College males: Keeping them engaged on your campus

There has been much discussion in the popular media over the last few years to the effect that there is a “crisis” with regard to men in higher education. There have been several angles in these reports, including arguments suggesting that men are declining in student ranks, or that women are outpacing their male counterparts. In any case, these reports have asked questions about where the men are if not in college; and what will be the consequences of this problem in terms of the workforce, families, or the potential nature and future of higher education. One could easily be both intrigued and concerned by the fact that (not unlike a number of other issues facing higher education) the conversation is being led by individuals and organizations generally outside higher education itself (e.g. governments and media)

Returns to Oilseed and Maize Research in Uganda

Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Downloads July 2008-June 2009: 6,

An exploration of the perceptions and practice of community nursing staff within two care settings in relation to spiritual distress at the end of life

High quality end of life (EOL) care requires a range of holistic approaches. Patients approaching the end of their lives frequently experience a variety of debilitating and distressing symptoms(e.g. nausea, breathlessness, or pain). Patients may also experience spiritual distress: a multifaceted form of existential anxiety which can include fear, regret, loss of connection, loss of hope, and loss of meaning. Spiritual distress within EOL care appears to be influenced by a lack of international consensus regarding definition, uncertainty regarding assessment tools and their use, and variation in specific interventions used to help relieve such distress. This conceptual ambiguity appears to directly influence patient care, both in the identification and assessment of spiritual distress and in relation to specific interventions utilised to alleviate such distress. The assessment of spiritual distress in a community context is also problematic: most published studies to date are based within acute hospital settings. None would appear to describe how spiritual distress is perceived/experienced by community nurses within different care settings or attempt to evaluate spiritual distress as experienced by patients dying within their own homes. Likewise, literature describing the use of assessment tools within a community setting, specific interventions to alleviate such distress, and how practitioners perceive the effectiveness of such interventions appears scarce. This study explores the perceptions of twenty-one community nurses (11 hospice, 10 NHS) regarding spiritual distress, as observed in EOL community-based patients. An initial literature review first attempts to situate spiritual distress within the wider backdrop of spirituality, spiritual care and spiritual needs. A qualitative investigative study was then undertaken using semi-structured interviews. Textual data were subsequently transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis, as described by Braun and Clarke (2006). The study’s findings suggest that spiritual distress is a challenging phenomenon for practitioners to effectively manage within community nursing. Ambiguity associated with such distress would also appear to directly influence the quality and delivery of nursing care for EOL patients within both care settings

Experimental Evaluation of Self-directed Versus Instructor-assisted Online Applied Behavior Analysis Training: Examination of Post-Knowledge and Application Assessments with Minority Students

Given the growing demand for applied behavioral analysis (ABA) training, self-instructional online programs could be useful to teach strategies to various individuals who are minority-ethnic and may need training (e.g., therapists, college students, parents). Although self-directed online training has been shown to be an effective learning method, little research has been done examining the best methods of online training with ethnic minority students. Past research suggests that instructor-assisted training may help minority-ethnic students overcome difficulties (low satisfaction, engagement, motivation, and understanding) with online training material. Participants reported issues based on possible cultural factors (i.e., miscommunication, negative perceptions from instructors, misunderstandings) and feelings of isolation negatively affecting their performance. In this study, a mixed subjects cross over experimental research design was used to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of learning ABA material by minority-ethnic college students in two online conditions (self-directed versus instructor-assisted). Post knowledge and application assessments measured participants’ acquisition of ABA material in each online training condition. Subjective evaluation assessments measured participants’ perceptions of the two online training conditions. The present study showed no statistically significant difference in participants’ mean post-knowledge and application assessment scores and no difference in online training preference. However, participants’ perceived that learning was greater in the instructor-assisted training condition in comparison to the self-directed training condition. Further research is needed for empirically informed decisions concerning the best way to provide online ABA training with minority-ethnic groups