An exploratory study of degree course objectivity and graduate performance : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This study looks at the issue of degree course objectivity from the perspective of Science and non-Science lecturers. It is an exploratory piece of research, and focuses on a sample of degree courses offered in New Zealand universities. Research was conducted in several steps, and involved the completion of two questionnaires. Participants were also asked to supply a written statement outlining the objectivity of assessment in their own teaching domain. The t-test statistic was used to measure the significance of research findings. In New Zealand, university lecturers recognise that a difference exists in the objectivity of degree course content. Further, they are aware that Science oriented courses lend themselves to greater assessment objectivity than the non-Sciences, despite disagreeing over the exact level of objectivity in the latter field of study. The variance in degree course objectivity has a potential impact on the distribution of 'good' degrees awarded across university departments, yet has not evoked the amount of attention amongst academics that it clearly merits. It is concluded, that in New Zealand, research must continue into the issue of subject matter objectivity as a potential impact on students' degree selection and employee recruitment

Psychotherapists\u27 Assessment and Treatment of Executive Functioning Skill Deficits in Clients with Eating Disorders

The purpose of this project was to determine: how clinicians assess whether or not their eating disorder patients have decreased executive functioning skills, if personality type effects executive functioning, and how clinicians treat executive functioning deficits. Using a qualitative design, six licensed clinicians, in the twin cities, with between 3.5 and 20 years of experience working with eating disorder participants, were interviewed to capture their thoughts on the research questions. The researcher then analyzed the data utilizing grounded theory coding techniques by transcribing each interview, annotating the texts and grouping codes that emerged more than three times into themes. A correlation analysis was also done to assess correlation between years of experience in working with eating disorders and percentage of clients participants believed suffered form executive functioning deficits. The findings indicate eating disorder clinicians have little consensus on the number of clients they see who suffer from executive functioning deficits. There is also no correlation between years of experience and percentage of individuals believed to suffer with executive functioning deficits (R2 = .0088), leading us to believe that years of experience does not give more or less awareness of clients who have deficits in their executive functioning. Eighty Three percent of participants reported they had no assessment measure for executive functioning deficits, and 100% reported relying on clinical observation to determine behaviors that let them know if an individual has executive functioning deficits. One hundred percent of participants reported that all eating disorder patients tend to be high achieving in at least one area of their lives. Finally 100% of participants indicated that the number one strategy used to help their clients regain executive functioning skills is through proper reestablishment of feeding. The findings of this study demonstrate the need for a field-friendly assessment development that can allow clinicians to measure and analyze executive functioning deficits, as well as the need for research that explores how clinicians can help foster the regaining of cognitive and executive functioning skills during the re-feeding process

Variations in the Dragonfly Microbiome Through Life stages and Its Ability to Harbor Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Juvenile dragonflies (nymphs) may possess the ability to pass their microbiome to the adult life stage through metamorphosis. If this is so, the environment in which the nymph develops may have an effect on the adult microbiome. In this study, the gut microbiomes of 13 species of dragonfly were compared across life stages and when collected from environments at different levels of urbanization. The gut of each dragonfly was removed, DNA extracted, and a portion of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplified and sequenced. Gut suspensions were also plated on antibiotic amended plates to determine the potential for dragonflies to contain antibiotic resistant bacteria. Gut microbiomes of dragonflies mainly separated by life stage, with nymphs further separating by the environment from which they were collected from. Dragonfly species was not a significant factor in the separation of either nymph or adult microbiomes. The microbiomes of nymphs and adults differed in levels of their dominant bacterial phyla, with Proteobacteria being dominant in adults, while nymphs shoa higher proportion of Acidobacteria and Bacteroidetes compared to adults. Nymphs also contained bacteria phyla that were not present in the adult microbiome. Both life stages contained antibiotic resistant bacteria, with the guts of dragonfly adults having higher counts of resistant bacteria than nymphs. The environment from which the dragonflies were collected had a significant influence on the counts of resistant bacteria for multiple antibiotics, as did dragonfly species. These results suggest that the gut microbiomes of dragonfly nymphs and adults are fundamentally different, and that both life stages have the potential to contain antibiotic resistant bacteria. The local environment influences both the numbers of these antibiotic resistant bacteria and the composition of the gut microbiome in general