A cross-cultural comparison of student learning patterns in higher education

Marambe, K. N., Vermunt, J. D., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2012). A cross-cultural comparison of student learning patterns in higher education. Higher Education, 64(3), 299-316. doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9494-zThe aim of this study was to compare student learning patterns in higher education across different cultures. A meta-analysis was performed on three large-scale studies that had used the same research instrument: the Inventory of learning Styles (ILS). The studies were conducted in the two Asian countries Sri Lanka and Indonesia and the European country The Netherlands. Students reported use of learning strategies, metacognitive strategies, conceptions of learning and learning orientations were compared in two ways: by analyses of variance of students' mean scale scores on ILS scales, as well as by comparing the factor structures of the ILS-scales between the three studies. Results showed most differences in student learning patterns between Asian and European students. However, many differences were identified between students from the two Asian countries as well. The Asian learner turned out to be a myth. Moreover, Sri Lankan students made the least use of memorising strategies of all groups. That Asian learners would have a propensity for rote learning turned out to be a myth as well. Some patterns of learning turned out to be universal and occurred in all groups, other patterns were found only among the Asian or the European students. The findings are discussed in terms of learning environment and culture as explanatory factors. Practical implications for student mobility in an international context are derived

A multilevel analysis of neighborhood and individual effects on individual smoking and drinking in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We assessed direct effects of neighborhood-level characteristics and interactive effects of neighborhood-level characteristics and individual socioeconomic position on adult smoking and drinking, after consideration of individual-level characteristics in Taiwan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on individual sociodemographic characteristics, smoking, and drinking were obtained from Taiwan Social Change Survey conducted in 1990, 1995, and 2000. The overall response rate was 67%. A total of 5883 women and men aged over 20 living in 434 neighborhoods were interviewed. Participants' addresses were geocoded and linked with Taiwan census data for measuring neighborhood-level characteristics including neighborhood education, neighborhood concentration of elderly people, and neighborhood social disorganization. The data were analyzed with multilevel binomial regression models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several interaction effects between neighborhood characteristics and individual socioeconomic status (SES) were found in multilevel analyses. Our results indicated that different neighborhood characteristics led to different interaction patterns. For example, neighborhood education had a positive effect on smoking for low SES women, in contrast to a negative effect on smoking for high SES women. This result supports the hypothesis of "relative deprivation," suggesting that poor people living in affluent neighborhoods suffer from relative deprivation and relative standing. On the other hand, neighborhood social disorganization has positive effects on drinking for low SES individuals, but not for high SES individuals. These interactive effects support the hypothesis of the double jeopardy theory, suggesting that living in neighborhoods with high social disorganization will intensify the effects of individual low SES.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings of this study show new evidence for the effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual smoking and drinking in Taiwan, suggesting that more studies are needed to understand neighborhood effects in Asian societies.</p

Effect of surface roughness of biomaterials on Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion

Background: Implant-related infections are caused by adhesion of bacteria to the surface of biomaterials. In this in vitro research, we evaluated the ability of Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC35984) to adhere to the surface of solid biomaterials at different levels of roughness below 30 nm Ra and investigated the minimum level of roughness required to promote bacterial adhesion on five kinds of biomaterials: oxidized zirconium-niobium alloy (Oxinium), cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy (Co-Cr-Mo), titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4 V), commercially pure titanium (Cp-Ti) and stainless steel (SUS316L), samples of which were categorized into a fine group and a coarse group according to surface roughness. The test specimens were physically analyzed and the viable bacterial density of the adhered bacteria was quantitatively determined (n = 20).Results: The amount of bacteria that adhered to the biomaterials in the coarse group was higher than those in the fine group. Oxinium, Ti-6Al-4 V and SUS316L in particular demonstrated statistically significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). Of the materials, the Co-Cr-Mo specimens exhibited significantly lower amounts of adhered bacteria than the Ti-6Al-4 V, Cp-Ti and SUS316L specimens in the fine group. Similarly, the Co-Cr-Mo specimens in the coarse group exhibited significantly lower values than the other four materials.Conclusions: These results suggest that minimum level of roughness affecting initial bacterial adherence activity differs according to the type of biomaterial used, and that even a surface roughness of below 30 nm Ra in Oxinium, Ti-6Al-4 V and SUS316L can promote bacterial adhesion. Relative hydrophobic Co-Cr-Mo surfaces were less susceptible to bacterial adherence

Early Staphylococcal Biofilm Formation on Solid Orthopaedic Implant Materials: In Vitro Study

Biofilms forming on the surface of biomaterials can cause intractable implant-related infections. Bacterial adherence and early biofilm formation are influenced by the type of biomaterial used and the physical characteristics of implant surface. In this in vitro research, we evaluated the ability of Staphylococcus epidermidis, the main pathogen in implant-related infections, to form biofilms on the surface of the solid orthopaedic biomaterials, oxidized zirconium-niobium alloy, cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy (Co-Cr-Mo), titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V), commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) and stainless steel. A bacterial suspension of Staphylococcus epidermidis strain RP62A (ATCC35984) was added to the surface of specimens and incubated. The stained biofilms were imaged with a digital optical microscope and the biofilm coverage rate (BCR) was calculated. The total amount of biofilm was determined with the crystal violet assay and the number of viable cells in the biofilm was counted using the plate count method. The BCR of all the biomaterials rose in proportion to culture duration. After culturing for 2-4 hours, the BCR was similar for all materials. However, after culturing for 6 hours, the BCR for Co-Cr-Mo alloy was significantly lower than for Ti-6Al-4V, cp-Ti and stainless steel (P0.05). These results suggest that surface properties, such as hydrophobicity or the low surface free energy of Co-Cr-Mo, may have some influence in inhibiting or delaying the two-dimensional expansion of biofilm on surfaces with a similar degree of smoothness

A Five-Factor Theory Perspective

Abstract. Five-Factor Theory (FFT) is a conceptualization of the personality system that identifies traits as abstract Basic Tendencies rooted in biology. In this chapter, FFT is examined in relation to recent findings in cross-cultural psychology reported in this volume. FFT correctly predicts the universality of personality structure, maturation, and gender differentiation. FFT suggests that differences in the mean levels of traits across cultures may be due to differences in the distribution of trait-related alleles, and that cultural dif-ferences may be the effect, rather than the cause, of trait level differences. Reports of substantial cohort and acculturation effects pose challenges to FFT and provide special opportunities for future research

Psychology as a Profession and a Science The Change From EFPPA to EFPA

The European Association of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA) was created in 1981 as the European Association of Professional Psychologists' Associations (EFPPA). We show that Shakespeare's dictum "What's in a name?" does not apply here and that the loss of the "first P" (the adjectival "professional") was resisted for almost two decades and experienced by many as a serious loss. We recount some of the deliberations preceding the change and place these in a broader historical context by drawing parallels with similar developments elsewhere. Much of the argument will refer to an underlying controversy between psychology as a science and the practice of psychology, a controversy that is stronger than in most other sciences, but nevertheless needs to be resolved. © 2011 Hogrefe Publishing

The relationship of family bonds to family structure and function across cultures

This study, using a contextual approach, explores the relationship of family bonds to family structure and function across five cultures: Greece, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Britain, and Germany. Its long-term goal is the construction of measures of family structure and functioning that are useful in cross-cultural research. Differences in emotional closeness, geographic proximity to relatives, and frequency of telephone contacts and meetings were not found among the five cultures with respect to members of the nuclear family. Differences between Greece and Cyprus, selected as relatively collectivist cultures, and Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, individualist cultures, on these variables were found with respect to members of the extended family. By showing a pattern of cross-cultural similarity and differences, although moderate, among extended family members, this study shows that family structure and function are context variables that can explain variability between psychological variables and thus add to the explanatory power of cross-cultural psychology

Individualism-collectivism: An empirical study of a conceptual issue

Individualism-collectivism emerges from the literature as a high-order concept, explaining cross-cultural differences over a wide range of situations, with collectivists more inclined than individualists to provide for others. The present study challenges this conceptualization. Not only the readiness to support others (input) but also the expectation to receive support (output) has to be taken into account. Subjects in Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, The Netherlands, and the United States (New York State) completed a questionnaire asking how much support they expected to receive from and give to persons in a range of social categories. Results showed that (a) the ratio between input and output as well as (b) the patterning of input and output over social categories were similar in all samples. Ratings of emotional closeness that were also obtained could account for most variance between social categories. The findings fit an interpretation of cross-cultural differences in terms of specific patterns of interpersonal relationships.link_to_subscribed_fulltex