Student attitudes and awareness on Tai Chi and Qigong in universities

PurposeThis study intends to add to the existing body of literature on the impact of a newly implemented first year seminar in the College of Law and Business. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects the course have on students in regard to three aspects: student awareness and utilization of resources, interaction patterns, as well as, general interests and attitudes toward higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of the assessment included analysis of a survey that has been conducted by the end of Spring 2014 semester. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to measure the impact of the intervention on students’ awareness and utilization of resources, interactions, general interests, and attitudes toward higher education. Through the SPSS application, the Mann Whitney U Test, and χ2 tests were used to check for significant differences while comparing the means or frequencies for both groups. For the three questions, the authors have used the 90 percent confidence level and the standard significance level p-value of 0.05 or less for statistical analysis.FindingsThe results indicated that the course had a highly significant positive impact on student attitudes and awareness of campus resources but had less significant impact on student interactions and utilization of resources. The results in this study reveal a positive impact for the first-year seminar course on student satisfaction and attitudes toward higher education as well as their awareness of campus resources. However, in terms of the course impact on student interaction, results conveyed that students who have participated in the first-year seminar course show a slightly better interaction rate with instructors, academic advisors, and close friends than those in the control group.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study was that the sample was small. Nonetheless, it has provided valuable insights into the understanding of the social and academic impact of first-year seminars on student engagement; through the use of comparison groups, this study increased the validity of prior research.Practical implicationsThe first-year seminar course evaluated in this study demonstrated the potential to support and enhance student social and academic engagement during the first year of college. Based on the results in this study, the study team recommended some revisions to the current first-year seminar model (UNIV P100 Skills for University Success). The team proposed three models for subsequent first-year seminars at this university.Originality/valueThis study adds to the existing literature by examining the impact of a newly implemented first-year seminar course at the College of Law and Business at this university on both academic and non-academic aspects from the students’ perspective. These aspects were selected as retention and GPA effects have been widely explored; therefore, the focus is on the less studied emotional and social factors associated with student success and retention. The results from this study can act as a guide for universities intending to introduce a first-year seminar course as it gives clear guidelines on design, content, and course implementation, which can be useful in enhancing general student motivation and attitudes toward academic study and higher education in general.

IntroductionEvidence-based care helps dentists provide quality dental services to patients, and such care is based on the use of reliable information about treatment and patient care from a large number of papers, books, and published textbooks. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, awareness, and attitude of dentistry students towards evidence-based dentistry.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, all dentistry students who were studying in their sixth semester and higher in the Kerman School of Dentistry (n = 73) were studied. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17 and the independent-samples t-tests and the ANOVA test.ResultsThe means of the students’ knowledge, awareness, and attitude scores were 29.2 ± 10.8, 29.9 ± 8.12 and 44.5 ± 5.3, respectively. Among demographic variables, only the number of semesters showed a significant difference with knowledge, awareness, and attitude of dentistry students toward evidence-based dentistry (p = 0.001).ConclusionAccording to the results of this study, knowledge and awareness of dentistry students at Kerman University of Medical Sciences towards evidence-based dentistry were average and have a neutral attitude. Thus, providing necessary training in this regard will cause promoting the knowledge, awareness, and improved attitudes of dentistry students.

Objective: To investigate the level of dental and medical students’ awareness and their attitude towards Oral cancer in Kerman, Iran. Material and Methods: The research is considered as a cross-sectional analytical study. A questionnaire was distributed among dental and medical students, reliability and validity of which has been confirmed through statistical tests and experts’ point of views. The questionnaire includes some questions for measurement of awareness and attitude of students in terms of diagnose, risk factor, and prognosis of lesions suspicious of malignancy, in the mouth. The results were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, Spearman, and ANOVA. Results: 350 questionnaires were distributed among dentistry and medical students, of which 318 were returned (90.8%). Dental students (16.32 ±3.1) achieved higher awareness score compared to the medical students (11.67 ±3.1). No significant relationship existed between age, gender, and average awareness score (p=0.023, and p=0.014, respectively). Dental students had more positive attitude in comparison to medical students; however, there was no significant relationship between age and positive attitude. Conclusion: Dentists and physicians do not have enough knowledge for cancer-related examinations, despite their professional obligations. The study shows training programs to be required in relation to risk factors and prognosis of oral cancer in form of refresher programs, and more emphasis in students’ curriculum.

Aging is associated with a progressive decline in muscle strength, muscle mass and impaired physical function, which reduces mobility and impairs quality of life in the elderly population. The 6-12 months of exercise can enhance the muscle strength, but these improvements can only be maintained for a short period. In this study, we investigated the effects of long-term Tai Chi (TC) exercise on muscle strength of lower extremities. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 205 long-term TC practitioners (age: 60-89 years) and 205 age and gentle matched controls who did not practice TC. Each of the activity group was further divided into three distinct age groups: G1, 60-69 years; G2, 70-79 years; and G3, 80-89 years. Hand-held dynamometery was used to measure the maximum isometric strength of iliopsoas, quadriceps femoris, tibialis anterior and hamstrings in both sides of the participants. Unpaired t tests were performed to compare the difference of strength between the TC and non-Tai Chi (NTC) groups. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to compare the lower muscle strengths among the different age groups in the TC and NTC groups. Pearson's correlations were used to quantify the linear relationship between the months of TC practice and lower limbs muscle strength. The inter-rater reliabilities of iliopsoas, quadriceps femoris, tibialis anterior and hamstrings were intraclass correlation coeffificient (ICC) (1,1) = 0.895 (0.862-0.920), ICC (2,2) = 0.905 (0.874-0.928), ICC (3,3) = 0.922 (0.898-0.941) and ICC (4,4) = 0.930 (0.908-0.947). The strength of the muscles in the TC group did not differ among different age groups (P>0.05). The strength of iliopsoas, quadriceps femoris, tibialis anterior and hamstrings in TC group was higher than that in the NTC group (P<0.05). A correlation between muscle strength and extension of the exercise period was positive (P<0.05). Results shed light on the orientation and magnitude of long-term TC in preventing muscle strength loss with aging. TC might be a good form to slow down the trend of age-related decline in muscle strength in community-dwelling population.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the level of awareness, use and attitudes of students regarding e-books.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative research design based on the survey method. A structured questionnaire was designed and used for data collection from four different universities of Pakistan. A total of 305 responses were collected from a sample of 400, and 303 of those responses were used for data analysis.FindingsThe results of this study indicated that students were aware of e-books and used them in their daily lives. Most of the respondents had a positive attitude towards e-books and indicated that they considered e-books are easy to find and support them in their assignments. Online features of e-books were important to them. There was a significant difference of opinion found among students of different disciplines regarding the use of e-books.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to four disciplines in four universities, one discipline per university. Therefore, its findings may not be applied to other universities or other disciplines.Practical implicationsThis paper offers a new idea to academic libraries related to purchasing e-books. This study will provide guidelines to information professionals for development of their e-book collection and implementation of innovative approaches in library services or e-books services to facilitate their users according to their need.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on the level of awareness, use and attitudes of university students towards e-books in Pakistan.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to find out the awareness, attitude and career preference of commerce students (undergraduate (UG) and post-graduate (PG)) for the insurance industry in India. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 800 commerce students (400 male students and 400 female students) through a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire had 18 items related to awareness, attitude and career preference for insurance. The reliability of the tool was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. To establish the relationship between variables, cross-tabulation techniques that involved Chi-square tests were used. The conclusion was drawn based on probability values (p-value) taking the critical as 0.05 (Bivariate). The data was analyzed using SPSS. Findings The results revealed that commerce students-UG and PG were aware of the basics of insurance, irrespective of their gender and family income. The students have a positive attitude toward insurance, but lack awareness regarding career options in the insurance industry. Research limitations/implications This study included only UG and PG commerce students of Allahabad University and its constituent colleges, hence its findings cannot be generalized for the entire country. Practical implications This study can be beneficial to insurance companies in framing their policies as India has a huge young population. There is a need to make the students in higher education aware of the benefits of insurance to cover any unforeseen economic loss and also to make them aware of the career options in the insurance industry. Originality/value The present study bridges the gap between existing studies regarding awareness, attitude and career preference of students with gender and family income. To date, no study has been done to find the awareness and attitude of students toward the insurance industry, neither in terms of their becoming prospective customers nor in terms of career preference.

Clinical interactions mostly consist of health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior around health and illness. A patient's lifestyle, symptom presentation, access to care, doctor-patient interactions, follow-through on medical advice and reaction to therapy are all influenced by these factors.1This study was conducted using concurrent triangulation mixed method design to gather qualitative and quantitative data concurrently in order to obtain the awareness, perspectives and attitude of students of health profession regarding key trends in the future of healthcare among students of health profession at selected institutions. 880 students were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected from the students who had participated in the Kalaignar Centenary International Medical Conference -Future of Medicine organized by Department of Health &amp; Family Welfare, Government of Tamilnadu &amp; The Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai. After obtaining consent data was collected using pretested, predetermined and validated tools which were found to be reliable. Data was coded and analyzed using appropriate descriptive and Inferential Statistics through SPSS- 20. The study findings reveal that, overall majority of participants (71.2%) had average level of awareness on trends in the future of healthcare. Among the different health care professions medicine (83.39%), dentistry (83.8%), nursing (60.5%), pharmacy (81.5%), physiotherapy (71.4%) and allied health sciences (58.9%). Regarding attitude overall majority of participants (67.7%) had positive attitude. In the areas of medicine (29.6%), (100%) in physiotherapy and nursing, (36.1%) pharmacy in allied health sciences (94.1%) had positive attitude. The percentage of the total mean scores of awareness was 54% with mean value of 5.40 +1.54. attitude score was 91 %with mean value of 54.60 +10.02. Significant correlation was found between awareness and attitude scores of students of health profession on future healthcare trends at p&lt;0. 001. Awareness of future trends in healthcare will encourage students to engage in research and education initiatives that address emerging challenges and opportunities. Overall, fostering awareness, perception, and positive attitudes towards the future of healthcare among students of healthcare professions is essential for driving innovation, improving patient outcomes, and addressing the complex challenges facing healthcare sector..

This article discusses the awareness and attitude of physiotherapy students towards Telerehabilitation in the national capital region is a quantitative approach with a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Background: Telerehabilitation is a formative platform for patients’ health in most developing nations; it is remarkably increasing its use for enhancing rehabilitation, and it is widespread in most countries evidently; nevertheless, this research is in limited numbers among physiotherapy students; therefore, this study brings information regarding this scenario. Objectives: To assess physiotherapy students’ awareness and attitude towards telerehabilitation using awareness and attitude questionnaires and to find the relationship between them. Method: Based on a quantitative approach and a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The convenience sampling technique was used on the entrant, who was studying at one of the NCR region’s selected universities. Tools and techniques: demographic proforma, awareness questionnaire, and attitude questionnaire, respectively, on telerehabilitation Result: Using descriptive and inferential statistics, this present study had 301 undergraduate students, and only 3 were postgraduates. The study revealed that 92.4% of students had prior knowledge of telerehabilitation services. The study reported that 98.4% of participants had good awareness and attitudes toward telerehabilitation, and the majority of participants had a positive attitude (92.4%). This study additionally detected the correlation between awareness and attitude scores using Spearman's rho test. However, there was no relationship between them. Conclusion: The study concluded that a more significant proportion of students have good awareness and a positive attitude toward telerehabilitation, but indicated that there was no relationship between awareness and attitude

Current technical and vocational education and training (TVET) increasingly focus on the development of skills and knowledge related to sustainable practices and green jobs. However, the implementation of green TVET is not comprehensive due to our country's education system, which lacks emphasis on sustainability and environmental challenges. This results in students lacking sufficient knowledge about the involved issues. In light of this, thisstudy is conducted to determine and identify the level of awareness, acceptance, and attitudes of TVET students toward the implementation of Green TVET programs. The study adopts a quantitative approach with a survey design through a questionnaire. Using random sampling method, a total of 165 undergraduate students in the field of education at the Faculty of Education and Vocational Technology, UTHM, participated as respondents. Descriptive analysis, including mean and standard deviation, as well as independent t-test, were employed to analyze the data. The study findings indicate high minimum scores for the aspects of awareness, acceptance, and attitudes of TVET students toward the implementation of Green TVET. The study also found no significant differences between male and female students in terms of awareness and acceptance, while for attitudes, there was a significant difference between male and female students. In conclusion, this study provides a more in-depth insight into the level of awareness, acceptance, and attitudes of students, contributing to a better understanding of how Green TVET is perceived and embraced by students.

Background: Emergency contraception (EC) has been available in Iran, however there has been little research into the extent of knowledge of the actions, effectiveness and attitudes of students about it .The aim of this study was to detect the Knowledge and attitudes of university students towards emergency contraception . Methods: A survey of 130 university students was conducted at Shahrekord university of Medical Sciences in Iran during the 2009- 2010 . A predesigned questionnaire was distributed to students who had passed the family planning subject and asking about their knowledge and attitudes towards emergency contraception. Findings: Ninety-four of students had heard of emergency contraception . About of 85% of them, explained the contraceptive pills and 10% stated the intra uterine device (IUD) for EC . Seventy-one percent didn,t know the mechanism of action of EC pills and 29% believed that EC worked by disrupting a newly implanted ovum and would interrupt an ongoing pregnancy. Kind of method was reported OCP in 85.2%, OCP and IUD in 5.3% of students . Finally, The awareness of students was insufficient in 15.4% of them. 76.9% of them had moderate and 7.7% had sufficient knowledge . More than 80% of students had positive attitudes towards emergency contraception . Conclusion: The level of knowledge in university students' about emergency contraception was low and there is a clear need for ECP as a pregnancy prevention method among university students and for better education about it with considering the details for each method and insertion of IUD for emergency contraception .

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices of students regarding occupational hazards before and after entering clinical training. A self-administered questionnaire was used to follow up a cohort of Belgian medical students in 2014 and 2015. Inquiries about students' characteristics, awareness, knowledge, and practices of protective measures were included. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were performed. Overall, 249 (94%) students completed the preclinical questionnaire and 147 (56%) responded on both occasions. Our findings revealed that student awareness and knowledge scores were inadequate but increased after admission as trainees. Students with an accidental blood contact (n = 43) showed no better knowledge of postexposure management than those without such an incident. The observed lack of awareness and knowledge regarding occupational hazards among students provides an opportunity to improve basic education and training environments.

The present study investigated native speaker teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching English in the Korean university setting. Despite the great influx of native speaker teachers into the Korean English education system, relatively little research has been carried out on teachers’ perspectives on learning and teaching. Considering the significant impact of teachers’ beliefs in the classroom, this study investigated the sources of teachers’ beliefs, their beliefs about learning and teaching, and their beliefs about teacher roles in the second language classroom. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight native English speakers who were teaching at the same university. The findings showed that the teachers believed students’ active participation was the key to successful second language learning. It was shown that the teachers’ beliefs were closely associated with their prior learning experiences and that differences in the learning experiences between the teacher and students may cause difficulty in the second language classroom. These findings suggest the importance of teachers’ awareness of students’ learning experiences and the need to negotiate within the given teaching context without completely giving up teachers’ own beliefs about learning and teaching a second language.

Background: Attitude is critical to exercise; various studies have involved in attitude to physical education but not Tai Chi. However, Tai Chi is a compulsory course in many universities in China, some students may have negative attitude to it. Purpose: To improve college students’ attitude to Tai Chi via the Short Tai Chi Course (STCC). Methods: A quasi-experiment was conducted to assess it. The instrument for attitude is a questionnaire which consist of 15 items. STCC is a 5 weeks course for teaching both theoretical knowledge and practical skill. 325 freshmen were enrolled for the trial and finally 289 students (72.3% female, 86.9% come from countryside) finished it. Results: In the baseline, more than three fourth students showed a neutral attitude to Tai Chi, around one fifth students had negative attitude toward Tai Chi, and less than 10% participants hold the positive attitude to Tai Chi. In the post-test, there is a clear increase of mean for each item but not item 6 and item 15, this change highlights the improve of positive attitude and reduce of negative for college students to Tai Chi. The P value of paired t test for each item (exclude item 14) is 0.000 &lt;.0.001 which indicate those items has an extremely significant difference in pretest and post-test. Conclusion: Although around half college students still hold the neutral attitude to Tai Chi, they already have a significantly improve on positive attitude and considerate reduce on negative attitude.

Nursing students' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding telehealth and telenursing use for high-quality healthcare: A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to assess university students' interest, attitude, and awareness concerning the Atatürk’s Principles and History of the Turkish Revolution course. A descriptive and correlational research design was employed, with a sample of 360 voluntary students from the Faculty of Education. Findings revealed that the majority of participants were female (58.9%) and enrolled in the Social Studies Education program (45%). Students who studied regularly and dedicated 3–4 or more hours per day to their studies showed significantly higher levels of interest, positive attitudes, and awareness regarding the course. The lowest attitude scores were observed among Classroom Teaching students (M = 55.50, SD = 15.09), while the highest were seen in History Teaching students (M = 68.21, SD = 9.36). Science Teaching students had the lowest interest levels (M = 47.67, SD = 15.05), and male students demonstrated greater interest than female students. The average score of university students from the Atatürk's Principles and Revolution History Course Awareness Scale was determined as 112.33 ± 22.43. According to the scale scored between 27-135, it can be said that the students' awareness levels regarding the Atatürk's Principles and Revolution History Course are quite high. In conclusion, students exhibited high levels of awareness about the course's objectives and content, with generally above-average interest and attitudes. However, personal characteristics such as gender, department, and study habits significantly influenced these factors.