Students In Other Countries Research Articles

Cross-sectional Study on Attitudes toward Sex and Sexual Behavior among Japanese College Students

A total of 978 Japanese students, who visited the health services center of a college in Japan for medical check-ups, were asked to anonymously complete a 55-item questionnaire which assessed their attitudes toward sex and sexual behavior. Seven hundred eighty-five Japanese students (80.3%) responded to the questionnaire. In this survey, 90% of male students and 83% of female students indicated that they expected to have sexual intercourse before marriage, while 8% of male students and 3% of female students indicated that it was not wrong to have extramarital sexual intercourse after marriage. In addition, 75% of sexually experienced students reported that they used a condom during their first sexual intercourse, while 73% reported using a condom during their most recent sexual intercourse. The more sexual partners students had had up to the time of the study, the less condom use they reported for both their first and most recent sexual intercourse. The proportion of Japanese students who used a condom is high in comparison to that of students in other countries. However, as students are prone to have sexual intercourse with non-steady, casual partners, more efforts are needed to promote safe sex practices among college students in Japan.

Some Characteristics of East Asian Mathematics Classrooms Based on Data from the Timss 1999 Video Study

In this paper, characteristics of mathematics classrooms in the East Asian countries1 of Hong Kong and Japan are discussed based on an analysis of the data of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. The data shows that although students in these East Asian countries did not talk a lot in the classroom, they were exposed to more instructional content. The mathematics problems they worked on were set up mainly using mathematical language, and compared with the problems solved by students in other countries, the problems took a longer duration to solve and more proof was involved. According to the judgement of an expert panel on the Hong Kong lessons (Japan did not participate in this part of the study), more advanced contents were covered and the lessons were more coherent. The mathematics presentations were more developed, and the students were more likely to be engaged in the lessons. In sum, the overall quality of the teaching in this East Asian country was judged to be high. The findings show that high quality teaching and learning can take place even in a teacher directed classroom. It is argued that these East Asian classroom practices are deeply rooted in the underlying cultural values of the classroom and the wider society. The paper ends by drawing some implications of the study for the mathematics education community in other cultures.

Cultures meeting cultures in online distance education

One effect of the evolution of e-learning is the inclusion of a growing number of learners who participate in courses designed and delivered by American and European universities while remaining within different social cultures. However, American and European distance education is guided by certain theories, derived from American and European culture. This paper sets out to raise some questions and invites a discussion about how teaching and the view of learning based on these theories might cause conflict with the values that underpin the cultures of students taking courses from other countries. The potential of e-learning to become a global phenomenon will be frustrated as long as educators in more technologically developed countries fail to understand the needs and perspectives of the vast potential populations of students in other countries. Further, the potential will be missed for students in technologically developed countries to benefit from learning the perspectives of people in other countries. The promise of a global e-learning system is dependent on better understanding of the differences in views of learning in the different cultural contexts. The point of introducing this discussion is not to report easy solutions, since there are none. In fact our early investigations indicate an almost complete absence of data or discussion of the problem. The point therefore is to contribute to recognizing a previously un-noticed problem and to suggest an opportunity for e-learning organizations to take an early lead in helping us to understand what this mix of e-teaching and learning and culture is all about. After exploring the problem, we will report the results of two exploratory research studies that sought the views of learners on this issue.

Quantifying the divide: a comparison of ICT usage of schools in Metro Manila and IEA-surveyed countries

The researcher quantified the digital divide that existed between schools in Metro Manila, Philippines and schools in countries surveyed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. The researcher determined that unlike students in other countries, students in Metro Manila schools had limited access to computers, software, and the Internet. This implies that Metro Manila students are among the digital poor, with fewer opportunities to access, process, and contribute to digital content.

Happiness among Kuwaiti College Students

Happiness was assessed in 140 Kuwaiti students by means of a single item self-report. Its retest reliability after one week was good (r=+0.86). It is argued that single question suffices for measuring states like happiness. Average happiness appeared to be quite low compared to students in other countries. Possible reasons for the low level of happiness among Kuwaiti college students are discussed.

International cooperation in veterinary public health curricula using web-based distance interactive education.

The expanding field of Veterinary Public Health places new demands on the knowledge and skills of veterinarians. Veterinary curricula must therefore adapt to this new profile. Through the introduction of case studies dealing with up-to-date issues, students are being trained to solve (real-life) problems and come up with realistic solutions. At the Department of Public Health and Food Safety of the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, positive experiences have resulted from the new opportunities offered by the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. The possibility of creating a virtual classroom on the Internet through the use of WebCT software has enabled teachers and students to tackle emerging issues by working together with students in other countries and across disciplines. This article presents some of these experiences, through which international exchange of ideas and realities were stimulated, in addition to consolidating relations between universities in different countries. Long-distance education methodologies provide an important tool to achieve the increasing need for international cooperation in Veterinary Public Health curricula.

Teacher Nomination: German Version of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students

Teacher nomination is often used as one criterion of a multidimensional approach towards identifying students with high abilities. Multiple criteria can be useful to identify students for gifted programs who may be overlooked using traditional methods. The teacher rating scales discussed in this study have been extensively used in the United States and have been translated into twelve other languages for use in identification of talented students in other countries. The purpose of this study was to develop teacher-rating scales for schools in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Therefore, the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students revised (SRBCSS-R) were translated from English into German and data were collected from certified teachers in public schools in Switzerland. Factor analysis confirmed the original four-factor structure from the American SRBCSS-R with a comparative fit index (CFI) of .89 and a root mean square residual of .07. Alpha reliability coefficients ranged between a = .86 and a = .96, providing support for the internal consistency of the instrument. Use of these scales is recommended as one criterion for identifying students with high abilities in Swiss schools and the evaluation of its appropriateness for other German speaking schools is encouraged. As more schools implement the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, the use of the SRBCSS-R will become more widespread.

Doing 'What Comes Naturally': How the Discourses and Routines of Teachers' Practice Constrain Opportunities for Bilingual Support in UK Primary Schools

Providing bilingual support for curriculum learning has become an increasingly popular approach to meeting the needs of bilingual learners in mainstream classrooms in the first years of schooling in the UK. In this paper I argue that to understand why bilingual support operates as it does in UK classrooms, we have to see it in the context of the parameters allowed it by the institutionally constructed discourses and classroom routines of mainstream teachers' practice. These discourses and practices are largely constructed outside the school, in theories of language learning and of models of 'good practice'. This approach holds lessons for the analysis of additional language provision for bilingual students in other countries. To design effective forms of bilingual support, there is a need to intervene in the reconstruction of the discourse of 'good practice' in mainstream classroom teaching.

Taking on the World: U.S. Women Fulbrighters

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Fulbright Scholar Program in 1996 and to help set the agenda for the next half century, five former Fulbright professors, all of them women from the United States, recount the life-altering experiences they had while teaching and doing research under the program's auspices in Germany, Mexico, Chile, Romania, and Finland during the 1980s and 1990s. In separate but related essays, the five authors, all of whom are feminists, describe the various challenges and opportunities they encountered in their host countries. Among the issues discussed are the underrepresentation of women in the Fulbright program; the problems the authors faced as researchers, teachers, partners, and parents living and working abroad; the rewards they reaped from sharing their feminist perspective and pedagogy with students in other countries; and the global understanding of Women's Studies and women's concerns they gained from their experience as Fulbright fellows. The authors' goals are to encourage readers to support the program and to inspire women scholars who have not yet considered doing so to apply for Fulbright grants. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.149 on Mon, 03 Oct 2016 06:15:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 58 ANNA SHANNON ELFENBEIN, ET AL. In 1996 the Fulbright Scholar Program, the largest and most comprehensive academic-exchange program in the world, celebrated its 50th anniversary. There was much to celebrate, of course. But around the same time, the U.S. government reduced its funding of Fulbright fellowships by approximately 14%. This sharp cut in vital financial support disrupted arrangements the program's administrators had made with 26 partner countries and placed its entire future in jeopardy.' The five women authors of this essay are former Fulbrighters who believe that the program needs and deserves stronger support, both from the government and from women scholars in the United States. Our fellowships made it possible for us to serve as feminist scholars and teachers in five different countries. For all of us (Anna Shannon Elfenbein, Germany, 1992-93; Linda E. Lucas, Mexico, 1980-81; Barbara C. Ewell, Chile, 1992-93; Kathryn Cirksena, Romania, 1991-92; and Margaret McFadden, Finland, 1991-92), the Fulbright experience was an unforgettable adventure. Moreover, it has had an enormously positive effect on our lives and careers. After comparing notes on the experience during a conference, we decided to share our stories with a wider audience.2 We wrote the following accounts with three main goals in mind. The first was to break the silence that has long enveloped the participation of women in the Fulbright program.3 The second was to encourage women to give the program greater support and to ask Congress to restore its funding commitment to its previous level. And the third was to do what we could to increase the representation of women among Fulbright grantees. During the years 1992 through 1996, the most recent period for which data are available, the percentage of Fulbright awards that went to women ranged from a low of 29% to a high of 34%.4 These discouraging numbers might be thought to reflect a discriminatory selection process, but in fact women applicants had a slightly higher chance of being selected during this period than men applicants did.5 For women the problem has been that they are still underrepresented among Ph.D.'s; hence, the pool of women eligible to apply for Fulbrights has been smaller than the pool of eligible men.6 Every year the number of men with doctorates and the number of women with doctorates move closer to equality.7 As long as the numbers remain unequal, however, women have only one means of increasing their representation in the Fulbright program, and that is to apply at a higher rate than in the past and at a higher rate than men relative to the pool of eligible scholars. By recounting our own experiences as Fulbrighters, we hope to encourage women who have not yet done so to apply for fellowships. We believe that prospective applicants, whether eligible professionals, unaffiliated scholars, part-time college teachers, or full-time academics, can learn from our narratives what kinds of challenge and opportunity are likely to await them if they should be fortunate enough to receive Fulbright This content downloaded from 207.46.13.149 on Mon, 03 Oct 2016 06:15:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms TAKING ON THE WORLD 59 awards.8 For us the challenges and opportunities were uniquely rewarding. We invite interested women scholars to experience the rewards for

Mile wide, inch deep?

Compared to their counterparts in other nations, American grade school students learn a lot less about a lot more. According to a new report entitled A Splintered Vision: An Investigation of U.S. Science and Mathematics Education, a student in the United States is expected to absorb information about a wide array of topics in a school year, yet he or she is seldom given the opportunity to explore any one topic in depth. The report was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a five‐year project to compare teaching and student achievement in 45 countries.Before they reach high school, American students will have covered more topics than 75% of the students in other countries; yet in many cases, they will have been taught some of the same topics several years in a row. Researchers also criticized conventional U.S. education standards for being unfocused and aimed at the lowest common denominator. They noted that most American textbooks make minimal demands on students and they represent “a limited notion” of what should be discussed in “basic” texts.

Preparing students for practice in a changing community environment: an innovative course

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of an innovative course in community occupational therapy. The course emphasises and prepares students for community practice in an environment profoundly affected by ongoing changes in Canada's health and social systems. Its rationale, objectives, structure, and content are outlined. In particular, the paper highlights the in vivo, problem‐based component of the course, which centres around community‐based fieldwork. A summary of the major results of the evaluation of the course is also presented. Although this course was designed for Canadian occupational therapy students, much of the material presented is potentially useful to educators of occupational therapy students in other countries. Copyright © 1996 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Choosing dentistry as a career--a profile of entering students (1992) to the University of Sydney, Australia.

The present study is an investigation of motives students have for wishing to become dentists. The study population comprised 85 first year dental students of the class of 1992 at the University of Sydney. A questionnaire which sought information on student demography, attitudes to dentistry, and motive rankings was administered. Demographic findings indicated that the majority of students came from countries in the Pacific rim and the male/female ratio was 62 to 38 per cent. Responses to the attitude questionnaire showed that Australian student motives for becoming dentists did not differ from those of students in other countries. The most predominant of these motives was to serve others, to become independent, to enjoy job satisfaction, and to acquire financial security. The least important motives were manual and communication skills, science and knowledge, and surprisingly, status and prestige. To attribute meaning and value to these motives, however, reflects inconsistencies which are expressed as contradictions between motive categories, between items within categories, and between motive categories and motive rankings. When one considers the basis upon which career decisions are made, disparity in the findings may be attributable to a decision-making process that rests on subjective rather than objective criteria.

Math Options: Exploring Career Possibilities

The mathematics education of students in America's schools has been the subject of renewed debate and distress reminiscent of the rumblings of the post-Sputnik era. The current discussion is fueled by a realization that American competition in the global marketplace of the twenty-first century will require significantly more mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. Many question our ability to prepare students who demonstrate the high levels of expertise required in these fields. First, they point to intemational studies indicating that the mathematics skills of students in the United States are below those of students in other countries (Travers and McKnight 1985; Stevenson, Lee, and Stigler 1986). A second concern is related to demographic trends and the changing composition of our workforce. The majority of entrants to the job market in the new century are predicted to be women and minorities, who traditionally have not pursued careers that require extensive training in mathematics and science (Johnson and Packer 1987). Although the percent of women working in mathematics or science-related careers has increased, from 8.6 percent in 1975 to 13.4 percent in 1986, it is still comparatively low (Linn and Hyde 1989).

Electric power engineering education and training in Romania

The paper outlines the general training scheme for electrical engineering in Romania and details the curriculum for electrical power engineers in Bucharest Politehnica University. Future changes aimed at aligning training in Romania with that given to students in other countries are discussed. >

Israeli quality survey: research 'spin-offs'.

Quality assurance surveys in nursing are worthless unless the results can be translated into practical action. The author demonstrates how one such survey in Israel inspired Masters' students at Tel Aviv University to base their projects and theses on the survey findings, and produced intervention models and tools for improving care in several important areas of nursing. Encouraging the students to conduct these studies as 'spin-offs' from a major piece of national research has fostered a much broader understanding of quality assurance which has had a direct impact on patient care, and provides an example which nurses, educators and students in other countries can emulate.

Introducing engineering into American secondary education

Media reports indicate the decline of the technological literacy of American youth, especially that students in other countries are better prepared in science and mathematics. Our active-learning program, which consists of numerous hands-on experiments, introduces engineering applications into science and math programs, that will demonstrate to students the usefulness of the theory that they currently do not see as useful. The program, when fully developed, will make optimum use of technology, especially computers and videotapes. The hands-on experiments allow students to discover fundamental principles through data analysis and then use the principles to synthesize a solution to a technological problem. This discovery-based education will help school systems better meet performance standards such as those in the Maryland School Performance Plan. The experimental approach to science education is especially important in a technology-oriented economy where children use the new technologies without understanding the principles on which they are based.

Science across Europe: key issues for society

Science across Europe is a new project linking secondary schools across Europe through the science curriculum. It focuses on issues in science, technology and society that have a European dimension. Students taking part gather information, reflect on their opinions and compare them with those of students in other countries. The project provides opportunities for using foreign languages and new communications technologies.

The Transition from School to Work in Australia: Some Comparisons with Japan and North America

For more than a decade Australian employers have been openly critical of the attitudes, competencies and behaviour of high school leavers, complaining that schools have been inadequately preparing students for employment. This article examines a number of surveys of employers to identify the major complaints of school leavers, then discusses each in turn to ascertain their accuracy. Comparative statistics for school retention rates and comparative levels of academic achievement of students in other countries are included in this discussion. Finally, the results of a survey conducted to determine the perceptions of Japanese and Victorian year 11 students concerning the importance they feel employers place on various school subjects, attitudes and behaviours are examined

Reliability and validity of the secondary level english proficiency test

The SLEP is a group administered test of English language proficiency which includes two subscores and eight different item types. It is designed to assess a foreign student's readiness for English medium instruction at the secondary level. This article describes the development of the test specifications and the performance of each item type and the total test during an administration of SLEP to students in other countries. Several innovative formats are described and discussed, including multiple-choice cloze and multiple-choice dictation. The paper also reports the findings of a validity study which involved the analysis of test scores and demographic data for U.S. public school students.

The Study of Plant Communities

SINCE plant ecology first started, as a distinct division of study within the major science of botany, with the publication of Warming's "Plantes-amfund" in 1895 (first German edition in 1896 and an English edition, "Oeeology of Plants", Oxford, 1909), it has owed much of its rapid growth to American workers. In particular, the concept of succession was clarified and systematized, if not conceived, in the United States, and its development has been stimulated and largely directed by the researches, terminology and theories of American ecologists. It is therefore to be expected that textbooks of ecology intended primarily for American students should record progress periodically. Such works naturally have both peculiar value and particular limitations for students in other countries. They direct attention to points of view and literature which might otherwise be overlooked and to examples which might remain unknown. On the other hand, it is not always easy to evaluate the conclusions reached because of unfamiliarity with both the flora involved and the field conditions. The Study of Plant Communities An Introduction to Plant Ecology. By Prof. Henry J. Oosting. Pp. 389. (San Francisco : W. H. Freeman and Co., 1948.) 4.50 dollars.