Predictors of academic performance of nursing and paramedic students in first year bioscience

The expanding scope of practice of paramedics and nurses demands they possess a sophisticated knowledge of bioscience to enable them to think critically and make rational clinical decisions. It is well documented that nursing students struggle with bioscience but there are no studies examining the performance of paramedic students in this crucial subject. In this study, we compared the academic performance of first year nursing, paramedic and nursing/paramedic double degree students in a bioscience subject. Regression analyses were used to identify predictors of academic success. Data revealed a low success rate in bioscience for all three degree programs (63.2, 58.8, and 67.6% respectively) and a strong correlation between academic success in bioscience and non-bioscience subjects (r(2)=0.49). The best predictors of overall academic success were the University Admission Index score and mature entry into the course. Previous study of biology was associated with an increased bioscience and overall GPA but not with non-bioscience grades. Discriminant analysis was used to develop a model that could predict overall academic success with an accuracy of 78.5%. These criteria may be useful during the admission process and for the early identification of students at risk of failure.

Game geek's goss: linguistic creativity in young males within an online university forum (94/\/\3 933k’5 9055oneone)

In this paper the authors explore the use and adaptation of a language specifically developed for, and by, a community of young people who play computer games. Leet speak or 1337 5p34k, the language used by the participants in this study, incorporates symbols and numbers as substitutes for the letters contained in words. Described by the group as an ‘elite’ language or ‘leet speak’, the authors’ interest was captured by the derisive and ironic use of the language in an online forum for a tertiary first year unit of study. Rather than merely defining its participants within an elite cultural boundary, ‘leet speak’ is utilised ironically to unearth ‘wannabees’ (those seeking entrance and acceptance into the game world, generally 12 –16 year olds). Of particular fascination to the authors was that despite the clear self- demarcation of the group from the users of ‘leet speak’, and their insistence on its use solely by ‘newbs and wannabees’, the group continued to use the language to communicate with each other online. In this research, language defines the cultural group of games technology students in terms of the group’s continual subversion of the language’s very foundations whilst still using it to communicate. Perhaps most interesting was the group’s nonchalant admission that they perceived this to be the function of all languages ‘all languages are created purely for communication so dont [sic] have a cry about ppl been [sic] lazy’.

In their own words : a qualitative study of the reasons Australian university students plagiarise

The ways in which universities and individual academics attempt to deter and respond to student plagiarism may be based on untested assumptions about particular or primary reasons for this behaviour. Using a series of group interviews, this qualitative study gathered the views of 56 Australian university students on the possible reasons for plagiarism within their institution. The results indicate a wide and disparate range of possible contributing reasons for plagiarism, including: institutional admission criteria; student understanding of plagiarism; poor academic skills; a range of teaching and learning factors; personality factors; and external pressures. These findings are compared with other findings about reasons for student plagiarism in Australasia. The implications of these findings are considered for universities and individual academics seeking to better engage with their students to minimize or marginalize plagiarism.

Relationship between alcohol abuse upper gastro-intestinal haemorrhage and nutritional status during acute hospital admission

This thesis is concerned with the effect of alcohol consumption on the pathogenesis of bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract via nutritional pathways. Altered nutritional status is a frequently recognised clinical accompaniement of heavy alcohol consumption in hospitalized patients. Similarly, upper gastrointestinal bleeding is frequently accompanied by the presence of heavy alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, the clinical quantification of alcohol intake is often descriptive, so that a link between alcohol use and upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage via nutritional mechanisms has been only generally defined. In the literature review, the methods of defining alcohol use and abuse, using interview, biochemical and haematological techniques are noted. The relationship between alcohol abuse and nutrient imbalances is reviewed, especially in relation to possible effects on the gastrointestinal tract, appetite and eating habits. A further section reviews the relationship between alcohol use and anatomical lesions of the upper gastrointestinal tract likely to lead to bleeding. Following the chapter in which the methods used in this thesis are described. Chapter 4 seeks to describe the study population and its subgroups in this thesis in relation to interview, biochemical and haematological methods. Alcohol use is defined in relation to (1) a clinical classification of heavy or light drinking, based on a questionnaire administered in Casualty, (2) a quantified method of determining alcohol consumption during a subsequent ward dietetic assessment, (3) in relation to a biochemical definition (recent drinking and non-drinking), and a classification of (1) and (2) called, for the purposes of this thesis, 'alcohol abusers' and 'nonabusers'. Heavy, regular and recent drinkers and alcohol abusers tend to be male and younger than light, infrequent and nonrecent drinkers and nonabusers. Chapter 5 relates the nutritional status of those patients admitted acutely to hospital in relation to the groups defined in Chapter 4, Nutritional status is defined in terms of food intake, anthropometry, biochemical and haematological parameters. Different methods of defining alcohol use give rise to different patterns of nutritional impairment. Chapter 6 relates the nutritional status of those patients admitted acutely to hospital in relation to the presence or absence of an endoscopically defined site of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A difference is seen between those bleeding from a Mailory-weiss tear and other sites of bleeding, similarly, biochemical differences in nutritional status emerge between those patients who presented in shock, and those who did not. Chapter 7 explores the relationships between biochemical markers of nutritional status and haemostatic variables in the groups of abusers/non-abusers, the various sites of primary bleeding/controls, and shock/non-shock. Serum copper appears to be related to altered haemostasis in a manner not apparently described elsewhere.

University entrance in Queensland : post World War II challenges to the influence of the University of Queensland

From its inception the University of Queensland determined the assessment procedures that governed its student selection; while initially this determination was absolute, after 1945 challenges to the university's influence resulted in significant gains in influence by other interested groups.