Computing, Girls and Education: What we need to know to change how girls think about information technology.

Despite significant efforts and many intervention programs over the years to encourage girls to study computing, we continue to see a declining interest. Girls’ lack of engagement with technology at school is resulting in fewer women entering the Information Technology (IT) workforce. Our research investigated whether a long-term intervention program with a specifically designed school-based curriculum could change girls’ minds about computing generally and increase their confidence and interest in an IT career. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from girls and teachers before, during, and after this program was implemented. A conceptual model of the school-based influences on girls’ attitude was developed from the literature and used to explore the data. Findings from this four-year project added rich insights and resulted in a comprehensive model of ‘Factors that Influence Girls’ Attitude to IT.’ This research demonstrates that a carefully designed IT curriculum, delivered in single-sex classes, reinforced by opportunities to interact with role models, and timetabled in regular class time, can and does change girls’ attitudes to IT. We also found that the students reported improved confidence and increased interest in IT. We posit that our refined model of ‘Factors that Influence Girls’ Attitude to IT’ is a valuable reference tool. Teachers, academics and professionals who are implementing programs to promote IT to girls can use it.

Monitoring young lifestyles (MyLife) - a prospective longitudinal quantitative and qualitative study of youth development and substance use in Norway

PurposeTheMonitoringYoungLifestyles (MyLife) project was initiated as an integrated quantitative and qualitative prospective investigation of correlates, causes, and consequences of adolescent substance use and other addictive behaviours in Norway.ParticipantsThe MyLife cohort was recruited from middle schools in Norway, which were selected from low, medium and high standard of living areas in both rural and urban regions of the country. A total of 3512 eighth, ninth and tenth graders (55% girls) from 33 schools were enrolled in the quantitative project arm (QT), while a total of 120 eighth graders (52% girls) from six schools were enrolled in the qualitative project arm (QL).Findings to dateQT baseline was conducted in the fall of 2017, when 2975 adolescents completed an online questionnaire at school during a regular class time. A total of 2857 adolescents participated in the first QT follow-up 1 year later. QL baseline was conducted across the fall semesters of 2014 (one class) and 2015 (five classes), when a total of 118 eighth graders completed face-to-face interviews. QL follow-ups were conducted in the spring of 2015 and fall of 2017 (n=98) for group interviews, and in the spring of 2017 and 2018 (n=95) for individual interviews. In terms of additional data sources, a total of 3035 parents consented to own participation, of which 1899 completed a brief online questionnaire at QT baseline in late 2017. School principals completed brief surveys at the same time.Future plansBoth QT and QL arms have planned follow-ups through 2021. Consents were obtained for individual-level linkages of adolescent and parental quantitative surveys to each other, as well as to the information available in multiple national registries and databases. These supplemental data sources will provide key information on additional putative exposures as well as on the long-term health, educational, and social outcomes of the MyLife participants.

Association between Club Sports Participation and Physical Fitness across 6- to 14-Year-Old Austrian Youth

Changes in social and built environments most likely contribute to a decline in physical activity (PA) and physical fitness in children and adolescents. Organized sports may be an important component in ensuring adequate fitness, which is an important aspect in general health and well-being. The present study examines differences by club sports participation in cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility and balance in 3293 (55.1% male) Austrian children and adolescents between 6 and 14 years of age. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) were taken and participants completed the German motor test during regular class time. Even though there was no significant difference in body weight between club sports participants and non-club sports participants, club sports participation was associated with higher physical fitness, particularly regarding endurance, strength, power, and agility. Differences by club sports participation, however, declined during the elementary school years (6–10 years of age), while they became more pronounced during middle school years (10–14 years of age). Club sports participation, therefore, may be a viable option in the promotion of physical fitness, particularly during adolescence. At younger ages, other sources of PA, such as physical education and free play, however, should be considered to ensure sufficient fitness levels that contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle.

SEITI RMLab: A costless and effective remote measurement laboratory in electrical engineering

e-Learning emerged as a way for enhancing the quality of education and providing accessible distance learning to allow learners to study beyond regular class time, transcending the mandatory presence of teachers and the availability of classrooms by providing the necessary resources and services. One of the main issues of e-learning, especially in engineering education, is the lack of online educational laboratories. Practical work remains a considerable burden as engineering educational programs focus on handling real equipment. These last are only accessible within a restrictive schedule and might be unaffordable for low budget institutions. The need is clear for interactive platforms that enhance the motivation and controls the regulation of workload for each student. In this paper, an overview about online laboratories is given and a simple approach of remote lab is suggested. The proposal of our research team (Team SEITI) can be used for carrying-out experiments that require neither assembly nor physical changes until the results are obtained unless a technician, that must be present in the laboratory, acts on equipment. The idea is to set up a real-time measurement retrieval laboratory that requires the involvement of a technician to act on instruments and will grant access to a large scale of students.

Increasing Attendance in a Self-Access Language Lounge

Scheduled class time for students in tertiary language classes is limited, and is likely insufficient in itself to enable students to attain second language mastery (Nunan, 1989). Provision of language practice can be expanded outside regular class time through various means, including self-access centers. However, without effective marketing and management, and effective teaching staff, such facilities risk low participation rates. The current paper discusses the provision of an English language conversation lounge facility at a Japanese university in the light of a 69% increase in student attendance for the year 2015-16. The discussion is initially situated in the need for extra language study outside regular class time. A brief description of the language center is then given. The focus of the present paper is to note recent changes, and to consider effective practice for increasing attendance and for improving participation.

Learning style preferences of nursing students at two universities in Iran and Malaysia

Purpose: Learning style preferences vary within the nursing field and there is no consensus on a predominant learning style preference in nursing students. The current study compared the learning style preferences of nursing students at two universities in Iran and Malaysia. Methods: A purposive sampling method was used to collect data from the two study populations. Data were collected using the Learning Style Scale (LSS), which is a valid and reliable inventory. The LSS consists of 22 items with five subscales including perceptive, solitary, analytic, imaginative, and competitive. The questionnaires were distributed at the end of the academic year during regular class time for optimum response. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the learning style preferences between the two study populations. Results: A significant difference was found in perceptive, solitary, and analytic learning styles between two groups of nursing students. However, there was no significant difference in imaginative and competitive learning styles between the two groups. Most of the students were in the middle range of the learning styles. Conclusion: There were similarities and differences in learning style preferences between Zabol Medical Sciences University (ZBMU) and University Sains Malaysia (USM) nursing students. The USM nursing students were more sociable and analytic learners, whereas the ZBMU nursing students were more solitary and perceptive learners.

Students' communicative competence

Communicative competence is the ability to send messages which promote attainment of goals while maintaining social acceptability. Competent communicators attempt to align themselves with each others goals and methods to produce a smooth, productive and often enjoyable dialogue. The aim of this research was to investigate self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC) of students of Engineering Management in General English and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). A longitudinal study was carried out starting with the first year students at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad and was repeated with the same sample of students during their second and third year of study. Participation was voluntary and took place during regular class time. The measure of communicative competence employed was the Self-perceived Communication Competence Scale. The results of the study indicated that differences in SPCC between the years do exist. The SPCC gradually improved between the first, the second and the third year. The research was also motivated by gaining better overview of the teaching activity. An anonymous questionnaire provided many useful hints and ideas for further work and thus, language teacher made a thorough analysis of the overall teaching procedure. However, it is essential to get some feedback and talk to students in order to evaluate both them and ourselves as well as the teaching syllabus.

Teaching and Learning Focus Group Skills: A Classroom Example Evaluating Map Design

As a group learning experience in a graduate cartography course, a focus group study was performed of a recently-redesigned map of the Michigan State University campus. The learning process involved two parts. Part one was a 75-minute focus group discussion during regular class time with the instructor as the moderator, one student as the assistant and notetaker, and the other members of the class as the subjects. After instructions were given, everyone studied the map for a brief period and then discussed a set of issues focused on the design of the map. Discussion was orderly but lively and packed with relevant comments. Part two occurred at the next class session. Students discussed the experience, the results, the assigned readings on the method, and relevance of the method to other projects. A written report was then prepared for the producers of the map. Reactions to the learning experience were highly positive, and several participants have since used qualitative methods in other research. An actual study proved an effective means of learning the fundamentals of focus group research.