University Students’ Threat Perceptions, Mental Health and Well-Being, Hope and Academic Performance

This item is only available electronically.University is known to be a stressful period which has been associated with negative mental health and well-being outcomes. In an already vulnerable population, stress may be compounded by the fear of threatening world events. Threat perceptions too have been linked to maladaptive psychological outcomes, particularly among young people (18 – 24 years). Although this population is one of the most affected, it is also significantly under-researched. This project explores perceptions of threatening world events and predictors of academic achievement within the context of a first-year undergraduate cohort (N = 108). Participants were aged between 18 – 21 years (M = 18.7, SD = 0.87). They completed an online questionnaire which consisted of: a newly developed self-report scale assessing perceptions of threatening world events, and measures of psychological ill-being, well-being, the stress response, and trait hope. Quantitative analyses included Exploratory Factor Analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, multiple regression and relative importance regression analyses. The construct validity of the newly developed scale was inconclusive, but two out of the three extracted subscales had good internal reliability. A main finding of the study was that psychological health was tied into students’ pessimism about threatening world events and the negative affect they experienced. Psychological well-being and trait hope were associated with more effective coping with threat. The present study gives insight into how University students are perceiving and coping with threatening world events and provides the groundwork for understanding the support they require in this arena.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

Attitudes of university students of biology towards bees and their protection

By the number of species, insects are the most numerous group of invertebrates. They play an important role in nature, in ecosystems. Especially important are insect pollinators that provide survival for plants and other species. Among them, bees are extremely important and effective pollinators. Today, there is a global decline in the number of pollinators, especially bees. Taking into account the aforementioned facts in relation to the attitudes of students towards bees and other invertebrates, at different levels of education, the analysis of student attitudes at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Biology, in relation to this problem has been done. The aim of this study was to determine students' attitudes on bees and their protection, and to analyze them from the perspective of several factors, such as gender, knowledge of bees, place of residence and attending a course Biology of bees with beekeeping. For this purpose, the survey questionnaire has been constructed and distributed. By analyzing the results of the questionnaire, it was found that students’ knowledge and attitudes were correlated in the sense that a higher level of knowledge correlates with more positive attitudes. Students who attended the course Biology of bees with beekeeping showed more positive attitudes towards bees than students who didn’t attend this course. It was also noticed that gender and place of residence affected the attitudes (fear, disgust) toward bees. Almost all students expressed an attitude that bees are an important part of nature. A large number of students have knowledge about global bees decline. Almost all students expressed that bees have to be protected, especially students who have been completed the course Biology of bees with beekeeping. These students also have a more positive attitude that it should be more learning about bees. Based on the results obtained in this study, programs of university biology courses further will be enriched with educational content about bees, their importance/roles in nature and ways for their protection

Boron application in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) seed production

peer-reviewedThis work is part of the research project TR-31016, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia.A field trial with four red clover cultivars was established on acid soil in order to evaluate the effect of foliar boron application on seed yield. The crop received foliar boron treatment during the second growth of the second year at two applications. Although seed yield showed a significant increase in boron-treated plants in 2011 compared with control (26.0%), its relative increase was far higher in 2010 (43.2%), which had increased total rainfall amounts during flowering. Sufficient level of boron supply to red clover plants for seed production has a remarkably positive effect under conditions hampering pollination and fertilisation.Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbi

Las características de los profesores y el desarrollo de las actitudes de los estudiantes hacia la escuela

This paper addresses two issues: secondary school teachers' characteristics and the impact of these characteristics on pupils' perceptions of school. Study explored the characteristics of high school teachers in Niš (Serbia) as perceived by high school students. A comparison was made between views on their teachers characteristics expressed by two groups of students: vocational schools students and students attending grammar schools. When it comes to the impact of teachers' characteristics on student's perceptions of school, personal characteristics, professional characteristics and teacher's behavior were taken into consideration. A total of 448 students completed three Likert scales that were developed for the purpose of the study (a scale for measuring student's perception of the presence of certain qualities among teachers, a scale for measuring teachers' effort to encourage prosocial behavior and a scale for measuring student's attitude toward school). The study showed significant difference between vocational school teachers' characteristics and characteristics of teachers who work in grammar schools. The positive correlation between students' perceptions of teachers' characteristics and students' attitudes toward school was also confirmed. The positive impact of teachers who possess professional and personal qualities reflects on students by encouraging student's motivation to go to school, reducing the feeling of pressure in school, improving student's perception of school atmosphere and reducing the absence from classes.El objeto de estudio de este artículo son los distintos perfiles pedagógicos de los profesores de secundaria y la influencia de éstos sobre la percepción de la escuela por parte de los alumnos. Realizado en Niš (Serbia), el estudio que presentamos consiste en el análisis del perfil pedagógico y personal de profesores de secundaria según la percepción de sus alumnos, y la comparación de los resultados entre dos grupos de estudiantes: los de las ‘escuelas vocacionales’ (equivalentes a los ciclos formativos en España), y los institutos. Para evaluar el impacto de la precepción de los alumnos del profesorado sobre su percepción de la escuela, se consideraron las características profesionales, personales y la actitud como docentes del profesorado. Un total de 448 estudiantes completaron tres escalas de Likert elaboradas para el estudio (percepción por parte del alumno de ciertas características entre el profesorado; esfuerzo para promover la conducta prosocial; actitud del alumno respecto a la escuela). Los resultados muestran una diferencia significativa entre el perfil percibido de los profesores en los dos tipos de centro educativo. Se confirmó la correlación positiva entre la percepción de los estudiantes de los perfiles del profesorado y su valoración de la escuela. El impacto positivo del profesorado con cualidades profesionales y personales se refleja en los estudiantes en forma de una mayor motivación para atender, reducción de la presión, y mejora de la percepción del ambiente escolar por parte del alumnado

ANALYSIS OF PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE VIEWS OF EVOLUTION OF SERBIAN TEACHERS

International audience– We analysed the potential differences between the conceptions of Serbian pre-service and in-service teachers using controlled parameters such as acceptance of the evolution theory. Our sample includes Primary School teachers as well as Secondary School teachers of Biology and of Language. We show that the ideas of pre-service (PreB) and in-service biology teachers (InB) are more evolutionary than those of their colleagues. In contrast, most creationist responses came from the groups of pre-service language (PreL) and pre-service primary teachers (PreP). The agnostic teachers are more evolutionist than other teachers. The more a teacher believes in God and practices religion, the more creationist he or she is, but a great number of teachers who believe in God are evolutionist or simultaneously evolutionist and creationist. There is a positive correlation between evolutionist answers and the attitude that " Science and religion should be separated " , and " religion and politics should be separated "