YouTube: An international platform for sharing methods of cheating

Abstract: This study investigated the video sharing website www.youtube.com for the presence of instructional videos that teach students how to cheat on academic work. Videos were analyzed to determine the methods of cheating, the popularity of the videos, the demographics of viewers and those uploading the videos, and the opinions of viewers after watching these types of videos. A total of 43 videos were included in this study. Those featured in the videos taught viewers how to cheat on exams, homework, and written assignments using modern and traditional technologies. The far majority of those featured in the videos, and their viewers, were males within the age range of those who attend middle school, high school, and college. Videos were watched by people from several different nations, including the United States, Canada, Australia, India, and the United Kingdom. The study's results suggest that instructional cheating videos are popular among students around the world. Positive viewer feedback indicates that the videos have educated and motivated students to put the methods of cheating found in the videos to use. Educators should consider YouTube as a resource in order to become familiar with various methods of cheating

Twitter as a tool to warn others about sobriety checkpoints: A pilot observational study.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that young people use the website Twitter as a tool to warn drivers about the locations of sobriety checkpoints. Researchers investigated this claim by independently analyzing the website’s content regarding a sample of 10 sobriety checkpoints that were conducted in cities throughout the United States during the weekend of August 26, 2011. Researchers discovered that Twitter content either described one’s experience driving through a checkpoint or acted as a warning to others regarding the exact location of a checkpoint. In the study’s sample, there was over six times as many warnings as compared to experiences posted on Twitter. The warnings, 81 in total, reached an audience of over 64,000 people. The majority of warnings were made by males and by young people between the ages of 20 to 29 years old. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are described

The snowball survey and peer-education posters: Methods of teaching social norms.

Adolescent substance use is a major health issue in the United States. Adolescent substance use is associated with motor vehicle crashes,1 risky sexual behaviors,2 and the development of substance disorders during adulthood.3 National studies indicate that the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) among adolescents attending high school has declined considerably since the early 1990s.4 However, within the past few years, reductions in ATOD use have slowed to moderate or insignificant levels,4 an issue requiring the focus of health professionals

Monitoring outdoor tobacco policies of Virginia colleges: A descriptive analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to monitor current outdoor tobacco policies of colleges within the state of Virginia. Methods: The tobacco policies of 2-year public colleges, 4-year public colleges, and 4-year private non-profit colleges in Virginia were located online. The policies were then categorized according to the types of tobacco products that were prohibited (Smoking Policies, Tobacco Policies, and E-cigarette Policies) and where those products were prohibited outdoors (No Policy, Entrance Policy, Perimeter Policy, Designated Smoking Areas Policy, All Grounds Policy). Findings: From a final sample of 62 college policies, 2 (3%) had No Policy, 29 (47%) had an Entrance Policy, 12 (19%) had a Perimeter Policy, 10 (16%) had a Designated Smoking Areas Policy, and 9 (15%) had an All Grounds Policy. Conclusions: The far majority of colleges do not meet national recommendations for outdoor tobacco policies. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in the article

Student, faculty, and staff approval of university smoke/tobacco-free policies: an analysis of campus newspaper articles

Objective: To provide a nontraditional source of data to university policymakers regarding student, faculty, and staff approval of university smoke/tobacco-free policies, as published through campus newspaper articles. Methods: From January to April 2016, a total of 2523 articles were retrieved concerning campus smoking/tobacco at 4-year, public universities. Of these, 54 articles met the inclusion factors, which described 30 surveys about campus approval of tobacco-free policies and 24 surveys about smoke-free policies. Results: In all, the surveys included more than 130 000 respondents. With the exception of 4 surveys, all reported that the most of the respondents approved a tobacco/smoke-free campus policy. Conclusions: Although the study had several limitations, the findings provide a synthesis from a nontraditional data source that is consistent with findings from the peer-reviewed literature, in which most of the students, faculty, and staff on university campuses approve of smoke/tobacco-free campus policies

Development and Validation of the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory

Identifying misconceptions in student learning is a valuable practice for evaluating student learning gains and directing educational interventions. By accurately identifying students’ knowledge and misconceptions about microbiology concepts, instructors can design effective classroom practices centered on student understanding. Following the development of ASM’s Curriculum Guidelines in 2012, we developed a concept inventory, the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory (MHSCI), that measures learning gains and identifies student misconceptions in health sciences microbiology classrooms. The 23-question MHSCI was delivered to a wide variety of students at multiple institution types. Psychometric analysis identified that the MHSCI instrument is both discriminatory and reliable in measuring student learning gains. The MHSCI results correlated with course outcomes, showing the value of using the instrument alongside course level assessments to measure student learning. The MHSCI is a reliable and efficient way to measure student learning in microbiology and can be used both as a faculty development tool and an effective student assessment tool

Coverage of adolescent substance use prevention in state frameworks for health education.

BACKGROUND: The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) by adolescents is a national health issue. One way in which the United States approaches the prevention of substance use among adolescents is by teaching high school students about ATOD at school. The curriculum for health education courses is based upon each state's framework. The purpose of this study was to conduct a 10-year follow-up to a study that analyzed state frameworks for key mediators of adolescent substance use. METHODS: Researchers performed an extensive content analysis of all 50 states' curriculum frameworks for high school health education to identify if, and to what degree, key mediators of adolescent substance use were included in each state's curriculum framework. After training, inter-rater agreement was greater than 95%. RESULTS: Mediators identified most often in the 50-state curriculum frameworks for high school health education were beliefs about consequences, decision making, social skills, assistance skills, and goal setting. Twenty-two of 50-state curriculum frameworks for high school health education had dedicated sections for ATOD. CONCLUSION: There were modest improvements since 2001 in the inclusion of mediators of adolescent substance use within state curriculum frameworks. There still exists many opportunities to more effectively use curriculum frameworks to improve classroom health instruction

Quantifying littered cigarette butts to measure effectiveness of smoking bans to building perimeters.

Objective: The authors estimated the number of violations of a university policy that prohibited smoking within 25 ft of all campus buildings. Participants: The project was conducted by 13 student researchers from the university and a member of the local public health department. Methods: Students quantified cigarette butts that were littered in a 30-day period inside the prohibited smoking area of 7 campus buildings (large residential hall, small residential hall, administrative building, 2 academic buildings, campus cafeteria, and student union). Results: Investigators found a total of 7,861 cigarette butts (large residential hall: 1,198; small residential hall: 344; administrative building: 107; 2 academic buildings: 1,123 and 806; campus cafeteria: 2,651; and student union: 1,632). Conclusions: Findings suggest that there is low compliance with the university's smoking policy. The described project may be repeated by students at other universities as a method to advocate for policy change

YouTube: An international medium for sharing videos about hookah smoking.

The hookah pipe is an ancient tool for smoking tobacco and is a growing public health concern at the global level. YouTube is a website that allows its members to post videos for people to watch and to share comments about the videos in an online forum. The purpose of the study was to investigate the types of videos about hookah on YouTube, their popularity, and the demographics of those who post and view the videos. YouTube was searched using the terms “hookah” and “shisha.” Two independent reviewers watched each video and created categories based upon content, being Instructional, Review, Trick, Comedy, Commercial, or Health. Popularity was measured by viewer ratings and by the number of times each video was viewed in a 30-day period. Demographic information was obtained from YouTube. Findings suggested that hookah videos are viewed frequently, rated positively, most often feature and are viewed by young males in nearly every nation in the world, meaning, these videos are an international phenomenon and provides evidence of hookah’s growing popularity across the globe. Health professionals should consider creating and posting videos that provide the YouTube audience with evidence-based information about the harmfulness of smoking hookah