Search Results for
"Students"

Background: This study aimed to compare broad range of behavioral problems and their relations to working status of adolescents in samples of Turkish apprenticeship, technical and high schools. Method: The research was carried out on a total of 899 adolescents aged 15 to 20. The study sample was recruited from three different type of schools (High School, Technical School, Apprenticeship School), located in the city of Zonguldak, Turkey. Two questionnaires were administered to the students. First questionnaire evaluated the adolescents' sociodemographic variables, working status and working durations. Second questionnaire evaluated the behavioral problems namely Youth Self Report (YSR). Results: The majority of adolescents (75.2 %) in apprentice programs were working regularly. Compared to adolescents in high school and technical school, adolescent students in apprenticeship programs were found to have higher scores of withdrawn, somatic complaints, depression and anxiety, social problems, delinquent behaviors, internalization and externalization on the YSR. The Total Problems, Internalizing Problems, Somatic Complaints, Anxious/Depressed, Social Problems and Delinquent Behaviors scores of working adolescents were higher than nonworking adolescents. Conclusion: Compared to other schools, adolescents in apprenticeship programs were found to have higher behavioral problems. Longer working hours seems to be associated with withdrawn, somatic complaints, being anxious and depressed, social problems, delinquent behaviors, internalizing and externalization problems. We suggest that it is important to control working conditions of adolescents in order to prevent development of behavioral problems that may lead to several other health problems. © Universitätsverlag Ulm GmbH 2007.

Aim: To assess and observe the development of competence in oral surgical skills during a 3-year undergraduate programme. Method: Over a 3-year period 75 students were followed through from the beginning of their clinical course to their Bachelor of Dental Surgery graduation and their surgical experience monitored by the use of logbooks. Their development of competence was assessed objectively through structured assessments and subjectively by a single tutor responsible for each year. Assessments were made of their ability in exodontia, pre-surgical assessment and the surgical extraction of teeth/roots. Results: Seventy-three students completed the course (97%). Successful completion rates for the objective testing were 100% for both exodontia and pre-surgical assessment. The surgical assessment, (surgical extraction of a tooth or root) had a successful completion rate of only 23% and the caseload for students was low with a mean of four teeth removed surgically upon graduation. Relationships were examined between total numbers of teeth extracted, total number of minor oral surgical procedures completed and the successful completion of the surgical competence assessment, but no significant relationships were found. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that it is possible to achieve objectively measurable levels of competence in undergraduates undertaking oral surgery procedures. It is however, a labour and time intensive process and appropriate clinical and teaching resources are required. National co-operation towards agreed standardised competencies should be encouraged to allow data to be pooled and more powerful analyses to occur. © 2007 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard.

This study surveyed 925 Australian high school students enrolled in grades 8 through 12 on measures of occupational aspirations, occupational expectations, career status aspirations, and career status expectations; it tested the association between these variables and career maturity, career indecision, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career barriers. Adolescents generally aspired to or expected to work within a small range of RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or Conventional) occupational categories. One third of students reported occupational aspiration and expectation discrepancies. These differed across gender and across age for female students but not for male students. students who demonstrated both occupational and status aspiration and expectation discrepancies reported more career indecision, were less confident about making a career-related decision, and were less career mature. students generally held higher occupational status aspirations than expectations, and male students were more likely to choose professional occupations than were female students. Age differences were found for status expectations but not for status aspirations. © 2007 Curators of the University of Missouri.

Based on common aspects of recent models of career decision making (CDM), a six-phase model of CDM for secondary students is presented and empirically evaluated. The study tests the hypothesis that students who are in later phases possess more career-choice readiness and consider different numbers of career alternatives. Two hundred sixty-six Swiss secondary students completed measures tapping phase of CDM, career-choice readiness, and number of considered career options. Career-choice readiness showed an increase with phase of CDM. Later phases were associated with a larger increase in career-choice readiness. Number of considered career options showed a curve-linear development with fewer options considered at the beginning and at the end of the process. Male students showed a larger variability in their distribution among the process with more male than female students in the first and last phases of the process. Implications for theory and practice are presented. © 2007 Curators of the University of Missouri.

Background and objective: The case/problem-based learning discussion method was recently introduced into the theory-based training program for residents run by the Catalan Society of Anaesthesiology. This study was designed to assess and compare its effectiveness with that of the lecture-based approach for teaching pre-anaesthetic assessment, applying an objective tool for knowledge evaluation before and after teaching. Methods: A prospective randomized study of two consecutive year groups of first year anaesthesiology residents was conducted. Twenty-nine residents attended a lecture, and 25, a case/problem-based learning discussion session. Their knowledge of pre-anaesthetic assessment was assessed before and after the teaching session with tests on four different clinical cases measuring six fields: (1) 'recognizing clinical data with anaesthetic implications'; (2) 'reasoning clinical data with anaesthetic implications'; (3) 'ASA class'; (4) 'Mallampati class'; (5) 'choice of anaesthetic technique'; (6) 'reasoning choice of anaesthetic technique'. Results: Before the teaching session, the lecture group scored significantly higher on field 1 (P = 0.006). Both teaching methods improved scores on fields 1, 2 and 4. The case/problem group also improved on fields 3 and 6. After the teaching session, the field 1 score was still significantly higher in the lecture group (P = 0.005), and the field 3 score was significantly higher in the case/problem group (P = 0.044). Conclusions: The effectiveness of lecture and case/problem-based learning discussion differed little in terms of improving participants' immediate knowledge of 'pre-anaesthetic assessment'. © 2007 Copyright European Society of Anaesthesiology.

This study explores whether a clinical teaching effectiveness (CTE) instrument provides valid scores for summative faculty assessment. The sample included all CTE instruments (n = 10,087) that learners (N = 1,194) completed to assess clinical teachers (N = 872) during 1 academic year. The authors investigated response processes (e.g., missing data, straight-line responses, level of learner), internal structure (e.g., confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis), teaching ratings by learner group (medical student or resident), and relation to other variables (e.g., correlation with global rating). Response processes identified a high prevalence of straight-line responses (same rating across all items) and differential patterns of missing data by learner group. Medical students rated their teachers higher than residents, and CTE scores had different factor structures depending on learner group. High correlation coefficients of CTE items with a single rating of overall teaching performance suggest that learners consider global performance when assessing clinical teaching performance. © 2007 Sage Publications.

The chapters in this volume are part of a burgeoning research literature that studies the social and economic effects of imprisonment. Earlier work on the effects of incarceration focused on the recidivism of those coming out of prison and jail. Recent research, however, also examines how imprisonment affects the socioeconomic life of prisoners and the poor urban communities to which they return (for example, Braman 2003; Western 2006; Clear, forthcoming; Wacquant, forthcoming). New research on the social consequences of incarceration is motivated by the facts of mass imprisonment. The American incarceration rate-historically high by U.S. standards, surpassing that of some former Soviet republics, and an order of magnitude higher than in the affluent democracies of Western Europe-is a vivid symbol of social inequality. For young male high school dropouts, particularly African Americans, imprisonment has become a routine life event. A young black man born in the late 1960s is more likely to have a prison record than a bachelor's degree, and over half of young black male dropouts born in the late 1960s will go to prison at some point their lives (Pettit and Western 2004). Statistics like these have focused the attention of students of poverty, race, and urban problems on the penal system as a novel feature of a distinctively American pattern of social inequality. Research on the social impact of incarceration suggests that policy has a role, not just in reducing crime but in improving the economic and family life of those drawn into the penal system. Policies designed to repair the economic and family life of ex-prisoners serve several goals. First, steady work and a stable family are keys to desistance from crime (Sampson and Laub 1993; Uggen 2000; Warr 1998). A good job provides structure to daily life, draws a man out of his peer networks that form the context for criminal offending, and offers a wage, which weakens the temptations of an illegal income. Beyond the effects on crime, policies that smooth the reentry of ex-offenders into their homes and jobs may have large redistributive effects. Because incarceration rates are now so high among young men with little schooling, measures that improve employment and family life among ex-prisoners may also raise the economic standing of those at the bottom of American society. In the era of mass imprisonment, social supports for ex-prisoners provide new tools for reducing poverty. The papers in this volume study the links between the penal system and the American labor market. In this chapter I connect this research on prisons and the labor market to policies that can help ex-prisoners find work after coming out of prison. Copyright © 2007 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved.

A handbook on recent advancements and the state of the art in array processing and sensor Networks Handbook on Array Processing and Sensor Networks provides readers with a collection of tutorial articles contributed by world-renowned experts on recent advancements and the state of the art in array processing and sensor networks. Focusing on fundamental principles as well as applications, the handbook provides exhaustive coverage of: wavelets; spatial spectrum estimation; MIMO radio propagation; robustness issues in sensor array processing; wireless communications and sensing in multi-path environments using multi-antenna transceivers; implicit training and array processing for digital communications systems; unitary design of radar waveform diversity sets; acoustic array processing for speech enhancement; acoustic beamforming for hearing aid applications; undetermined blind source separation using acoustic arrays; array processing in astronomy; digital 3D/4D ultrasound imaging technology; self-localization of sensor networks; multi-target tracking and classification in collaborative sensor networks via sequential Monte Carlo; energy-efficient decentralized estimation; sensor data fusion with application to multi-target tracking; distributed algorithms in sensor networks; cooperative communications; distributed source coding; network coding for sensor networks; information-theoretic studies of wireless networks; distributed adaptive learning mechanisms; routing for statistical inference in sensor networks; spectrum estimation in cognitive radios; nonparametric techniques for pedestrian tracking in wireless local area networks; signal processing and networking via the theory of global games; biochemical transport modeling, estimation, and detection in realistic environments; and security and privacy for sensor networks. Handbook on Array Processing and Sensor Networks is the first book of its kind and will appeal to researchers, professors, and graduate students in array processing, sensor networks, advanced signal processing, and networking. © 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Background: There has been concern that trainees are seldom observed, assessed, and given feedback during their workplace-based education. This has led to an increasing interest in a variety of formative assessment methods that require observation and offer the opportunity for feedback. Aims: To review some of the literature on the efficacy and prevalence of formative feedback, describe the common formative assessment methods, characterize the nature of feedback, examine the effect of faculty development on its quality, and summarize the challenges still faced. Results: The research literature on formative assessment and feedback suggests that it is a powerful means for changing the behaviour of trainees. Several methods for assessing it have been developed and there is preliminary evidence of their reliability and validity. A variety of factors enhance the efficacy of workplace-based assessment including the provision of feedback that is consistent with the needs of the learner and focused on important aspects of the performance. Faculty plays a critical role and successful implementation requires that they receive training. Conclusions: There is a need for formative assessment which offers trainees the opportunity for feedback. Several good methods exist and feedback has been shown to have a major influence on learning. The critical role of faculty is highlighted, as is the need for strategies to enhance their participation and training.

The TLRP project reported on in this article attempts to understand how the Learning and Skills sector functions. It traces how education and training policy percolates down through many levels in the English system and how these levels interact, or fail to interact. The authors first focus upon how policy impacts upon the interests of three groups of learners: unemployed people in adult and community learning centres, adult employees in work-based learning and younger learners on Level 1 and Level 2 courses in further education. They focus next upon how professionals in these three settings struggle to cope with two sets of pressures upon them: those exerted by government and a broader set of professional, institutional and local factors. They describe in particular how managers and tutors mediate national policy and translate it (and sometimes mistranslate it) into local plans and practices. Finally, the authors criticise the new government model of public service reform for failing to harness the knowledge, good will and energy of staff working in the sector, and for ignoring what constitutes the main finding of the research: the central importance of the relationship between tutor and students.