Maximising intercultural learning in short term international placements: Findings associated with orientation programs, guided reflection and immersion

Short-term international practicum experience is now a feature of many university education programs in Australia in an attempt to engage students with the growing multi-cultural aspects of Australian life. The stated purposes of such practicum experiences generally highlight intercultural learning, which is associated with the development of intercultural sensitivity, cultural identity, global citizenship and global competence. This paper tracks and documents the early and developing attitudes and dispositions of a group of pre-service teachers (PSTs) and academic staffwho were engaged with the pilot project of a pre-service placement in Malaysian secondary schools. The behaviours associated with intercultural learning are observed in association with the students' responses to changing circumstances. The paper draws attention to lessons learnt about orientation for intercultural exchanges in the development of intercultural learning and suggests ways to enhance the development of intercultural understandings and minimize cultural difference through more targeted interventions.

The importance of outreach programs to unblock the pipeline and broaden diversity in ICT education

There is a need for outreach programs to attract a diverse range of students to the computing discipline. The lack of qualified computing graduates to fill the growing number of computing vacancies is of concern to government and industry and there are few female students entering the computing pipeline at high school level. This paper presents three outreach programs that have the underlying assumption that students need to be reminded about the creativity and potential of computing so that it remains on the radar of their future career options. Each program instigated social and cultural change through a paradigm shift where girls moved from being ICT consumers to ICT creators. By exposing students to a wide variety of ICT activities and careers during secondary schooling, they were more likely to consider studying information systems, computer science or any other computing course at the university level. Results are presented showing student attitudinal changes as well as observed increases in enrolments at secondary school and university courses

Teacher knowledge, child interest and parent expectation: Factors influencing multicultural programs in an early childhood setting

© 2015, Early Childhood Australia Inc. All rights reserved. MULTICULTURAL CURRICULA/PROGRAMS assume an important role within a cultural approach to learning and teaching in early childhood education in New Zealand. Te Whariki, the national early childhood curriculum framework of New Zealand, is an emancipatory and socially constructive document that emphasises equity, social justice and the important position of culture in children's learning and development. In practice this means developing early childhood programs that are sensitive and responsive to the needs and interests of children and families of minority cultures. Drawing on a critical social constructivist framework, this study of one early childhood centre in New Zealand identifies the features of its multicultural curriculum. The paper argues that a devotion to supporting children of minority cultures has persisted in the curriculum, but there is a reliance on mainstream pedagogy focused on children's learning within the centre environment and teachers' subjective knowledge about children's needs.

How feasible are lifestyle modification programs for disease prevention in general practice?

Vascular disease is a leading cause of death and disability. While it is preventable, little is known about the feasibility or acceptability of implementing interventions to prevent vascular disease in Australian primary health care. We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial assessing prevention of vascular disease in patients aged 40–65 by providing a lifestyle modification program in general practice. Interviews with 13 general practices in the intervention arm of this trial examined their views on implementing the lifestyle modification program in general practice settings. Qualitative study, involving thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 11 general practitioners, four practice nurses and five allied health providers between October 2009 and April 2010. Providing brief lifestyle intervention fitted well with routine health-check consultations; however, acceptance and referral to the program was dependent on the level of facilitation provided by program coordinators. Respondents reported that patients engaged with the advice and strategies provided in the program, which helped them make lifestyle changes. Practice nurse involvement was important to sustaining implementation in general practice, while the lack of referral services for people at risk of developing vascular disease threatens maintenance of lifestyle changes as few respondents thought patients would continue lifestyle changes without long-term follow up. Lifestyle modification programs to prevent vascular disease are feasible in general practice but must be provided in a flexible format, such as being offered out of hours to facilitate uptake, with ongoing support and follow up to assist maintenance. The newly formed Medicare Locals may have an important role in facilitating lifestyle modification programs for this target group.

New Programs and Accreditations: Meaningful Measurement & Assessment

This article provides a blueprint for successful library strategies in support of accreditations for regional bodies as well as reviews of discipline-specific academic programs spanning a wide range of knowledge areas.

Administering Outcomes-Based Financial Aid Programs

As state and federal agencies increasingly condition institutional funding on student outcomes, university leaders are under pressure to develop innovative strategies to boost student retention and degree completion rates. This report examines public university initiatives that strategically leverage financial aid to support institutional retention and degree completion goals.

Creating High-Impact Workforce Development Programs

As communities across the nation continue to face persistent unemployment, many states are turning to community college workforce development programs to combat joblessness. However, state governments and community colleges alike are often unable to devote significant resources to building new workforce initiatives. This brief examines how community colleges in four states have worked with state governments and other partners to overcome budget constraints and create effective workforce development programs, highlighting funding models and innovative practices to make efficient use of limited resources.

Managing Dual Enrollment Programs: Review of Program Models, Operations, and Outcomes

Universities that offer dual enrollment programs for high school students must manage increasing student demand in the face of changing state legislation. This brief examines how institutions finance their dual enrollment programs, and how they ensure academic rigor as their programs continue to grow. The report also considers how dual enrollment programs ensure that students can transfer credits, and what strategies they use to encourage DE students to matriculate as undergraduates.

Mechanism of Muscle Vibrations During Stimulated and Voluntary Isometric Contractions of Mammalian Skeletal Muscle

When a muscle contracts it produces vibrations. The origin of these vibrations is not known in detail. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism associated with muscle vibrations. Mechanisms which have been proposed in the literature were described as theories (cross-bridge cycling, vibrating string and unfused motor unit theories). Specific predictions were derived from each theory, and tested in three conceptually different studies. In the first study, the influence of recruitment strategies of motor units (MUs) on the vibromyographic (VMG) signal was studied in the in-situ cat soleus using electrical stimulation of the soleus nerve. VMG signals increased with increasing recruitment and decreased with increasing firing rates of MUs. Similar results were obtained for the human rectus femoris (RF) muscle using percutaneous electrical stimulation of the femoral nerve. The influence of MU activation on muscle vibrations was studied in RF by analyzing VMG signals at different percentages (0-100%) of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). In our second study, we tested the effects of changing the material properties of the in-situ cat soleus (through muscle length changes) on the VMG signal. The magnitude of the VMG signal was higher for intermediate muscle lengths compared to the longest and the shortest muscle lengths. The decreased magnitude of the VMG signal at the longest and at the shortest muscle lengths was associated with increased passive stiffness and with decreased force transients during unfused contractions, respectively. In the third study, the effect of fatigue on muscle vibrations was studied in human RF and vastus lateralis (VL) musc1es during isometric voluntary contractions at a leveI of 70% MVC. A decrease in the VMG signal magnitude was observed in RF (presumably due to derecruitment of MUs) and an increase in VL (probably related to the enhancement of physiological tremor, which may have occurred predorninantly in a mediolateral direction) with fatigue. The unfused MU theory, which is based on the idea that force transients produced by MUs during unfused tetanic contraction is the mechanism for muscle vibrations, was supported by the results obtained in the above three studies.

European business schools and global leadership: an examination of the admission criteria of the european master in management programs ranked by the Financial Times 2010

O aumento de empresas que operam internacionalmente requer o desenvolvimento de líderes mundiais para colocar as estratégias em prática. Embora este processo de desenvolvimento é importante para o mundo corporativo, muitos futuros executivos são graduados de escolas de administração de empresas que estão intimamente ligados ao mundo de negócios e, portanto, desempenhão um papel importante no processo. Esta pesquisa examina se os programas europeus “Master in Management” classificado pelo Financial Times em 2010 selecionam aqueles candidatos que são mais adequados para o desenvolvimento de liderança global. Portanto, três anteriores meta-estudos são sintetizados para produzir um perfil de competências classificadas de um líder global. Então, informações sobre os critérios de admissão dos programas de mestrado são coletadas e comparadas com este perfil. Os resultados mostram que seis competências são medidas por mais da metade dos programas: proficiência em Inglês, capacidade analítica (racionamento lógico e quantitativo), capacidade de comunicação, conhecimento do negócio global, determinação para alcançar, motivação e capacidade interpessoal. Além disso, as habilidades operacionais requerentes pelos líderes globais não são significativas no processo de admissão e o foco é sobre as habilidades analíticas. Comparação dos resultados com o perfil anteriormente desenvolvido abrangente indica que uma quantidade significativa de programas pode subestimar o significado de habilidades pessoais e características para o desenvolvimento de líderes globais.

Targeting the poor: a macroeconomic analysis of cash transfer programs

This paper introduces cash transfers targeting the poor in an incomplete markets model with heterogeneous agents facing idiosyncratic risk. These transfers change the degree of insurance in the economy and affect precautionary motives asymmetrically, leading the poorest households to decrease savings proportionally more than their richer counterparts. In a model economy calibrated to Brazil, once the cash transfer program is adopted, wealth inequality and social welfare increase, poverty decreases, while employment and income inequality remain about the same. Imperfect access to financial markets is important for these results, whereas whether the program is funded with lump sum or distortive taxes is not.

How do investors respond to share buyback programs? : evidence from Brazil during 2008 crisis

This paper provides empirical evidence of how effective share repurchase programs were as instruments to signal low prices during 2008 crisis in Brazil. Although we found that stock prices did not respond to buyback programs in the period 2006 to 2012 (1.65% cumulative abnormal returns after 5 days), the average stock price reaction in 2008 (2.93%) is higher and different with statistical significance. Furthermore, we found that the share price reaction from companies with market capitalization below R$10 billion is higher than the one from larger companies. In addition, we found that the response to the buyback programs is positively correlated (i) to the company’s purchasing activity after the announcement, (ii) to the maximum amount of shares announced which can be bought and (iii) to the quantity actually bought during the program. This research is unique in providing empirical evidence on the Brazilian case by analyzing 377 programs announced during that period. The research also confirms that the stock reaction is not influenced by the company's purchasing activity in prior announcements.

Evidence of eligibility manipulation for conditional cash transfer programs

This paper assesses whether eligibility for conditional cash transfer programs have been manipulated, as well as the impact of this phenomenon on time allocation within households. To perform this analysis, we use data from the 2006 PNAD (Brazilian national household survey) and investigate the eligibility manipulation for the Bolsa Família (Family Stipend) program during this time period. The program assists families with a monthly per capita income of around R$120.00 (US$60.00). By applying the tests developed by McCrary (2008), we find suggestive evidence that individuals manipulate their income by voluntarily reducing their labor supply in order to become eligible to the program. Moreover, the reduction in labor supply is greater among women, especially single or divorced mothers. This evidence raises some concern about the unintended consequences related to the eligibility criteria utilized by Bolsa Família, as well as the program’s impact on individuals living in extreme poverty.

Political budget cycles in a fiscal federation : the effect of partisan voluntary transfers

This article first presents an econometric study suggesting that intergovernmental transfers to Brazilian municipalities are strongly partisan motivated. In light of that stylized fact, it develops an extension to Rogoff (1990)’s model to analyze the effect of partisan motivated transfers into sub-national electoral and fiscal equilibria. The main finding is that important partisan transfers may undo the positive selection aspect of political budget cycles. Indeed, partisan transfers may, on one hand, eliminate the political budget cycle, solving a moral hazard problem, but, on the other hand, they may retain an incompetent incumbent in office, bringing about an adverse selection problem.