Exploring the impact of a hands-on intervention on grade 7 girls and their feelings about self, mathematics, science, technology and related careers

Forty-five 12- and 13-year-old females attending Grade 7 in North York, Ontario were randomly selected from a group of 100 females who had volunteered to participate in a oneday hands-on workshop called It's Your Choice at Seneca College. The goals of this intervention were to broaden the career horizons of these students and to help them realize the need to continue mathematics and science through high school in order to keep occupational options unlimited. The young women were given a pre- and post-attitude survey to provide background information. In the month following participation in the workshop the students were interviewed in small groups (S students per group) to discover their perceptions of the impact of the workshop. The interviews revealed that participants felt that after the workshop their feelings of self-confidence increased, specifically with respect to working with their hands. Participants felt more aware of the usefulness and importance of the study of mathematics, science and technology, They also felt that It's Your Choice increased their interest in careers in these domains and helped them to see that these careers are viable choices for females. The interviews also revealed that many of the participants felt that in this society their roles and their choices were influenced and probably limited by the fact that they are female.

Bone speed of sound in overweight and normal-weight girls and adolescents

Over the last two decades, the prevalence of obesity in the general population has been steadily increasing. Obesity is a major issue in scientific research because it is associated with many health problems, one of which is bone quality. In adult females, adiposity is associated with increased bone mineral density, suggesting that there is a protective effect of fat on bone. However, the association between adiposity and bone strength during childhood is not clear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare bone strength, as reflected by speed of sound (SOS), of overweight and obese girls and adolescents with normal-weight age-matched controls. Data from 75 females included normal-weight girls (G-NW; body fat:::; 25%; n = 21), overweight and obese girls (GOW; body fat ~ 28%; n = 19), normal-weight adolescents (A-NW, body fat:::; 25%; n = 13) and overweight and obese adolescents (A-OW; body fat ~ 28%; n = 22). Nutrition was assessed with a 24-hour recall questionnaire and habitual physical activity was measured for one week using accelerometry. Using quantitative ultrasound (QUS; Sunlight Omnisense™), bone SOS was measured at the distal radius and mid-tibia. No differences were found between groups in daily total energy, calcium or vitamin D intake. However, all groups were below the recommended daily calcium intake of 1300 mg (Osteoporosis Canada, 2008). Adolescents were significantly less active than girls (14.7 ± 0.6 vs. 6.3 ± 0.6% active for G and A, respectively). OW accumulated significantly less minutes of moderate-to-very vigorous physical activity per day (MVPA) than NW in both age groups (114 ± 6 vs. 57 ± 5 min/day for NW and OW, i respectively). Girls had significantly lower radial SOS (3794 ± 87 vs. 3964 ± 64 mls for G-NW and A-NW, respectively), and tibial SOS (3678 ± 86 vs. 3878 ± 52 mls for G-NW and A-NW, respectively) than adolescents. Radial SOS was similar in the two adiposity groups within each age group. However, tibial SOS was lower in the two overweight groups (3601 ± 75 mls vs. 3739 ± 134 mls for G-OW and A-OW, respectively) compared with the age-matched normal-weight controls. Body fat percentage negatively correlated with tibial SOS in the study sample as a whole (r = -0.30). However, when split into groups, percent bo~y fat correlated with tibial SOS only in the A-OW group (r = -0.53). MVPA correlated with tibial SOS (r = 0.40), once age was partialed out. In conclusion, in contrast withthe higher bone strength characteristic of obese adult women, overweight and obese girls and adolescents are characterized by low tibial bone strength, as assessed with QUS. The differences between adiposity groups in tibial SOS may be at least partially due to the reduced weight-bearing physical activity levels in the overweight girls and adolescents. However, other factors, such as hormonal influences associated with high body fat may also playa role in reducing bone strength in overweight girls. Further research is required to reveal the mechanisms causing low bone strength in overweight and obese children and adolescents.

Fertility and schooling : how this relation changed between 1995 and 2005 in Colombia

En este trabajo se pretende evaluar la existencia de cambios en la relación entre fecundidad y escolaridad en Colombia para mujeres de 30 a 40 años de edad entre 1995 y 2005. Para tal efecto se utilizan modelos de Poisson sobre la Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud 1995 y 2005. Se encuentra una reducción en la fecundidad durante el periodo y su relación inversa con la escolaridad, que puede ser explicada por el efecto de la educación sobre otras variables como el incremento en el conocimiento sobre los programas de control natal. Se encuentra además que el efecto de culminar un nivel educativo sobre la fecundidad es mayor en 2005 que en 1995. De otro lado, se encuentra que las diferencias entre zonas urbanas y rurales son significativas en la explicación de la fecundidad en Colombia durante la última década.

The grumpy little girls and the naughty little boy.

Fiz no está contenta con la idea de que su molesto primo Archie vaya a jugar con ella. Fiz no puede evitarlo y, a pesar de los esfuerzos de sus amigas, no puede hacer que se comporte bien hasta que todas deciden participar en sus juegos.

Schools and schooling in the digital age : a critical analysis. 'Las escuelas y la educación en la era digital : un análisis crítico'.

Se estudia la inclusión de las tecnologías digitales en las escuelas, y cómo esta incorporación se convierte en un rasgo distintivo de las escuelas de todo el mundo. Para ello, se estructura en tres partes, en la primera de ellas se describen las posibilidades que las nuevas tecnologías ofrecen y la deficiente implementación real que tiene en las escuelas. La segunda parte se centra en el la relación existente entre la era digital y las políticas educativas desarrolladas especialmente en las escuelas. Por último, se estudia la reconstrucción y el replanteamiento que las escuelas deben llevar a cabo dentro de la era digital para lograr aprovechar al máximo las posibilidades que ofrece la alta tecnología digital.

Sociology, Gender and Educational Aspirations: Girls and their Ambitions

This study helps develop an overall understanding as to why some students achieve where others don't. Debate on the effects of class on educational attainment is well documented and typically centres on the reproductive nature of class whilst studies of the effect of class on educational aspirations also predict outcomes that see education reinforcing and reproducing a student's class background.Despite a number of government initiatives to help raise higher education participation to 50 per cent by 2010, for the working class numbers have altered little. Using data from an ethnographic case study of a low-achieving girls school, the author explores aspirations and argues that whilst class is very powerful in explaining educational attainment, understanding educational aspirations is somewhat more complex. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to question and challenge popular assumptions surrounding class-based theory in making sense of girls' aspirations and to question the usefulness of the continued over reliance of such broad categorisations by both academics and policy makers

Dietary restraint and negative affect as mediators of body dissatisfaction and bulimic behavior in adolescent girls and boys

Stice's dual pathway model of dietary restraint and negative affect was examined in both adolescent girls and boys. Self-report measures assessing body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, negative affect and bulimic behavior were administered to 267 girls and 199 boys aged between 12 and 16 years. The findings for the girls were consistent with Stice's model, in that they indicated that both dietary restraint and negative affect mediated the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimic behavior. For the boys who desired a thinner body size, only negative affect was found to mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimic behavior. On the other hand, for boys who desired a larger body size, both body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint were found to exert an independent effect on bulimic behavior. As boys can aspire to two contrasting and seemingly opposite body size ideals, the findings highlight that the relationship between body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, negative affect and bulimic behavior are more complex in males than in females. Further research using longitudinal designs is needed in order to test the directional and bidirectional nature of the observed interrelationships.

Sociocultural influences on body image concerns and body change strategies among Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australian adolescent girls and boys

Sociocultural messages about the ideal body build have been studied predominantlyamong White adolescent girls. In the current study we examined the relationships between perceived sociocultural influences, body image concerns, and body change strategies among 47 (22 boys and 25 girls) Indigenous Australian adolescents. These relationships were compared to those from 47 non-Indigenous adolescents (predominantly from an Anglo-Saxon background), who were matched on gender, age, and school grade. Overall, the sociocultural influences were found to be associated with body image concerns and body change strategies among both cultural groups. The only exception was that the sociocultural influences were not associated with the Indigenous girls levels of body dissatisfaction or body image importance. These findings are discussed in relation to past studies of White and Black girls.

So what's a boy? : addressing issues of masculinity and schooling

This book focuses on the impact and effects of masculinities on the lives of boys at school. Through interviews with boys from diverse backgrounds, the authors explore the various ways in which boys define and negotiate their masculinities at school. Through looking at the problems and examining the question of what makes a boy a boy, this title offers recommendations and outlines directions for working with boys in schools in the future."