first year biomedical sciences PhD students were in the middle of their spring semester coursework and in the process of identifying a thesis research lab, while senior students who had already completed the first year were at various stages of their graduate training and were working on their thesis research projects. To learn how the university closure and resulting interruptions impacted our students' learning and well-being, we administered two surveys, one to the first year students and the other to the senior students. Our main findings show that the university closure negatively impacted the overall psychological health of about one-third of the survey respondents, time management was the aspect of remote learning that caused the highest stress for close to 50% of the students, and interaction with their peers and in-person discussions were the aspects of on-campus learning that students missed the most during the remote learning period. Additionally, survey responses also show that students experienced positive outcomes as a result of remote learning that included spending increased time on additional learning interests, with family, on self-care, and for dissertation or manuscript writing. Though a variety of supportive resources are already available to students in our institution, results from our survey suggest enhancing these measures and identifying new ones targeted to addressing the academic and emotional needs of PhD students would be beneficial. Such support measures may be appropriate for students in other institutions as well.
| S-EPMC8445460 | biostudies-literature