North American Students Research Articles

International Application of the Working With Older Adult Scale.

The workforce is not prepared to meet the needs of the number of older adults (OAs) across the globe. The study examines the Theory of Planned Behavior via the Working with Older Adults Scale (WOAS) in a group of university-aged international students to better understand global perceptions of working with older adults. We also compared North American and International students' attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and intention to work with older adults. Students were enrolled at a public university in Canada. Participants completed the WOAS, Ageism Attitude Scale, and answered an open-ended question, "How are older adults viewed in your culture?" Attitude, Subjective Norm, and Perceived Behavioral Control predicted Intention to work with older adults for the full sample, and subgroups. While there were many similarities, North Americans had lower intention to work with older adults and higher ageism than International students. Further research is necessary to understand these cultural nuances.

The laughter effect: Enhancing cross-cultural learning and cohesiveness in a virtual environment

This practice report investigates the role of humor in enhancing cross-cultural learning and group cohesion in virtual education settings. Most collaborative international learning training focuses on structuring content, co-teaching, and managing coursework for specific outcomes (Rubin & Guth, 2015). Beyond including time for icebreakers for students to become acclimated with each other, often much of the rest of the experience emphasizes task completion; this serious focus may contribute to discomfort and reduced engagement among diverse students. After witnessing this our first year working together in a collaborative online international learning experience connecting North American students with those from Muslim-majority countries, we explored how modeling and creating opportunities for shared laughter in synchronous group exercises might better promote a relaxed and engaging learning environment. Our findings, derived from qualitative feedback and quantitative surveys, demonstrate that humor enhances group cohesion and cultural exploration. Students reported increased comfort, enjoyment, and willingness to engage and humor-driven activities consistently rated as the most impactful and enjoyable aspects of the course.

Effective Clinical Externships for International Medical Students: A Qualitative Study.

International student exchanges are a significant part of medical education, and experiences of North American and European medical students abroad have been extensively examined. By contrast, knowledge of visiting medical students in the United States (US) is limited largely to surveys of administrators and course directors. To understand US attending physicians' thoughts on visiting international student clinical externships. Three clinician-educator physician focus groups were conducted across two US medical schools with broad representation of training backgrounds, clinical disciplines, and career stages. Focus groups and constant comparison analysis of transcripts were performed iteratively to identify emerging themes. Qualitative themes and subthemes. Two main themes emerged from the data: (1) administrative requirements for success: hosting international students requires careful planning and coordination, which is daunting amidst demanding faculty responsibilities. Externships must address experiences of the people directly involved in the clinical setting, leadership, communication, and institutional, financial, physical, and personnel resources. (2) Impact of student qualities: When working with international students, the importance of administrative details and student characteristics increases due to higher student variability overall, inconsistent language and cultural fluency, and the consequent recognition of the student as an ambassador for their home institution and country. Amidst already busy schedules, clinician educators identify the hosting of international medical students as a commitment resembling that for their own trainees. Linguistic and cultural distances, and the overall variability of international students amplify the importance of effective administration. The findings have influenced related processes at the University of Pittsburgh.

Educational approaches to teach students to address colonialism in global health: a scoping review

IntroductionThe enduring legacy of colonisation on global health education, research and practice is receiving increased attention and has led to calls for the ‘decolonisation of global health’. There is little...

Actively Open-Minded Thinking, Bullshit Receptivity, and Susceptibility to Framing

Abstract. The framing effect occurs when different presentations of the same problem lead to predictably different preferences. The dual-process framework of higher cognition assumes that the effect violates rational principles, but alternative accounts and recent evidence have contested this interpretation. Contributing to this debate, we tested the dual-process assumption by investigating associations between susceptibility to framing and the willingness and ability to think in line with rational norms, conceptualized as actively open-minded thinking and pseudo-profound bullshit receptivity. We conducted two online studies among North American ( N = 259) and Bulgarian ( N = 248) university students and administered several framing problems within-subjects, presumably necessary for the associations to appear. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that susceptibility to framing was associated with decreased actively open-minded thinking and increased bullshit receptivity in both sites. Exploratory multi-group analyses demonstrated partial strong invariance and showed that the findings generalize across both sites in terms of direction and partially in terms of magnitude. These results broadly support the dual-process account of the framing effect. Our study further contributes to adapting existing measures to a novel setting and expanding the findings across borders and populations.

Korean cross-cultural kids’ acculturation types and cultural adaptation

Korean cross-cultural kids (CCKs) are born in Korea but grow up interacting with two or more cultures. In this study, the researchers conducted a survey of 398 Korean CCKs who attended primary and secondary schools in Asia and North America to identify types of acculturation developed. Instruments used were the East Asian Acculturation Measure, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, and the Korean version of the Youth Self-Report. Cluster analysis yielded four acculturation types: integration dominant, assimilation dominant, separation dominant, and conflicting. The assimilation dominant type was pervasive among students in North America, whereas the separation dominant type was prevalent among students living in Asia. Regarding cultural adaptation, students with the conflicting acculturation type showed the lowest cultural adaptation, and the Asian students’ psychological adaptation level was found to be lower than the North American students’ level. Suggestions are offered for future researchers and helping professionals better understand the adjustment difficulties experienced by CCKs and inform adequate psychological support for them.

Toward a reduced meat diet: University North American students' acceptance of a blended meat-mushroom burger

Reduction of meat intake and increase in vegetable consumption have attracted considerable attention from researchers and food businesses. We conducted a field experiment in a university canteen with the aim of investigating the main behavioral factors determining the consumption of a blended meat-mushroom burger. 296 students who consumed the blended burger completed a structured survey including hedonic and attitudinal questions. We then contacted the same sample after 1 month to measure their reported behavior. Our results show that providing information highlighting the sustainability attributes of mushrooms has the most significant and positive impact on acceptability in comparison to information related to nutrition and indulgence. In addition, the participants' beliefs about the health and sustainable benefits of mushrooms positively impact their attitude toward the blended burger. This then significantly influences their behavioral intention to purchase the product, which proves to be a good predictor of the consumption behavior. Our findings suggest marketing opportunities arising from blending plant-based ingredients with meat products.

#WhiteSaviorComplex: Confidentiality, Human Dignity, Social Media, and Social Work Study Abroad

ABSTRACT Many American social work education programs now offer study abroad components, which provide significant advantages to students, including cross-cultural exposure, personal and professional development, and preparation for a globalizing profession. However, multiple ethical challenges are presented when North American (often White) students interact with vulnerable populations abroad, including the use of social media. We searched for relevant institutional social media policies and found very little, except those encouraging students to post often while traveling. We offer case studies of potential model policies for both North American based universities and international-based hosting sites. Finally, we argue that study abroad programs in general, and social media policies specifically, must center the dignity, worth, and best interests of vulnerable populations.

Seek and Ye Shall Be Fine: Attitudes Toward Political-Perspective Seekers

Six preregistered studies (N = 2,421) examined how people respond to copartisan political-perspective seekers: political allies who attempt to hear from shared opponents and better understand their views. We found that North American adults and students generally like copartisan seekers (meta-analytic Cohen’s d = 0.83 across 4,231 participants, representing all available data points). People like copartisan perspective seekers because they seem tolerant, cooperative, and rational, but this liking is diminished because seekers seem to validate—and may even adopt—opponents’ illegitimate views. Participants liked copartisan seekers across a range of different motivations guiding these seekers’ actions but, consistent with our theorizing, their liking decreased (though rarely disappeared entirely) when seekers lacked partisan commitments or when they sought especially illegitimate beliefs. Despite evidence of rising political intolerance in recent decades, these findings suggest that people nonetheless celebrate political allies who tolerate and seriously consider their opponents’ views.

The Relations Between Self-Compassion, Self-Coldness, and Psychological Functioning Among North American and Hong Kong College Students

The Relations Between Self-Compassion, Self-Coldness, and Psychological Functioning Among North American and Hong Kong College Students

Integrating Cultural Perspectives into International Interdisciplinary Work

AbstractThere are well‐established methods for working in interdisciplinary natural resource management settings, but place‐based cultural differences are often poorly integrated into interdisciplinary projects. Intercultural adequacy is necessary to ensure that water management strategies are acceptable within the local contexts of water users. In this study we followed four cohorts of graduate students from Canada, Chile, Cuba, and the United States that participated in an international graduate‐level water resource management course hosted at the Universidad de Concepción in Chile. The North American students participated in post‐experience surveys and interviews to assess changes in their interdisciplinary and intercultural comfort levels. The interviews and survey identified factors that enhanced or detracted from their progress towards integrating disciplinary and cultural differences into their work. Though course material promoted interdisciplinary collaborations across various disciplinary cultures, participants noted that traditional methods of integrating did not adequately bridge differences in place‐based cultural worldviews. We propose a framework developed during the experience to integrate place‐based cultural differences into all phases of the interdisciplinary research and natural resource management processes.

Atopy and Lifestyle Survey of Allergic Patients From Urban Environment in Romania: Preliminary Data From an Interactive Qualifying Project.

IntroductionRespiratory allergies represent an important public health problem, with increasing prevalence and severity in Europe during the last decades. The rise of pollen allergies is an issue that continues to negatively impact people’s daily lives across the globe and has become more important in the light of global warming and increasing air pollution. The aim of our paper is to evaluate the prevalence of declared atopy and the influence of lifestyle on allergic diseases, particularly on pollen allergies, in the urban environment from Romania.MethodsThe study is based on the cooperation Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) called “Pollen Allergies in Romania: Optimizing Data Analysis in Raising Awareness”, agreed and carried on between a group of North-American students and teachers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a hospital-based allergy team from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Colentina Clinical Hospital from Bucharest. The project aimed to evaluate the prevalence of atopy and lifestyle practices of allergic patients and to develop a data analysis tool to determine correlations between pollen counts and other environmental factors in the city of Bucharest.ResultsThe lifestyle survey revealed that about one-third of allergic patients declared history of atopy. Some of the declared lifestyle practices can be considered environmental risk factors for allergies. This IQP can be considered a model of international, interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration.ConclusionWe concluded that Romania is facing an increasing pollen allergies trend and some actual lifestyle aspects can significantly influence the risk of pollen allergies in the big city environment.

Balancing Relatability and Alterity in Teaching Scottish Restoration Literature: A Case Study

Balancing Relatability and Alterity in Teaching Scottish Restoration Literature:A Case Study Holly Faith Nelson (bio) and Sharon Alker (bio) As those in the field well know, teaching Restoration literature poses significant challenges. Renegade writers like Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, and the Earl of Rochester can appeal to students who enjoy their more nonconforming or titillating works, but much of the literature published between 1660 and 1689 is decidedly occasional, highly intertextual, and often generically novel, leading many students to perceive it as irrelevant, inexplicable, or dull. One of our students passionately exclaimed during a class discussion that "reading Dryden was like smashing his head against a desk," an experience intensified by what he and some others perceive as the exasperatingly monotonous heroic couplet. Teaching literature from the period that is written in Scottish dialect poses even more challenges, especially for students who have had no prior exposure to it. Many North American students equate reading works of literature in the Scots vernacular (from any historic period) with trying to acquire a second language on the fly. Making matters worse, a great many students approach such texts with an inaccurate sense of the Scot and Scotland, (mis)informed, for instance, by such television series as Outlander, with its stereotypical vision of the romantic Highlander.1 [End Page 217] Adding to these pedagogical challenges is the common desire of students to be assigned works they consider "relatable"—literary texts that speak to their lived experience. For many students, Restoration Scottish works, especially those in Scots dialect, seem alien in the extreme, at least at first glance.2 This is certainly the case when students first confront, for example, poems like "Blythsome Bridal," attributed to the Scots poet Francis Sempill of Beltrees (c. 1616–1682), whose jaunty description of guests at a wedding is more likely to inspire in students a sense of estrangement than relatability: And there will be Judan Maclawrie,And blinking daft Barbara Macleg,Wi' flae-lugged sharny-fac'd Lawrie,And shangy-mou'd halucket Meg.And there will be happer-ars'd Nansy,And fairy-fac'd Flowrie by name;Muck Madie, and fat-hippit Grisy,The lass wi' the gowden wame. And there will be Girn-again-Gibbie,With his glakit wife Jenny Bell,And misle-shinn'd Mungo Macapie,The lad that was skipper himsel.There lads and lasses in pearlingsWill feast in the heart o' the ha';On sybows, and rifarts, and carlings,That are baith sodden and raw.3 How then can we deeply engage students with little-known Restoration Scottish works, particularly given that many are not available in print editions and a significant number, such as George Mackenzie's prose romance, Aretina; Or, The Serious Romance. Written originally in English (1660), or William Clarke's The grand Tryal, or Poetical Exercitations upon the Book of Job (1685), are substantial in length, employ florid language, and center on subject matter that initially feels impenetrable to most students? In this article, we will share several tactics for inspiring students to attend closely to and embrace works of Scottish Restoration literature that may initially elude them. These tactics are part of a wider pedagogical strategy: the application of a hermeneutic of alterity to texts that complements and complicates rather than wholly abandons or replaces the hermeneutic of relatability that appeals to students, but is often denigrated by university teachers. In adopting this hybrid interpretive method in the classroom, we are indebted to the layered reading practice outlined by Rita Felski in Uses of Literature, which involves a fusion of "modes of textual engagement," [End Page 218] most notably "historical and phenomenological" approaches to works of literature.4 Felski contends that teaching literature should involve a significant dose of reader "recognition": readers should feel themselves "addressed, summoned, called to account" "in the pages" they read and find "traces" of themselves mirrored in them.5 However, she explains that during moments of recognition readers still experience a sense of profound difference or alterity that creates in them "a revised or altered sense" of self: "Recognition is about knowing, but also about the limits of knowing and knowability, and about how self-perception is mediated by...

North American and International Students’ Perspectives on Older Adults

Ageism is recognized around the world as detrimental to older adults’ health and well-being, and there are differences in how cultures view older adults. Infrequently are ageist attitudes among cultures compared within one study. Here, we sought to examine views on older adults across cultures in a sample of university students attending school in North America (n=31). As part of a larger survey of ageist attitudes, we conducted a thematic analysis on open-ended responses to the question “How are older adults viewed in your culture?” Half of the respondents were international students. Results found similarities and differences between groups. First, both groups saw older adults as individuals who are and should be respected. Second, however, North American students viewed older adults as “important” and “role models”, whereas international students viewed older adults as “leaders” of and at the “head of the family”. Third, North American students saw older adults as “needing extra help.” In contrast, international students reported that families “should provide care” as a duty or responsibility. Fourth, North American students believed older adults provide “wisdom,” “love,” and “support” but the international students felt older adults provided knowledge, experience, and opinions that are valued by the family and society that are important to decision making. Finally, North American students describe negative perceptions and experiences with older adults, which was completely absent from the international students responses. Results are discussed in a cultural context of personal and formal relationships with elders.

Ageism Across Cultures and Interest in Geropsychology Among International Students

Ageist attitudes are concerning when considering who will enter the geriatric workforce. The impact of ageism on intent to work with older adults (OAs) between North American and non-North American individuals is unclear. We collected data from N=186 students (n=153 N. American, n=33 non-N. American), examining ageist attitudes and intent to work with OAs. We found significant differences between groups in ageist attitudes; North American students had more positive views of aging (M=88.64, SE=0.72) than non-North American students (M=85.33, SE = 1.42; t (167) = 2.04, p = 0.04, d=0.39), but there were no differences between groups for intent to work with OAs (t (174) = 0.09, p = 0.93). Ageist attitudes predicted intent to work with OAs for North American students only (F (2, 112) = 8.82, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.14). We discuss implications of ageism and intent to work with OAs from a cross-cultural lens.

Geropsychology Training Innovations: Understanding Ageism and Adultism in Students and New Training Initiatives

In order to address the geropsychology workforce shortage, educators are trying to better understand the attitudes, interests, and needs of prospective students as well as expand educational opportunities and specialty competence. This symposium reports on several recent and ongoing research projects and educational initiatives which can together inform future efforts to recruit students into the field. King et al. discuss how concerns about adultist oppression might keep young adults from entering the field. This study describes a new adultism measure which positively correlates with ageism and negatively correlates with both experience and interest in working with older adults. Together with Strong and Graham’s study looking at ageism among North American and non-North American students, these studies remind us of the continued effort needed to better understand and combat age-related oppression of individuals at both ends of the lifespan. Two studies share specific educational initiatives addressing areas of essential but undervalues areas of training for geropsychologists. O’Malley and Graham report on the integration of health policy training into undergraduate education, while Jacobs et al. describing a new performance-based evaluation tool for training in the assessment of decision-making capacity. Postgraduate specialization continues to be crucial in establishing and growing the discipline of geropsychology. Mlinac and Smith report on the development of a mentorship program for professionals on the path to board certification.

Negative Consequences of Substance Use in European University Students: Results from Project SNIPE

Background: University students are a risk group for heavy substance use and the experience of various potentially severe negative substance use consequences which may impact on their health, social, and academic functioning. Whilst the experience of negative consequences of substance use is well understood in North American student samples, there is little data on these experiences in European students. In order to develop effective harm prevention and reduction interventions for students’ substance use, there needs to be an understanding of the types of consequences experienced in European student samples. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and predictors of the experience of negative substance use-related consequences amongst university students in 7 European countries. Methods: University students (n = 4,482) in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey, and the UK completed an online survey of their substance use behaviours and the experience of associated negative consequences. Results: European students reported that experiencing a hangover or illness, missing class, being short of money, and experiencing memory loss were the most commonly experienced negative consequences of substance use. Not living with other students and using alcohol, cannabis, sedatives, and cocaine were also associated with higher odds of experiencing these negative consequences. Conclusions: In contrast to North American data, European university students tended to experience consequences that are associated with lower level health risks rather than more severe consequences (e.g., drink-driving and physical injury). Harm prevention and reduction interventions for students should be targeted towards those consequences that are most salient to the target group to ensure feedback is relevant and potentially more effective in changing students’ substance use behaviours.

Individual difference predictors of transgender beliefs: Expanding our conceptualization of conservatism

With grounding in the Integrated Threat Theory of Prejudice, we explore individual difference predictors of attitudes toward transgender people. In particular, we measure general and gender conservatism, as well as the previously unexplored predictors of erotophobia–erotophilia (comfort with sexuality) and quality of previous contact with sexual minorities. In this North American student sample (N = 218), attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (ATLG) correlated strongly with the Transgender Belief Scale (r = 0.82), suggesting a lack of differentiation between sexual minority groups. Multiple regression models indicated that participant gender and conservatism (as measured through homophobia, benevolent sexism and authoritarianism) contributed uniquely to transgender attitude prediction. After excluding the ATLG as a predictor, contact quality with sexual minorities, erotophobia–erotophilia, religious fundamentalism, benevolent sexism, and participant gender emerged as predictors of transgender beliefs. Separate gender analyses suggest that benevolent and hostile sexism might function differently in the prediction of transgender attitudes for women and men, respectively. Findings also suggest that secondary transfer via contact with sexual minorities may influence feelings about transgender people. Implications for sex educators are discussed.

These people, this time, this place: a conversation about Dartington as methodology

This contribution is a conversation between Avia Moore and Sarah Hart on our experience as North American students in the MA Devised Theatre at Dartington College of Arts during the final two years of its existence. We are now PhD students in Performance Studies, at York University (Toronto) and the University of California Davis respectively. This issue of TDPT comes at a moment when the uniqueness of our Dartington experience has become a reference point for our process of reverse migration back into North American academia. We reflect on the tension between looking back and moving forward through the lens of Dartington’s Devised Theatre approach: ‘These people, this time, this place − what do they produce?’ Most significant was the cross-pollination of disciplines, diverse skills brought together in an isolated, idyllic environment that stimulated creative play. Dartington taught us a way of thinking, which we continue to cultivate. This is a self-reflexive conversation drawn from personal experiences at and beyond Dartington. We asked questions, recording and notating our conversations. We paraphrased these answers through correspondence, compiling an edited version here. Finally, responding to the peer review process, we recorded an additional conversation and integrated parts of it into our previous responses. This methodology reflects our shared and divergent perspectives, and the constant balancing act between theory and practice that we found so important to the Dartington ethos.

Raising campus awareness on issues of globalization in veterinary medical education

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM), due to its geographic location, provides an opportunity to raise awareness regarding issues of globalization in veterinary medical education, specifically in relation to diversity and acculturation. This manuscript discusses RUSVM's demographics and raises awareness concerning challenges North American students may experience when immersed in an environment where the racial mix of the university is predominantly White, vastly different than the community in which it resides.RUSVM students, faculty and support staff (n=1448) were invited to complete the American Veterinary Medical Association climate survey. Survey response rate was 36%. Students and faculty self-identified as White (80% and 76%, respectively), and support staff self-identified as African American or Black (71%). Non-US Faculty reported a legal residence of Europe 8%, Africa 2%, or the Caribbean (44%), and support staff of Saint Kitts and Nevis (68%). Non-US students, most often indicated Canadian residency. Qualitative analyses resulted into three themes addressing university climate (35%), culture privilege (42%), and professionalism (24%). Matriculation of North American students wishing to study abroad should include deliberate discussions with respect to diversity, cultural and social contexts supporting acculturation, and adaptation to a broader academic environment.