Social and cultural influences in the formation of identity: a cross-national/cultural study.

This multi-site, multi-ethnic/cultural study examined the effects of variation between ethnic/cultural groups and the effects of institutional variation within ethnic/cultural groups on identity formation. The participants were 892 late adolescent college students from six sites in 5 countries (Brazil, China, Costa Rica, US, and Sweden) representing different linguistic and ethnic/cultural traditions living in the context of varied social conditions. As hypothesized, there were significant differences in the proportion of identity statuses between sites in the Personal domain, X2(20, N=858)= 164.78, p2(20, N=858)= 145.69, p2(20, N=858)= 120.89, p

A Case Study of the Ellison Model's Use of Mentoring as an Approach Toward Inclusive Community Building

The Ellison Executive Mentoring Inclusive Community Building (ICB) Model is a paradigm for initiating and implementing projects utilizing executives and professionals from a variety of fields and industries, university students, and pre-college students. The model emphasizes adherence to ethical values and promotes inclusiveness in community development. It is a hierarchical model in which actors in each succeeding level of operation serve as mentors to the next. Through a three-step process--content, process, and product--participants must be trained with this mentoring and apprenticeship paradigm in conflict resolution, and they receive sensitivitiy and diversity training, through an interactive and dramatic exposition. The content phase introduces participants to the model's philosophy, ethics, values and methods of operation. The process used to teach and reinforce its precepts is the mentoring and apprenticeship activities and projects in which the participants engage and whose end product demontrates their knowledge and understanding of the model's concepts. This study sought to ascertain from the participants' perspectives whether the model's mentoring approach is an effective means of fostering inclusiveness, based upon their own experiences in using it. The research utilized a qualitative approach and included data from field observations, individual and group interviews, and written accounts of participants' attitudes. Participants complete ICB projects utilizing the Ellison Model as a method of development and implementation. They generally perceive that the model is a viable tool for dealing with diversity issues whether at work, at school, or at home. The projects are also instructional in that whether participants are mentored or seve as apprentices, they gain useful skills and knowledge about their careers. Since the model is relatively new, there is ample room for research in a variety of areas including organizational studies to dertmine its effectiveness in combating problems related to various kinds of discrimination.

O erro produzido pelo aluno no contexto pedagógico: uma luz ou uma pedra no meio do caminho?

Student’s mistakes as viewed in a didactic and pedagogical perspective are a phenomenon inevitably observed in any context in which formal teaching-andlearning processes are taking place. Researchers have shown that such mistakes are viewed most of the times as undesirable and often as a consequence of lack of attention or poor commitment on the part of the student and rarely considered didactically useful. The object of our reflections in this work is exactly those mistakes, which are born in the entrails of the teaching-and-learning processes. It is our understanding that a mistake constitutes a tool which mediates knowledge and may therefore become a strong ally of the instructor’s actions in her/his teaching tasks and thus should be taken into the teacher’s best consideration. Understanding a mistake as so, we postulate that the teacher must face it as a possibility to be exploited rather than as a negative occurrence. Such an attitude on the part of the teacher would undoubtedly render profitable didactic situations. To deepen the understanding of our aim, we took a case study on the perception of senior college students in the program of Mathematics at UFRN in the year 2009, 2nd term. The reason of this choice is the fact that Mathematics is the field presenting traditionally the poorest records in terms of school grades. In this work we put forth data associated to ENEM1 , to the UFRN Vestibular2 and the undergraduate courses on Mathematics. The theoretical matrixes supporting our reflections in this thesis follow the ideas proposed by Castorina (1988); Davis e Espósito (1990); Aquino (1997); Luckesi (2006); Cury (1994; 2008); Pinto (2000); Torre (2007). To carry out the study, we applied a semi-structured questionnaire containing 14 questions, out of which 10 were open questions. The questions were methodologically based on the Thematic Analysis – One of the techniques for Content Analysis schemed by Bardin (1977) – and it was also used the computer program Modalisa 6.0 (A software designed by faculties the University of Paris VIII). The results indicate that most of the teachers training instructors in their pedagogical practice view the mistakes made by their students only as a guide for grading and, in this procedure, the student is frequently labeled as guilty. Conclusive analyses, therefore, signal to the necessity of orienting the teachers training instructors in the sense of building a new theoretical contemplation of the students’ mistakes and their pedagogical potentialities and so making those professionals perceive the importance of such mistakes, since they reveal gaps in the process of learning and provide valuable avenues for the teaching procedures.

Ansiedade social e cooperação em contexto de hierarquia social

The Ultimatum Game is a methodology of the Game Theory that intends to investigate the individuals cooperative behavior in situations of resources division. Studies have shown that half of the subjects don’t accept unfair division of resources, and prefer to bear a momentary cost to revenge the deceivers. However, people who have assertiveness impairment, such as social phobic individuals, could have some difficulties to reject unfair offer division resource, especially in situations that cause over anxiety, like being in the presence of an individual considered to be in a high hierarchical level. A negative perception about his own worth can also make the person thinks that he does not deserve a fair division. These individuals also have a strong desire to convey a positive impression to the others, which could cause them to be more generous in a resource division. The aim of this study was to verify, through the Ultimatum Game, if social anxiety individuals would accept more high confederate’s unfair offers that low confederate’s unfair offers; and if they would be more generous in goods division, in the same game, when compared to individuals without social anxiety. Ninety-five (95) college students participated in this study answering the Social Phobia Inventory, the Factorial Scale of Extroversion, socio-demographic questionnaire, situational anxiety scale and, finally, the Ultimatum Game in four rounds (1st and 3rd – confederate representing high or low ranking using an unfair proposal; 2nd – confederate without social status using fair proposal; 4th – subject’s research proposes the offer). The results showed a significant negative correlation between social anxiety and haughtiness, and social anxiety and assertiveness, and a significant positive correlation between social anxiety and situational anxiety. There was no significant difference in situational anxiety due to the status for anxious individuals. Also we found no significant difference in the amount of donated goods, showing that generous behavior does not differ between groups. Finally, the social status did not influence the decision in response to the game for anxious individuals. These results corroborate to other studies that show the relationship between social anxiety and assertiveness, and social anxiety and negative self-perception capability and value (low haughtiness). As show the results of situational anxiety scale, the high status stimulus was not perceived as threatening to the individual, which may have affected his answer in the game. The results for the Ultimatum Game follow the same direction as the acceptance rate for unfair proposals (approximately 50%) in studies with non-clinical sample.

Ansiedade social e cooperação em contexto de hierarquia social

The Ultimatum Game is a methodology of the Game Theory that intends to investigate the individuals cooperative behavior in situations of resources division. Studies have shown that half of the subjects don’t accept unfair division of resources, and prefer to bear a momentary cost to revenge the deceivers. However, people who have assertiveness impairment, such as social phobic individuals, could have some difficulties to reject unfair offer division resource, especially in situations that cause over anxiety, like being in the presence of an individual considered to be in a high hierarchical level. A negative perception about his own worth can also make the person thinks that he does not deserve a fair division. These individuals also have a strong desire to convey a positive impression to the others, which could cause them to be more generous in a resource division. The aim of this study was to verify, through the Ultimatum Game, if social anxiety individuals would accept more high confederate’s unfair offers that low confederate’s unfair offers; and if they would be more generous in goods division, in the same game, when compared to individuals without social anxiety. Ninety-five (95) college students participated in this study answering the Social Phobia Inventory, the Factorial Scale of Extroversion, socio-demographic questionnaire, situational anxiety scale and, finally, the Ultimatum Game in four rounds (1st and 3rd – confederate representing high or low ranking using an unfair proposal; 2nd – confederate without social status using fair proposal; 4th – subject’s research proposes the offer). The results showed a significant negative correlation between social anxiety and haughtiness, and social anxiety and assertiveness, and a significant positive correlation between social anxiety and situational anxiety. There was no significant difference in situational anxiety due to the status for anxious individuals. Also we found no significant difference in the amount of donated goods, showing that generous behavior does not differ between groups. Finally, the social status did not influence the decision in response to the game for anxious individuals. These results corroborate to other studies that show the relationship between social anxiety and assertiveness, and social anxiety and negative self-perception capability and value (low haughtiness). As show the results of situational anxiety scale, the high status stimulus was not perceived as threatening to the individual, which may have affected his answer in the game. The results for the Ultimatum Game follow the same direction as the acceptance rate for unfair proposals (approximately 50%) in studies with non-clinical sample.

Essays in the Economics of Education

This dissertation is comprised of three essays in the economics of education. In the first essay, I examine how college students' major choice and major switching behavior responds to major-specific labor market shocks. The second essay explores the incidence and persistence of overeducation for workers in the United States. The final essay examines the role that students' cognitive and non-cognitive skills play in their transition from secondary to postsecondary education, and how the effect of these skills are moderated by race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Diagnóstico del rendimiento académico de estudiantes de una escuela de educación superior en México

El objetivo del artículo es realizar un diagnóstico sobre la percepción de los factores que intervienen en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de cinco carreras universitarias en una escuela de educación superior en México, para así reconocer las áreas de oportunidad que permitan sugerir políticas y estrategias para elevar su rendimiento. Se utilizó una muestra de 1651 estudiantes, se obtuvieron los datos a partir de un cuestionario con treinta preguntas que estudian la percepción del rendimiento académico en escala tipo Likert. Se realizó un análisis factorial exploratorio que permitiera reducir los datos, facilitar la interpretación y validar el instrumento. Se identificaron tres factores: a) el rol de los profesores, b) la evaluación y c) la motivación de los estudiantes. Se llevó a cabo un análisis comparativo por carrera. Se encontró que los estudiantes perciben que la mayoría de los maestros no se preocupan por la condición de los jóvenes en situación de reprobación. Además, casi no motivan y carecen de expresiones de sentimientos de orgullo por los logros académicos de los estudiantes. La mitad de los participantes piensa que los docentes no cubren el temario en su totalidad. Se detectó que los estudiantes poseen una alta motivación siendo esto positivo porque son alumnos dedicados y responsables. Se concluye realizando una serie de sugerencias y explicando las implicaciones que tiene este trabajo para las instituciones de educación superior.

Los conocimientos mínimos de Geografía en los estudios de Grado en Educación Primaria

La asignatura Ciencias Sociales y su Didáctica I (Geografía) de los estudios de Grado en Educación Primaria es, en la Universitat de les Illes Balears y en la mayoría de universidades españolas, el único contacto académico que mantendrán los futuros maestros con la Geografía. Existe un ambiente de preocupación sobre la formación de los maestros en España, inquietud que no es exclusiva de los geógrafos ni de nuestro país. El presente trabajo indaga en los conocimientos mínimos de Geografía exigibles a los futuros docentes a través de una prueba de conocimientos basada, en gran parte, en el currículo de Ciencias Sociales de Educación Primaria de la Comunidad Autónoma de las Islas Baleares. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que el alumnado del Grado en Educación Primaria no ha interiorizado esos contenidos tras su dilatada trayectoria académica. Asimismo desvelan que aunque ninguna variable es determinante, el género, la escasa presencia de materias de Geografía en el sistema educativo español y el nivel de formación de los padres son algunos de los factores que inciden en los resultados alcanzados por los alumnos en una prueba piloto sobre la que se basa la investigación.

Correlation between anxiety and academic self-concept in interpreter trainees

This paper focuses on two basic issues: the anxiety-generating nature of the interpreting task and the relevance of interpreter trainees’ academic self-concept. The first has already been acknowledged, although not extensively researched, in several papers, and the second has only been mentioned briefly in interpreting literature. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the anxiety and academic self-concept constructs among interpreter trainees. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), the Academic Autoconcept Scale (Schmidt, Messoulam & Molina, 2008) and a background information questionnaire were used to collect data. Students’ t-Test analysis results indicated that female students reported experiencing significantly higher levels of anxiety than male students. No significant gender difference in self-concept levels was found. Correlation analysis results suggested, on the one hand, that younger would-be interpreters suffered from higher anxiety levels and students with higher marks tended to have lower anxiety levels; and, on the other hand, that younger students had lower self-concept levels and higher-ability students held higher self-concept levels. In addition, the results revealed that students with higher anxiety levels tended to have lower self-concept levels. Based on these findings, recommendations for interpreting pedagogy are discussed.

Receptive Vocabulary of CLIL and Non-CLIL Primary and Secondary School Learners

CLIL instruction has been reported to be beneficial for foreign language vocabulary learning since CLIL students show higher vocabulary profiles than students of their same age in traditional EFL contexts. However, to our knowledge, the receptive vocabulary knowledge of CLIL and non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary education has not been examined yet. Hence, this study aims at comparing the receptive vocabulary size 79 CLIL primary learners with the receptive vocabulary knowledge of 331 non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary school. Sex-based differences were also analysed. The 2k Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) was used for the purposes of the study. Results revealed that learners’ receptive vocabulary sizes lie within the most frequent 1000 words, non-CLIL secondary school students throw better results than primary students but the differences between the secondary group and the CLIL group are not statistically significant. As for sex-based differences, we found no significant differences among the groups. These findings led us to believe that the CLIL approach offers a benefit for vocabulary acquisition since CLIL learners have been exposed to the foreign language for a shorter period of time and the results are quite similar to their non-CLIL secondary school partners.

Circular migration and the Internet: The role of social networks in the sociocultural context of Mexican residents in Barcelona

This work focuses on the study of the circular migration between America and Europe, particularly in the discussion about knowledge transfer and the way that social networks reconfigure the form of information distribution among people, that due to labor and academic issues have left their own country. The main purpose of this work is to study the impact of social media use in migration flows between Mexico and Spain, more specifically the use by Mexican migrants who have moved for  multiple years principally for educational purposes and then have returned to their respective locations in Mexico seeking to integrate themselves into the labor market. Our data collection concentrated exclusively on a group created on Facebook by Mexicans who mostly reside in Barcelona, Spain or wish to travel to the city for economic, educational or tourist reasons.  The results of this research show that while social networks are spaces for exchange and integration, there is a clear tendency by this group to "narrow lines" and to look back to their homeland, slowing the process of opening socially in their new context.

A Biocultural Examination of Student Learning Behaviors in Large Undergraduate Lectures

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

¿Barreras invisibles? Actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios ante sus compañeros con discapacidad

El presente trabajo analiza los conocimientos, opiniones y actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios sobre sus compañeros con discapacidad. La integración educativa y social de estos estudiantes es objeto de preocupación y estudio en todo el sistema educativo español,incluida la enseñanza superior en la que 21.942 universitarios con discapacidad se encontraban matriculados en el curso 2013-2014. El estudio se realiza en el marco de dos Proyectos de Innovación Educativa1 de la Universidad de Málaga en los que se examinaron las actitudes del personal docente e investigador, el alumnado en general y el alumnado con discapacidad de esta institución. En este artículo se recogen las perspectivas de los estudiantes sin discapacidad, necesarias para medir el grado de aceptación dentro de las aulas universitarias. Se empleó una encuesta suministrada mediante correo electrónico a la totalidad de la población de estudiantes de la Universidad de Málaga (N= 32.464). El tamaño de la muestra fue de 620 estudiantes, por lo que trabajamos con un margen de error del 3,9% para la estimación de los porcentajes con un nivel de confianza del 95%. Los datos, analizados mediante análisis estadístico, visibilizan la importancia de un elevado grado de información y conocimiento así como de una experiencia directa con la discapacidad. Ambas circunstancias se traducen en actitudes más positivas y favorables. Tan solo el 20% de los alumnos manifestó haber recibido en alguna ocasión cualquier tipo de información sobre este asunto por parte de la Universidad; no obstante, la mayoría valora positivamente la presencia de alumnos con discapacidad en la Universidad, la posibilidad de contar ellos como compañeros de clase y el enriquecimiento que supone esta convivencia dentro del aula. Se discuten posibles acciones para mejorar las actitudes hacia los estudiantes con discapacidad. Además, se plantea incluir una perspectiva que promueva el empoderamiento de estos estudiantes.

Mesure des comportements des mentors en contexte de mentorat scolaire et liens entre ces comportements, la qualité de la relation de mentorat et l’ajustement des protégés

Les résultats d’études récentes suggèrent que certains comportements de soutien des mentors pourraient augmenter les bénéfices du mentorat scolaire. Cependant, peu d’outils validés sont disponibles dans la littérature pour mesurer ces comportements. Il est aussi convenu que l’efficacité du mentorat scolaire dépend de la qualité de la relation tissée entre le mentor et son protégé, laquelle serait tributaire d’un ensemble de facteurs, dont les comportements du mentor. Néanmoins, encore une fois très peu d’études empiriques ont tenté d’identifier les patrons de comportements des mentors les plus susceptibles d’influencer la relation de mentorat et l’ajustement des protégés. La présente thèse poursuit deux objectifs, soit de construire et valider un outil de mesure des comportements de soutien des mentors oeuvrant en contexte de mentorat scolaire, puis d’explorer les liens entre des comportements de structure et de soutien des mentors, la relation de mentorat et l’ajustement des protégés. L’échelle de comportements des mentors (ECM) a été développée en s’inspirant des prémisses du modèle sociomotivationnel du mentorat (Larose & Tarabulsy, 2014). Deux cent cinquante-trois étudiants du collégial participant à un programme de mentorat scolaire d’une durée de huit mois ont complété une version expérimentale de l’ECM ainsi que différentes mesures de la qualité de la relation de mentorat à deux temps de leur participation au programme. Les résultats montrent que le questionnaire possède de bons coefficients de cohérence interne et une structure factorielle adéquate, à l’exception du facteur soutien à l’autonomie. De plus, trois des dimensions de l’ECM prédisent la qualité de la relation de mentorat et la perception d’utilité de l’intervention. Des recommandations pour l’utilisation et l’amélioration de l’ECM sont proposées. Sur la base des évaluations des protégés à l’ECM (Brodeur et al., 2015), quatre regroupements distincts de comportements de mentors ont été identifiés : Optimal, Suffisant, Contrôlant, et Inadéquat. Les résultats montrent que plus les mentors ont fait preuve de soutien et de structure, plus les protégés ont évalué positivement la relation et l’utilité du mentorat, sauf pour les profils Optimal et Contrôlant. Par ailleurs, uniquement l’ajustement social des protégés a différé du groupe contrôle, et ce proportionnellement à la quantité de soutien et de structure prodigués par les mentors. D’autre part, il est discuté de l’impact de l’ajustement initial des protégés sur les comportements des mentors. Des implications théoriques et pratiques des résultats des deux articles sont présentées. Mots-clés : mentorat scolaire, comportements des mentors, validation de questionnaire, qualité de la relation de mentorat, ajustement des protégés.

Qualitätssicherung an österreichischen Hochschulen. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Bericht gemäß §28 HS-QSG zum Stand 2015

Die AQ Austria ist durch das Hochschul-Qualitätssicherungsgesetz (HS-QSG) beauftragt, alle drei Jahre einen Bericht zur Entwicklung der Qualitätssicherung an hochschulischen Bildungseinrichtungen zu erstellen. In diesem ersten Bericht werden Gemeinsamkeiten und Spezifika der drei Hochschulsektoren – öffentliche Universitäten, Privatuniversitäten und Fachhochschulen – bei der Gestaltung des internen Qualitätsmanagements sowie bei den Maßnahmen der Qualitätssicherung und –entwicklung aufgezeigt. Die aktuellen Themenbereiche und Fragestellungen sind in die nationalen Rahmenbedingungen eingebettet, innerhalb derer die österreichischen Hochschulen agieren und die die Qualitätssicherung an den österreichischen Hochschulen mitbestimmen.