Relation entre les jeux de hasard et différentes couches socio-économiques de la population canadienne.

Rapport de recherche présenté à la Faculté des arts et des sciences en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maïtrise en sciences économiques.

Application et efficacité d'une thérapie basée sur les inférences auprès d'une population d'accumulateurs compulsifs: une étude de cas clinique.

Essai doctoral présenté à la Faculté des Arts et des Sciences Humaines en vue de l'obtention du grade de doctorat en psychologie clinique (D.Psy)

Computer-mediated communication in distance MA programmes: the student's perspective

This paper reports on a study of computer-mediated communication within the context of a distance MA in TEFL programme which used an e-mail discussion list and then a discussion board. The study focused on the computer/Internet access and skills of the target population and their CMC needs and wants. Data were collected from 63 questionnaires and 6 in-depth interviews with students. Findings indicate that computer use and access to the Internet are widespread within the target population. In addition, most respondents indicated some competence in Internet use. No single factor emerged as an overriding inhibiting factor for lack of personal use. There was limited use of the CMC tools provided on the course for student–student interaction, mainly attributable to time constraints. However, most respondents said that they would like more CMC interaction with tutors. The main factor which would contribute to greater Internet use was training. The paper concludes with recommendations and suggestions for learner training in this area.

Factors influencing the choice of a bank : An international student perspective

Purpose: The purposeof this thesis is to identify what factors influence international students in their choice of a bank.Literature review: A review of previous research about bank selection criteria related to students as well as a few examples of bank choice studies in the general population is presented. The review consists of studies from different years to illustrate criteria that reoccur in order to decrease the chances of overlooking important criteria that may be of importance for today‘s customers. Method: The thesis is based upon empirical data gathering through a non-probability sampling technique by distributing questionnaires through the Internet and in person. The data was analyzedwith the help of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Conclusion: We found thatfive factors influence the choice of bank for international students. These factors are: cost of the bank services, use of technology, convenience, banks‘ reputation and marketing communication effectiveness. These factors could be helpful for banks who want to gain customers from international students, which are a relatively unexploited customer segment.

Role of peer support and emotional expression on posttraumatic stress disorder in student paramedics

This exploratory study contrasted and tested the predictive value of the reverse buffering hypothesis of social support and the information processing model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an investigation of trauma-related symptomatology (TRS) in a single sample of 42 student paramedics. Participants completed several anonymous self-report measures of PTSD symptomatology, peer social support, and attitude toward emotional expression. Regression-based path analyses did not support either theory of PTSD in this population. A path model of PTSD in student paramedics was subsequently developed, indicating that a direct relationship exists between duty-related trauma exposure, dysfunctional peer social support, and students' negative attitudes toward emotional expression. This new model accounted for 30% of the variance in student paramedics' TRS.

Understanding student expectations in developing environmental science courses

Developing relevant and innovative University courses is a complex and often difficult task. This is particularly true when developing environmental science courses as the banner of environmental science has the potential to include an extremely vast array of subject material and course content. Added to this is the diversity of students entering these courses, and their associated course expectations and aspirations. A third component that cannot be ignored when developing courses includes employer demands and expectations of graduates at course completion. As tertiary educators we therefore have the challenge of developing innovative environmental science courses that are academically challenging, but meet the expectations of students, staff and potential future employers. To ensure that we meet this challenge it is vital that we determine the expectations of all relevant parties (students, staff, and potential employers) and develop our courses accordingly.  Here we report on the 'student expectations' component of this. To determine student expectations we conducted a survey of all commencing first year environmental science students. The survey asked students to provide information on drivers for course selection, preferred learning styles, the importance of different approaches to teaching, subject interest areas and employment aspirations. Our results found that environmental science students have a preference for fieldwork and hands-on experience and are very supportive of teaching that combines different teaching methods. On-line teaching was not supported by commencing environmental science students. Commencing students showed a very strong interest in key subject areas of environmental science such as Wildlife, animal conservation, national and marine parks, conservation and marine Wildlife; however, some of the critical areas of environmental science such as population statistics, social sciences and chemistry did not attract the same level of interest. Most commencing students had some idea on where they would like to gain employment on course completion. Knowledge relating to student expectations is Vital, particularly when designing courses, developing specific unit content and undertaking marketing and course information sessions. With this knowledge we can be confident that students enrolling in environmental science will, to a large extent, have their expectations met.

Student support : bridging the gap between students and the university

Bangladesh introduced open and distance learning as a means of providing education for people in isolated and remote locations through the establishment of the Bangladesh Open University (BOU). The broad aim of the BOU is to provide flexible and needs-based education to those unable or not wishing to enter conventional educational institutions. The BOU is presently the only university in Bangladesh to provide mass education and also to provide continuing education and professional and technical education to support the existing educational system. The BOU has a mission that encompasses secondary and higher levels of education. BOU operates its programs through a centralised academic and administrative staff, and regional and local offices throughout Bangladesh that organise local tutorials and distribute information and materials. BOU has adult students in all parts of the country, and most of the students live in rural areas. They need support that is appropriate to their local circumstances. Using an interpretive approach, this research examines the support needs of students studying for the Secondary School Certificate and the Bachelor of Education, assesses the effectiveness of current support services and explores alternatives to the current system. The underlying assumption is that support needs to be appropriate to the country’s culture and circumstances, and useful and feasible from the perspectives of students, staff, administrators and senior university officials. To investigate the appropriate support for distance education students, this research was conducted in four sample regions. Two were selected from areas of sparse population where the terrain makes transport difficult and two from areas that are more densely populated and where transport is easier. A questionnaire survey and focus groups were conducted with students, focus groups with local staff and interviews with Regional Directors within the four sample regions. Interviews were also undertaken with central University senior staff to get their perspectives on current and future policies for student support.

The impact of a computerised consolidation accounting package (CCAP) on student performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between the use of a computerised learning tool (specifically designed to teach consolidation accounting) and student performance in the final examination of an undergraduate accounting unit on Corporate Accounting.

Design/methodology/approach – A regression model was developed to analyse 1,103 observations of assignment and examination scores, collected over three semesters, to test the central proposition that computer assisted learning enhances student learning outcomes and performance in the exam.

Findings – The results show a positive and significant relationship between the computerised accounting assignment on consolidated accounting (linked to usage of the computerised tool) and the consolidation question in the final examination. The findings suggest that the computerised consolidation accounting package (CCAP) assists students to understand the concepts underpinning consolidation accounting.

Research limitations/implications – The data were collected from a single institution, which may not represent the population of accounting students. Due to ethical obligations, the study lacked a control group that would have allowed meaningful comparison and assessment of student performance. Furthermore, whilst the findings in this study were able to demonstrate a positive association between the CCAP and exam performance, it is unable to determine the quality and depth of the learning experience from using the CCAP.

Practical implications – The present study found that a CCAP and its usage has the potential to positively impact student performance on assessment tasks on subject matter similar to concepts contained the computer package. Such findings may encourage instructors to seek ways of incorporating learning technologies in the pedagogical design.

Originality/value – This is believed to be one the few papers that has exclusively studied the impact of a specific CCAP and a specific segment in accounting education (consolidation accounting) using direct measures, CCAP assignment score and the final examination score for a question dedicated to consolidation accounting.

QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI FOR AGRONOMIC AND END-USE QUALITY PERFORMANCE AND THE EFFECT OF SOILBORNE WHEAT MOSAIC VIRUS IN A HARD WINTER WHEAT POPULATION IN NEBRASKA

To better understand agronomic and end-use quality in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) we developed a population containing 154 F6:8 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from the cross TAM107-R7/Arlin. The parental lines and RILs were phenotyped at six environments in Nebraska and differed for resistance to Wheat soilborne mosaic virus (WSBMV), morphological, agronomic, and end-use quality traits. Additionally, a 2300 cM genome-wide linkage map was created for quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis. Based on our results across multiple environments, the best RILs could be used for cultivar improvement. The population and marker data are publicly available for interested researchers for future research. The population was used to determine the effect of WSBMV on agronomic and end-use quality and for the mapping of a resistance locus. Results from two infected environments showed that all but two agronomic traits were significantly affected by the disease. Specifically, the disease reduced grain yield by 30% of susceptible RILs and they flowered 5 d later and were 11 cm shorter. End-use quality traits were not negatively affected but flour protein content was increased in susceptible RILs. The resistance locus SbmTmr1 mapped to 27.1 cM near marker wPt-5870 on chromosome 5DL using ELISA data. Finally, we investigated how WSBMV affected QTL detection in the population. QTLs were mapped at two WSBMV infected environments, four uninfected environments, and in the resistant and susceptible RIL subpopulations in the infected environments. Fifty-two significant (LOD≥3) QTLs were mapped in RILs at uninfected environments. Many of the QTLs were pleiotropic or closely linked at 6 chromosomal regions. Forty-seven QTLs were mapped in RILs at WSBMV infected environments. Comparisons between uninfected and infected environments identified 20 common QTLs and 21 environmentally specific QTLs. Finally, 24 QTLs were determined to be affected by WSBMV by comparing the subpopulations in QTL analyses within the same environment. The comparisons were statistically validated using marker by disease interactions. These results showed that QTLs can be affected by WSBMV and careful interpretation of QTL results is needed where biotic stresses are present. Finally, beneficial QTLs not affected by WSBMV or the environment are candidates for marker-assisted selection.

Linkage & Selective Mapping and QTL Analysis in a Harosoy x Clark population of 300 RILs

Four of the 12 major Glycine max ancestors of all modern elite U.S.A. soybean cultivars were the grandparents of Harosoy and Clark, so a Harosoy x Clark population would include some of that genetic diversity. A mating of eight Harosoy and eight Clark plants generated eight F1 plants. The eight F1:2 families were advanced via a plant-to-row selfing method to produce 300 F6-derived RILs that were genotyped with 266 SSR, 481 SNP, and 4 classical markers. SNPs were genotyped with the Illumina 1536-SNP assay. Three linkage maps, SSR, SNP, and SSR-SNP, were constructed with a genotyping error of < 1 %. Each map was compared with the published soybean consensus map. The best subset of 94 RILs for a high-resolution framework (joint) map was selected based on the expected bin length statistic computed with MapPop. The QTLs of seven traits measured in a 2-year replicated performance trial of the 300 RILs were identified using composite interval mapping (CIM) and multiple-interval mapping (MIM). QTL x Year effects in multiple trait analysis were compared with results of multiple-interval mapping. QTL x QTL effects were identified in MIM.

Governmentality in higher education : a critical analysis of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

In this dissertation, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) serves as a nodal point through which to examine the power relations shaping the direction and practices of higher education in the twenty-first century. Theoretically, my analysis is informed by Foucault’s concept of governmentality, briefly defined as a technology of power that influences or shapes behavior from a distance. This form of governance operates through apparatuses of security, which include higher education. Foucault identified three essential characteristics of an apparatus—the market, the milieu, and the processes of normalization—through which administrative mechanisms and practices operate and govern populations. In this project, my primary focus is on the governance of faculty and administrators, as a population, at residential colleges and universities. I argue that the existing milieu of accountability is one dominated by the neoliberal assumption that all activity—including higher education—works best when governed by market forces alone, reducing higher education to a market-mediated private good. Under these conditions, what many in the academy believe is an essential purpose of higher education—to educate students broadly, to contribute knowledge for the public good, and to serve as society’s critic and social conscience (Washburn 227)—is being eroded. Although NSSE emerged as a form of resistance to commercial college rankings, it did not challenge the forces that empowered the rankings in the first place. Indeed, NSSE data are now being used to make institutions even more responsive to market forces. Furthermore, NSSE’s use has a normalizing effect that tends to homogenize classroom practices and erode the autonomy of faculty in the educational process. It also positions students as part of the system of surveillance. In the end, if aspects of higher education that are essential to maintaining a civil society are left to be defined solely in market terms, the result may be a less vibrant and, ultimately, a less just society.

Comparison of Student Versus Employee Test Populations for Warning Sign Research Based on Severity Ratings for Signal Words

Most studies of warning signs involve undergraduate students as subjects. This paper reports a direct comparison of findings from an undergraduate population and an employed population. The 48 employed subjects from this study were compared with 59 undergraduate subjects from a companion study. Subjects from both populations were shown the same signs and asked to rate the severity level connoted by each sign. The signs differed only in signal word. Results for each population indicated that signal word had a highly significant effect on severity ratings. When the two populations were compared for ratings of each signal word, the only significant difference was for Caution. Median ratings of each population were the same: Deadly (4), Danger (3), Warning (2), Caution (1), and Notice (0).

The population health performance of medical students at two medical schools

Public Health and medicine are complimentary disciplines dedicated to the health and well-being of humankind. Worldwide, medical school accreditation bodies require the inclusion of population health in medical education. In 2003, the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) recommended that all medical students receive basic public health training in population-based prevention. The purpose of this study was to (1) examine the public health clinical performance of third-year medical students at two independent medical schools, (2) compare the public health clinical practice performance of the schools, and (3) identify underlying predictors of high and low public health clinical performance at one of the medical schools. ^ This study is unique in its analysis and report of observed medical student public health clinical practices. The cohort consisted of 751 third-year medical students who completed a required clinical performance exam using trained standardized patients. Medical student performance scores on 24 consensus public health items derived from nine patient cases were analyzed.^ The analysis showed nearly identical results for both medical schools at the 60%, 65%, and 70% pass rate. Students performed poorly on items associated with prevention, behavioral science, and surveillance. Factors associated with high student performance included being from an underrepresented minority, matching to a primary care residency, and high class ranking. A review of medical school curriculum at both schools revealed a lack of training in four public health domains. Nationally, 32% of medical students reported inadequate training in public health in the year 2006.^ These findings suggest more dedicated teaching time for public health domains is needed at the medical schools represented in this study. Finally, more research is needed to assess attainment of public health knowledge and skills for medical students nationwide if we are to meet the recommendations of the IOM. ^

RELATION OF TYPE OF REPORTED ILLNESSES TO PATTERN OF USE OF THE STUDENT HEALTH CENTER BY THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, HOUSTON, TEXAS

The state of knowledge on the relation of stress factors, health problems and health service utilization among university students is limited. Special problems of stress exist for the international students due to their having to adjust to a new environment. It is this latter problem area that provides the focus for this study. Recognizing there are special stress factors affecting the international students, it is first necessary to see if the problems of cultural adaptation affect them to any greater degree than American students attending the same university.^ To make the comparison, the study identified a number of health problems of both American and international students and related their frequency to the use of the Student Health Center. The expectation was that there would be an association between the number of health problems and the number of life change events experienced by these students and between the number of health problems and stresses from social factors. It was also expected that the number of health problems would decline with the amount of social support.^ The population chosen were students newly enrolled in Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas in the Fall Semester of 1979. Two groups were selected at random: 126 international and 126 American students. The survey instrument was a self-administered questionnaire. The response rate was 90% (114) for the international and 94% (118) for the American students.^ Data analyses consisted of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi-squares and correlation coefficients were the statistics used in comparing the international students and the American students.^ There was a weak association between the number of health problems and the number of life change events, as reported by both the international and the American students. The study failed to show any statistically significant association between the number of stress from social factors and the number of health problems. It also failed to show an association between the number of health problems and the amount of social support. These findings applied to both the international and the American students.^ One unexpected finding was that certain health problems were reported by more American than international students. There were: cough, diarrhea, and trouble in sleeping. Another finding was that those students with health insurance had a higher level of utilization of the Health Center than those without health insurance. More international than American students utilized the Student Health Center.^ In comparing the women students, there was no statistical significant difference in their reported fertility related health problems.^ The investigator recommends that in follow-up studies, instead of grouping all international students together, that they be divided by major nationalities represented in the student body; that is, Iranians, Nigerians and others. ^

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF RACE, INCOME, EDUCATION, AND FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION/NONPARTICIPATION ON THE FOOD AND NUTRIENT CONSUMPTION OF A NORTH FLORIDA URBAN CLINIC POPULATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SURVEY OF NUTRITION RELATED HABITS AND ATTITUDES

The relative influence of race, income, education, and Food Stamp Program participation/nonparticipation on the food and nutrient intake of 102 fecund women ages 18-45 years in a Florida urban clinic population was assessed using the technique of multiple regression analysis. Study subgroups were defined by race and Food Stamp Program participation status. Education was found to have the greatest influence on food and nutrient intake. Race was the next most influential factor followed in order by Food Stamp Program participation and income. The combined effect of the four independent variables explained no more than 19 percent of the variance for any of the food and nutrient intake variables. This would indicate that a more complex model of influences is needed if variations in food and nutrient intake are to be fully explained.^ A socioeconomic questionnaire was administered to investigate other factors of influence. The influence of the mother, frequency and type of restaurant dining, and perceptions of food intake and weight were found to be factors deserving further study.^ Dietary data were collected using the 24-hour recall and food frequency checklist. Descriptive dietary findings indicated that iron and calcium were nutrients where adequacy was of concern for all study subgroups. White Food Stamp Program participants had the greatest number of mean nutrient intake values falling below the 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). When Food Stamp Program participants were contrasted to nonparticipants, mean intakes of six nutrients (kilocalories, calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, and riboflavin) were below the 1980 RDA compared to five mean nutrient intakes (kilocalories, calcium, iron, thiamin and riboflavin) for the nonparticipants. Use of the Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ), however, revealed that the quality of the diet of Food Stamp Program participants per 1000 kilocalories was adequate with exception of calcium and iron. Intakes of these nutrients were also not adequate on a 1000 kilocalorie basis for the nonparticipant group. When mean nutrient intakes of the groups were compared using Student's t-test oleicacid intake was the only significant difference found. Being a nonparticipant in the Food Stamp Program was found to be associated with more frequent consumption of cookies, sweet rolls, doughnuts, and honey. The findings of this study contradict the negative image of the Food Stamp Program participant and emphasize the importance of education. ^