Assessing learning orientation to maximize academic achievement

The Student Behavior Checklist (SBC) is a tool which helps teachers monitor how students approach learning by measuring the constructs of learned helplessness and mastery orientation. Learned helplessness is a passive behavior that is characterized by an inability to learn, often displayed in students who are frequently subjected to stressful events. Individuals who develop learned helplessness attribute failures to personal inadequacy, which lead to negative attitudes towards tasks, becoming overwhelmed with frustration, and developing less effective strategies after failure. A concept of behavior in contrast to learned helplessness is mastery orientation. Mastery orientated students believe that they effort they put into their work will produce success and prefer to take on challenging tasks. Mastery orientated students view failure as a challenge to be worked on and mastered through effort, maintaining a positive outlook and focus on the task. The current scientific literature on both constructs of learning suggest that learning orientation is a good predictor of academic performance. This poster presentation will focus on the importance of measuring student learning orientation in the educational setting to maximize academic achievement. Implications for identifying learned helplessness and mastery orientation will promote understanding of individual learning orientations, and how assessing these constructs will lead to greater academic achievement by students

Measuring employability among college students: A validity study

The practice of assessment in higher education is often focused on measuring outcomes of student success. However, the potential for a student to obtain a job (i.e., their employability) after graduation is often not directly measured. This reality is unfortunate given the competitive job market and rising cost of an education. One scale, the Employability Skills Inventory (ESI) has been identified as a potential assessment instrument that purports to measure skills necessary for employment in most occupations. Before deciding to use any scale for a particular purpose, one must establish that the scale is both reliable and valid. The focus of this thesis was to gather validity evidence for the ESI, paying a particular emphasis on the Thinking Skills subdomain. Use of a survey to employers, content alignment activities, and structural equation modeling were used to gather construct validity evidence. The results of this thesis suggest that the ESI is not an appropriate instrument for assessing employability among college students. A new model of employability and a process by which an appropriate employability measure can be developed are discussed

The impact of fictive kin relationships on the development of attributional styles

The term fictive kin is used to describe social ties that are based on neither blood ties, nor by marriage. Fictive kin are granted many of the same rights as family members and are expected to participate in the roles of the extended family. Research on fictive kin relationships often examines the African-American community and focuses on the effects of building strong social bonds outside the family. The constructive role fictive kin play in a person’s life suggests that these relationships serve as an important foundation in engaging in helping behavior. Helping behavior refers to actions intended to benefit another and is a characteristic of possessing a positive attributional style. Research suggests that development of attributional style originates in experiences of trust or lack of trust. This poster presentation will discuss how social support provided by fictive kin relationships can impact the development of one’s attributional style in a positive manner. Implications for identifying the benefits of fictive kin relationships will promote understanding and acceptance of these relationships in society

The role of the victim in the South African system of plea and sentence agreements: a critique of section 105a of the criminal procedure act

Magister Legum - LLMCrime victims once played a prominent role in the criminal justice system. Historically, victims who sought to bring their wrongdoers to justice conducted their own investigations and argued their own cases or employed others to do so. As time passed, a distinction was drawn between offences against the social order and disputes between individuals. Crime control became a function of government and the state increased its responsibility for the investigation and punishment of criminal conduct. Gradually, the victim was removed from the proceedings and relegated to serving as a witness for the state. The assumption was that the state, whilst representing the interests of society, would represent the interests of the victim also. This fallacy provided the foundation for a criminal justice which, until recently, encourage victim exclusion. In recent years, there has been a clear trend towards re-introducing the right of victims to participate in the criminal justice process. This international trend has been labelled the „return of the victim‟. In South Africa, the Constitution and, in particular, the Bill of Rights contained therein underscore the move towards procedural rights for victims of crime. Moreover, the South African government has taken significant legislative steps to ensure that victims have formal rights in criminal justice proceedings. However, to date, comparatively little attention has been paid to the question of whether or not victims should be allowed a meaningful role in the process of plea and sentence negotiations. One of the aims of this study is to determine whether victims‟ rights are properly understood, defined and implemented within the criminal justice system. In particular, this study aims to clarify the rights of victims who find themselves affiliated with a specific stage of criminal prosecution, namely, negotiated justice

Early Intervention, Documentation, and Service Delivery: A Review of IFSPs and Service Notes

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Microbiota-produced indole metabolites disrupt mitochondrial function and inhibit Cryptosporidium parvum growth

Cryptosporidiosis is a leading cause of life-threatening diarrhea in young children in resource-poor settings. To explore microbial influences on susceptibility, we screened 85 microbiota-associated metabolites for their effects on Cryptosporidium parvum growth in vitro. We identify eight inhibitory metabolites in three main classes: secondary bile salts/acids, a vitamin

Transferrable protection by gut microbes against STING-associated lung disease

STING modulates immunity by responding to bacterial and endogenous cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs). Humans and mice with STING gain-of-function mutations develop a syndrome known as STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI), which is characterized by inflammatory or fibrosing lung disease. We hypothesized that hyperresponsiveness of gain-of-function STING to bacterial CDNs might explain autoinflammatory lung disease in SAVI mice. We report that depletion of gut microbes with oral antibiotics (vancomycin, neomycin, and ampicillin [VNA]) nearly eliminates lung disease in SAVI mice, implying that gut microbes might promote STING-associated autoinflammation. However, we show that germ-free SAVI mice still develop severe autoinflammatory disease and that transferring gut microbiota from antibiotics-treated mice to germ-free animals eliminates lung inflammation. Depletion of anaerobes with metronidazole abolishes the protective effect of the VNA antibiotics cocktail, and recolonization with the metronidazole-sensitive anaerobe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron prevents disease, confirming a protective role of a metronidazole-sensitive microbe in a model of SAVI

Homeostatic interferon-lambda response to bacterial microbiota stimulates preemptive antiviral defense within discrete pockets of intestinal epithelium

Interferon-lambda (IFN-λ) protects intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) from enteric viruses by inducing expression of antiviral IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Here, we find that bacterial microbiota stimulate a homeostatic ISG signature in the intestine of specific pathogen-free mice. This homeostatic ISG expression is restricted to IECs, depends on IEC-intrinsic expression of IFN-λ receptor

Intestinal antiviral signaling is controlled by autophagy gene Epg5 independent of the microbiota

Mutations in the macroautophagy/autophagy gen

What's in a message? Delivering sexual health promotion to young people in Australia via text messaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Advances in communication technologies have dramatically changed how individuals access information and communicate. Recent studies have found that mobile phone text messages (SMS) can be used successfully for short-term behaviour change. However there is no published information examining the acceptability, utility and efficacy of different characteristics of health promotion SMS. This paper presents the results of evaluation focus groups among participants who received twelve sexual health related SMS as part of a study examining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to on young people in Victoria, Australia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight gender-segregated focus groups were held with 21 males and 22 females in August 2008. Transcripts of audio recordings were analysed using thematic analysis. Data were coded under one or more themes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Text messages were viewed as an acceptable and 'personal' means of health promotion, with participants particularly valuing the informal language. There was a preference for messages that were positive, relevant and short and for messages to cover a variety of topics. Participants were more likely to remember and share messages that were funny, rhymed and/or tied into particular annual events. The message broadcasting, generally fortnightly on Friday afternoons, was viewed as appropriate. Participants said the messages provided new information, a reminder of existing information and reduced apprehension about testing for sexually transmitted infections.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mobile phones, in particular SMS, offer health promoters an exciting opportunity to engage personally with a huge number of individuals for low cost. The key elements emerging from this evaluation, such as message style, language and broadcast schedule are directly relevant to future studies using SMS for health promotion, as well as for future health promotion interventions in other mediums that require short formats, such as social networking sites.</p