Attitudes of medical students toward communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia.

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Alotaibi, Fawaz S; Alsaeedi, Abdullah

2016-07-01

To explore medical students' attitudes towards communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia and to examine impact of socio-demographic variables on the attitudes towards learning these skills.   In this cross-sectional study, sample of medical students were recruited from Taif University, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the second semester (January-May 2014). Participants were all year 2 (197 students) and year 5 (151 students). The study utilize the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to measure students' attitudes toward communication skills learning. The response rate was 93.9%.  The study showed that Taif medical students hold highly positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Positive attitude score (PAS) was significantly higher in level 5 students, older age group.   Significant positive attitude toward learning communication skills clearly observed in target group. Students with more positive attitudes towards communication skills learning tended to be higher level and older age.

The Attitudes of Students From ESL And EFL Countries To English

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Muhammad Hasbi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This research is to study the attitudes of English students from English as a Second Language (ESL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL country in English and Foreign Languages University (EFL University, Hyderabad to English. This is a descriptive-quantitative research with a survey method. The attitudes researched include those to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The data was taken through questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The findings of this study showed that the English students in EFL University have neutral-to-positive attitudes to Listening, positive attitudes to Speaking, positive attitudes to Reading, and poor attitudes to Writing. In addition, the English students from ESL country have better attitudes to Reading (positive and Writing (neutral and those from EFL country have better attitudes to Speaking (neutral-to-positive and Listening (neutral-to-positive.

The Attitudes of Students from ESL and EFL Countries to English

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhamad Hasbi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This research is to study the attitudes of English students from English as a Second Language (ESL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL country in English and Foreign Languages University (EFL University, Hyderabad to English. This is a descriptive-quantitative research with a survey method. The attitudes researched include those to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The data was taken through questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The findings of this study showed that the English students in EFL University have neutral-to-positive attitudes to Listening, positive attitudes to Speaking, positive attitudes to Reading, and poor attitudes to Writing. In addition, the English students from ESL country have better attitudes to Reading (positive and Writing (neutral and those from EFL country have better attitudes to Speaking (neutral-to-positive and Listening (neutral-to-positive.

Writing-to-Learn: Attitudes of nursing students at Sultan Qaboos University.

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Balachandran, Shreedevi; Venkatesaperumal, Ramesh; Clara, Jothi; Shukri, Raghda K

2014-02-01

The objectives of this study were to assess the attitude of Omani nursing students towards writing-to-learn (WTL) and its relationship to demographic variables, self-efficacy and the writing process. A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate attitudes towards WTL by Sultan Qaboos University nursing students. A convenience sample of 106 students was used and data collected between October 2009 and March 2010. A modified version of the WTL attitude scale developed by Dobie and Poirrier was used to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis. Senior and junior students had more positive attitudes to WTL than mid-level students who tended to have negative attitudes towards writing. Although 52.8% students had negative attitudes towards the writing process, the median was higher for attitudes to the writing process compared to the median for self-efficacy. There was a positive correlation between self-efficacy and writing process scores. Overall, students had negative attitudes towards WTL. Attitudes are learnt or formed through previous experiences. The incorporation of WTL strategies into teaching can transform students' negative attitudes towards writing into positive ones.

Attitudes of Jordanian Adolescent Students Toward Overweight and Obesity

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Abu Baker, Nesrin N.; Al-Ali, Nahla; Al-Ajlouni, Ranyah

2018-01-01

Background: Obesity is a serious public health problem especially among adolescents. Understanding adolescents’ attitudes toward obesity and healthy lifestyle is a crucial step to develop effective health programs to treat and prevent obesity. Objectives: To examine the attitudes toward overweight and obesity among Jordanian adolescent students and to identify the components of obesity prevention program that the students perceive as important. Methods: A sample of 1000 students in 8th to 10th grades was randomly selected from 16 schools in Irbid, Jordan. A self-reported questionnaire including attitude related questions was used in a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Results: Generally, the students expressed positive attitudes toward obesity; which means that their attitudes were consistent with societal norms in terms of health and social functioning (mean= 3.5, SD=0.39). Furthermore, the students expressed positive attitudes toward lifestyle; which means that their attitudes were consistent with healthy behaviors (mean=3.7, SD=0.58). However, boys had significantly more positive attitudes than girls (p=0.04). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 23.8%, while obese and non-obese students had similar attitudes toward lifestyle and obesity. Finally, around 20% to 30% of students desired a prevention program out of school time shared with their families and friends and involves eating healthy food and getting more exercise. Conclusion: More efforts are needed to build effective obesity prevention programs that focus on eating healthy diet and getting more exercise considering gender differences. PMID:29456780

Attitudes of Jordanian Adolescent Students Toward Overweight and Obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Baker, Nesrin N; Al-Ali, Nahla; Al-Ajlouni, Ranyah

2018-01-01

Obesity is a serious public health problem especially among adolescents. Understanding adolescents' attitudes toward obesity and healthy lifestyle is a crucial step to develop effective health programs to treat and prevent obesity. To examine the attitudes toward overweight and obesity among Jordanian adolescent students and to identify the components of obesity prevention program that the students perceive as important. A sample of 1000 students in 8 th to 10 th grades was randomly selected from 16 schools in Irbid, Jordan. A self-reported questionnaire including attitude related questions was used in a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Generally, the students expressed positive attitudes toward obesity; which means that their attitudes were consistent with societal norms in terms of health and social functioning (mean= 3.5, SD=0.39). Furthermore, the students expressed positive attitudes toward lifestyle; which means that their attitudes were consistent with healthy behaviors (mean=3.7, SD=0.58). However, boys had significantly more positive attitudes than girls (p =0.04). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 23.8%, while obese and non-obese students had similar attitudes toward lifestyle and obesity. Finally, around 20% to 30% of students desired a prevention program out of school time shared with their families and friends and involves eating healthy food and getting more exercise. More efforts are needed to build effective obesity prevention programs that focus on eating healthy diet and getting more exercise considering gender differences.

Attitude of physiotherapy students in Nigeria toward persons with disability.

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Vincent-Onabajo, Grace O; Malgwi, Wasinda S

2015-01-01

Attitudes of students of health care professions, such as physiotherapy, toward persons with disability may influence their attitude and practice post-qualification. To examine attitudes toward persons with disability among undergraduate physiotherapy students in Universities in Nigeria. The 30-item Attitudes toward Disabled Persons--Form A (ATDP-A) scale was used to assess the attitudes of penultimate and final year physiotherapy students in 3 Nigerian universities. Overall and item-by-item analyzes of responses to the ATDP-A scale were carried out. Differences in attitude by sex, age, year and university of study were also examined using independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. One hundred and sixty-nine students with a male majority (56.2%) participated in the study. Mean score on the ATDP-A was 94.95 ± 17.50 with more students (60.4%) having a score >90 which depicts positive attitude. Item-by-item analysis of responses to the 30 items on the ATDP-A showed that negative attitudes were preponderant on items relating to the emotional component of the personality of persons with disability. Only age of students and their university of study however resulted in statistically significant differences in attitudes and older students reported better attitudes toward persons with disability. Although the overall attitude of the physiotherapy students was positive, negative stereotypes and discriminatory tendencies were observed in issues relating to the perceived emotional capacity of persons with disabilities. Educational strategies capable of effecting more positive attitudes in physiotherapy students in Nigeria toward persons with disability are urgently needed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increasing positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities through community service learning.

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Lawson, Janelle E; Cruz, Rebecca A; Knollman, Gregory A

2017-10-01

Providing equal-status contact between those with and without disabilities can improve attitudes and reduce discrimination toward individuals with disabilities. This study investigated community service learning as a means by which to provide college students with equal-status contact with individuals with disabilities and increase their positive attitudes toward those with disabilities. A total of 166 college students in one university in the United States enrolled in an Introduction to Disability course received content on disability in society and participated in community service involving 20h of direct contact with individuals with disabilities. Findings indicated that college students who had prior contact with individuals with disabilities had more positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities than college students who did not have prior contact at the start of the course. For the college students who did not have any prior contact, their attitudes toward individuals with disabilities became significantly more positive at the end of the community service learning course. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Training Programs to Enhance Positive Attitude toward the ASEAN Community and Self-responsibility For Students in the 6th Grade Naku Distric Kalasin

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Siriporn Chooarerom

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The purposes of this study were to ; 1 Study the status and problem of an through attitude the ASEAN community for grade 6 students. 2 Develop training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. 3 Experiment training program to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. The samples of this study were 21 students. They were selected though cluster random sampling method. The research instruments used in the study were the Training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility. Surveys of problems from the event ASEAN week. Lenarning ASEAN. Measuring a positive attitude towards the ASEAN community scale with discriminating power ranging 0.375 – 0.793 and Measuring self-responsibility scale with discriminating power ranging 0.411 – 0.893 and a reliability of 0.973. The statistics used for analyzing the collected data were mean, standard deviation, and One-way repeated measure MANOVA The study showed that 1 Study of the attitude of the ASEAN community condition survey found that teachers have trouble understanding, Interested to attend the event and have admired and awareness in preparation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal. The students realized in preparation, understanding about . Attention to participation and appreciation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal 2 Training programs to enhance their positive attitude toward the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students was created by. Activities focus on the students involved and take action. Remove group activities used in the event. Stage one consists of two steps leading to the involvement step 3 step 4 step by step analysis and application of the five-stage process and evaluation. By 5 experts have evaluated the overall level more appropriate. 3 Students attend their

Dental student attitudes towards communication skills instruction and clinical application.

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McKenzie, Carly T

2014-10-01

This study investigated dental students' attitudes towards communication skills instruction and clinical application and explored the impact of a one-semester course and year in school on students' attitudes, measured by the Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Demographic characteristics and self-assessment of communication skills were also analyzed. The study employed a pretest-posttest survey design combined with cross-sectional data. Participants were first- and fourth-year students at a U.S. dental school. Out of a possible 120 students, 106 (fifty-seven D1 and forty-nine D4) participated in the pretest, an 88 percent response rate; out of a possible 121 students, 115 (fifty-seven D1 and fifty-eight D4) participated in the posttest, a 95 percent response rate. In the results, D4 students consistently demonstrated less positive attitudes towards communication skills instruction and more negative attitudes regarding the importance of interpersonal skills in clinical encounters than did their D1 counterparts. A single communications course had no discernible effect on attitudes or self-assessments for either cohort. Females reported more positive attitudes towards clinical application of interpersonal skills than did males. Gender significantly interacted with two demographic variables: primary language and parent as health care professional. Female children of health care professionals reported poorer attitudes towards clinical communication skills training and application than did their male counterparts. Generally, parental occupation in health care moderated the decrease in positive attitudes over time towards clinical usefulness of communication skills. The D4 students rated their communication skills higher than did the D1 students. Students who demonstrated more positive attitudes towards communication skills training and application were more likely to say their own skills needed improvement.

Predictors of a positive attitude of medical students towards general practice - a survey of three Bavarian medical faculties.

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Schneider, Antonius; Karsch-Völk, Marlies; Rupp, Alica; Fischer, Martin R; Drexler, Hans; Schelling, Jörg; Berberat, Pascal

2013-01-01

Germany is witnessing an increasing shortage of general practitioners (GPs). The aim was to determine predictors of the job-related motivation of medical students of three medical faculties with different institutionalisation of general practice as an academic discipline. Medical students were surveyed with a standardised questionnaire about their attitudes towards general practice and their motivation to work as a GP in different working conditions. Predictors for positive attitudes and motivation were calculated using logistic regression models. 940 (15.2%) out of 6182 medical students from three Bavarian medical faculties participated in an online survey. 585 (62.7%) were female, and the average age was 25.0 (standard deviation 3.7). The average grade of a university-entrance diploma was 1.6 (standard deviation 0.5). 718 (76.4%) could imagine working as a GP. However, they favoured being employed within another organisation and not having their own private practice (65.5% vs. 35.1%). "Presence of a professorship of general practice" was associated with a positive attitude towards general practice (OR 1.57; 95%CI 1.13-2.417). Motivation for working as a GP was associated with "being female" (OR 2.56; 95%CI 1.80-3.56) and "presence of a professorship of general practice" (OR 1.68; 95%CI 1.14-2.46). Having a lower grade for one's university-entrance diploma was associated with a higher preference to work in one's own practice (OR 1.39; 95%CI 1.02-1.90). A high amount of medical students were open-minded towards general practice. However, they favoured employment within an organization over working in their own practice. Institutionalisation of general practice as an academic discipline might be of importance to gain positive attitudes towards general practice and motivate medical students to work as a GP.

The attitudes of nursing students to euthanasia.

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Naseh, Ladan; Heidari, Mohammad

2017-01-01

One of the most common morally controversial issues in endof-life care is euthanasia. Examining the attitudes of nursing students to this issue is important because they may encounter situations related to euthanasia during their clinical courses. The aim of our study was to examine nursing students' attitudes to euthanasia in Shahrekord city in western Iran. This was done using the Euthanasia Attitude Scale. The scale is divided into four categories, ie ethical considerations, practical considerations, treasuring life and naturalistic beliefs. Of 132 nursing students, 120 participated in the study (response rate 93.1%). According to the study's findings, 52.5%, 2.5% and 45% of the students reported a negative, neutral and positive attitude to euthanasia, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the nursing students' attitudes to euthanasia and some demographic characteristics, including sex, age and religious beliefs. Iranian Muslim nursing students participating in the study had a negative attitude to euthanasia. Further studies are recommended among nursing students from different cultures and of different religious faiths.

A personal connection: Promoting positive attitudes towards teaching and learning.

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Lujan, Heidi L; DiCarlo, Stephen E

2017-09-01

Students' attitudes towards teaching and learning must be addressed with the same seriousness and effort as we address content. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will produce positive attitudes towards teaching and learning and develop life-long learners. It will also promote constructive student-teacher relationships that have a profound influence on our students' approach towards school. To begin this process, consider the major tenets of the Self-Determination Theory. The Self-Determination Theory of human motivation focuses on our students' innate psychological needs and the degree to which an individual's behavior is self-motivated and self-determined. Faculty can satisfy the innate psychological needs by addressing our students' desire for relatedness, competence and autonomy. Relatedness refers to our students' need to feel connected to others, to be a member of a group, to have a sense of communion and to develop close relationships with others. Competence is believing our students can succeed , challenging them to do so and imparting that belief in them. Autonomy involves considering the perspectives of the student and providing relevant information and opportunities for student choice and initiating and regulating their own behaviors. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will improve our teaching, inspire and engage our students and promote positive attitudes towards teaching and learning while reducing competition and increasing compassion. These are important goals because unless students are inspired and motivated and have positive attitudes towards teaching and learning our efforts will fail to meet their full potential. Anat Sci Educ 10: 503-507. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

A Longitudinal Study of Student Attitudes toward Computers: Resolving an Attitude Decay Paradox.

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McKinnon, David H.; Nolan, C. J. Patrick; Sinclair, Kenneth E.

2000-01-01

Describes results of an integrated curriculum project in New Zealand that generated paradoxical results regarding student motivation and attitudes toward computer use during junior high school, where attitudes became less positive. Examines implications for the design and implementation of curriculum projects involving student use of computer…

Nursing students' attitude toward suicide prevention.

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Nebhinani, Naresh; Mamta; Gaikwad, Achla D; Tamphasana, L

2013-07-01

Preventing suicide depends upon different health professionals' knowledge regarding suicide, attitude toward suicide attempters, skills to assess and manage suicidal risk. This study was aimed to assess the attitude of nursing students toward suicide prevention. 308 nursing students were recruited from the two institutions through total enumeration method. Attitude toward suicide prevention scale was administered. Study design was cross-sectional. Majority were single females, from urban locality, who were pursuing BSc Nursing with the mean age of 20 years. Only minority had previous exposure to suicide prevention programs or workshops. Nearly half of the subjects had positive attitude toward working with suicidal patients. Again half of the subjects considered unemployment and poverty as main causes of suicide and were quite hopeless about it and they also perceived that most of the suicidal people would not reveal their suicidal plans to others. Merely half of the students had positive attitude toward working with suicidal patients. Hence, there is strong need to organize more educational and training programs on suicide prevention so that these budding health professionals could be more equipped and trained to manage these suicidal patients.

The association between Colombian medical students' healthy personal habits and a positive attitude toward preventive counseling: cross-sectional analyses

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Duperly, John; Lobelo, Felipe; Segura, Carolina; Sarmiento, Francisco; Herrera, Deisy; Sarmiento, Olga L; Frank, Erica

2009-01-01

Background Physician-delivered preventive counseling is important for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Data from the U.S. indicates that medical students with healthy personal habits have a better attitude towards preventive counseling. However, this association and its correlates have not been addressed in rapidly urbanized settings where chronic disease prevention strategies constitute a top public health priority. This study examines the association between personal health practices and attitudes toward preventive counseling among first and fifth-year students from 8 medical schools in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods During 2006, a total of 661 first- and fifth-year medical students completed a culturally adapted Spanish version of the "Healthy Doctor = Healthy Patient" survey (response rate = 78%). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between overall personal practices on physical activity, nutrition, weight control, smoking, alcohol use (main exposure variable) and student attitudes toward preventive counseling on these issues (main outcome variable), stratified by year of training and adjusting by gender and medical training-related factors (basic knowledge, perceived adequacy of training and perception of the school's promotion on each healthy habit). Results The median age and percentage of females for the first- and fifth-year students were 21 years and 59.5% and 25 years and 65%, respectively. After controlling for gender and medical training-related factors, consumption of ≥ 5 daily servings of fruits and/or vegetables, not being a smoker or binge drinker were associated with a positive attitude toward counseling on nutrition (OR = 4.71; CI = 1.6–14.1; p = 0.006 smoking (OR = 2.62; CI = 1.1–5.9; p = 0.022), and alcohol consumption (OR = 2.61; CI = 1.3–5.4; p = 0.009), respectively. Conclusion As for U.S. physician and medical students, a positive association was found between the personal health habits of

Enhancing Student Self-Study Attitude and Activity with Motivational Techniques

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Kent Rhoads

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Research has shown that students will exhibit a positive attitude towards self-study, but that they will often fail to complete self-study activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate positive instructor interactions and motivation of students to complete self- study activities and students’ attitudes towards self-study. Six English instructors at the University of Shizuoka created a one-semester self-access study log for use in the university self-access language laboratory in order to find out how many students would complete the log. One of the six instructors applied motivational techniques in the classroom in an effort to engender greater student self-study. Later a questionnaire was administered to 465 student participants to determine their self-study attitudes and activities. The data collected from the questionnaire and the high participation in the self- study activities suggest the positive impact the motivational actions employed by the instructor had on his students' attitudes towards self-study activities.

Student radiographers' attitudes toward the older patient – An intervention study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, L.; Kada, S.

2015-01-01

Purpose: To design, implement and evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on Norwegian student (diagnostic) radiographers' attitudes towards older people. Design: This study is part of a wider longitudinal study that will evaluate student radiographer attitudes towards the older patient as they progress through their training. In this phase an educational intervention, aimed at improving student radiographer attitudes towards the older person, was designed and implemented. What is reported here are the findings of a pre-test, post-test design that used the Kogan's attitudes towards older people scale to determine whether this intervention had any effect of student radiographer attitudes towards older people. Results: Overall students reported significantly more positive attitudes towards older people after intervention (p = 0.01). However, analysis of responses to individual questions reveals that this difference was not significant in all cases. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that an educational intervention can have a significant impact on student radiographer's attitudes towards older people. Whether this positive attitude remains throughout training, forms part of the wider basis for this study. - Highlights: • We designed an education intervention to improve Norwegian student radiographer attitudes towards older people. • Pre-intervention we found that these student radiographers generally had positive attitudes towards older people. • Post intervention the student radiographer's attitudes towards older people were significantly improved

The Role of Gender in Foreign Language Learning Attitudes: Japanese Female Students' Attitudes towards English Learning.

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Kobayashi, Yoko

2002-01-01

Analyzed data from research on Japanese high school students' attitudes toward learning English to investigate female students' more positive attitudes toward English learning. Girls' attitudes toward English were affected by a composite of Japanese social and educational elements (e.g., characterization of English as a woman-dominant choice at…

Nursing students attitudes across the suicidal behavior

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Nadja Cristiane Lappann Bott

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective. Examine the attitudes of nursing students with the suicidal behavior before and after a training course on the subject. Methodology. Performed quantitative, cross-sectional study, with 58 nursing students from a public university in Minas Gerais (Brazil who participated in training on the theme. For data collection were used the Questionnaire of Attitudes Before Suicidal Behavior. The questionnaire was applied just before the start and the end of the training measuring attitudes toward suicidal behavior. Results. Were found statistically significant differences in negative feelings factors on the patient and perception of professional competence (p <0.05. The right factor to suicide was not significantly different among nursing students. Conclusion. The academic training may have influenced positively the desired changes regarding the attitudes of nursing students across the suicidal behavior.

A comparative study on students' attitudes towards bilingualism

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Marina Furlan

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research was to assess the existence of differences between attitudes towards bilingualism held by students of the Faculty of Humanities Koper and those held by students of Italian language and literacy from the Faculty of Philosophy in Split (Croatia. We investigated whether there are differences between attitudes towards bilingualism of both groups and if attitudes towards bilingualism held by students from Split are more favorable than those held by students from the Faculty of Humanities Koper. The results confirmed the first hypothesis partially, and the second one completely. 11 items out of 20 have shown to conduct to statistically different attitudes, whereas in one case a tendency towards statistically significant difference is to be found. In all cases, where statistically significant differences are to be found, attitudes held by students from Split are more positive, if compared to those held by students from Koper.

Knowledge and Attitude of Nursing Students toward Electroconvulsive Therapy

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Sharma, Nitasha; Ghai, Sandhya; Grover, Sandeep

2017-01-01

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the commonly used treatment modalities for patients with severe mental disorders. However, acceptance of ECT by the patient and relatives often depends on how the health-care professionals themselves present the treatment modality to the patients and their relatives. There is a lack of information about the knowledge and attitude toward ECT among health professionals. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge about and attitude toward ECT among nursing students. Methodology: Knowledge of and attitudes toward ECT among nursing students were assessed using ECT knowledge and attitude questionnaires. Results: The study included 183 nursing students. Majority (n = 62; 60.8%) of the participants obtained information about ECT from media (movies, television, print media, etc.). None of the students had full knowledge about ECT. Although a significant proportion of students had knowledge about the ECT procedure and consent procedure, majority of them had poor knowledge about the effectiveness, mechanism of action, indications, and side effects of ECT. Negative attitudes were also highly prevalent, with more than two-thirds of the participants having negative attitudes toward ECT on more than half of the attitude items of the scale. Total knowledge score positively correlated with total attitude score, suggesting that higher knowledge was associated with more positive attitude. Conclusions: Although nursing students have knowledge about basic ECT procedure and consent, they lack knowledge about the effectiveness, mechanism of action, indications, and side effects of ECT. Negative attitude toward ECT is also highly prevalent among nursing students. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the knowledge and address the negative attitude of nursing students, which may ultimately lead to better acceptance of the treatment. PMID:28936064

The impact of instructor pedagogy on college calculus students' attitude toward mathematics

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Sonnert, Gerhard; Sadler, Philip M.; Sadler, Samuel M.; Bressoud, David M.

2015-04-01

College calculus teaches students important mathematical concepts and skills. The course also has a substantial impact on students' attitude toward mathematics, affecting their career aspirations and desires to take more mathematics. This national US study of 3103 students at 123 colleges and universities tracks changes in students' attitudes toward mathematics during a 'mainstream' calculus course while controlling for student backgrounds. The attitude measure combines students' self-ratings of their mathematics confidence, interest in, and enjoyment of mathematics. Three major kinds of instructor pedagogy, identified through the factor analysis of 61 student-reported variables, are investigated for impact on student attitude as follows: (1) instructors who employ generally accepted 'good teaching' practices (e.g. clarity in presentation and answering questions, useful homework, fair exams, help outside of class) are found to have the most positive impact, particularly with students who began with a weaker initial attitude. (2) Use of educational 'technology' (e.g. graphing calculators, for demonstrations, in homework), on average, is found to have no impact on attitudes, except when used by graduate student instructors, which negatively affects students' attitudes towards mathematics. (3) 'Ambitious teaching' (e.g. group work, word problems, 'flipped' reading, student explanations of thinking) has a small negative impact on student attitudes, while being a relatively more constructive influence only on students who already enjoyed a positive attitude toward mathematics and in classrooms with a large number of students. This study provides support for efforts to improve calculus teaching through the training of faculty and graduate students to use traditional 'good teaching' practices through professional development workshops and courses. As currently implemented, technology and ambitious pedagogical practices, while no doubt effective in certain classrooms, do

Bad Attitudes: Why Design Students Dislike Teamwork

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Tucker, Richard; Abbasi, Neda

2016-01-01

Positive experiences of teamwork in design contexts significantly improve students' satisfaction with teaching and their attitudes towards future teamwork. Thus, an understanding of the factors leading to negative and positive team experiences can inform strategies to support effective teamwork. This paper examines design students' perceptions and…

Attitudes to cadaveric organ donation in Irish preclinical medical students.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Cahill, Kevin C

2011-06-01

There is a worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation. It has been shown that the attitude of healthcare professionals can improve the rates of organ donation, and that educational programs aimed at improving both attitudes and knowledge base of professionals can have positive outcomes. Although there has been research carried out on this topic, there has been none in Ireland. Anatomy dissection can be a stressor to medical students-we investigate the attitudes of Irish students to organ donation and how they change with exposure to anatomy dissection. A questionnaire was administered to first year students in the School of Medicine in University College Dublin, Ireland, three times over a nine-week period at the commencement of classes in an academic year. The attitudes of the students were positive throughout regarding organ donation by a stranger, a family member, or themselves. There was, however, a significant decrease in support for the donation of a family member\\'s organs in a minority of students. Irish students\\' attitudes to postmortem organ donation are positive and are not changed by exposure to the dissecting room. There is support for the donation of organs, and willingness among students to donate their own organs and support donation by family members.

The Students\\' Knowledge, Attitude and Performance about Prevention of Using of Ecstasy

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Mitra Zolfaghari

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In recent decades because of stimulant and hallucinogenic properties of ecstasy, it has been found so many users among adolescent and youth people. The aim of present study was the study of students' knowledge, attitude and performance related to prevention of using of ecstasy. Method: This descriptive – analytic study has done in 400 female students of government schools of zone no. 17. The sample selected by clustering random sampling and their knowledge, attitude, and performance measured by using of researchers developed questionnaire which shown sufficient level of validity and reliability. Results: The results showed that the majority of students (41% had low knowledge, 56% had positive attitude, and 55.1% had good performance related to prevention of using of ecstasy. Also, there was positive relationship between students' knowledge and attitude also attitude and performance. There was also positive relationship between some of the demographic characteristics and the students' knowledge, attitude and performance related to prevention of using of ecstasy. Conclusion: Finding of the research showed that the students' knowledge related to use of ecstasy is low, therefore appropriate instructional intervention in order to promote the students' knowledge is necessary.

Psychological predictors of reproductive attitudes among medical students

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Popkov V.M.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The goal was to determine psychological predictors of reproductive attitudes among medical students. Material and Methods. The survey of 84 students (of the 3rd and the 5th year of medical faculty of Saratov State Medical University n.a. V. I. Razumovsky was carried out using a combination of methods (questionnaire, testing aimed to achieve the research goal. Results. Features of reproductive attitudes and reproductive intentions of students, as well as psychological characteristics of youth, such as personal maturity, belief in people and value orientations were studied. Psy- chological predictors of reproductive attitudes among medical students were determined. Conclusion. It was revealed that reproductive attitudes among students of the 5th year were higher than those of the 3rd year. There were gender differences in psychological predictors of reproductive attitudes among students. It was experimentally established that existence of faith in people, high level of personal maturity, high importance of personal values, altruistic values and values of acceptance of others had a positive impact on reproductive attitudes among young people. Based on the results of the study, recommendations were developed with the aim to improve reproductive attitudes and psychological readiness for parenting of medical students.

Student radiographers' attitudes towards the older patient: Six and twelve months post intervention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kada, S.; Booth, L.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To design and evaluate the effects of an educational intervention on Norwegian student radiographer attitudes towards older people. Design: A longitudinal study design, using pre-test and post-test data was used to determine student attitudes to older people across their educational tenure. Attitudes were measured using Kogan's attitudes towards older people scale. This paper, the second in the series, reports on the changes in student radiographer attitudes, post an educational intervention and post their first experience of clinical placement. Results: Although students initially demonstrated significantly improved attitudes towards older people (p = 0.01), this significance was not noted at 6 months and 12 months post intervention. In fact average scores reduced to an almost identical level to those found pre-intervention Conclusion: Whereas an educational intervention can have an initial positive effect on student attitudes towards older people, the experience of clinical placement reduces these initial effects. - Highlights: • Reports the effects of an intervention to improve attitudes to older people. • Pre-intervention students had generally positive attitudes to older people. • Post-intervention attitudes were significantly more positive. • At 6 months and 12 months post-intervention mean positive scores were reduced. • Some questions score significantly more negatively than others.

Investigating Knowledge and Attitude of Nursing Students Towards Iranian Traditional Medicine

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Khorasgani, Sahar Rabani; Moghtadaie, Leila

2014-01-01

The present study aimed at Investigating the knowledge and attitude of Nursing Students towards Iranian Traditional Medicine in universities of Tehran in 2012-2013. 300 students of nursing studying at different universities in Tehran participated in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. The data was collected through a standard questionnaire with an acceptable validity and reliability. The questionnaire was made of five sections including demographic, general knowledge of the Iranian traditional medicine, general attitude towards it, resources of the Iranian traditional medicine and the barriers to it. The results revealed that general knowledge of the students about Iranian traditional medicine and complementary medicine is low. The attitude of the students towards including Iranian traditional medicine and complementary medicine in their curriculum is positive. General attitude of students towards Iranian traditional medicine is positive too. The majority of the participants had not passed any course on Iranian traditional medicine. There was no relationship between participants’ attitude towards Iranian traditional medicine and the number of semesters they had passed. Considering the participants’ positive attitude and their low level of knowledge, it seems necessary for the university policy makers to provide nursing students with different training courses on Iranian traditional medicine and complementary medicine in order to increase their knowledge. PMID:25363119

Using constructivist teaching strategies in high school science classrooms to cultivate positive attitudes toward science

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Heron, Lory Elen

This study investigated the premise that the use of constructivist teaching strategies (independent variable) in high school science classrooms can cultivate positive attitudes toward science (dependent variable) in high school students. Data regarding the relationship between the use of constructivist strategies and change in student attitude toward science were collected using the Science Attitude Assessment Tool (SAAT) (Heron & Beauchamp, 1996). The format of this study used the pre-test, post-test, control group-experimental group design. The subjects in the study were high school students enrolled in biology, chemistry, or environmental science courses in two high schools in the western United States. Ten teachers and twenty-eight classes, involving a total of 249 students participated in the study. Six experimental group teachers and four control group teachers were each observed an average of six times using the Science Observation Guide (Chapman, 1995) to measure the frequency of observed constructivist behaviors. The mean for the control group teachers was 12.89 and the mean for experimental group teachers was 20.67; F(1, 8) = 16.2, p =.004, revealing teaching behaviors differed significantly between the two groups. After a four month experimental period, the pre-test and post-test SAAT scores were analyzed. Students received a score for their difference in positive attitude toward science. The null hypothesis stating there would be no change in attitude toward science as a subject, between students exposed to constructivist strategies, and students not exposed to constructivist strategies was rejected F(1, 247) = 8.04, p =.005. The control group had a generally higher reported grade in their last science class than the experimental group, yet the control group attitude toward science became more negative (-1.18) while attitude toward science in the experimental group became more positive (+1.34) after the four-month period. An analysis of positive

Are they just lazy? Student teachers' attitudes about dyslexia.

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Gwernan-Jones, Ruth; Burden, Robert L

2010-02-01

It is highly likely that teachers' abilities in dealing with different forms of learning difficulties will be affected by their knowledge about and attitudes towards those difficulties. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) provides a useful framework within which to explore such attitudes and was used as the starting point for investigating trainee teachers' attitudes towards aspects of dyslexia. It is assumed that new teachers will enter the profession with a set of intentions according to personal beliefs, normative views within the teaching profession and the sense of competence and power they feel in dealing with dyslexic difficulties. The purpose of this study was to probe student teachers' attitudes at a prestigious School of Education in the Southwest of England. Four hundred and eight primary and secondary Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students responded to a survey asking about their attitudes toward dyslexia. The student teachers expressed strongly positive attitudes toward the construct of dyslexia, with the majority expressing confidence in their ability to support dyslexic pupils. Females held significantly more positive attitudes toward dyslexia than males, but there were no significant differences according to PGCE course subject. Students who took the survey before and after teaching practice demonstrated some small but significant changes in attitude scores over that time. It is proposed that a new breed of teachers may be entering the teaching profession with positive beliefs about their ability to help dyslexic pupils, but who remain unclear as to how this can be accomplished. Some implications for action and suggestions for future research are provided.

Students attitude towards calculus subject: Bumiputera case-study

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Awang, Noorehan; Ilias, Mohd Rijal; Che Hussain, Wan Siti Esah; Mokhtar, Siti Fairus

2013-04-01

Mathematics has always become the most dislike subject among other subjects in school. Study showed that attitudes of students in science subjects such as mathematics were closely related to how they solve problems, accessing ideas and making a right decision. According to another study on mathematics achievement of eighth grade students in Malaysia, mathematics grades among bumiputera students was lower when compared to other races such as Chinese and Indians. The poor performance was due to their attitude and pre-conceived ideas towards the subject. Therefore, this study was designed todetermine the criteria and subcriteria that were considered important in measuring students' attitude toward mathematics among the bumiputeras. Factor analysis was carried out to identify the groups among criterion. Instrument used to measure mathematics attitude was Test of Mathematics Related Attitude (TOMRA) which measured student attitudes in four criteria: normality of mathematics, attitudes towards mathematics inquiry, adoption of mathematics attitude and enjoyment of mathematics lessons. The target population of this study was all computer science and quantitative science students who enrolled Calculus subject in UiTM Kedah. Findings shows that there are two criteria that influenced students attitude toward mathematics namely normality of mathematics with eleven subcriteria and enjoyment of mathematics with eight subcriteria. From the analysis it shows that the total percentage of variation explained is 35.071% with 0.837 Cronbach's alpha reliability test. The findings will help the lecturers, parents and society to consider what action should be taken to install interest and positive attitude of bumiputera students towards mathematics and thus improve their achievement.

Best practices for measuring students' attitudes toward learning science.

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Lovelace, Matthew; Brickman, Peggy

2013-01-01

Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of college students' learning, such as knowing, applying, and problem solving. A casual survey of scholarship of teaching and learning research studies reveals that many educators also measure how students' attitudes influence their learning. Students' science attitudes refer to their positive or negative feelings and predispositions to learn science. Science educators use attitude measures, in conjunction with learning measures, to inform the conclusions they draw about the efficacy of their instructional interventions. The measurement of students' attitudes poses similar but distinct challenges as compared with measurement of learning, such as determining validity and reliability of instruments and selecting appropriate methods for conducting statistical analyses. In this review, we will describe techniques commonly used to quantify students' attitudes toward science. We will also discuss best practices for the analysis and interpretation of attitude data.

Factors that influence dental students' attitudes about older adults.

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Nochajski, Thomas H; Waldrop, Deborah P; Davis, Elaine L; Fabiano, Jude A; Goldberg, Louis J

2009-01-01

Our study considered dental students' general attitudes towards older persons using the Aging Semantic Differential. The influence of age, gender, cohort, education, and academic exposure on general attitudes towards older adults was evaluated using a total of 328 dental students across all four years of academic standing. Students were assessed in the fall and spring semesters. The results showed differential responding on the four subscales, with slight positive ratings on the autonomy, acceptability, and integrity subscales and a slight negative rating for instrumentality. Females expressed more negative attitudes than their male counterparts, with no age differences. There was also no significant impact from a specific, didactic educational component offered to the fourth-year students. However, the fourth-year students were the only group to show positive changes across the full academic year. The results suggest that general attitudes can be changed, but didactic (classroom) forms of education alone are insufficient to meaningfully modify students' perceptions of the elderly. Exposure to older adults in a clinical setting appears to be a critical element, as the fourth-year students received much greater exposure to older patients and more intensified interface with their mentors.

Students' Changing Attitudes and Aspirations Towards Physics During Secondary School

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Sheldrake, Richard; Mujtaba, Tamjid; Reiss, Michael J.

2017-11-01

Many countries desire more students to study science subjects, although relatively few students decide to study non-compulsory physics at upper-secondary school and at university. To gain insight into students' intentions to study non-compulsory physics, a longitudinal sample (covering 2258 students across 88 secondary schools in England) was surveyed in year 8 (age 12/13) and again in year 10 (age 14/15). Predictive modelling highlighted that perceived advice, perceived utility of physics, interest in physics, self-concept beliefs (students' subjective beliefs of their current abilities and performance) and home support specifically orientated to physics were key predictors of students' intentions. Latent-transition analysis via Markov models revealed clusters of students, given these factors at years 8 and 10. Students' intentions varied across the clusters, and at year 10 even varied when accounting for the students' underlying attitudes and beliefs, highlighting that considering clusters offered additional explanatory power and insight. Regardless of whether three-cluster, four-cluster, or five-cluster models were considered, the majority of students remained in the same cluster over time; for those who transitioned clusters, more students changed clusters reflecting an increase in attitudes than changed clusters reflecting a decrease. Students in the cluster with the most positive attitudes were most likely to remain within that cluster, while students in clusters with less positive attitudes were more likely to change clusters. Overall, the cluster profiles highlighted that students' attitudes and beliefs may be more closely related than previously assumed, but that changes in their attitudes and beliefs were indeed possible.

Students' attitudes towards mathematics in single-sex and coeducational schools

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Norton, Stephen J.; Rennie, Léonie J.

1998-04-01

This paper examines students' attitudes towards mathematics at the secondary school level. Using five of the Fennema-Sherman scales, the attitudes of boys and girls in Grades 8 to 12 in four schools were compared: a single-sex boys' and a single-sex girls' private school, and a state and a private coeducational school. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to guide an exploration of how students' attitudes varied according to grade, sex and educational setting. There were no differences between students in the two coeducational schools. In general, students' attitudes were found to be less positive in more senior grades; and overall, boys had more positive attitudes than girls. There were clear differences between boys and girls on the Mathematics as a Male Domain scale, with girls being less stereotyped in their perceptions than boys. Except for this scale, effects related to the sex of the student were small, and effects relating to grade level and school type on all variables were also small. Implications are drawn for future research in this area.

Attitudes and Willingness of Nursing Students towards Caring for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess attitudes and willingness of caring for patients infected with HIV in South Africa among 122 nursing students using self-administered questionnaires. Majority of the nursing students possess positive attitudes towards patients infected with HIV and are more than willing ...

Attitudes of Saudi Arabian Undergraduate Medical Students towards Health Research

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Sara M. Al-Hilali

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate attitudes, perceptions and perceived barriers towards health research among Saudi Arabian undergraduate medical students. Methods: This cross-sectional study took place between August and October 2014 and included 520 students from five medical schools across Saudi Arabia. An anonymous online survey with 21 close-ended questions was designed to assess students’ attitudes towards research, contribution to research-related activities, awareness of the importance of research, perception of available resources/opportunities for research, appreciation of medical students’ research contributions and perceived barriers to research. Responses were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 401 students participated in the study (response rate: 77.1%. Of these, 278 (69.3% were female. A positive attitude towards research was reported by 43.9% of the students. No statistically significant differences were observed between genders with regards to attitudes towards and available resources for research (P = 0.500 and 0.200, respectively. Clinical students had a significantly more positive attitude towards research compared to preclinical students (P = 0.007. Only 26.4% of the respondents believed that they had adequate resources/opportunities for research. According to the students, perceived barriers to undertaking research included time constraints (n = 200; 49.9%, lack of research mentors (n = 95; 23.7%, lack of formal research methodology training (n = 170; 42.4% and difficulties in conducting literature searches (n = 145; 36.2%. Conclusion: Less than half of the surveyed Saudi Arabian medical students had a positive attitude towards health research. Medical education policies should aim to counteract the barriers identified in this study.

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCE STUDENTS TOWARD OLDER PEOPLE.

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Milutinović, Dragana; Simin, Dragana; Kacavendić, Jelena; Turkulov, Vesna

2015-01-01

Education of health science students in geriatrics is important in order to provide optimal care for the growing number of elderly people because it is the attitudes of health professionals toward the elderly that play the key role in the quality of care provided. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of health care science students towards ageing and care for the elderly. The present cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 130 students (medical, nursing and special education and rehabilitation) of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad. The students were divided into two groups. The first group (E) included students having been taught geriatrics and nursing older adults and the other group (C) included students who had not been trained in this subject. The authors used Palmore's facts on Ageing Quiz for the knowledge evaluation and Kogan's Attitude toward Older People Scale for the attitude evaluation. The results of Facts on Aging Quiz showed the average level of students' knowledge and statistically significant difference between E and C group. The analysis of Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People Scale showed that both groups had neutral attitudes toward older people. Furthermore, a positive correlation between students' knowledge and attitudes was found. There is increasing evidence on the correlation between education, knowledge and attitudes toward older people which suggests that by acquiring better insights into all aspects of ageing through their education the students develop more positive attitudes and interest in working with older adults.

Student attitude towards communication skills learning in a Caribbean medical school.

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Shankar, Pr; Dubey, Ak; Balasubramanium, R; Dwivedi, Nr

2013-01-01

Medical student attitudes towards communication skills are important for curriculum planners and teachers. Xavier University School of Medicine (XUSOM) is a private medical school admitting students mainly from the United States and Canada. Attitude of students towards communication skills has not been previously studied in the institution. Hence the present study was carried out. The study was carried out among the first, second, third and fourth semester undergraduate medical (MD) students at XUSOM, Aruba during July 2013 using the communication skills attitude scale (CSAS). Respondents' age, gender, nationality, occupation of parents, place of residence of family, semester of study were noted. The positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated and compared among different subgroups of respondents (pcommunication skills. The mean positive attitude scale (PAS) score was 47.65 (maximum being 65) and the mean negative attitude scale (NAS) score was 31.06 (maximum 65). PAS score was significantly higher among respondents whose fathers were not in health related professions. NAS scores were significantly lower among the third and fourth semester respondents. Students overall had a positive attitude towards communication skills but negative attitudes were also noted Based on results of the study and a review of literature we are planning to start communication skills learning in the institution right from the first semester and students will be provided opportunities for supervised practice during early clinical exposure, hospital observership and with standardised patients. The medical humanities module will be expanded and communication skills learning will continue during the clinical years with higher order skills being taught.

Health care professionals' and students' attitude toward collaboration between pharmacists and physicians in Croatia.

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Seselja-Perisin, Ana; Mestrovic, Arijana; Klinar, Ivana; Modun, Darko

2016-02-01

As traditional roles of pharmacists and physicians seem nowadays insufficient to ensure patient safety and therapy effectiveness, interprofessional collaboration has been suggested to improve health outcomes. To assess and compare the attitudes of physicians and pharmacists, as well as medical and pharmacy students in Croatia, toward interprofessional collaboration in primary health care. The study included 513 pharmacists and physicians, and 365 students of pharmacy and medicine from Croatia. The validated questionnaire, Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician–Pharmacist Collaboration, was translated in Croatian and completed, anonymously and voluntarily, by all participants. Results Pharmacists showed a more positive attitude toward collaboration than physicians (53.8 ± 4.8 vs. 50.7 ± 5.0). Pharmacy students expressed the most positive attitude (56.2 ± 4.9), while medical students showed the remarkably lowest attitude toward collaboration (44.6 ± 6.2). Pharmacists and physicians in Croatia expressed a relatively positive attitude toward their collaboration, comparable with their colleges in the USA. On the other hand, medical students expressed a 21 % less positive attitude than pharmacy students which could have an effect on interprofessional collaboration in the future when those students start working as health care professionals. Future studies, focusing on the promotion of this collaboration, on both under-graduated and post-graduated level, are warranted.

Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons: An Integrative Review.

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Lim, Fidelindo A; Hsu, Richard

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to critically appraise and synthesize findings from studies on the attitudes of nursing students toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. There is paucity of research to assess the attitudes of nursing students toward LGBT persons. An electronic search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, EbscoHost, PsycInfo, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature using medical subject headings terminologies. Search terms used included gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, LGBT, nursing students, baccalaureate nursing, undergraduate nursing, homophobia, homosexuality, sexual minority, attitudes, discrimination, and prejudice. Less than 50 percent of the studies (5 out of 12) suggested positively leaning attitudes of nursing students toward LGBT persons; six studies reported negative attitudes, and one study reported neutral attitudes. There are some indications that student attitudes may be moving toward positively leaning. Studies published before 2000 reported a preponderance of negative attitudes.

A cross-sectional survey on nursing students' attitude towards research

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Samia Saud Al Furaikh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Nursing research promotes optimum care for patients through evidence-based nursing practice. Students' attitude towards research motivates them to engage in research, develop research skills and apply research findings in clinical settings to promote positive patient outcome. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards research component in order to discover implications for the best practices in teaching/learning process. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional investigation was carried out with purposively selected n = 186, level 5–8 students at the College of Nursing-A, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Al-Ahsa from 2016 to 2107. With informed, voluntary consent, data on students' attitudes towards research were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 32 items on a Likert scale of strongly agree (4 to strongly disagree (1 with the scores ranging from 32 to 128. Analyses were performed using SPSS version 20. Results: The overall attitude towards research was positive with a mean score (68.4 ± 6.580. Most of the students (78% regarded that research is useful for the nursing profession. Positive attitude towards research was demonstrated by 68% of the nursing students, 61% reported that research plays an important role in professional and personal life, whereas the highest proportion of students (71% perceived research as a difficult, complicated, stressful subject and 64% reported statistical difficulty. Conclusion: Although many of the students have a favourable attitude towards the research process and acknowledge its usefulness and benefit to the nursing profession, many of them perceived their research course as stressful. Most of them reported having negative feelings and anxiety towards the research process. Incorporating research course(s into the curriculum at the pre-university level and

Medical students and interns’ knowledge about and attitude towards homosexuality

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Banwari, G; Mistry, K; Soni, A; Parikh, N; Gandhi, H

2015-01-01

Background and Rationale: Medical professionals’ attitude towards homosexuals affects health care offered to such patients with a different sexual orientation. There is absence of literature that explores the attitudes of Indian medical students or physicians towards homosexuality. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate Indian medical students and interns’ knowledge about homosexuality and attitude towards homosexuals. Materials and Methods: After IEC approval and written informed consent, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive sample of undergraduate medical students and interns studying in one Indian medical college. The response rate was 80.5%. Only completely and validly filled responses (N = 244) were analyzed. The participants filled the Sex Education and Knowledge about Homosexuality Questionnaire (SEKHQ) and the Attitudes towards Homosexuals Questionnaire (AHQ). SEKHQ consisted of 32 statements with response chosen from ‘true’, ‘false’, or ‘don’t know’. AHQ consisted of 20 statements scorable on a 5-point Likert scale. Multiple linear regression was used to find the predictors of knowledge and attitude. Results: Medical students and interns had inadequate knowledge about homosexuality, although they endorsed a neutral stance insofar as their attitude towards homosexuals is concerned. Females had more positive attitudes towards homosexuals. Knowledge emerged as the most significant predictor of attitude; those having higher knowledge had more positive attitudes. Conclusion: Enhancing knowledge of medical students by incorporation of homosexuality related health issues in the curriculum could help reduce prejudice towards the sexual minority and thus impact their future clinical practice. PMID:25766341

Medical students and interns' knowledge about and attitude towards homosexuality.

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Banwari, G; Mistry, K; Soni, A; Parikh, N; Gandhi, H

2015-01-01

Medical professionals' attitude towards homosexuals affects health care offered to such patients with a different sexual orientation. There is absence of literature that explores the attitudes of Indian medical students or physicians towards homosexuality. This study aimed to evaluate Indian medical students and interns' knowledge about homosexuality and attitude towards homosexuals. After IEC approval and written informed consent, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive sample of undergraduate medical students and interns studying in one Indian medical college. The response rate was 80.5%. Only completely and validly filled responses (N = 244) were analyzed. The participants filled the Sex Education and Knowledge about Homosexuality Questionnaire (SEKHQ) and the Attitudes towards Homosexuals Questionnaire (AHQ). SEKHQ consisted of 32 statements with response chosen from 'true', 'false', or 'don't know'. AHQ consisted of 20 statements scorable on a 5-point Likert scale. Multiple linear regression was used to find the predictors of knowledge and attitude. Medical students and interns had inadequate knowledge about homosexuality, although they endorsed a neutral stance insofar as their attitude towards homosexuals is concerned. Females had more positive attitudes towards homosexuals. Knowledge emerged as the most significant predictor of attitude; those having higher knowledge had more positive attitudes. Enhancing knowledge of medical students by incorporation of homosexuality related health issues in the curriculum could help reduce prejudice towards the sexual minority and thus impact their future clinical practice.

Medical education changes students' attitudes on psychiatry: survey among medical students in Croatia.

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Flajsman, Ana Medic; Degmecic, Dunja; Pranjkovic, Tamara; Rogulja, Stanislav; Bošnjak, Dina; Kuzman, Martina Rojnic

2017-12-01

In Croatia, psychiatric disorders are the leading group of disorders by days of hospitalization and they are in second place according to the number of hospitalizations in the period of working age. Nevertheless, psychiatry in Croatia, as well as in the world, is one of the least attractive specialties for medical students. In this paper we determined the impact of compulsory education in psychiatry on the attitudes of medical students of the fourth year of the Zagreb school of medicine and Osijek school of medicine. We tested attitudes toward psychiatry, psychiatric treatment and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help using questionnaires that were filled out twice, at the beginning of psychiatry placement and at the end of psychiatry placement. Questionnaires were completed by 239 students from the Zagreb school of medicine and Faculty of medicine Osijek (response rate 78.4%). After the placement, students had significantly more positive attitudes about psychiatry and psychiatric treatment, as well as the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Attitudes towards psychiatry, seeking psychological help and attitude towards psychiatric medication and psychotherapy correlated with the evaluation of the quality of psychiatric education. Additional forms of education in psychiatry should be offered, in order to maintain and increase the impact of education on students' attitudes.

Boosting Students' Attitudes & Knowledge about Evolution Sets Them up for College Success

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Carter, B. Elijah; Infanti, Lynn M.; Wiles, Jason R.

2015-01-01

Students who enter college with a solid grounding in, and positive attitudes toward, evolutionary science are better prepared for and achieve at higher levels in university-level biology courses. We found highly significant, positive relationships between student knowledge of evolution and attitudes toward evolution, as well as between…

The impact of contact on students' attitudes towards peers with disabilities.

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Schwab, Susanne

2017-03-01

This study aimed to understand the relationship between contact with peers with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and students' attitudes towards their peers with SEN, by examining the inter-group contact theory in regular and inclusive classes. A total of 463 students in 8th grade, with a mean age of 14.42 years, from 25 secondary school classes in Styria (Austria) completed a self-report questionnaire regarding their contact with peers with SEN and their attitudes towards peers with disabilities. Contact was indicated by nominations for joint activities and examined in inclusive and regular classes. The German short version of the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes towards Children with Handicaps scale (CATCH; Schwab, 2015b; Rosenbaum et al., 1986) was used to measure students' attitudes towards peers with learning disabilities and emotional disorders. Students with SEN are less frequently nominated by their peers for joint activities, such as working together on a school project. Students from inclusive and regular classes did not differ in their attitudes towards peers with SEN. However, those students who nominated at least one peer with SEN for a joint activity had more positive attitudes towards peers with disabilities. Freely choosing contact with a peer with SEN was associated with more positive attitudes towards disability while simply attending the same class may have no effect or even a negative impact on students' attitudes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attitude towards statistics and performance among post-graduate students

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Rosli, Mira Khalisa; Maat, Siti Mistima

2017-05-01

For student to master Statistics is a necessity, especially for those post-graduates that are involved in the research field. The purpose of this research was to identify the attitude towards Statistics among the post-graduates and to determine the relationship between the attitude towards Statistics and post-graduates' of Faculty of Education, UKM, Bangi performance. 173 post-graduate students were chosen randomly to participate in the study. These students registered in Research Methodology II course that was introduced by faculty. A survey of attitude toward Statistics using 5-points Likert scale was used for data collection purposes. The instrument consists of four components such as affective, cognitive competency, value and difficulty. The data was analyzed using the SPSS version 22 in producing the descriptive and inferential Statistics output. The result of this research showed that there is a medium and positive relation between attitude towards statistics and students' performance. As a conclusion, educators need to access students' attitude towards the course to accomplish the learning outcomes.

Physiotherapy Students' Attitudes toward Psychiatry and Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study.

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Connaughton, Joanne; Gibson, William

Purpose: A cross-sectional exploration of Notre Dame Australia physiotherapy students' attitudes toward psychiatry and mental illness, students' perceptions regarding preparation in this area for general clinical practice, and a cross-sectional investigation of current mental health-and psychiatry-related content in physiotherapy curricula across Australia and New Zealand. Methods: A questionnaire including demographic details, level of exposure to mental illness, and the Attitudes Toward Psychiatry-30 items (ATP-30) was completed by pre-clinical and clinically experienced physiotherapy students from the University of Notre Dame Australia. Students with clinical experience were asked additional questions about preparedness for practice. Staff of 10 of 17 physiotherapy programmes across Australia and New Zealand responded to an online questionnaire investigating relevant content and quantity of learning experiences in mental health. Results: Student response rate was 89%. Students generally had a positive attitude about psychiatry and mental health. Women were significantly more positive than men, and students who had completed clinical experience had a significantly more positive attitude. Physiotherapy program responses (response rate=59%) highlighted disparate approaches to psychiatry and mental health learning opportunities in terms of quantity and content. Conclusion: Entry-level physiotherapy students who have clinical experience generally have a more positive attitude toward psychiatry and people with mental illness. Given the prevalence of mental health problems and the increase in physical and mental health comorbidities, it is imperative that future clinicians have positive educational experiences in psychiatry. A coherent, integrated approach to mental illness and psychiatry is suggested for entry-level physiotherapy programmes in Australia and New Zealand.

Learning Style and Attitude toward Computer among Iranian Medical Students

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Seyedeh Shohreh Alavi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: Presently, the method of medical teaching has shifted from lecture-based to computer-based. The learning style may play a key role in the attitude toward learning computer. The goal of this study was to study the relationship between the learning style and attitude toward computer among Iranian medical students.Methods: This cross-sectional study included 400 medical students. Barsch learning style inventory and a questionnaire on the attitude toward computer was sent to each student. The enthusiasm, anxiety, and overall attitude toward computer were compared among the different learning styles.Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 91.8%. The distribution of learning styles in the students was 181 (49.3% visual, 106 (28.9% auditory, 27 (7.4% tactual, and 53 (14.4% overall. Visual learners were less anxious for computer use and showed more positive attitude toward computer. Sex, age, and academic grade were not associated with students’ attitude toward computer.Conclusions: The learning style is an important factor in the students’ attitude toward computer among medical students, which should be considered in planning computer-based learning programs.Keywords: LEARNING STYLE, ATTITUDE, COMPUTER, MEDICAL STUDENT, ANXIETY, ENTHUSIASM

Exploring changes in nursing students' attitudes towards the use of technology: A four-wave longitudinal panel study.

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Tubaishat, Ahmad; Aljezawi, Ma'en; Al-Rawajfah, Omar M; Habiballah, Laila; Akhu-Zaheya, Laila M

2016-03-01

It is essential for nursing students to be equipped with the necessary technology skills throughout and after their study period. Their acceptance of this technology depends largely on their attitudes towards technology. To explore the evolution in nursing students' attitudes towards technology, and to determine whether there was a change in participants' formal education in technology over their four years of study. A longitudinal panel study was conducted in a single school of nursing in Jordan. A total of 140 students were followed over their four years of undergraduate study. They completed the same tool (the Technology Attitude Scale) each year, to capture any changes in their attitudes towards technology across the years. In all four waves of data collection, students showed positive attitudes towards technology, with the highest attitude scores being in their final year (M=6.19, SD=0.72). As the students spent more time on their nursing education, they were found to have a more positive attitude. Thus, a strong positive relationship existed between this formal education in technology and attitudes: as the students' education in technology increased, their attitudes were more positive. A remarkable development in students' attitudes towards technology is reported in this study. The positive attitudes displayed by the students should be enhanced by providing technology-related subjects during their studies in nursing schools at a very early stage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Altruism revisited: a comparison of medical, law and business students' altruistic attitudes.

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Coulter, Ian D; Wilkes, Michael; Der-Martirosian, Claudia

2007-04-01

Although the concept of altruism in medicine has a long tradition in Western thought, little empirical research has been carried out recently in this area. This study compares the altruistic attitudes of medical, legal and business students. We used a cross-sectional survey to compare the altruistic attitudes of 3 types of contemporary 'professional' students, those in medicine, law and business. The results suggest that medical students report more altruistic attitudes than legal students, but not than business students. Overall, female students reported stronger attitudes consistent with altruism compared with males; African-American and Hispanic students reported more altruistic attitudes compared with White students. Our results suggest that the recent trend in recruiting more women and under-represented minority group members into medicine may have a positive impact on altruism in the profession, if we can assume that attitudes correlate with behaviours.

Attitude of Management Students towards Whistleblowing: Evidence from Croatia

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Mario Bogdanovic

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This study examines the attitude of management students towards whistleblowing in a sample of 121 master students of business ethics at the Faculty of Economics University in Split, Croatia. The three measurement instruments include whistleblowers´ attitudes (3 items, whistleblowing attitudes (2 items and potential types of whistleblowing reactions (8 items, i.e. external reactions (4 items and internal reactions (4 items. The results of the study indicated a positive attitude toward whistleblowing and whistleblowers. The authors also found that female students exhibited more confidence in management and were more prone to whistleblowing than male students. Also, students with professional experience considered whistleblowing to be in the public interest more than students with no professional experience. The results may be of practical use to managers who can benefit from whistleblowing while keeping in mind that whistleblowing can't be avoided and that punishing whistleblowers seems to be a bad managerial practice.

Attitudes of Students towards Peers with Disability in an Inclusive School in Nigeria

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Omolara Olaleye

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The majority of children and young people with disabilities live in developing countries where they face inequalities in education and other opportunities. Negative attitudes constitute one of the major barriers to the development of their potential. This study aimed to describe the attitudes of students without disability towards their peers with disability, and to assess the role that gender and interpersonal contact play in shaping these attitudes. Method: A cross-sectional study involving 107 students was carried out at an inclusive secondary school located in a peri-urban area in South Western Nigeria. Participants were recruited from a group of 118 students in the three junior classes and senior class one (JSS 1 to SSS 1. A semi-structured questionnaire containing items on the “Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH scale”, which elicits responses on a Likert scale numbered 0 to 4 (0-strongly disagree, 4-strongly agree, was administered. Data analysis was done using Stata version 12. Descriptive analysis was carried out and association between variables was  determined using independent two-tailed t-tests.Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.83. The attitudes of students in the school were generally positive (M = 22.55, SD = 3.79. Female students had higher total scores (M = 24.76, SD = 2.78 than their male contemporaries (M = 19.84, SD = 3.05, t (103 = 8.55, p = .000. Having a friend/relative with a disability was associated with more positive attitudes among female students.Conclusions: In this inclusive setting, the attitudes of students towards their peers with disability were generally positive. Since interpersonal contact was associated with positive attitudes towards students with disabilities, interventions should be directed towards promoting interpersonal relationships in order to build an integrated society.doi: 10.5463/dcid.v23i3.136

A comparison of medical students', residents' and tutors' attitudes towards communication skills learning.

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Molinuevo, Beatriz; Aradilla-Herrero, Amor; Nolla, Maria; Clèries, Xavier

2016-01-01

The consensus about the importance of communication skills in patient-care does not guarantee that students and faculty perceive the usefulness of these skills. This study evaluated and compared medical students', residents' and tutors' attitudes towards learning communication skills, and examined the association with gender and year of residency. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 492 participants (282 second-year students, 131 residents and 79 tutors). They completed the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) and demographic/educational information. In general, participants showed positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Medical students, residents and tutors did not differ on the Positive Attitudes Scale (CSAS-PAS). Residents scored higher than medical students on the Negative Attitudes Scale (CSAS-NAS) (P communication skills an essential component for clinical practice and they agree about the need to learn these communication skills. Attention should be paid to measuring attitudes at all three levels of medical education in the design of communication skills courses.

Enhancing positive attitudes towards disability: evaluation of an integrated physiotherapy program.

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Morgan, Prue Elizabeth; Lo, Kristin

2013-02-01

This study explored whether attitudes towards disability in second year undergraduate physiotherapy students could be enhanced by an on-campus integrated curriculum program. A pre-post design was used. Year 2 (pre-clinical) students participated in a 12-week program focused on optimising attitudes towards people with acquired or developmental neurological disability. The Discomfort subscale of the Interaction with Disabled Persons scale, rated on a six-point Likert scale, was applied prior to and at completion of the 12-week program, and compared to year 4 students, just prior to graduation. Qualitative data from year 2 reflective narratives was also gathered. Forty-seven second year and 45 fourth year physiotherapy students participated. The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between weeks 1 and 12 of year 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.0016). The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between year 2 week 1 and year 4 students was also statistically significant (p = 0.040). There was no significant difference in attitudes between students at the end of year 2 and the end of year 4 (p = 0.703). Qualitative data supported the development of more positive attitudes towards neurological disability across the 12 week year 2 pre-clinical program. Student attitudes towards people with acquired and/or developmental neurological disabilities can be enhanced through an on campus integrated curriculum program.

Intending to stay: Positive images, attitudes, and classroom experiences as influences on students' intentions to persist in science and engineering majors

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Wyer, Mary Beth

2000-10-01

Contemporary research on persistence in undergraduate education in science and engineering has focused primarily on identifying the structural, social, and psychological barriers to participation by students in underrepresented groups. As a result, there is a wealth of data to document why students leave their majors, but there is little direct empirical data to support prevailing presumptions about why students stay. Moreover, researchers have used widely differing definitions and measures of persistence, and they have seldom explored field differences. This study compared three ways of measuring persistence. These constituted three criterion variables: commitment to major, degree aspirations, and commitment to a science/engineering career. The study emphasized social factors that encourage students to persist, including four predictor variables---(1) positive images of scientists/engineers, (2) positive attitudes toward gender and racial equality, (3) positive classroom experiences, and (4) high levels of social integration. In addition, because researchers have repeatedly documented the degree to which women are more likely than men to drop out of science and engineering majors, the study examined the potential impact of gender in relation to these predictor variables. A survey was administered in the classroom to a total of 285 students enrolled in a required course for either a biological sciences and or an engineering major. Predictor variables were developed from standard scales, including the Images of Science/Scientists Scale, the Attitudes toward Women Scale, the Women in Science Scale, and the Perceptions of Prejudice Scale. Based on logistic regression models, results indicate that positive images of scientists and engineers was significantly related to improving the odds of students having a high commitment to major, high degree aspirations, and high commitment to career. There was also evidence that positive attitudes toward gender and racial equality

Influencing University Students' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Breastfeeding

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Froehlich, Jan; Boivin, Meghan; Rice, Desiree.; McGraw, Katie; Munson, Elin; Walter, Katherine Corcoran; Bloch, Mary K. S.

2013-01-01

Spending a few minutes reading about the benefits of breastfeeding had a significant, positive effect on university students' knowledge and attitudes toward breastfeeding on post-surveys and follow-up surveys one month later. Since lactation duration is correlated with both knowledge and attitudes toward breastfeeding, implications of these…

Comparing three experiential learning methods and their effect on medical students' attitudes to learning communication skills.

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Koponen, Jonna; Pyörälä, Eeva; Isotalus, Pekka

2012-01-01

Despite numerous studies exploring medical students' attitudes to communication skills learning (CSL), there are apparently no studies comparing different experiential learning methods and their influence on students' attitudes. We compared medical students' attitudes to learning communication skills before and after a communication course in the data as a whole, by gender and when divided into three groups using different methods. Second-year medical students (n = 129) were randomly assigned to three groups. In group A (n = 42) the theatre in education method, in group B (n = 44) simulated patients and in group C (n = 43) role-play were used. The data were gathered before and after the course using Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Students' positive attitudes to learning communication skills (PAS; positive attitude scale) increased significantly and their negative attitudes (NAS; negative attitude scale) decreased significantly between the beginning and end of the course. Female students had more positive attitudes than the male students. There were no significant differences in the three groups in the mean scores for PAS or NAS measured before or after the course. The use of experiential methods and integrating communication skills training with visits to health centres may help medical students to appreciate the importance of CSL.

[Attitudes of freshman medical students towards education in communication skills].

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Tóth, Ildikó; Bán, Ildikó; Füzesi, Zsuzsanna; Kesztyüs, Márk; Nagy, Lajos

2011-09-18

In their institute authors teach medical communication skills in three languages (Hungarian, English and German) for medical students in the first year of their studies. In order to improve teaching methods, authors wanted to explore the attitudes of students towards the communication skills learning. For this purpose authors applied the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale created by Rees et al., which is an internationally accepted and well adaptable instrument. In this survey authors wanted to validate the Hungarian and German version of the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale. In addition, their aim was to analyze possible differences between the attitudes of each of the three medical teaching programs. Questionnaires were filled anonymously at the beginning of the practices. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed to evaluate the attitudes using the SPSS 10.5 version for analysis. Authors created a model consisting of 7 factors. Factors were the following: 1: respect and interpersonal skills; 2: learning; 3: importance of communication within medical profession; 4: excuse; 5: counter; 6: exam; 7: overconfidence. It was found that students had mainly positive attitudes. Except the learning factor, all other factors showed significant differences between the three medical teaching programs. although students had mainly positive attitudes toward learning communication skills, there were negative attitudes which can be partly modified by improving the teaching methods. However, results may create a proper base for further research to help improving communication skills teaching methods of the authors.

Cooperative learning effects on teamwork attitudes in clinical laboratory science students.

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Laatsch, Linda; Britton, Lynda; Keating, Susan; Kirchner, Phyllis; Lehman, Don; Madsen-Myers, Karen; Milson, Linda; Otto, Catherine; Spence, Libby

2005-01-01

To evaluate clinical laboratory science (CLS) student attitudes toward teamwork when using cooperative learning (CL) as compared to individual learning (IL) in a course and to determine if learning method affects student attitudes toward the course itself. This was a multi-institutional study involving eight classrooms in seven states. The effects of CL and IL on student attitudes were compared for 216 student participants. One group of students learned the course material through a CL approach while a second group of students learned via a traditional IL approach. For each course, the instructor, class material, and examination content was identical for the CL and IL students; the only variable was learning method. Student attitudes toward teamwork and toward the course were evaluated with a 35-item Attitude Questionnaire administered as a posttest. Mean scores for the CL and IL groups were compared using the Student t-test for independent samples. No significant difference was seen between the CL and IL students when assessing the first 30 questions on student attitudes toward teamwork (means = 98.42 and 98.22, respectively) when all institutions were combined. Comparable results were seen for each of the eight institutions. For the five questions comparing attitudes toward the course itself, there usually was no significant difference in attitude between CL and IL students. The only classrooms where CL students had more positive attitudes were those with instructors who had more than 10 years experience with CL. Results suggest that CL produces similar student attitudes toward teamwork and toward a CLS course as does IL.

ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS LEARNING OBJECTS IN WEB-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING

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Ahmet BASAL

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Language education is important in the rapidly changing world. Every year much effort has spent on preparing teaching materials for language education. Since positive attitudes of learners towards a teaching material enhance the effectiveness of that material, it is important to determine the attitudes of learners towards the material used. Learning objects (LOs are a new type of material on which many studies have been conducted in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of students towards LOs in web-based language learning. To this end, the study was conducted in English I Course at the Department of Computer Programming in Kırıkkale University in 2010-2011 Fall Semester. Seventy LOs appropriate for six-week long lecture program were integrated into the Learning Management System (LMS of Kırıkkale University. The study group consisted of 38 students. After the six weeks long implementation period of the study, an attitude scale was administered to the students. The findings indicated that students in web based language education have positive attitudes towards LOs.

Compression-only CPR training in elementary schools and student attitude toward CPR.

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Kitamura, Tetsuhisa; Nishiyama, Chika; Murakami, Yukiko; Yonezawa, Takahiro; Nakai, Shohei; Hamanishi, Masayoshi; Marukawa, Seishiro; Sakamoto, Tetsuya; Iwami, Taku

2016-08-01

Little is known about the effectiveness of systematic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for elementary school children. We introduced systematic training of chest compression-only CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use to elementary school students aged 10-12 years at 17 schools. The questionnaire compared student attitudes towards CPR and their knowledge about it before and after CPR training. We also evaluated parent and teacher views about CPR training in school education. The primary outcome was positive attitude, defined as "yes" and "maybe yes" on a 5 point Likert-type scale of student attitudes towards CPR.1 RESULTS: A total of 2047 elementary school students received CPR training. Of them, 1899 (92.8%) responded to the questionnaire regarding their attitude towards CPR before and after the training. Before training, 50.2% answered "yes" and 30.3% answered "maybe yes", to the question: "If someone suddenly collapses in front of you, can you do something such as check response or call emergency?" After training, their answers changed to 75.6% and 18.3% for "yes" and "maybe yes", respectively. Many of the students (72.3%, 271/370) who did not have a positive attitude before CPR training had a positive attitude after the training (P CPR (97.7%) and use an AED (98.5%). Parents (96.2%, 1173/1220) and teachers (98.3%, 56/57) answered that it was "good" and "maybe good" for children to receive the training at elementary schools. Systematic chest compression-only CPR training helped elementary school students to improve their attitude towards CPR. © 2015 Japan Pediatric Society.

Effectiveness of the Sexual Attitude Restructuring Curriculum amongst Taiwanese Graduate Students

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Lin, Yi-Li; Lin, Yen-Chin

2018-01-01

This article discusses the effectiveness of the Sexual Attitude Restructuring (SAR) curriculum in developing positive sexual attitudes amongst Taiwanese graduate students in human sexuality. Through purposive sampling, 32 graduate students in human sexuality were selected to participate in the study. Before and after providing participants with a…

Turkish and American Undergraduate Students' Attitudes Toward HIV/AIDS Patients: A Comparative Study.

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Atav, A Serdar; Sendir, Merdiye; Darling, Rosa; Acaroglu, Rengin

2015-01-01

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a complex healthcare problem. Research has demonstrated that negative attitudes affect healthcare provision. The purpose of this study was to compare nursing students' attitudes using the AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS). A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in nursing schools in Istanbul, Turkey, and in Upstate New York (NY). Baccalaureate nursing students (n = 613) from both countries completed the questionnaire. Demographic data, overall AAS attitudes, and attitudes within each subscale were compared. Analyses included frequency and percentages of the grouped variables, arithmetic means and standard deviations, t-test for independent samples, and multiple analysis of variance. Upstate NY students' mean total AAS scores were significantly more positive toward HIV+ patients than Turkish students'. Scores for Professional Resistance and Emotions subscales were significantly more positive for the Upstate NY students, but Fear of Contagion was not. Upstate NY students had more negative attitudes in the contexts of job risk and eating in a restaurant where the chef has AIDS; more professional resistance to referring patients and training specialists for HIV/AIDS patients; and lower tender feelings for people with HIV/AIDS (p < .01 for each). Improvement in students' attitudes is beneficial for promoting nonjudgmental, compassionate care for the HIV+ population. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pharmacy Students' Attitudes Toward Debt.

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Park, Taehwan; Yusuf, Akeem A; Hadsall, Ronald S

2015-05-25

To examine pharmacy students' attitudes toward debt. Two hundred thirteen pharmacy students at the University of Minnesota were surveyed using items designed to assess attitudes toward debt. Factor analysis was performed to identify common themes. Subgroup analysis was performed to examine whether students' debt-tolerant attitudes varied according to their demographic characteristics, past loan experience, monthly income, and workload. Principal component extraction with varimax rotation identified 3 factor themes accounting for 49.0% of the total variance: tolerant attitudes toward debt (23.5%); contemplation and knowledge about loans (14.3%); and fear of debt (11.2%). Tolerant attitudes toward debt were higher if students were white or if they had had past loan experience. These 3 themes in students' attitudes toward debt were consistent with those identified in previous research. Pharmacy schools should consider providing a structured financial education to improve student management of debt.

Student radiographers' attitudes towards the older patient – A longitudinal study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, L.; Kada, S.; Satinovic, M.; Phillips, P.; Miller, P.K.

2017-01-01

Introduction: To design, implement and evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on student radiographer attitudes across their educational tenure. Methods: In the first phase, an educational intervention that involved didactic lectures, reflective exercises and simulation suits, aimed at improving student radiographer attitudes towards the older person, was designed and implemented. Kogan's attitudes towards older people (KoP) scale was administrated at five test points; pre-intervention; post-intervention; 6 months post intervention; 12 months post intervention and 24 months post intervention. At the final test point these quantitative data was supplemented with qualitative data for triangulation of the findings. Results: Students held positive attitudes towards older people pre intervention, these increased significantly post intervention (p = 0.01). However, this increase in positive scores was not noted at 6 months and 12-months post intervention. At 24-months post intervention, although there was a slight increase in positive attitudes when compared to the 6 and 12 month scores, this increase was not found to be significant (p = 0.178) Conclusion: The results post-intervention suggested that an educational intervention can have a significant impact on student radiographer's attitudes towards older people. However, the qualitative data suggests that experiences on initial clinical placement can be detrimental to attitudinal scores, particularly if the intervention does not include Dementia care strategies. - Highlights: • Reports the effects of an intervention to improve attitudes to older people. • Post-intervention attitudes were significantly more positive. • At 6 months and 12 months post-intervention mean positive scores were reduced. • At 24 months post-intervention scores had again increased. • The qualitative data suggests interventions should include Dementia care.

Prior experience of interprofessional learning enhances undergraduate nursing and healthcare students' professional identity and attitudes to teamwork.

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Hood, Kerry; Cant, Robyn; Baulch, Julie; Gilbee, Alana; Leech, Michelle; Anderson, Amanda; Davies, Kate

2014-03-01

How willing are today's medical, nursing and other healthcare students to undertake some of their studies as shared learning? There is a lack of evidence of students' views by discipline despite this being a priority task for higher education sectors. This study explored the views of nursing, midwifery, nursing-emergency health (paramedic), medical, physiotherapy and nutrition-dietetics students. Senior undergraduate students from six disciplines at one university completed the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale prior to participating in interprofessional clinical learning modules. For 741 students, the highest ranked response was agreement about a need for teamwork (mean 4.42 of 5 points). Nursing students held significantly more positive attitudes towards Teamwork/Collaboration, and were more positive about Professional Identity than medical students (p students rejected uncertainty about Roles/Responsibilities compared with medical students (p students who had prior experience of interprofessional learning held more positive attitudes in each of four attitude domains (p students' attitudes towards interprofessional learning were positive and all student groups were willing to engage in learning interprofessionally. Early introduction of IPL is recommended. Further studies should explore the trajectory of students' attitudes throughout the university degree. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors associated with pharmacy students' attitudes towards learning communication skills - A study among Nordic pharmacy students.

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Svensberg, Karin; Brandlistuen, Ragnhild Eek; Björnsdottir, Ingunn; Sporrong, Sofia Kälvemark

2018-03-01

Good communication skills are essential for pharmacy students to help patients with their medicines. Students' attitudes towards communication skills learning will influence their willingness to engage in communication training, and their skills when dealing with patients later on in their professional life. The aim of this study was to explore Nordic pharmacy students' attitudes to communication skills learning, and the associations between those attitudes and various student characteristics. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in 11 Nordic pharmacy schools between April 2015 and January 2016. The overall response rate for the final study population was 77% (367 out of 479 students). Pharmacy students who had fulfilled all mandatory communication training and most of their pharmacy practical experience periods were included. The communication skills attitudes scale was the main outcome. Linear regression models were fitted with the outcome variable and various student characteristics as the predictors, using generalized estimating equations to account for clustering within pharmacy schools. Nordic pharmacy students in general have moderately positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Positive attitudes towards learning communication skills among pharmacy students were associated with being female (β adjusted 0.42, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.63, p skills improvement (β adjusted 0.50, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.71, pskills are not the result of personality (β adjusted  -0.24, 95% CI -0.44 to -0.04, p=0.017). The study provides important information for faculty members responsible for curriculum improvements and teachers to refine their teaching of communication skills. From this, the teaching can be better tailored to suit different students. The students' chances of being able to effectively help patients in the future will be increased by that. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do Attitudes toward School Influence the Underachievement of Turkish and Moroccan Minority Students in Flanders? The Attitude-Achievement Paradox Revisited

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D'hondt, Fanny; Van Praag, Lore; Stevens, Peter A. J.; Van Houtte, Mieke

2015-01-01

While many ethnic minority students underachieve compared with their ethnic majority peers, they often hold very positive school attitudes. Mickelson (1990) explained this attitude-achievement paradox by the existence of a double set of attitudes. Abstract attitudes reflect the dominant ideas about schooling, while concrete attitudes refer to a…

Attitude of Khorramabad high school students towards psychiatric disorders

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mitra Safa

2004-01-01

54% of the students believed that parents inattention to their children and 46.3% believed that physical punishment by parents or school staff could effect on occurrence of psychiatric disorders . 90% of the students interested in receiving education by psychiatrist or psychologist in their schools . Conclusion: Results of this study show that high school students, attitude in Khorramabad city to psychiatric disorders is negative . It seems that with exact perception of this problem and proper planning we can develop a positive change in students, attitude to psychiatric disorders and take effective steps to improve mental health of the adolescents .

Attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine among medical and psychology students.

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Ditte, Darja; Schulz, Wolfgang; Ernst, Gundula; Schmid-Ott, Gerhard

2011-03-01

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing in Europe as well as in the USA, but CAM courses are infrequently integrated into medical curricula. In Europe, but also especially in the USA and in Canada, the attitudes of medical students and health science professionals in various disciplines towards CAM have been the subject of investigation. Most studies report positive attitudes. The main aim of this study was to compare the attitudes towards CAM of medical and psychology students in Germany. An additional set of questions concerned how CAM utilisation and emotional and physical condition affect CAM-related attitudes. Two hundred thirty-three medical students and 55 psychology students were questioned concerning their attitudes towards CAM using the Questionnaire on Attitudes Towards Complementary Medical Treatment (QACAM). Both medical students and psychology students were sceptical about the diagnostic and the therapeutic proficiency of doctors and practitioners of CAM. Students' attitudes towards CAM correlated neither with their experiences as CAM patients nor with their emotional and physical condition. It can be assumed that German medical and psychology students will be reluctant to use or recommend CAM in their professional careers. Further studies should examine more closely the correlation between attitudes towards CAM and the students' worldview as well as their existing knowledge of the effectiveness of CAM.

Attitude of Medical Students towards Occupational Safety and Health: A Multi-National Study

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M Bhardwaj

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Work-related diseases contribute immensely to the global burden of diseases. Better understanding of attitudes of health care workers towards occupational safety and health (OSH is important for planning. Objective: To assess the attitude of medical students towards OSH around the globe. Methods: A questionnaire assessing the attitude towards OSH was administered to medical and paramedical students of 21 Medical Universities across the globe. In the current study 1895 students, aged 18–36 years, from 17 countries were included. After having performed a principal components analysis, the associations of interest between the identified components and other socio demographic characteristics were assessed by multivariate linear regression. Results: Principal component analysis revealed 3 components. Students from lower and lower-middle-income countries had a more positive attitude towards OSH, but the importance of OSH was still rated higher by students from upper-income countries. Although students from Asian and African continents showed high interest for OSH, European and South-Central American students comparatively rated importance of OSH to be higher. Paramedical students had more positive attitude towards OSH than medical students. Conclusion: The attitude of students from lower-income and lower-middle-income countries towards importance of OSH is negative. This attitude could be changed by recommending modifications to OSH courses that reflect the importance of OSH. Since paramedical students showed more interest in OSH than medical students, modifications in existing health care system with major role of paramedics in OSH service delivery is recommended.

Pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and evaluation of direct-to-consumer advertising.

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Naik, Rupali K; Borrego, Matthew E; Gupchup, Gireesh V; Dodd, Melanie; Sather, Mike R

2007-10-15

To assess pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and evaluation of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). A cross sectional, self-administered, 106-item survey instrument was used to assess first, second, and third professional year pharmacy students' knowledge about DTCA regulations, attitudes toward DTCA, and evaluation of DTC advertisements with different brief summary formats (professional labeling and patient labeling) and in different media sources (print and television). One hundred twenty (51.3%) of the 234 students enrolled participated in the study. The mean percentage knowledge score was 48.7% +/- 12.5%. Based on the mean scores per item, pharmacy students had an overall negative attitude toward DTC advertisements. Students had an overall negative attitude toward television and print advertisements using the professional labeling format but an overall positive attitude toward the print advertisement using the patient labeling format. Lectures discussing DTC advertising should be included in the pharmacy curriculum.

Understanding the relationship between student attitudes and student learning

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Cahill, Michael J.; McDaniel, Mark A.; Frey, Regina F.; Hynes, K. Mairin; Repice, Michelle; Zhao, Jiuqing; Trousil, Rebecca

2018-02-01

Student attitudes, defined as the extent to which one holds expertlike beliefs about and approaches to physics, are a major research topic in physics education research. An implicit but rarely tested assumption underlying much of this research is that student attitudes play a significant part in student learning and performance. The current study directly tested this attitude-learning link by measuring the association between incoming attitudes (Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey) and student learning during the semester after statistically controlling for the effects of prior knowledge [early-semester Force Concept Inventory (FCI) or Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA)]. This study spanned four different courses and included two complementary measures of student knowledge: late-semester concept inventory scores (FCI or BEMA) and exam averages. In three of the four courses, after controlling for prior knowledge, attitudes significantly predicted both late-semester concept inventory scores and exam averages, but in all cases these attitudes explained only a small amount of variance in concept-inventory and exam scores. Results indicate that after accounting for students' incoming knowledge, attitudes may uniquely but modestly relate to how much students learn and how well they perform in the course.

Effects of a Simulation Exercise on Nursing Students' End-of-Life Care Attitudes.

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Dame, Linda; Hoebeke, Roberta

2016-12-01

Students consider end-of-life care content in their nursing curricula to be inadequate and deficient in promoting the development of the necessary attitudes to care for dying patients. Research identifies simulation as an effective teaching strategy to examine nursing students' attitudes toward end-of-life care. An end-of-life care simulation was developed, implemented, and evaluated. Attitudes toward caring for dying patients were measured pre- and postsimulation on a convenience sample of 57 sophomore nursing students using the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale-Form B. Repeated measures of ANOVA on outcome variables evaluated student attitudes toward end-of-life care. Participation in an end-of-life care simulation resulted in more positive student attitudes toward caring for dying patients (p life care in nursing curricula and improve student attitudes toward caring for dying patients. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):701-705.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Middle School Students' Attitudes toward Science, Scientists, Science Teachers and Classes

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Kapici, Hasan Özgür; Akçay, Hakan

2016-01-01

It is an indispensable fact that having a positive attitude towards science is one of the important factors that promotes students for studying in science. The study is a kind of national study that aims to investigate middle school students', from different regions of Turkey, attitudes toward science, scientists and science classes. The study was…

Predictors of Saudi nursing students' attitudes towards environment and sustainability in health care.

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Cruz, J P; Alshammari, F; Felicilda-Reynaldo, R F D

2018-02-09

This study aimed to investigate the predictors of Saudi nursing students' attitudes towards the environment and sustainability in health care. With rising temperature and decreasing annual rainfall, Saudi Arabia is threatened by the harmful effects of climate change on its population. In response to these threats, the Ministry of Health adapted sustainable development and environmental preservation in their National E-Health strategy. To implement these policies successfully, healthcare practitioners should be educated on how climate change could impact human health negatively. A secondary analysis of 280 questionnaires from baccalaureate nursing students of a university in Hail City, Saudi Arabia, was completed. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey 2 (SANS-2) were used to investigate the predictors of student attitudes towards the environment and sustainable development in health care. The NEP score indicated moderate pro-environment attitudes, whereas the SANS-2 mean score showed very positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. Learning about the environment and related issues in the nursing programme, raising climate change awareness and attending environment-related seminars and training positively influenced the environmental and sustainability attitudes of nursing students. Saudi nursing students moderately manifested pro-environment attitudes but exhibited extremely positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. The results support the need to strengthen the education of nursing students about environmental and sustainability concepts and the inclusion of these topics in the nursing curricula. The study underscores the critical role of enriching the awareness of nursing students on environmental issues and concerns and sustainability in health care. The findings of this study can support the inclusion of course contents, which deal specifically with environmental health and

Analyzing students' attitudes towards science during inquiry-based lessons

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Kostenbader, Tracy C.

Due to the logistics of guided-inquiry lesson, students learn to problem solve and develop critical thinking skills. This mixed-methods study analyzed the students' attitudes towards science during inquiry lessons. My quantitative results from a repeated measures survey showed no significant difference between student attitudes when taught with either structured-inquiry or guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative results analyzed through a constant-comparative method did show that students generate positive interest, critical thinking and low level stress during guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative research also gave insight into a teacher's transition to guided-inquiry. This study showed that with my students, their attitudes did not change during this transition according to the qualitative data however, the qualitative data did how high levels of excitement. The results imply that students like guided-inquiry laboratories, even though they require more work, just as much as they like traditional laboratories with less work and less opportunity for creativity.

Midwest Science Festival: Exploring Students' and Parents' Participation in and Attitudes Toward Science.

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Dippel, Elizabeth A; Mechels, Keegan B; Griese, Emily R; Laufmann, Rachel N; Weimer, Jill M

2016-08-01

Compared to national numbers, South Dakota has a higher proportion of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Interest in science can be influenced by exposure to science through formal and informal learning. Informal science activities (including exposures and participation) have been found to elicit higher levels of interest in science, likely impacting one's attitude towards science overall. The current study goal is to better understand the levels and relationships of attitude, exposure, and participation in science that were present among students and parents attending a free science festival. The project collected survey data from 65 students and 79 parents attending a science festival ranging from age 6 to 65. Informal science participation is significantly related to science attitudes in students and informal science exposure is not. No relationship was found for parents between science attitudes and participation. Students who indicated high levels of informal science participation (i.e., reading science-themed books) were positively related to their attitudes regarding science. However, informal science exposures, such as attending the zoo or independently visiting a science lab, was not significantly associated with positive attitudes towards science.

Stethoscope Hygiene: Practice and Attitude of Medical Students.

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Gazibara, Tatjana; Radovanovic, Sanja; Maric, Gorica; Rancic, Biljana; Kisic-Tepavcevic, Darija; Pekmezovic, Tatjana

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency and attitude of medical students towards cleaning their stethoscopes. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the first week of December 2013. The study included 771 students (397 in their fourth and 374 in their sixth year) from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to students before the start of compulsory lessons in classrooms. 317 of the 397 fourth-year students (79.8%) and 306 of the 374 sixth-year students (81.9%) cleaned their stethoscope. The stethoscope diaphragm was most commonly cleaned, while the flexible tubing was the least commonly cleaned area, mainly using ethyl alcohol-based agents. The strongest positive attitude was observed for the statement 'It is important that my stethoscope is clean' (4.3 out of 5.0). A positive correlation (Spearman's x03C1; = 0.105) was observed between a higher frequency of cleaning and the stronger positive notion that a stethoscope should be cleaned. A considerably high proportion of the students studied had ever cleaned their stethoscopes. Based on the students' responses, it would be useful to implement instructions on stethoscope hygiene in the regular practical curriculum with the aim of applying stethoscope disinfection in daily work. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Appraisal of Student-Teacher's Attitude Toward Teaching Profession ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The disposition of teachers within and outside the school will in no little amount positively affect the academic achievement of students. Thus, this paper is a descriptive survey which sought to appraise the attitude of student-teacher's relationship across teacher training institutes in Lagos State, Nigeria. This study was ...

Peer Instruction in introductory physics: A method to bring about positive changes in students’ attitudes and beliefs

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Ping Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n=441 in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture teaching methods, and the other three taught with Peer Instruction (PI. In two of the PI classes, student peer groups were constantly changing throughout the semester, while in the other PI class student groups remained fixed for the duration of the semester. The results of the pre- and post-test using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey showed that students in traditional lecture settings became significantly more novicelike in their beliefs about physics and learning physics over the course of a semester, a result consistent with what was reported in the literature. However, all three of the classes taught using the PI method improved student attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. In the PI class with fixed peer groups, students exhibited a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs than in the other PI class with changing peer groups. The study also looked at gender differences in student learning attitudes. Gender results revealed that female science majors in the PI classes achieved a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs after instruction than did male students.

Environmental education and its effect on the knowledge and attitudes of preparatory school students.

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Abd El-Salam, Magda M; El-Naggar, Hesham M; Hussein, Rim A

2009-01-01

Considering the serious environmental threats facing Egypt, environmental education (EE) that provides the knowledge, skills, and motivation to take individual or collective action is needed to create a sustainable quality of life. This study was carried out aiming at measuring the level of environmental knowledge among preparatory school students in Alexandria, determining their attitudes towards some environmental concepts, and assessing the effect of EE on these knowledge and attitudes. The study sample was selected by stratified random method, and the assessment was conducted using a questionnaire. Results of the study revealed that 77% of the students had poor level of environmental knowledge and that 23% had fair level. In addition, 80% of the students were found to have negative attitude toward the environment and the remainder 20% were indifferent. Such knowledge and attitudes were positively correlated to their socio-economic levels. Following six EE sessions, an improvement in their knowledge and attitudes was observed where 69% of the students had a satisfactory level of knowledge and 88% had positive attitude toward the environment. Attitude was found to be positively correlated to their level of knowledge prior to and following the EE sessions. These results support the need for development and implementation of environmental education programs as part of the regular school curriculum.

[Greek students' attitudes towards mental disorders].

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Antoniadis, D; Gouti, A; Kaloudi, E; Τourlende, N; Douzenis, A; Christodoulou, C; Lykouras, L; Livaditis, M; Samakouri, M

2016-01-01

Attitudes and beliefs of the population regarding the mentally ill have been universally subject of many researches. Research of different groups' opinion for mental disorders has given remarkable findings that assist in the right design of psychiatric services. Objective of this thesis is to study the attitude of students towards mental illness. In particular, it intends to study the differences derived from the age, gender, place of birth, kind of studies, year of study, duration of stay at the place of studies and the existence of mental disorders in the student's family. Data were collected from 536 students randomly selected from Universities and Technological Institutions both in Athens and Thessaloniki. In general, the participants are being divided based on the subject of their studies in undergraduates of human sciences, exact sciences, social and health sciences. The short version of the scale "Community Attitudes Toward the Mentality III" (CAMI) was used, which consists of 26 questions sorted to four subscales (domination scale, humanism scale, social exclusion scale and the scale measuring the community beliefs regarding the care of mentally ill), along with a special questionnaire in order to collect social and demographic data. Students' attitudes towards mental illness are influenced by demographic factors, the department they are studying at and the year of study. Female gender (p=0.000), personal contact with mentally ill (p=0.012), studying in Universities (p=0.031) and especially social sciences (p=0.009) are associated with positive attitudes. On the contrary, less years of studying are associated with negative attitudes whereas older students appear to score less in the Domination Scale (p=0.000). It is significant that the place of birth (p=0,335) and the duration of stay at the place of studies (r=0.735) did not show any association with the variables studied in this research. However these results cannot be compared with older researches

High School Students' Attitudes Towards Spiders: A cross-cultural comparison

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Prokop, Pavol; Tolarovičová, Andrea; Camerik, Anne M.; Peterková, Viera

2010-08-01

Spiders are traditionally considered to be among the least popular of animals. Current evidence suggests that a negative attitude towards spiders could be influenced by both cultural and evolutionary pressures. Some researchers suggest that science education activities could positively influence students' perceptions of spiders. Their evidence is, however, ambivalent. Using a five-point score Likert-type questionnaire in which the items were developed in a similar way to four of Kellert's categories of attitude (scientistic, negativistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic) towards invertebrates, we compared the level of knowledge of and attitudes towards spiders of high school students from two countries, Slovakia (n = 354) and South Africa (n = 382). The students represented different cultures and followed dissimilar science education curricula. Only among the Slovakian students there was a statistically significant but low correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.30). The South African students scored higher in the categories of scientistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic attitudes. Comparison of attitude towards spiders of indigenous Africans from coeducational Catholic schools revealed that South African students have greater fear of spiders than Slovakian students, supporting the biological preparedness hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a greater fear of spiders in South Africa than in Europe since several South African spiders possess venoms that are dangerous to humans. The results of this study are discussed from science education, cultural, and evolutionary perspectives.

Knowledge of and attitudes toward electroconvulsive therapy among medical students, psychology students, and the general public.

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Aki, Ozlem Erden; Ak, Sertac; Sonmez, Yunus Emre; Demir, Basaran

2013-03-01

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is safe and effective for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. Despite being a well-known treatment method among health care professionals, lay people generally have a negative opinion of ECT. The present study aimed to examine knowledge of and attitudes toward ECT among medical students, psychology students, and the general public. Psychology students were included because they are among the important groups in mental health care in Turkey. A Likert-type questionnaire was administered to fifth-year medical students (n = 28), master of science and doctor of philosophy clinical psychology students (n = 35), and a sample of the general public (n = 26). The questionnaire included questions about the general principles of and indications for ECT, and sources of knowledge of and attitudes toward ECT. The medical students were the most knowledgeable about ECT, as expected. The medical students also had a more positive attitude toward ECT than the other 2 groups. More psychology students had negative attitudes on some aspects than general public sample, despite being more knowledgeable. Medical school theoretical and practical training in ECT played an important role in increasing the level of knowledge of and decreasing the prevalence of negative attitudes toward ECT among the medical students; similar training for psychology students is required to achieve similar results.

Comparison of knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia between health-related and non-health-related university students.

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Yong, Mi-Hyun; Yoo, Chan-Uk; Yang, Yeong-Ae

2015-12-01

[Purpose] This study compared the knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia between health-related and non-health-related students. [Subjects] The subjects consisted of a total of 416 people, 213 health-related students and 203 non-health-related students, at K University, which is located in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea, between May 1 and 14, 2014. [Methods] The subjects answered a self-administered questionnaire about their knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia. [Results] There was a significant difference in knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia between the two groups examined. [Conclusion] Health-related students displayed higher knowledge of dementia and a more positive attitude toward dementia compared with non-health-related students. In the future, education to cultivate professional knowledge about dementia and enhance positive attitudes toward dementia should be provided continuously to health-related students. This is because students in health-related fields will likely provide services to patients with dementia in the clinical field. Additionally, as they will likely provide support to the elderly in the future, non-health-related students also need to be educated about and develop positive attitudes toward dementia.

Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Science and Their Epistemological Beliefs: Positive Effects of Certainty and Authority Beliefs

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Fulmer, Gavin W.

2014-02-01

Attitudes toward science are an important aspect of students' persistence in school science and interest in pursuing future science careers, but students' attitudes typically decline over the course of formal schooling. This study examines relationships of students' attitudes toward science with their perceptions of science as inclusive or non-religious, and their epistemological beliefs about epistemic authority and certainty. Data were collected using an online survey system among undergraduates at a large, public US university (n = 582). Data were prepared using a Rasch rating scale model and then analyzed using multiple-regression analysis. Gender and number of science and mathematics courses were included as control variables, followed by perceptions of science, then epistemological beliefs. Findings show that respondents have more positive attitudes when they perceive science to be inclusive of women and minorities, and when they perceive science to be incompatible with religion. Respondents also have more positive attitudes toward science when they believe scientific knowledge is uncertain, and when they believe knowledge derives from authority. Interpretations of these findings and implications for future research are discussed.

Medical student, nursing student, and non-health care respondents' implicit attitudes toward doctors and patients: Development and a pilot study of a new implicit attitudes test (IAT).

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Schwartz, Alan; Mazouni, Abdelhamid

2017-01-01

Medical educators have been concerned that medical students may decline in empathy for patients during the course of their training, based on studies measuring clinical empathy using psychometrically strong self-report measures. Clinical empathy is a complex construct, incorporating attitudes toward patients but also other components, such as professional detachment. Triangulation of extant measures with instruments based on nonreactive methods could provide a better understanding of whether and how physician attitudes toward patients may be changing during training. We sought to develop and pilot-test such a nonreactive method. We develop variations of an implicit association test (IAT) designed to measure attitudes toward physicians and patients based on speed of reaction to images of actors and positive and negative words. In the IATs, the same actors are photographed as doctors, clinic outpatients, hospitalized inpatients, and as a "general public" control. We examine preliminary evidence for their validity by collecting pilot data from internet participants (not involved in the health professions), medical students, and nursing students. Internet participants (n = 314) and nursing students (n = 31) had more negative associations (IAT scores) with doctors than did medical students (n = 89); nursing students and female internet participants had more positive associations with hospitalized patients than did medical students and male internet participants. Medical students' associations with hospitalized patients varied by year of training. This IAT may provide insight into implicit attitudes among those who enter training for the health profession and changes in those attitudes that may be inculcated during that training.

Embedded Mathematics in Chemistry: A Case Study of Students' Attitudes and Mastery

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Preininger, Anita M.

2017-02-01

There are many factors that shape students' attitudes toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This exploratory study of high school students examined the effect of enriching chemistry with math on chemistry students' attitudes toward math and careers involving math. To measure student attitudes, a survey was administered before and after the 18-week chemistry class; results from the chemistry class were compared to survey results from students in an elective science class that did not emphasize mathematics. At the end of the 18-week period, only the chemistry students exhibited more positive views toward their abilities in mathematics and careers that involve mathematics, as compared to their views at the outset of the course. To ensure that chemistry mastery was not hindered by the additional emphasis on math, and that mastery on state end-of-course examinations reflected knowledge acquired during the math-intensive chemistry class, a chemistry progress test was administered at the start and end of the term. This exploratory study suggests that emphasizing mathematical approaches in chemistry may positively influence attitudes toward math in general, as well as foster mastery of chemistry content.

The Attitudes of First Year Senior Secondary School Students toward Their Science Classes in the Sudan

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Lado, Longun Moses

mathematics was not highly reliable, perhaps contributing to an attenuation of the relationship between attitude toward science and mathematics and choice of a science or mathematics major (rather than an arts or humanities major). (2) Far more students than the researcher had anticipated provided responses indicating that they planned to major in a science or mathematics discipline rather than an arts or humanities discipline. (3) Students' attitudes towards math and science were more favorable than the researcher anticipated based on findings from previous related studies. This result suggests the possibility of social desirability bias in students' responses. (4) Three significant predicator variables contributed to a significant logistic regression equation in which choice of science or mathematics major was the dependent variable: gender (negative association), attitude toward science and math (positive association), and peer influence 1 (positive association). Gender was the strongest predictor. (5) Five significant predictor variables contributed to a significant multiple linear regression equation in which attitude toward science and mathematics was the dependent variable: peer influence 1 (positive association), parent influence 1 (positive association), parent influence 2 (positive association), books in home (positive association), and peer influence 2 (positive association). The results reveal that among the targeted variables (gender, attitude, peer influence 1, peer influence 2, parent influence 1, parent influence 2, books in home, and age) only gender, peer influence 1, and attitude were significant predictors of students' major in math or science.

Do medical students like communication? Validation of the German CSAS (Communication Skills Attitude Scale).

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Busch, Anne-Kathrin; Rockenbauch, Katrin; Schmutzer, Gabriele; Brähler, Elmar

2015-01-01

Attitudes towards communication skills of medical undergraduates can be gathered using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). We aimed to develop a German version of the CSAS (CSAS-G) in order to explore attitudes towards communication skills in a German cohort. Additionally the potential influence of demographic factors was examined. We realized the CSAS-G and conducted a survey with 529 participants from 3 different years of study. We then carried out an explorative as well as confirmatory factor analysis and compared the attitudinal scores. Multiple regression analysis was performed. The confirmatory analysis confirmed the two-subscale system revealed by the explorative factor analysis. Students indicate low levels of negative attitudes and moderate levels of positive attitudes. Attitudinal scores differ significantly in relation to gender. The CSAS-G can be used in German cohorts to evaluate attitudes towards communication skills. Medical students in our study show basically a positive approach. Further investigation is necessary to explore and understand attitudes towards communication skills of German medical students.

The attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing: a systematic review.

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Happell, Brenda; Gaskin, Cadeyrn J

2013-01-01

To present the findings of a systematic review on (1) the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing and (2) the influence of undergraduate nursing education on the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing. Recruitment and retention of mental health nurses is challenging. Undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental health nursing may influence whether they choose to practice in this specialty upon graduation. A systematic review. Searches of the CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO electronic databases returned 1400 records, of which 17 met the inclusion criteria for this review. A further four papers were obtained through scanning the reference lists of those articles included from the initial literature search. Research on the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing has consistently shown that mental health is one of the least preferred areas of nursing for a potential career. With respect to the influence of undergraduate nursing education on the attitudes of students towards mental health nursing, quasi-experimental studies have generally demonstrated that students tended to have more favourable attitudes towards mental health nursing when they had received more hours of theoretical preparation and undertaken longer clinical placements. Many nursing students regard mental health nursing as the least preferred career option. Education, via classroom teaching and clinical placements, seems to engender more positive attitudes towards mental health nursing. There is no evidence, however, that changing student attitudes results in more graduates beginning careers in mental health nursing. REFERENCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The constancy of negative attitudes to mental health nursing over time suggests the focus of research should shift. Clinicians have the capacity to promote a more positive view of mental health nursing. This requires further exploration. © 2012

Influences on final year medical students' attitudes to general practice as a career.

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Parker, Johanna E; Hudson, Ben; Wilkinson, Tim J

2014-03-01

General practice is under-represented in student career choices. This study aimed to identify and explore factors that influence the attitudes of final year medical students to general practice as a career. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews of focus groups of final year undergraduate medical students at the University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. Thematic analysis and grounded theory were used to interpret the data. General practitioners (GPs) play a key role in influencing medical students' attitudes to general practice as a career. Students identified their general practice placement during medical school training and personal contact with their own GP as principal factors. The media portrayal of general practice and the attitudes of friends and family were also influential. Students were positively influenced when they were made to feel part of the team, involved with consultations, allowed to carry out practical procedures under supervision, and witnessed what they perceived as good medical practice during clinical placements. Positive experiences often occurred later in training, when students felt more confident of their clinical abilities. While students reported occasional negative comments about general practice by some hospital doctors, these had a lesser role in influencing their perceptions of general practice compared with their own experiences, both as students and patients. GPs have a strong influence, positively and negatively, on the attitudes of medical students to general practice as a career. Effective influences include being made to feel welcome, involved, valued, and given legitimate roles during clinical placements.

Can teaching research methodology influence students' attitude toward science? Cohort study and nonrandomized trial in a single medical school.

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Vujaklija, Ana; Hren, Darko; Sambunjak, Dario; Vodopivec, Ivana; Ivanis, Ana; Marusić, Ana; Marusić, Matko

2010-02-01

Medical teaching aims to develop attitudes and behaviors underlying professional competence of future physicians. We investigated whether a mandatory course on scientific methodology in the second study year could affect students' attitudes toward science in medicine. In a longitudinal study, students (n = 241) enrolling in 2001-2002 academic year at a single medical school were followed up until graduation in 2006-2007. Each year, they filled out a Likert-type questionnaire of 18 statements evaluating attitude toward science. Direct influence of the course on students' attitudes was tested in a nonrandomized controlled trial with the 2006-2007 second year student cohort. Positive students' attitudes toward science increased during study years (mean [SD] score of the maximum score of 90): from 57.6 (6.0) in the first to 69.8 (10.4) in the sixth year. There was a significant trend of increase in attitudes with the years of study (cubic trend by polynomial contrasts analysis, P = 0.011). Attendance of a course on research methodology significantly increased positive attitudes (score, 67.0 [7.0] before and 70.8 [7.5] after course, P = 0.032 vs control group), regardless of grade point average. The intervention had an effect even when the influence of the initial attitude was accounted for (F1,140 = 9.25, P = 0.003; analysis of covariance). The attitude changes after the course was greatest in students with low initial attitude scores (Spearman rinitial score, score difference, -0.44). Medical students have positive attitudes toward science and scientific method in medicine. Attendance of a course on research methodology had positive short-term effect on students' attitudes toward science. This positive effect should be maintained by vertical integration of the course in the medical curriculum.

Attitudes and value orientations of high school students in Serbia

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Radoman Marija

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of attitudes and value orientations of high school students comes as the result of research based on data collected during April-June 2011 in six towns in Serbia. The main objective of this research was to detect the dominant attitudes and value orientations of high school students on a scale of traditionalism, homophobia, anti-Romism, ethnic stereotypes and attitudes toward abortion. The research was conducted in the following cities: Belgrade, Krusevac, Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Nis and Novi Pazar. The results showed that high school students in Serbia in regards to their beliefs do not differ much from the general social climate in which they grew up and were educated in. Traditional respondents are represented at the level of 33.9%; 27.9% of them are moderately traditional and 25% of them are non-traditional. On the one side there are extremely radical position of high school students especially in relation to Roma and LGBT people. On the other side, certain number of respondents howed high affinity and positive individual interprets of the lifestyles of those groups (such as the rights of marriage for homosexual population. Attitudes towards women's rights are also bipolar - high school students have a patriarchal attitude towards marriage, family and abortion, but they show sensitivity to the issue of domestic violence. The obtained data should be interpreted in accordance with the changes in Serbian society - economic crisis, privatization, increase of violence in society and family, redefining of gender roles, etc.

Exploratory Factor Analysis Study for the Scale of High School Students' Attitudes towards Chemistry

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Demircioglu, Gökhan; Aslan, Aysegül; Yadigaroglu, Mustafa

2014-01-01

It is important to develop students' positive attitudes chemistry lessons in school because research has suggested that attitudes are linked with academic achievement. Therefore, how to evaluate the attitudes is an important topic in education. The purpose of this study was to develop a Likert-type scale that could measure high school students'…

Positive expectations encourage generalization from a positive intergroup interaction to outgroup attitudes.

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Deegan, Matthew P; Hehman, Eric; Gaertner, Samuel L; Dovidio, John F

2015-01-01

The current research reveals that while positive expectations about an anticipated intergroup interaction encourage generalization of positive contact to outgroup attitudes, negative expectations restrict the effects of contact on outgroup attitudes. In Study 1, when Blacks and Whites interacted with positive expectations, interaction quality predicted outgroup attitudes to a greater degree than when groups interacted with negative expectations. When expectations (Studies 2 and 3) and the actual interaction quality (Study 4) were manipulated orthogonally, negative expectations about the interaction predicted negative outgroup attitudes, regardless of actual interaction quality. By contrast, participants holding positive expectations who experienced a positive interaction expressed positive outgroup attitudes, whereas when they experienced a negative interaction, they expressed outgroup attitudes as negative as those with negative expectations. Across all four studies, positive expectations encouraged developing outgroup attitudes consistent with interaction quality. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Student Attitudes Towards and Impressions of Project Citizen

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Sara Winstead FRY

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Project Citizen is a civic education curriculum used across the United States and internationally, yet research about its impact on students is lacking in the literature. This article reports the results of a preliminary study designed to answer the following questions: What are students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of Project Citizen? How do their attitudes and perceptions compare to those of students who completed senior projects? Tenhigh school students and 23 first-year college students completed a questionnaire designed for this study. Our findings indicate that the high school students had positive perceptions of Project Citizen, and they self-reported anunderstanding and high levels of efficacy regarding civic responsibility. In contrast, the first-year college students had lower levels of efficacy regarding civic responsibility. Our findings suggest the importance of specific learning experiences to help students develop civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, and indicate the need for further research into civic programs such as Project Citizen

Surveys Assessing Students' Attitudes toward Statistics: A Systematic Review of Validity and Reliability

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Nolan, Meaghan M.; Beran, Tanya; Hecker, Kent G.

2012-01-01

Students with positive attitudes toward statistics are likely to show strong academic performance in statistics courses. Multiple surveys measuring students' attitudes toward statistics exist; however, a comparison of the validity and reliability of interpretations based on their scores is needed. A systematic review of relevant electronic…

Attitude of male and female students towards the use of internet ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

wide, and having a positive attitude toward the use of the Internet is a necessary condition for its effective use. Thus, this research aimed at investigating the attitudes of male and female undergraduate students at the Nasarawa State University, ...

Medical students' attitude towards influenza vaccination.

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Lehmann, Birthe A; Ruiter, Robert A C; Wicker, Sabine; Chapman, Gretchen; Kok, Gerjo

2015-04-15

Influenza vaccination is recommended for all healthcare personnel (HCP) and most institutions offer vaccination for free and on site. However, medical students do not always have such easy access, and the predictors that might guide the motivation of medical students to get vaccinated are largely unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional survey study among pre-clinical medical students in a German University hospital to assess the social cognitive predictors of influenza vaccination, as well as reasons for refusal and acceptance of the vaccine. Findings show that pre-clinical medical students have comparable knowledge gaps and negative attitudes towards influenza vaccination that have previously been reported among HCP. Lower injunctive norms and higher feelings of autonomy contribute to no intention to get vaccinated against influenza, while a positive instrumental attitude and higher feelings of autonomy contribute to a high intention to get vaccinated. The variables in the regression model explained 20% of the variance in intention to get vaccinated. The identified factors should be addressed early in medical education, and hospitals might benefit from a more inclusive vaccination program and accessibility of free vaccines for their medical students.

Attitude and position tracking

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Candy, LP

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Several applications require the tracking of attitude and position of a body based on velocity data. It is tempting to use direction cosine matrices (DCM), for example, to track attitude based on angular velocity data, and to integrate the linear...

Effectiveness of a Constructivistic Multimedia-Learning Package on Shaping and Guiding Students' Attitudes Toward Physics

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Divya C. Senan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Physics is considered by some to be the most perplexing area in the sciences and perceived as a hard subject for students from secondary school to the university to adult-graduate education. Educational research has provided evidence that attitudes towards physics change with exposure to it. When students have negative attitudes towards physics, they often do not "like" physics courses or the teachers of those courses. Based on this premise, numerous studies have been conducted to determine the factors that affect students' attitudes towards physics. A goal that is important to most if not all teachers of physics courses is to inspire students to have a positive attitude towards the subject. This goal encompasses an appreciation of how physicists think and how they incorporate the values that it provides, as well as, how it is applied to other areas or related fields, and its application in everyday life. In this regard, the aim of this investigation has been to explore how to impact more effectively positive students' attitudes in physics courses. To that end, we report the effectiveness of a constructivistic multimedia-learning package (MLP in shaping and guiding students' attitudes towards physics.

Attitudes towards people with physical or intellectual disabilities among nursing, social work and medical students.

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Kritsotakis, George; Galanis, Petros; Papastefanakis, Emmanouil; Meidani, Flora; Philalithis, Anastas E; Kalokairinou, Athena; Sourtzi, Panayota

2017-12-01

To examine and compare undergraduate healthcare students' attitudes towards people with physical or intellectual disabilities in Greece. The experience that people with disabilities have with health care is a complex interaction between their medical condition and the social and physical environment. Attitudes of the nursing and healthcare staff affect the quality of care and people's adaptation to their disability, self-image and rehabilitation outcomes. Descriptive cross-sectional survey. Nursing, Social Work and Medicine students (N = 1007, 79.4% female) attending three universities (Athens, Crete) completed during 2014-2016 two standardised scales regarding physical (ATDP-B) and intellectual disability (CLAS-ID). Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Attitudes towards people with physical disabilities in Greece (ATDP-B scores) were poor with scores just above the mid-point. Medical studies and higher knowledge and work with individuals with physical disabilities signified marginally more positive attitudes. Gender and age displayed no associations with attitudes. Regarding intellectual disability (CLAS-ID scores), nursing students had slightly less positive attitudes in "Similarity" but more positive attitudes in "Sheltering" subscales. Previous work and contact was related to more favourable and higher age to less favourable "Similarity" and "Sheltering" attitudes. Males had higher "Exclusion" scores. Those who knew people with intellectual disabilities had less favourable "Empowerment" attitudes. Knowledge was related to more positive attitudes in all four CLAS-ID subscales. Greek health and social care students showed poor attitudes towards people with physical and intellectual disability. When holding unfavourable attitudes, healthcare professionals become less involved with the people they care for and they do not provide nursing care to the best of their abilities. Undergraduate and continuing education, along with

Do medical students like communication? Validation of the German CSAS (Communication Skills Attitude Scale)

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Busch, Anne-Kathrin; Rockenbauch, Katrin; Schmutzer, Gabriele; Brähler, Elmar

2015-01-01

Objectives: Attitudes towards communication skills of medical undergraduates can be gathered using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). We aimed to develop a German version of the CSAS (CSAS-G) in order to explore attitudes towards communication skills in a German cohort. Additionally the potential influence of demographic factors was examined. Methods: We realized the CSAS-G and conducted a survey with 529 participants from 3 different years of study. We then carried out an explorative as well as confirmatory factor analysis and compared the attitudinal scores. Multiple regression analysis was performed. Results: The confirmatory analysis confirmed the two-subscale system revealed by the explorative factor analysis. Students indicate low levels of negative attitudes and moderate levels of positive attitudes. Attitudinal scores differ significantly in relation to gender. Conclusion: The CSAS-G can be used in German cohorts to evaluate attitudes towards communication skills. Medical students in our study show basically a positive approach. Further investigation is necessary to explore and understand attitudes towards communication skills of German medical students. PMID:25699103

Attitudes towards chemistry among engineering students

Science.gov (United States)

Olivo Delgado, Carlos J.

The attitudes towards chemistry of the engineering students enrolled in an introductory course at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico were explored (n = 115). A mixed methodology was used in an exploratory-oriented research approach. The first stage consisted of the administration of a Likert scale attitudinal survey which was validated during the study's design process. The survey allowed collecting information about the participant's attitudes towards their personal opinion, their perspectives about peer's or relatives' opinion, relevant aspects of the discipline, and difficulty-increasing factors in the chemistry course. The scale internal reliability was measured in a pilot study with a convenience simple, obtaining an acceptable coefficient (Cronbach alpha = 0.731). Survey results evidenced a mainly neutral attitude towards the chemistry course, not highly negative or highly positive, in contrast with other studies in this field. On the other hand, the normality hypothesis was tested for the scores obtained by participants in the survey. Although the pilot study sample had an approximately normal distribution, the scores in obtained by the participants in the survey failed the normality test criteria. The second stage of the study was accomplished using a case study. Among the survey participants, some students were invited to in-depth interviews to elucidate the reasons why they have certain attitudes towards chemistry. Study time, instructor, motivation, term of study, and course schedule are the factors that interviewees agreed as contributors to success or failure in the chemistry course. Interview's participants emphasized that study time is determinant to pass the class. This methodological approach, quantitative followed by qualitative, was useful in describing the attitudes towards chemistry among university students of engineering.

Need for cognition and attitudes toward immigrants among russian students

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Sergei A. Shchebetenko

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The author examined how need for cognition may contribute to the attitudes toward immigrants among Russian students. It was shown that although need for cognition may not correlate with attitude toward immigrants directly it might either interact with other factors or influence several relations of attitudes. Specifically, low need for cognition may facilitate the application of immigrants' ethnicity as a cue for the attitudes toward immigrants. On the contrary, those participants having highneed for cognition probably may not use immigrants ethnicity as a cue for attitudes. Additionally, need for cognition might make attitudes toward immigrants more positive among Russian women comparing with Russian men. Furthermore, a positive correlation between perceived stereotypicity and attitude toward immigrants was eliminated among lowneed for cognition participants. Moreover, this correlation has become even negative among lowneed for cognition males. The results of the study are discussed.

Assessment of Environmental Attitudes and Risk Perceptions among University Students in Mersin, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Yapici, Gulcin; Ögenler, Oya; Kurt, Ahmet Öner; Koçaş, Fazıl; Şaşmaz, Tayyar

2017-01-01

Environmental destruction is one of the most important problems in this century. The aim of the study was to determine the environmental attitudes and perceived risks associated with environmental factors of the students. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 7 faculties of Mersin University. The research data were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, the "Environmental Attitudes Scale," and the "Environmental Risk Perception Scale." 774 students who filled out questionnaires were evaluated. The sample included 55.8% females. Environmental Attitudes Scale mean scores of students were identified as 81.1 ± 11.3. The highest perceived risk was release of radioactive materials associated with nuclear power generation. The environmental attitudes and risk perception scores were higher in Health Sciences than in the other faculties. Females were more positive towards the environment and had higher risk perceptions than the men. There is a negative correlation between age and resource depletion risk and global environmental risk score. Students had a positive attitude to the environment and had moderate-level risk perception about the environment. Environmental awareness of students, especially those studying in the Social Sciences, should be increased. The environmental education curriculum should be revised throughout all the courses.

Knowledge of Genetics and Attitudes toward Genetic Testing among College Students in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Olwi, Duaa; Merdad, Leena; Ramadan, Eman

2016-01-01

Genetic testing has been gradually permeating the practice of medicine. Health-care providers may be confronted with new genetic approaches that require genetically informed decisions which will be influenced by patients' knowledge of genetics and their attitudes toward genetic testing. This study assesses the knowledge of genetics and attitudes toward genetic testing among college students. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a multistage stratified sample of 920 senior college students enrolled at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Information regarding knowledge of genetics, attitudes toward genetic testing, and sociodemographic data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. In general, students had a good knowledge of genetics but lacked some fundamentals of genetics. The majority of students showed positive attitudes toward genetic testing, but some students showed negative attitudes toward certain aspects of genetic testing such as resorting to abortion in the case of an untreatable major genetic defect in an unborn fetus. The main significant predictors of knowledge were faculty, gender, academic year, and some prior awareness of 'genetic testing'. The main significant predictors of attitudes were gender, academic year, grade point average, and some prior awareness of 'genetic testing'. The knowledge of genetics among college students was higher than has been reported in other studies, and the attitudes toward genetic testing were fairly positive. Genetics educational programs that target youths may improve knowledge of genetics and create a public perception that further supports genetic testing. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Attitudes of Sri Lankan medical students toward learning communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Marambe, Kosala N; Edussuriya, D H; Dayaratne, K M P L

2012-01-01

The General Medical Council of the UK, advocates that by the end of their undergraduate course, medical students should be proficient in communicating with patients. However, the attitude of some medical students toward formal training in communication skills seems lukewarm. Although several studies on assessing attitudes of medical students on learning communication skills have been carried out in Europe and America, Asian studies are very few and literature in the Sri Lankan context is lacking. To explore the attitudes of first to fourth year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya (FOMUP), Sri Lanka on learning communication skills and to identify possible factors that may influence student attitudes. A total of 675 students from year 1 to 4 of the FOMUP were asked to complete a modified version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Items of its positive attitude scale (PAS) were analyzed together while negative items were considered individually. Response rates ranged from 70% to 98% for the various year groups. There were no significant differences between the PAS for males and females and for those exposed to formal training and those who were not. The junior students scored significantly higher on the PAS than seniors. Most students of all the groups disagreed with the item "I don't see why I should learn communication skills". Approximately one-quarter of the students of each group endorsed the statement "Nobody is going to fail their medical degree for having poor communication skills". Out of the students who have undergone formal communication training, almost one-third agreed that they find it difficult to take communication skills learning seriously. Although medical students seem to have realized the importance of communication skills training for the practice of medicine, a significant minority have reservations on attending such sessions. Sri Lanka faculty will need to make a concerted effort to change this

Medical student attitudes about mental illness: does medical-school education reduce stigma?

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Korszun, Ania; Dinos, Sokratis; Ahmed, Kamran; Bhui, Kamaldeep

2012-05-01

Reducing stigma associated with mental illness is an important aim of medical education, yet evidence indicates that medical students' attitudes toward patients with mental health problems deteriorate as they progress through medical school. Authors examined medical students' attitudes to mental illness, as compared with attitudes toward other medical illness, and the influence of the number of years spent in medical school, as well as of several key socio-demographic, ethnic, and cultural variables. A group of 760 U.K. medical students completed a nationwide on-line survey examining their attitudes toward patients with five conditions (pneumonia, depression, psychotic symptoms, intravenous drug use, long-standing unexplained abdominal complaints), using the Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS). Students were also asked whether they had completed the psychiatry rotation or had personal experience of mental disorders themselves or among their friends or family members. They were also asked about their ethnic group (using U.K. national census categories), religious affiliation, and how important religion was in their lives. Independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to compare differences between groups on the MCRS. Students showed the highest regard for patients with pneumonia and lowest regard for patients with long-standing, unexplained abdominal complaints. Although attitudes toward pneumonia were more positive in fifth-year students than in first-year students, attitudes toward unexplained chronic abdominal pain were worse in fifth-year students than in first-year students. Personal experience of mental health treatment, or that among family and friends, were associated with less stigmatizing attitudes. Men showed more stigmatization than women for nearly all conditions; Chinese and South Asian students showed more stigmatizing attitudes toward delusions and hallucinations than their white British counterparts. Medical students in this survey

Speech pathology student clinician attitudes and beliefs towards people who stutter: A mixed-method pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Koutsodimitropoulos, Ellen; Buultjens, Melissa; St Louis, Kenneth O; Monfries, Melissa

2016-03-01

Stuttering is a disorder of fluency that extends beyond its physical nature and has social, emotional and vocational impacts. Research shows that individuals often exhibit negative attitudes towards people who stutter; however, there is limited research on the attitudes and beliefs of speech pathology students towards people who stutter in Australia. Existing research is predominantly quantitative; whereas this mixed-method study placed an emphasis on the qualitative component. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and beliefs of final year Australian speech pathology students towards people who stutter. This mixed-method study applied the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes - Stuttering (POSHA-S) and semi-structured interviews to gather data from final year speech pathology students from a major university in Australia. The overall qualitative findings identified that final year Australian speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. The results also illustrated the role of education in influencing attitudes of students as well as increasing their confidence to work with people who stutter. This research revealed that Australian final year speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. They displayed an understanding that people who stutter may have acquired traits such as shyness as a response to their personal situation and environment, rather than those traits being endemic to them. Results also suggested that education can play a role in creating confident student clinicians in their transition to practice, and positively influence their attitudes and beliefs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between students' interests in science and attitudes toward nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komiya, Izumi; Torii, Hiroyuki; Fujii, Yasuhiko; Hayashizaki, Noriyosu

2008-01-01

In order to study the following two points, we conducted an attitude survey among senior high school students. Study 1 The differences in attitudes between nuclear power generation and other science and technologies. Study 2 The relationship between student's interest in science and attitudes toward nuclear power generation. In the questionnaire, the attitude toward nuclear power generation consisted of four questions: (1) pros and cons, (2) safety, (3) necessity, (4) reliability of scientists and engineers who are involved in nuclear power; and we treat four science and technology issues: (1) genetically modified foods, (2) nuclear power generation, (3) humanoid and pet robots, (4) crone technology. From study 1, on attitude to security toward nuclear power generation, about 80% of respondents answered negatively and on attitude to necessity toward it, about 75% of respondents answered positively. Therefore, we found that the structure of attitude was complicated and that it was specific to nuclear power generation. From study 2, we found students' interests in science that influence the attitude toward nuclear power generation. (author)

Ethnic differences in attitudes and bias toward older people comparing White and Asian nursing students.

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Lee, Young-Shin

2015-03-01

To identify attitudes and bias toward aging between Asian and White students and identify factors affecting attitudes toward aging. A cross-sectional sample of 308 students in a nursing program completed the measure of Attitudes Toward Older People and Aging Quiz electronically. There were no differences in positive attitudes and pro-aged bias between Asian and White groups, but Asian students had significantly more negative attitudes and anti-aged bias toward older people than White students. Multiple regression analysis showed ethnicity/race was the strongest variable to explain negative attitudes toward older people. Feeling uneasy about talking to older adults was the most significant factor to explain all attitudinal concepts. Asian students were uneasy about talking with older people and had negative attitudes toward older adults. To become competent in cross-cultural care and communication in nursing, educational strategies to reduce negative attitudes on aging are necessary. © The Author(s) 2014.

A comparison of nurse teachers' and student nurses' attitudes toward hospitalised older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

McLafferty, Ella

2005-08-01

Studies have demonstrated that gerontological content can have a positive effect on student nurses' attitudes toward older adults. However, few studies have attempted to investigate nurse teachers' attitudes toward older people. Yet authors acknowledge the importance of both clinical nurses and teachers in the socialisation process. The aim of this study is to compare the attitudes of student nurses with those of nurse teachers toward working with hospitalised older adults. A questionnaire was developed, piloted and refined until the final outcome was a 20 item questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to nurse teachers (n=59); first year student nurses who had completed their first term of theory (n=82); student nurses who had completed a theory and a clinical placement (n=80). Statistical analysis of the data included ANOVA with a post hoc comparison. Results indicated that nurse teachers were most positive for a number of items on the questionnaire. However, they were least positive about their role in promoting an interest in older people and keeping up to date about advances in the field of older people. It is the responsibility of both teachers and clinical staff to dispel stereotypes that student nurses bring in to nursing.

HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors Assessment of Chinese Students: A Questionnaire Study

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Chaojun Xie

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to assess students' knowledge, attitudes and practices on HIV and AIDS. A questionnaire was administered to a cross section of 259 Chinese undergraduates. Respondents were asked to provide information about knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS. Study results indicated that the majority of undergraduates had a moderate level of HIV and AIDS knowledge, acceptance and attitudes towards people with HIV and AIDS. Boys had more acceptance and positive attitudes towards people with HIV and AIDS than girls. Students majoring in medicine performed better (more knowledgeable and accepting than non-medical students. Differences between students with various monthly expenditures were found-- 6.2% of students had 3-5 sexual partners which has rarely been found in Chinese students; most students did not know HIV VCT centers and most students did not show their confidence for controlling of HIV and AIDS in China. In conclusion, students’ knowledge about HIV/AIDS was uneven. A peer educational program to talk about self esteem, healthy sexual attitudes, being human-accepting and loving should be developed in the near future.

Secondary students' attitudes towards mathematics | Asante | IFE ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Attitudes towards mathematics and associated anxiety have been known to plague students with diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to investigate senior high student's attitudes towards mathematics and to explore sex differences in attitudes towards mathematics among students in Accra.

Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Students and Graduates about Clinical Governance

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Rana Gholamzadeh nikjoo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives : In order to implement clinical governance successfully, it should be perceived positively and there must be a positive attitude towards it. The current policy of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education about clinical governance requires assessing the knowledge and attitudes of medical students to identify their educational needs and the necessary steps needed to be taken in educational planning, designing and modification of the courses. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of medical students and graduates about clinical governance in 1391. Materials and Methods : This is a descriptive–analytic study. This research was conducted on 159 students from different medical fields simple random sampling method. For data collecting, a researcher-made questionnaire was used which its validity was confirmed by using content validity and construct validity. To determine the reliability of the questionnaire, internal consistency and Cronbach's Alpha were used for field of knowledge (0.78 and attitude (0.68. For data analysis, SPSS version 11.5 software was applied using exploratory factor analysis method. Results : 64% of the participants were female and 36% were male. 71% of the participants were in the health care management field and 29% from other medical fields. Mean and standard deviation of knowledge and attitude scores were 64.2 ± 5.8 and 13.06 ± 3.02 respectively. Comparing the students' and graduates’ knowledge and attitudes with their educational level showed no significant correlation. (P> 0.05 Although, there was a significant correlation between educational level and attitude (P = 0.001. In higher levels of education, students' attitude towards clinical governance reduced. Conclusion : The knowledge of medical students and graduates was estimated average to high about clinical governance but their attitude was very poor. This reflects negative views of medical students despite the

The attitude of the faculty of sport and physical education students toward cross-country running

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Juhas Irina

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The syllabus of the track and field subject at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education includes cross-country running - running in nature. The main objective of this study was to determine the structure and intensity of students' attitude toward the cross-country running. Besides, the objective was to check the connection of the students' attitude towards the cross-country running and the achieved results of cross-country running, as well as of doing sport and recreational running. The sample comprised 69 students of the second year of studies who attended the cross-country running classes. For measuring the attitude toward the cross-country running, the Connotative differential instrument was used consisting of 15 pairs of opposite adjectives presented in a form of seven-part bipolar scale grouped into three dimensions: affective, cognitive and conative. This instrument was applied within an extensive questionnaire which included questions about doing sports, jogging, as well as the results of cross-country running at the end of the teaching period. The descriptive analysis has shown that students have a positive attitude of moderate intensity toward cross-country running, observed through all three dimensions of attitude. The correlation analysis between the dimensions of attitude toward cross country running and the results achieved at cross country running showed that the correlations are negative and statistically significant, suggesting that if the result of running is better, the students' attitude toward cross country running is more positive. Competitive sport is not connected with the quality of attitude toward cross-country running. The results obtained by the study give grounds for assuming that, given that attitudes are an important component of the motivational aspect of personality, it can be expected that the students' positive attitude toward cross country running would contribute to cross country running application in

Attitudes on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide among medical students in Athens.

Science.gov (United States)

Kontaxakis, Vp; Paplos, K G; Havaki-Kontaxaki, B J; Ferentinos, P; Kontaxaki, M-I V; Kollias, C T; Lykouras, E

2009-10-01

Attitudes towards assisted death activities among medical students, the future health gatekeepers, are scarce and controversial. The aims of this study were to explore attitudes on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide among final year medical students in Athens, to investigate potential differences in attitudes between male and female medical students and to review worldwide attitudes of medical students regarding assisted death activities. A 20- item questionnaire was used. The total number of participants was 251 (mean age 24.7±1.8 years). 52.0% and 69.7% of the respondents were for the acceptance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, respectively. Women's attitudes were more often influenced by religious convictions as well as by the fact that there is a risk that physician-assisted suicide might be misused with certain disadvantaged groups. On the other hand, men more often believed that a request for physician-assisted suicide from a terminally ill patient is prima-facie evidence of a mental disorder, usually depression. Concerning attitudes towards euthanasia among medical students in various countries there are contradictory results. In USA, the Netherlands, Hungary and Switzerland most of the students supported euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. However, in many other countries such as Norway, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Italy, Germany, Sudan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico most students expressed negative positions regarding euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.

Attitudes of prejudice as a predictor of cultural competence among baccalaureate nursing students.

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Dunagan, Pamela B; Kimble, Laura P; Gunby, Susan Sweat; Andrews, Margaret M

2014-06-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between attitudes of prejudice and cultural competence among nursing students. Using a mixed-methods design, a convenience sample of students (N = 129) currently enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program was recruited via Web networking. Data regarding attitudes of prejudice, cultural competence, prior cultural experience, and integration of cultural competence were obtained via a Web-based survey. Multiple linear regression was used to predict cultural knowledge, attitudes, and consciousness. Although all three regression models were statistically significant, the significant predictors varied within each model. Greater prejudice was a significant predictor of less culturally competent attitudes toward providing nursing care. Existing prejudice among nursing students needs to be addressed to help promote positive cultural attitudes and, ultimately, cultural competent nursing care.

Analysis of student attitudes towards e-learning using Fishbein Multiattribute approach

Science.gov (United States)

Jasuli

2018-01-01

This research aimed to know students’ attitudes toward e-learning and to determine what attributes were considered to be dominant by students toward the use of e-learning. The research population was all postgraduate students in the 2016 academic year at Universitas Negeri Surabaya. The sampling technique is using nonprobability sampling and purposive sampling with the sample totaled 100 respondents. The research instrument is using questionnaire with semantic differential scale. The models used to analyze is multi-attribute Fishbein model. The findings indicated that student attitudes toward e-learning are positive and easy accessibility which is considered as the most important attribute by students toward the use of e-learning.

Towards the ASEAN Community: Assessing the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Aspirations of Thai University Students

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Pinn Siraprapasiri

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article assesses the knowledge of, attitudes towards, and aspirations for ASEAN among Thai university students, who are set to enter the ASEAN Community labour market and are among those most in touch with ASEAN issues. It uses data obtained from a countrywide survey and focus group discussions to identify variables that affect knowledge, attitudes, and aspirations and to explore the relationships between knowledge, attitudes, and aspirations. The quantitative analysis conducted here uses students’ fields of study, academic performance, and exposure to both ASEAN-related courses and also information and discussions about ASEAN in the mass media and public forums as predictors of their level of knowledge about ASEAN. The paper’s results confirm that positive attitudes towards ASEAN lead to positive aspirations for ASEAN. They also reveal that significant knowledge about ASEAN cannot, in isolation, adequately explain students’ attitudes towards ASEAN and does not always lead to positive attitudes. These findings and those obtained from the focus group discussions suggest that a high level of knowledge and understanding of fellow ASEAN member countries and their people – whether attained through formal or informal education or social interaction – is needed for students to develop positive attitudes and become aspiring members of the ASEAN Community.

Generalization of positive and negative attitudes towards individuals to outgroup attitudes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stark, Tobias; Flache, Andreas; Veenstra, René

The generalization of attitudes toward individual outgroup members into attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole can affect intergroup relations. However, little is known about the relative strengths of the generalization of negative and positive interpersonal attitudes into attitudes about the

Understanding the Relationship between Student Attitudes and Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Michael J.; McDaniel, Mark A.; Frey, Regina F.; Hynes, K. Mairin; Repice, Michelle; Zhao, Jiuqing; Trousil, Rebecca

2018-01-01

Student attitudes, defined as the extent to which one holds expertlike beliefs about and approaches to physics, are a major research topic in physics education research. An implicit but rarely tested assumption underlying much of this research is that student attitudes play a significant part in student learning and performance. The current study…

Change of medical student attitudes toward psychiatry: the impact of the psychiatric clerkship.

Science.gov (United States)

Gazdag, Gábor; Zsargó, Eszter; Vukov, Péter; Ungvari, Gabor S; Tolna, Judit

2009-01-01

Psychiatry - as a profession - is getting less and less popular among medical students resulting in a dramatic decrease in number of those choosing this field as a future career. This study set out to investigate how undergraduate psychiatric training influenced the attitudes toward psychiatry and the career choices of fifth-year Hungarian medical students. Students' attitudes toward psychiatry were measured by the ATP-30 and their preference for a career in medicine was also inquired about. The mean total ATP-30 score of the 71 participants only moderately increased (109.28 +/- 11.82 vs. 111.08 +/- 11.94; p=0.186). However, in some respects participants' views about psychiatry and psychiatric patients turned significantly positive, and a few misconceptions abated. Yet, the mean score on the item "I would like to be a psychiatrist" dropped significantly (1.94 +/- 0.89 vs. 1.68 +/- 0.79; p=0.023). The mean ATP-30 scores indicate that the attitude of Hungarian medical students toward psychiatry is rather positive compared to students from other countries. Our findings suggest that undergraduate exposure to psychiatry does not have a major impact on student attitudes toward the profession; in fact, psychiatry became less attractive following the clinical clerkship. On the whole, the number of students willing to enter the psychiatric workforce is critically low in relation to the growing demand in Hungary.

Attitudes and intellectual development of further education science students

Science.gov (United States)

El-Farargy, Nancy Ibrahim

The world of teaching and learning in the sciences in the Further Education (FE) sector is relatively under-researched. This study, across Scottish FE colleges, has sought to define some of the key landmarks in the area of the sciences, looking specifically at the students and their college experiences by means of surveys, interviews and curriculum intervention. The study started from the issue, observed personally, of students finding the learning of chemistry for a nursing course as being problematic. The main aim was to explore the key issues of science in FE, focussing on problems and successes. The attitudes, intellectual development and self perceptions of students have all been considered. The study explores the attitudes and self perceptions of over 800 learners studying the sciences at ten Scottish colleges. Demographic data, prior learning experiences and current learning attitudes to science and learning were obtained by means of questionnaires and interviews. Intellectual development data was obtained using an adaptation of the Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development. Further interview data were obtained with participating students at various stages of their learning experiences. The results show that, in general, students have varied backgrounds, aspirations and reasons for learning in FE. The learning experiences obtained at college were, in general, viewed to be very positive. In addition, the participating lecturers in Further Education college classes were viewed in a very positive light. In most cases, attitudes towards students learning experiences at college were viewed more positively than at school level, this being a greater emphasis for biology than chemistry. In addition, the role of the teacher at school level could be seen clearly in developing positive attitudes to science. In relating this back to school experience, it was found that those who had positive attitudes to science at school level, correlated more with intentions of

Positive dissimilarity attitudes in multicultural organizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauring, Jakob; Selmer, Jan

2012-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to contribute to the field of diversity studies with novel insights on how language diversity and communication frequency influence dissimilarity attitudes. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine language diversity and communication frequency...... attitudes, namely openness to linguistic, visible and informational diversity. Contradicting our predictions, language diversity had positive associations with all variables portraying positive dissimilarity attitudes. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail. Originality/value – Few prior...

Factors Associated with Primary School Teachers' Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaz, Sharmila; Wilson, Nathan; Falkmer, Marita; Sim, Angela; Scott, Melissa; Cordier, Reinie; Falkmer, Torbjörn

2015-01-01

Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion are often based on the practical implementation of inclusive education rather than a specific ideology and understanding of inclusiveness. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with primary school teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with all disabilities in regular schools. Seventy four primary school teachers participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted in Western Australia. Teachers' attitudes and efficacy toward integration of students with disabilities were measured using the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities scale and Bandura's Teacher Efficacy scale respectively. Four teacher attributes-age, gender, teaching self-efficacy and training collectively explained 42% of the variability in teachers' attitude toward including students with disabilities. The current study further contributes to the accumulation of knowledge that can unpack the complex pattern of factors that should be considered to promote positive attitudes towards inclusive schools.

The Attitudes of Secondary School Students Toward School And Reading: A Comparison In Terms of Mother Tongue, Gender And Class Level

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Mustafa Yıldız

2018-01-01

Full Text Available It is important to determine whether the school attitude of secondary school students has an influence on the reading attitude. For this purpose, such a study was conducted at secondary school level. In addition, the extent to which such variables as mother tongue are determinative in this context has been examined.The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the attitudes of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade secondary school students toward the school and reading. In addition, the study also examines whether the attitude towards reading and school differs according to gender, class, and mother tongue variables. A total of 513 students (235 females, 278 males attending secondary school in the province of Van in Turkeyparticipated in the research. In the study, Attitude Scale toward Reading developed by Alıcı (2013 is used in order to measure the attitudes of the students towards the school. Additionally, Reading Attitude Scale for Elementary Second Grade Students developed by Özbay and Uyar (2009 isused to measure the students’ attitudes towards reading. According to the results, there is a moderate significant relation between students’ attitudes toward the school and attitudes toward reading. According to the findings obtained from the study,it is seen that the attitudes of female students toward the school are more positive than those of male students. It is concluded that the attitudes of 5th grade students toward the school are more positive than those of the other students. Furthermore, students whose mother tongue is Turkish have more positive reading attitudes than the students whose mother tongue is Kurdish or one of other languages (Arabic, Persian, and so on.

Knowledge and attitudes toward vaccination: A survey of Serbian students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cvjetkovic, Smiljana J; Jeremic, Vida Lj; Tiosavljevic, Danijela V

Since vaccination coverage in Serbia has been decreasing and health professionals have been identified as the most important factor in making decisions about immunization, vaccination knowledge and attitudes of students, especially medical students, are of particular interest. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on three groups of 509 Belgrade University students (medical, law and engineering students). The data were collected using an on-line questionnaire posted to student groups and included the Vaccine Knowledge Questionnaire and Attitudes Toward Vaccination Scale. This survey also included questions about demographic characteristics and perceived negative experiences. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed. There was a significant difference in the Vaccine Knowledge score (F=40.48, pstudents. Medical students (N=251, Mean=4.47, SD=1.71) had significantly higher mean knowledge scores than did law (N=128, Mean=2.80, SD=1.56) or engineering students (N=130, Mean=3.98, SD=1.81). Compared with the law (Mean=49.77, SD=10.23) and engineering students (Mean=57.62, SD=12.21), medical students (Mean=59.52, SD=9.62) also had significantly higher attitude scores (F=37.56, pstudents toward immunization. However, some knowledge gaps were identified. Multivariate analysis showed that those who had better vaccine knowledge, those who studies medicine, those who attended at university for more years, and those who do not know someone who had a negative experience with vaccines were more likely to have positive attitudes toward vaccination. Considering the growing vaccination hesitance in the general population, this is an important result that indicates that medical students are possible important participants in future public health campaigns. A strong association between vaccine knowledge and attitudes implies recommendations to introduce a specialized vaccination curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of medical study. Copyright © 2017 The

American Student Attitudes toward Foreign Students before and during an International Crisis.

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Matross, Ronald; And Others

1982-01-01

Surveyed domestic students' attitudes toward foreign students before and after the seizure of the U.S. hostages in Iran. Results showed most students did not change their attitudes toward foreign students, but did show increased support for funding international exchange programs. Attitudes were related to demographic characteristics and political…

Health Attitudes and Suicidal Ideation among University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrafioun, Lisham; Bonar, Erin; Conner, Kenneth R.

2016-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether positive health attitudes are associated with suicidal ideation among university students after accounting for other health risk factors linked to suicidal ideation. Participants: Participants were 690 undergraduates from a large midwestern university during fall semester 2011. Methods:…

Assessment of the environmental risk perceptions and environmental attitudes of nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayan, Betül; Kaya, Hatice

2016-12-01

This is a descriptive study examining nursing students' perceptions of the environmental risks and their environmental attitudes. The study population comprised 2364 nursing students studying at universities in Istanbul in the fall semester of the 2012-2013 academic year. The sampling group was formed by 778 students which were selected by a stratified random sampling procedure. The data were collected using "The Student Personal Information Form", "The Environmental Risk Perception Scale" and "The Environmental Attitudes Scale". The students' mean score on perceptions of environmental risk was 6.04 ± 0.81(min 2.56; max 7.00) and the mean score of their environmental attitudes was 4.02 ± 0.47(min 2.28; max 5.00). It was determined that factors such as gender, interest in environmental issues, endorsement of the college course on environment as necessary, and participation in an environmental activity and awareness of non-government environmental organizations affected the environmental risk perception and environmental attitudes. A moderate positive relationship (r = 0.366, p environmental risk perceptions and their environmental attitudes. Effective environmental education should be planned at all stages of the nursing education.

Medical students' attitudes toward gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Matharu, Kabir; Kravitz, Richard L; McMahon, Graham T; Wilson, Machelle D; Fitzgerald, Faith T

2012-08-08

Healthcare providers' attitudes toward sexual minorities influence patient comfort and outcomes. This study characterized medical student attitudes toward gay men, focusing on behavior, personhood, gay civil rights, and male toughness. A cross-sectional web-based anonymous survey was sent to medical students enrolled at the University of California, Davis (N = 371) with a response rate of 68%. Few respondents expressed negative attitudes toward gay men or would deny them civil rights. More negative responses were seen with respect to aspects of intimate behavior and homosexuality as a natural form of sexual expression. Men and students younger than 25 years old were more likely to endorse negative attitudes toward behavior as well as more traditional views on male toughness. We show that an important minority of students express discomfort with the behavior of gay men and hold to a narrow construction of male identity. These findings suggest that competency training must move beyond conceptual discussions and address attitudes toward behaviors through new pedagogical approaches.

Attitude toward mathematics among the students at Nazarbayev University Foundation Year Programme

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Karjanto, N.

2017-08-01

This article investigates the attitude toward mathematics among the students enrolled in the Foundation Year Programme at Nazarbayev University. The study is conducted quantitatively and an inventory developed by Tapia and Marsh II is adopted in this research. The inventory consists of 40 statements on the five-point Likert scale. Gender, specialization and final high school score in mathematics are collected. The number of valid returned questionnaires is 108. There are 55 males, 53 females, 73 Mathematical-Physics (MP), 22 Biology-Chemistry (BC) and 13 International Relations-Economics (IRE) students. Generally, they have a positive attitude toward mathematics, with the score mean and standard deviation are 3.999 and 0.531 out of five, respectively. We confirm a hypothesis on a positive correlation between previous high achievement in mathematics and favorable attitude toward it. The correlation value is r = 0.300, its effect size is medium and it is extremely significant (p-value = 0.0008 0.05). There is a very significant difference between students who specialize in IRE and MP in terms of their attitude toward mathematics (F(2, 105) = 5.6848, p-value = 0.0045 < 0.01).

Do Inquiring Minds Have Positive Attitudes? The Science Education of Preservice Elementary Teachers

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Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Morton, Karisma; Moore, Chelsea; Chimonidou, Antonia; Labrake, Cynthia; Kopp, Sacha

2016-01-01

Due to their potential impact on students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, the negative attitudes towards science held by many elementary teachers are a critical issue that needs to be addressed. This study focuses on the science education of pre-service elementary teachers with the goal of improving their attitudes before they begin their professional lives as classroom teachers. Specifically, this study builds on a small body of research to examine whether exposure to inquiry-based science content courses that actively involve students in the collaborative process of learning and discovery can promote a positive change in attitudes towards science across several different dimensions. To examine this issue, surveys and administrative data were collected from over 200 students enrolled in the Hands on Science (HoS) program for pre-service teachers at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as more than 200 students in a comparison group enrolled in traditional lecture-style classes. Quantitative analyses reveal that after participating in HoS courses, pre-service teachers significantly increased their scores on scales measuring confidence, enjoyment, anxiety, and perceptions of relevance, while those in the comparison group experienced a decline in favorable attitudes to science. These patterns offer empirical support for the attitudinal benefits of inquiry-based instruction and have implications for the future learning opportunities available to students at all education levels. PMID:27667862

Attitudes toward Same-Sex Attraction and Behavior among Chinese University Students: Tendencies, Correlates, and Gender Differences.

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Chi, Xinli; Hawk, Skyler T

2016-01-01

The present study examined Chinese university students' attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, the socio-demographic correlates of these attitudes, and the potential gender differences in both tendencies and correlates. A total of 2,644 Chinese university students (49.7% male, mean age = 20.27 years) indicated generally negative attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, with males reporting more negative attitudes than females. More years in university (i.e., higher grade levels), higher levels of maternal education, growing up in an urban area, and more frequent Internet use significantly predicted more positive attitudes. Gender significantly moderated one correlate: For female participants, a higher university grade was related to more positive attitudes; this correlation was not significant for male participants. The findings suggest valuable directions for related intervention practices for young people in China.

The effects of 3D interactive animated graphics on student learning and attitudes in computer-based instruction

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Moon, Hye Sun

Visuals are most extensively used as instructional tools in education to present spatially-based information. Recent computer technology allows the generation of 3D animated visuals to extend the presentation in computer-based instruction. Animated visuals in 3D representation not only possess motivational value that promotes positive attitudes toward instruction but also facilitate learning when the subject matter requires dynamic motion and 3D visual cue. In this study, three questions are explored: (1) how 3D graphics affects student learning and attitude, in comparison with 2D graphics; (2) how animated graphics affects student learning and attitude, in comparison with static graphics; and (3) whether the use of 3D graphics, when they are supported by interactive animation, is the most effective visual cues to improve learning and to develop positive attitudes. A total of 145 eighth-grade students participated in a 2 x 2 factorial design study. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of four computer-based instructions: 2D static; 2D animated; 3D static; and 3D animated. The results indicated that: (1) Students in the 3D graphic condition exhibited more positive attitudes toward instruction than those in the 2D graphic condition. No group differences were found between the posttest score of 3D graphic condition and that of 2D graphic condition. However, students in the 3D graphic condition took less time for information retrieval on posttest than those in the 2D graphic condition. (2) Students in the animated graphic condition exhibited slightly more positive attitudes toward instruction than those in the static graphic condition. No group differences were found between the posttest score of animated graphic condition and that of static graphic condition. However, students in the animated graphic condition took less time for information retrieval on posttest than those in the static graphic condition. (3) Students in the 3D animated graphic condition

South African Muslim students' attitudes to people with HIV / AIDS

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Winnie

to people with HIV scale, with students indicating positive attitudes to people with HIV. Higher religiosity was ... Whilst research in the 1990s indicated a gender difference in AIDS-related ..... Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of.

An Empirical Study of Hospitality Management Student Attitudes toward Group Projects: Instructional Factors and Team Problems

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Choi, Youngsoo; Ro, Heejung

2012-01-01

The development of positive attitudes in team-based work is important in management education. This study investigates hospitality students' attitudes toward group projects by examining instructional factors and team problems. Specifically, we examine how the students' perceptions of project appropriateness, instructors' support, and evaluation…

Factors Associated with Primary School Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

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Vaz, Sharmila; Wilson, Nathan; Falkmer, Marita; Sim, Angela; Scott, Melissa; Cordier, Reinie; Falkmer, Torbjörn

2015-01-01

Objective Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion are often based on the practical implementation of inclusive education rather than a specific ideology and understanding of inclusiveness. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with primary school teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with all disabilities in regular schools. Method Seventy four primary school teachers participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted in Western Australia. Teachers' attitudes and efficacy toward integration of students with disabilities were measured using the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities scale and Bandura's Teacher Efficacy scale respectively. Results Four teacher attributes—age, gender, teaching self-efficacy and training collectively explained 42% of the variability in teachers' attitude toward including students with disabilities. Conclusion The current study further contributes to the accumulation of knowledge that can unpack the complex pattern of factors that should be considered to promote positive attitudes towards inclusive schools. PMID:26317862

Factors Associated with Primary School Teachers' Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharmila Vaz

Full Text Available Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion are often based on the practical implementation of inclusive education rather than a specific ideology and understanding of inclusiveness. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with primary school teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with all disabilities in regular schools.Seventy four primary school teachers participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted in Western Australia. Teachers' attitudes and efficacy toward integration of students with disabilities were measured using the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities scale and Bandura's Teacher Efficacy scale respectively.Four teacher attributes-age, gender, teaching self-efficacy and training collectively explained 42% of the variability in teachers' attitude toward including students with disabilities.The current study further contributes to the accumulation of knowledge that can unpack the complex pattern of factors that should be considered to promote positive attitudes towards inclusive schools.

Medical student attitudes toward kidney physiology and nephrology: a qualitative study.

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Roberts, John K; Sparks, Matthew A; Lehrich, Ruediger W

2016-11-01

Interest in nephrology among trainees is waning in the USA. Early perceptions and attitudes to subject matter can be linked to the quality of pre-clinical curricula. We wanted to explore these attitudes in the setting of modern curriculum redesign. We utilized Q methodology to understand first-year medical student attitudes after an innovative kidney physiology curriculum redesign that focuses on blending multiple learning methods. First-year medical students were invited to take a Q sort survey at the conclusion of a kidney physiology course. Students prioritized statements related to their understanding of kidney physiology, learning preferences, preferred course characteristics, perceived clinical relevance of kidney physiology, and interest in nephrology as a career. Factor analysis was performed to identify different student viewpoints. At the conclusion of our modified course, all students (n = 108) were invited to take the survey and 44 (41%) Q sorts were returned. Two dominant viewpoints were defined according to interest in nephrology. The Potentials are students who understand kidney physiology, perceive kidney physiology as clinically relevant, attend class sessions, utilize videos, and are willing to shadow a nephrologist. The Uninterested are students who are less satisfied with their kidney physiology knowledge, prefer to study alone with a textbook, avoid lectures, and are not interested in learning about nephrology. In an updated renal physiology course, students that use multiple learning methods also have favorable attitudes toward learning kidney physiology. Thus, modern curriculum changes that accommodate a variety of learning styles may promote positive attitudes toward nephrology.

Hand hygiene of medical students and resident physicians: predictors of attitudes and behaviour.

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Barroso, Violeta; Caceres, Wendy; Loftus, Pooja; Evans, Kambria H; Shieh, Lisa

2016-09-01

We measured medical students' and resident trainees' hand hygiene behaviour, knowledge and attitudes in order to identify important predictors of hand hygiene behaviour in this population. An anonymous, web-based questionnaire was distributed to medical students and residents at Stanford University School of Medicine in August of 2012. The questionnaire included questions regarding participants' behaviour, knowledge, attitude and experiences about hand hygiene. Behaviour, knowledge and attitude indices were scaled from 0 to 1, with 1 representing superior responses. Using multivariate regression, we identified positive and negative predictors of superior hand hygiene behaviour. We investigated effectiveness of interventions, barriers and comfort reminding others. 280 participants (111 students and 169 residents) completed the questionnaire (response rate 27.8%). Residents and medical students reported hand hygiene behaviour compliance of 0.45 and 0.55, respectively (p=0.02). Resident and medical student knowledge was 0.80 and 0.73, respectively (p=0.001). The attitude index for residents was 0.56 and 0.55 for medical students. Regression analysis identified experiences as predictors of hand hygiene behaviour (both positive and negative influence). Knowledge was not a significant predictor of behaviour, but a working gel dispenser and observing attending physicians with good hand hygiene practices were reported by both groups as the most effective strategy in influencing trainees. Medical students and residents have similar attitudes about hand hygiene, but differ in their level of knowledge and compliance. Concerns about hierarchy may have a significant negative impact on hand hygiene advocacy. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Impact of an Oncology Course on the Attitudes of Freshman Medical Students.

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Appel, Marilyn H.; And Others

Previous attempts to change the prevailing negative attitudes of health professionals toward cancer and cancer patients have consisted mainly of elective courses for small groups of students at advanced levels of medical training. In order to develop more positive attitudes, the Cancer Coordinating Committee at the Medical College of Pennsylvania…

Measurement of student attitudes in first year engineering - A mixed methods approach

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Malik, Qaiser Hameed

This research study focused on freshman attitudes towards engineering in a newly implemented cornerstone sequence that emphasized holistic design experiences. The students' initial attitudes and changes in these attitudes were examined with the explanatory mixed methods approach that allows a sequential examination of the target population with two methods, using two sets of data, to investigate the treatment effects. In the quantitative phase, the study compared changes in freshman attitude towards engineering, between the new 'design sequence' group (composed of freshmen in the cornerstone sequence) and the prior 'traditional sequence' group (composed of all other freshmen), over the course of one semester. The data were collected in fall 2008 at two time intervals and changes in the two groups' attitudes were examined with repeated measures analysis of covariance models. The analyses reported here include data from 389 students out of the total population of 722 freshmen. The analyses revealed that engineering freshmen joined the program with positive or strongly positive attitudes towards engineering. Those strong attitudes were durable and resistant to change. Students in the design sequence group had higher ACT scores, enjoyed math and science the most, and did not believe engineering to be an exact science. However, no appreciable time-group interaction was observed. To validate the quantitative results, an interview protocol was developed to investigate initial freshman attitudes and changes, if any, that took place as a result of the new cornerstone sequence. One-on-one interviews with a sample of ten students out of the population of 272 freshmen revealed that freshmen in the cornerstone sequence entered the program full of enthusiasm and idealism, and with strongly positive attitudes towards engineering. The strong motivational factors included parental/teacher influences, childhood motivations, and high school extra-curricular experiences. The

The relationship between recollection, knowledge transfer, and student attitudes towards chemistry

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Odeleye, Oluwatobi Omobonike

Certain foundational concepts, including acid-base theory, chemical bonding and intermolecular forces (IMFs), appear throughout the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. The level of understanding of these foundational concepts influences the ability of students to recognize the relationships between sub-disciplines in chemistry. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student attitudes towards chemistry and their abilities to recollect and transfer knowledge of IMFs, a foundational concept, to their daily lives as well as to other classes. Data were collected using surveys, interviews and classroom observations, and analyzed using qualitative methods. The data show that while most students were able to function at lower levels of thinking by providing a definition of IMFs, majority were unable to function at higher levels of thinking as evidenced by their inability to apply their knowledge of IMFs to their daily lives and other classes. The results of this study suggest a positive relationship between students' abilities to recollect knowledge and their abilities to transfer that knowledge. The results also suggest positive relationships between recollection abilities of students and their attitudes towards chemistry as well as their transfer abilities and attitudes towards chemistry. Recommendations from this study include modifications of pedagogical techniques in ways that facilitate higher-level thinking and emphasize how chemistry applies not only to daily life, but also to other courses.

School ethnic diversity and White students' civic attitudes in England.

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Janmaat, Jan Germen

2015-01-01

The current paper focuses on White British students in lower secondary education and investigates the effect of school ethnic diversity on their levels of trust and inclusive attitudes towards immigrants. Use is made of panel data of the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) to explore these relationships. Ethnic diversity is measured with the proportion of students in a grade identifying with a minority. In agreement with contact theory, the paper initially finds a positive relation between diversity and inclusive attitudes on immigrants. However, this link disappears once controls for social background, gender and prior levels of the outcome are included in the model. This indicates that students with particular pre-enrolment characteristics have self-selected in diverse schools and that inclusive attitudes have stabilized before secondary education. Diversity further appears to have a negative impact on trust, irrespective of the number of controls added to the model. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Occupational therapy students' attitudes towards inclusion education in Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Keli; Brown, Ted; Peyton, Claudia G; Rodger, Sylvia; Huang, Yan-Hua; Wu, Chin-Yu; Watson, Callie; Stagnitti, Karen; Hutton, Eve; Casey, Jackie; Hong, Chia Swee

2010-03-01

This international, cross-cultural study investigated the attitudes of occupational therapy students from Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Taiwan towards inclusive education for students with disabilities. The possible impact of professional education on students' attitudes was also explored. A total of 485 students from 11 entry-level occupational therapy education programmes from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Taiwan participated in the study. Among them, 264 were freshmen (first-year students) and 221 were seniors (final-year students). Data collected from a custom-designed questionnaire were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In general, the occupational therapy students reported having positive attitudes towards inclusion. Considerable differences, however, existed among the student groups from the four countries. Professional education appeared to have a significant impact on students' attitudes towards inclusion from first year to senior year. Although students were in favour of inclusion, they also cautioned that their support for inclusive practices depended on various factors such as adequate preparation, support and assistance to students with disabilities. Limitations of the study included the small, convenience sample and different degree structures of the participating programmes. Future research studies need to compare occupational therapy students' attitudes with students from other health care professions. A longitudinal study on the impact of the professional education programme on students' attitudes towards inclusive education is warranted.

The Effects of Psychomotor Skills Instruction on Attitude toward Singing and General Music among Students in Grades 4-6.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Kenneth H.; Aitchison, Randall E.

1998-01-01

Investigates the relationship of psychomotor skills instruction on student attitudes in grades 4-6 towards singing and general music instruction. Finds females have more positive attitudes, interest declines as grade-level increases, group vocal instruction may produce more positive attitudes, and a positive relationship between liking to sing in…

Turkish nursing students' attitudes towards voluntary induced abortion.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanikkerem, Emre; Üstgörül, Sema; Karakus, Asli; Baydar, Ozge; Esmeray, Nicole; Ertem, Gül

2018-03-01

To evaluate Turkish nursing students' attitudes towards voluntary induced abortion.. This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and June 2015, comprising students of Ege University Nursing Faculty and Celal Bayar University School of Health, located in two different cities of Turkey. Data was collected with a three-part questionnaire, focussing on students' characteristics, the knowledge of abortion law in Turkey and attitudes towards voluntary induced abortion. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis.. The mean score of students' attitude towards voluntary induced abortion was 39.8±7.9 which shows that nursing students moderately support abortion. Female students, students coming from upper class in society, and students who had higher family income and sexual experiences had more supportiveness attitudes towards voluntary induced abortion (pabortion.

Assessing Student Attitudes Towards Science in an Adaptive Online Astrobiology Course: Comparing Online and On-Campus Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Buxner, S.; Perera, V.; Mead, C.; Horodyskyj, L.; Semken, S. C.; Lopatto, D.; Anbar, A. D.

2016-12-01

General-education Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses are considered essential to a college education, in part, to train students to think critically and to make informed decisions about complex scientific issues such as climate change and public health. Therefore, the goals of these STEM courses go beyond content knowledge to include generating positive attitudes towards science, developing competence in evaluating scientific information in everyday life, and understanding the nature of science. The Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) survey is frequently used to measure these attitudes, but it has not previously been used in an online, general education course. In this work, we administered the CURE survey for three semesters (N = 774) before and after completion of an online astrobiology course called Habitable Worlds. We compare students taking this course as part of fully-online degree programs (o-course) with those taking it as part of traditional undergraduate programs (i-course). More females and older students were among the o-course group, while overall the course had more white students than the Arizona State University average. Mean course grades were similar between the two groups but attitudes toward science differred significantly. O-course students began the course with more positive attitudes than i-course students, and o-course students also showed more positive changes at the end of the course. These differences suggest lesser intrinsic motivation among the i-course students. Additionally, pre-course attitudes correlated with final course grade for o-course students, but not for i-course students, which implies that success among o-course students is influenced by different factors than i-course students. Thus, effective student support strategies may differ for online-only students. Future work will include student interviews to better calibrate the CURE survey to online science courses.

The Relationship of Disordered Eating Attitudes With Body Composition and Anthropometric Indices in Physical Education Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Rouzitalab, Tohid; Pourghassem Gargari, Bahram; Amirsasan, Ramin; Asghari Jafarabadi, Mohammad; Farsad Naeimi, Alireza; Sanoobar, Meisam

2015-11-01

Abnormal eating behavior, unhealthy weight control methods, and eating disordered symptoms have risen among college students. The aim of this study was to examine disordered eating attitudes and their relationship with anthropometric and body composition indices in physical education students in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 physical education students, 105 males and 105 females aged 18 to 25, who were selected by systematic random sampling from physical education faculty of Tabriz University in Tabriz, Iran, in 2013. Eating attitude test (EAT-26) was used for the assessment of disordered eating attitudes. In addition, anthropometric and body composition indices were assessed. About 10% of the studied subject had disturbed eating attitudes; significantly more males (15.4%) reported an EAT-26 ≥ 20 (disordered eating attitudes) than females (4.8%) (P EAT-26 score was positively correlated with weist perimeter (WP) (r = 0.21, P EAT-26 score was positively correlated with weight (r = 0.19, P eating attitude and healthy subjects, while in males there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the anthropometric and body composition indices. Abnormal eating attitude was notable among physical education students in Tabriz, Iran. It seems that some anthropometric indices such as BMI and central obesity indices were related to the increase of disordered eating attitude.

Impact of Interprofessional Simulation on Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Teamwork and Collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Linda; Ernstmeyer, Kim; Kirking, Ellen

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a multipatient, interprofessional simulation session on nursing students' attitudes toward nurse-physician collaboration using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration. Final-semester nursing students, along with medical resident and students from other health programs, participated in a simulation exercise that included a period of prebriefing, simulation, and debriefing. Participants completed pre- and postsimulation surveys to assess the impact on collaboration. In total, 268 nursing students completed the survey. Participants had a more positive attitude toward nurse-physician collaboration following the simulation event, compared with prior to it. Significant differences between male and female nursing students were found on mean postsimulation scores and for three of the four subscales of the tool. Interprofessional simulation may be an effective way to enhance collaborative relationships, which ultimately may influence patient safety and quality of care. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):321-327.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

The effect of positive and negative movie alcohol portrayals on transportation and attitude toward the movie.

Science.gov (United States)

Koordeman, Renske; Anschutz, Doeschka J; Engels, Rutger C M E

2014-07-01

This study examined the effects of alcohol portrayals on transportation and attitude toward a movie. In addition, we examined whether positive and negative movie alcohol portrayals affect transportation into and attitude toward the movie. A within-subject design was used in which participants were exposed to 8 different movie clips containing alcohol (positive or negative context) or no alcohol portrayals in a controlled laboratory setting. A total of 159 college students (84 males and 75 females) ages 18 to 30 participated in the experiment. Transportation and attitude toward the movie were measured after each movie clip. Participants were more transported into and had a more positive attitude toward movie clips with alcohol portrayals compared to the same movie clips with no alcohol portrayal. In addition, participants were more transported into movie clips with negative alcohol (NA) portrayals compared to clips with positive alcohol (PA) portrayals. For attitude toward the movie, opposite results were found. Participants had a more positive attitudes toward clips with PA portrayals compared to clips with NA portrayals. The way alcohol is portrayed in movies may contribute to how people evaluate and get transported in movies. Copyright © 2014 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Attitude toward living kidney donation: differences between students from two Spanish universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Alarcón, L; Ramis, G; Gómez-Laguna, J; Quereda, J J; Herrero-Medrano, J M; Mrowiec, A; Mendonça, L; López-Navas, A; Ríos, A

2015-01-01

Due to the current deficit of organs for transplantation, living kidney related donations (LKRD) should be promoted. Veterinarians often hold decision-making positions in the public health care system, and therefore can influence public opinion about organ donation. The objective was to analyze the attitude of Spanish veterinary students toward LKRD because they may influence public opinion in the future, and to determine the factors that condition it. The study was carried out among fifth-year veterinary science students from 2 southern and southeastern Spanish universities. The students' attitude toward LKRD was assessed using a psychosocial, anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. Statistics used were χ(2) test and Student t test. Data from the southern Spain university included a response rate of 87%. The survey showed that 94% of respondents would donate a kidney to a relative who needed it. This attitude toward LKRD was more favorable in women (P attitude was not associated with any psychosocial variables. However, only 58% would accept a kidney from a relative. There are no differences between the 2 universities (P = .879). Although the attitude of veterinary students from southern and southeastern Spain toward LKRD was very favorable and there are no differences between them, only 58% of the students would accept an organ from a relative. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONLINE RETAILING SERVICES: A COMPARISON OF STUDENT AND NON-STUDENT SAMPLES

OpenAIRE

Siohong Tih; Sean Ennis; June M. L. Poon

2008-01-01

This study examined the adequacy of using undergraduate student samples in research on online consumer attitudes by comparing the attitudes of students (n = 161) towards online retailing services with the attitudes of non-students (n = 252) towards such services. A structured questionnaire administered online was used to gather data on perceptions, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions with regard to online retailing services. The t-test results showed that, in general, students' attitude t...

Sexism and attitudes towards sexual diversity in mexican students of Social Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis-Manuel Rodríguez-Otero

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sexism and hostile attitudes towards people who differ from heteronormative model (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender and intersex are the result of socio-cultural phenomena such as patriarchy and heterocentrism. The draft of such attitudes in Social Work is a positive element in the revictimization of users. Since there is no research to analyze jointly homophobia, biphobia and Transphobia student of Social Work quantitative research arises in order to identify whether there are such attitudes in students in this discipline in Mexico. And identify whether these attitudes are related to each other and to the ambivalent sexism. To this end, various scales have been applied in analyzing paths liket format attitudes to 120 students from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. The results show average levels of sexism, homophobia, and transphobia biphobia, being decisive variables related to sex, age, religion and education level. Based on these results it is considered necessary to include content on gender and sexual diversity in the training plans of the degree of Social Work.

The attitudes of technical-school students towards assessments and motivation for studying physics

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Stanivuk Ljiljana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research presented in this paper was the analysis of the attitudes of the students of a secondary technical school towards assessments and motivation for studying physics. The research was conducted with the sample of462 first- and second-year students of several four-year course profiles in technical schools in Novi Sad and Subotica. Scaling was the used technique and the instrument was construed according to the five-point Likert scale for attitudes. The results show the following: (! the students have predominantly positive attitudes towards assessments in physics, the majority think that their grades are the result of their engagement, and only few students think that the subject teacher is responsible for their low grades, (2 the students are not sufficiently motivated for studying physics, (3 the attitudes of the students towards their grades affect their motivation for learning if they think that the teacher's assessments are not fair or the lessons are too big and complex. The paper ends with a suggestion that students' motivation for studying physics should be stimulated, and stresses the importance of assessments for motivation.

Teacher Electronic Portfolio and its Relation to EFL Student Teacher Performance and Attitude

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Areej T Alshawi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available E-portfolio is a promising approach to develop teachers into reflective practitioners who show that they can adapt to new technologies, new criteria, and new environments. The current research explored the quality of EFL student teachers’ e-portfolios and their attitudes towards using them. The research was conducted on 30 EFL female student teachers at Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia. The participants were engaging in practical training at schools and reflecting their skills and experiences in their e-portfolios. This research posed further questions about the relationships between the quality of EFL student teachers’ e-portfolios, their attitudes towards using them and their teaching performance. In order to explore the possible answers, the participants’ teaching performance were observed, their e-portfolios were evaluated by a rubric, and a 24-item questionnaire was administered to them. The results proved high proficiency level of the EFL student teachers’ e-portfolios and positive attitudes towards using e-portfolios among EFL student teachers. Furthermore, the results denoted a statistically significant positive relationship between the quality of EFL student teachers’ e-portfolio and their teaching performance. The results of this study may encourage policy makers to integrate the idea of e-portfolio and reflection as an effective component in teacher education and development.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONLINE RETAILING SERVICES: A COMPARISON OF STUDENT AND NON-STUDENT SAMPLES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siohong Tih

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This study examined the adequacy of using undergraduate student samples in research on online consumer attitudes by comparing the attitudes of students (n = 161 towards online retailing services with the attitudes of non-students (n = 252 towards such services. A structured questionnaire administered online was used to gather data on perceptions, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions with regard to online retailing services. The t-test results showed that, in general, students' attitude towards online retailing services is similar to that of non-students. Therefore, undergraduate students may be reasonable surrogates for consumers in research on online retailing.

Adaptation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurence, Brian; Bertera, Elizabeth M; Feimster, Tawana; Hollander, Roberta; Stroman, Carolyn

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to adapt the twenty-six-item Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) developed for medical students for use among dental students and to test the psychometric properties of the modified instrument. The sample consisted of 250 students (an 80.1 percent response rate) in years D1 to D4 at a dental school in Washington, DC. The mean age of participants was 26.6 years with a range from twenty-one to forty-two years. Slightly more than half of the participants were female (52.4 percent) and were African American or of African descent (51.7 percent). Principal components analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The index that resulted measured both positive and negative attitudes toward learning communications skills. The final twenty-four-item scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87), and the study obtained four important factors-Learning, Importance, Quality, and Success-that explained a significant portion of the variance (49.1 percent). Stratified analysis by demographic variables suggested that there may be gender and ethnic differences in the students' attitudes towards learning communication skills. The authors conclude that the CSAS modified for dental students, or DCSAS, is a useful tool to assess attitudes towards learning communication skills among dental students.

A comparison of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among students of helping professions in Crete, Greece: the cases of social work, psychology, medicine, and nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Papadaki, Vasileia; Plotnikof, Kyriaki; Gioumidou, Meropi; Zisimou, Vasiliki; Papadaki, Eleni

2015-01-01

This study investigated the attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among social work, psychology, medical, and nursing students in Crete, Greece, using Herek's ATLG scale. No respondents held completely heterosexist attitudes; only 1.6% held completely non-heterosexist attitudes. The 44.96 total ATLG score indicates a slightly positive attitude toward lesbians and gay men. Psychology students scored higher than all others on positive attitudes, followed by social work students, medical students, and nursing students. Gender, having lesbian or gay acquaintances or friends, and religiosity were significant factors influencing students' attitudes, while no impact on attitudes due to the effects of higher education could be discerned. Implications for curriculum design and teaching methods are discussed.

Attitude of Law and Medical Students to Oocyte Donation

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Samira Vesali

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background Among the young generation, medical and law students’ attitude towards third party reproduction is very important because they will be directly involved in restricting or developing the programs that will support it in the future. The aim of this survey was to investigate attitude of law and medical students to oocyte donation and key aspects of this kind of third party. Materials and Methods In analytical cross-sectional study, 345 medical and law students were randomly selected using stratified sampling. Data was collected using attitude toward donation- oocyte (ATOD-O questionnaire. Re- sponses were on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed according to established statistical approach by Heeren and D'Agostino. Results The majority of the participants agreed with oocyte donation being the last choice for infertility treatment. There was a significant difference between medical students and law students regarding the acceptance of oocyte donation (3.23 vs. 3.53, P=0.025. In addition, female participants were more tolerant on receiving donated oocytes from their sisters than male participants (3.01 vs. 2.58, P=0.002 and finally, a higher number of the participants had a positive attitude towards anonymity of the donor and the recipient to one another (3.93 vs. 3.86, P=0.580. The vast majority of female students believed that the oocyte recipient naturally likes that child (P<0.0001. Conclusion In the current study, a great majority of law and medical students support oocyte donation as an alternative way of starting a family. There is an interest among female students in donating oocytes anonymously. The majority believed that the oocyte recipient family will like the donor oocyte child naturally.

Attitudes Of Distance Learning Students At 
Ukm’s Faculty Of Islamic Studies Towards Learning
Arabic Language Skill Courses

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Zamri ARIFIN

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Attitude is the most important element in determining one’s achievements in learning the Arabic language either as a full or part-time student. This study is based on the Gardner's socio-educational model, and focuses on two types of motivational orientation, which are integrative and instrumental, and attitudes toward the learning conditions. The main purpose of this study is to identify the level of integrative orientation, attitudes toward the learning conditions and instrumental orientation among students in a Distance Learning (DL program at the Faculty of Islamic Studies (FPI, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM, The National University of Malaysia. This study used a quantitative research design. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed descriptively. A total of 170 distance learning students were selected using the simple random sampling technique. Findings show that the students possessed a high level of integrative orientation and their attitudes toward learning environment were positive. The level of instrumental orientation, on the other hand, was very high with the instrumental orientation obtaining the highest mean score. One of the implications that can be drawn from this study is that teachers and students need to take into account and emphasize integrative orientation, attitudes toward learning conditions and instrumental orientation in order to develop a positive attitude in students who aim to master the Arabic language. Other than that, educational institutions should provide support and carry out other related activities and programs in order to ensure that students consistently have positive attitudes whilst achieving excellent results in learning the Arabic language.

Student's corner: potential implications of registered nurse attitudes towards caring for older people.

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Marshall, Lynette C

2010-01-01

In discussing the potential implications of the attitudes of the registered nurse towards the work of caring for older people, it was helpful to highlight why this work is important, gain some understanding of quality care and how it can be facilitated or hindered. Patient centred care is essential as there is great diversity found amongst older people. It was found that attitudes held by registered nurses and students towards older people have a direct impact on the quality of care provided. Negative attitudes and stereotyping get in the way of quality care while positive attitudes enabled quality care. In identifying the factors that influence these attitudes, registered nurses can take on a leadership role in promoting positive attitudes and challenging negative attitudes towards the care of older people with the goal of providing patient centre care.

College Students' Attitudes toward Their ADHD Peers

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Chew, Brandi L.; Jensen, Scott A.; Rosen, Lee A.

2009-01-01

Objective: The attitudes of college students with and without ADHD toward peers with ADHD were examined. Method: A total of 196 college students (30 diagnosed with ADHD) anonymously completed four attitude measures. General analyses of attitudes toward peers with ADHD as well as comparisons between those with and without ADHD are made. Results:…

Development and validation of a questionnaire for evaluation of students' attitudes towards family medicine.

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Šter, Marija Petek; Švab, Igor; Klemenc-Ketiš, Zalika; Kersnik, Janko

2015-03-01

The development of the EURACT (European Academy of Teachers in General Practice) Educational Agenda helped many family medicine departments in development of clerkship and the aims and objectives of family medicine teaching. Our aims were to develop and validate a tool for assessment of students' attitudes towards family medicine and to evaluate the impact of the clerkship on students' attitudes regarding the competences of family doctor. In the pilot study, experienced family doctors were asked to describe their attitudes towards family medicine by using the Educational Agenda as a template for brainstorming. The statements were paraphrased and developed into a 164-items questionnaire, which was administered to 176 final-year students in academic year 2007/08. The third phase consisted of development of a final tool using statistical analysis, which resulted in the 60-items questionnaire in six domains which was used for the evaluation of students' attitudes. At the beginning of the clerkship, person-centred care and holistic approach scored lower than the other competences. Students' attitudes regarding the competences at the end of 7 weeks clerkship in family medicine were more positive, with exception of the competence regarding primary care management. The students who named family medicine as his or her future career choice, found holistic approach as more important than the students who did not name it as their future career. With the decision tree, which included students' attitudes to the competences of family medicine, we can successfully predict the future career choice in family medicine in 93.5% of the students. This study reports on the first attempt to develop a valid and reliable tool for measuring attitudes towards family medicine based on EURACT Educational Agenda. The questionnaire could be used for evaluating changes of students' attitudes in undergraduate curricula and for prediction of students' preferences regarding their future professional

Attitudes and achievement of Bruneian science students

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Dhindsa, Harkirat S.; Chung, Gilbert

2003-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes towards and achievement in science of Form 3 students studying in single-sex and coeducational schools in Brunei. The results demonstrated significant differences in attitudes towards and achievement in science of male and female students in single-sex schools and students in coeducational schools. These differences were at moderate level. In single-sex schools, the girls achieved moderately better in science than the boys despite their attitudes were only marginally better than the boys. However, there were no gender differences in attitudes towards and achievement in science of students in coeducational schools. The attitudes towards and achievement in science of girls in single-sex schools were moderately better than those of girls in coeducational schools. Whereas the attitudes towards and achievement in science of boys in single-sex schools were only marginally better than the boys in coeducational schools. However, further research to investigate (a) if these differences are repeated at other levels as well as in other subjects, and (b) the extent to which school type contributed towards these differences is recommended.

Student Attitudes Toward Mental Illness

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Hare-Mustin, Rachel T.; Garvine, Richard

1974-01-01

Inquiry into the initial attitudes toward mental illness of students taking an abnormal psychology class indicates students' concerns and preconceptions and provides a basis for shaping the course to respond to student needs. (JH)

Attitudes toward Same-Sex Attraction and Behavior among Chinese University Students: Tendencies, Correlates, and Gender Differences

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Xinli Chi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The present study examined Chinese university students’ attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, the socio-demographic correlates of these attitudes, and the potential gender differences in both tendencies and correlates. A total of 2,644 Chinese university students (49.7% male, mean age = 20.27 years indicated generally negative attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, with males reporting more negative attitudes than females. More years in university (i.e., higher grade levels, higher levels of maternal education, growing up in an urban area, and more frequent Internet use significantly predicted more positive attitudes. Gender significantly moderated one correlate: For female participants, a higher university grade was related to more positive attitudes; this correlation was not significant for male participants. The findings suggest valuable directions for related intervention practices for young people in China. Key words: Chinese university students, same-sex attraction and behavior, gender differences

Effect of a creative-bonding intervention on Taiwanese nursing students' self-transcendence and attitudes toward elders.

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Chen, Shiue; Walsh, Sandra M

2009-04-01

Nursing students worldwide have little interest in caring for a growing elder population. The purpose of this study, based on self-transcendence theory, was to test the effectiveness of a creative-bonding intervention (CBI) to promote self-transcendence and positive attitudes towards elders in Taiwanese nursing students. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare a CBI group (n = 100) with a friendly visit (FV) control group (n = 94). ANCOVA results indicated that after the intervention, the CBI group had significantly more positive attitudes towards elders than the FV group. Nursing school faculty may want to promote art-making activities between students and elders to foster students' interest in elder care.

An evaluation of community college student perceptions of the science laboratory and attitudes towards science in an introductory biology course

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Robinson, Nakia Rae

The science laboratory is an integral component of science education. However, the academic value of student participation in the laboratory is not clearly understood. One way to discern student perceptions of the science laboratory is by exploring their views of the classroom environment. The classroom environment is one determinant that can directly influence student learning and affective outcomes. Therefore, this study sought to examine community college students' perceptions of the laboratory classroom environment and their attitudes toward science. Quantitative methods using two survey instruments, the Science Laboratory Environment Instrument (SLEI) and the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TORSA) were administered to measure laboratory perceptions and attitudes, respectively. A determination of differences among males and females as well as three academic streams were examined. Findings indicated that overall community college students had positive views of the laboratory environment regardless of gender of academic major. However, the results indicated that the opportunity to pursue open-ended activities in the laboratory was not prevalent. Additionally, females viewed the laboratory material environment more favorably than their male classmates did. Students' attitudes toward science ranged from favorable to undecided and no significant gender differences were present. However, there were significantly statistical differences between the attitudes of nonscience majors compared to both allied health and STEM majors. Nonscience majors had less positive attitudes toward scientific inquiry, adoption of scientific attitudes, and enjoyment of science lessons. Results also indicated that collectively, students' experiences in the laboratory were positive predicators of their attitudes toward science. However, no laboratory environment scale was a significant independent predictor of student attitudes. .A students' academic streams was the only significant

Advancing Accounting Research of Teaching Efficacy: Developing a Scale to Measure Student Attitudes toward Active Learning Experiences

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Burney, Laurie; Zascavage, Victoria; Matherly, Michele

2017-01-01

Literature consistently documents a positive, direct effect of students' attitudes on learning (Lizzio, Wilson, & Simons, 2002). Hence, accounting studies describing active learning activities often report student attitudes as evidence of efficacy (e.g., Matherly & Burney, 2013), but rely on single-item instead of multi-item scales. This…

Students' Attitudes and Motivation for Learning English at Dokuz Eylul University School of Foreign Languages

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Öztürk, Kadim

2014-01-01

Attitudes and motivation are two of the key factors in second language learning since positive attitudes and high levels of motivation are considered as the predictors of a successful learning process. This study aims to reveal the relation between university preparatory students' attitudes towards learning English and their language learning…

Knowledge and attitude of epilepsy among secondary schools students (epileptic and non-epileptic) in Assiut city Egypt.

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Shehata, Ghaydaa A; Mahran, Dalia G

2011-06-01

This study was designed to assess knowledge and attitude with respect to epilepsy among secondary school students (epileptic and none) in Assiut city, Egypt. A cross sectional study was applied among secondary school students in Assiut city, Egypt. A 13-item questionnaire was self administered by 2226 students who selected randomly. All students either epileptic or non-epileptic had been heard about epilepsy. Only 7.1% of epileptic students and 8.5% of non-epileptic students thought that the epilepsy is a brain disease. Out of 2198 non-epileptic students, 28.4% thought that person with epilepsy (PWE) should not marry and 92% of them refused to marry from PWE. The correct knowledge of epilepsy was significantly positive correlated with positive attitude towards PWE. However, students still feel persons with epilepsy are stigmatized and are different from others. Secondary school students in Egypt have a vague knowledge about the etiology of epilepsy. Misconceptions about and negative attitudes towards epilepsy are unexpectedly high among those students. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attitudes towards mental illness of nursing students in a Baccalaureate programme in Jamaica: a questionnaire survey.

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Bennett, J; Stennett, R

2015-10-01

There is longstanding evidence of nurses demonstrating negative attitudes towards people with mental illness. Student nurses' fear or discomfort with mentally ill patients results in poorer outcomes for patients and students' dissatisfaction with their experience of mental health nursing. There is evidence of negative attitudes towards mental illness in the Jamaican society; however, no studies have explored whether these attitudes are held by nursing students. The aim of the study was to examine the attitudes of nursing students towards mental illness. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 143 third-year nursing students who were enrolled in a baccalaureate programme. Data were collected using the Attitudes Towards Acute Mental Health Scale (ATAMHS). A response rate of 71% was achieved for the survey. The findings indicated that the student nurses held an overall negative attitude towards mental illness, with a general perception that mentally ill people are dangerous. The student nurses were divided in their opinions in a number of areas, suggesting a possible conflict of opinions. Negative attitudes towards mental illness impact client outcomes and the career choices made by nurses. This study provides baseline data within the Jamaican context that adds to the evidence on nursing students' attitude to mental illness. Further research is needed to explore whether nursing education and clinical experience enables student nurses in Jamaica to develop a more positive attitude towards mental illness and mental health nursing and whether cultural factors contribute to negative attitudes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Influence of Collaborative Learning on Student Attitudes and Performance in an Introductory Chemistry Laboratory

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Shibley, Ivan A., Jr.; Zimmaro, Dawn M.

2002-06-01

This study was designed to determine the effect of collaborative learning on student attitudes and performance in an introductory chemistry laboratory. Two sections per semester for three semesters were randomly designated as either a control section or an experimental section. Students in the control section performed most labs individually, while those in the experimental section performed all labs in groups of four. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to evaluate the impact of collaborative learning on student achievement and attitudes. Grades did not differ between the two sections, indicating that collaborative learning did not affect short-term student achievement. Students seemed to develop a more positive attitude about the laboratory and about chemistry in the collaborative learning sections as judged from their classroom evaluations of the teacher, the course, and the collaborative learning experience. The use of collaborative learning in the laboratory as described in this paper therefore may provide a means of improving student attitudes toward chemistry.

Knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS of dental students from Kuwait and Sri Lanka.

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Ellepola, Arjuna N B; Sundaram, Devipriya B; Jayathilake, Sumedha; Joseph, Bobby K; Sharma, Prem N

2011-04-01

Several studies regarding knowledge and attitudes of dental students towards HIV/AIDS have been reported from various countries. However, to the best of our knowledge, an international comparison between countries with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds has not been reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to compare the knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS of dental students of Kuwait University (KU), Kuwait and the University of Peradeniya (UP), Sri Lanka, the only dental schools in the respective countries. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a total of 258 dental students, representing the clinical years of both universities, using a similar structured questionnaire with sixty questions to examine their knowledge of various aspects of HIV/AIDS and thirteen questions to examine their attitudes towards the disease. The mean knowledge and attitude scores were calculated and compared between students from the two universities using t-test with SPSS 17.0. A total of 215 questionnaires were completed and returned, giving a total response rate of 83.3 percent. The KU students were significantly more knowledgeable (p=0.018) regarding HIV/AIDS than the UP students. However, the UP students demonstrated a more highly significant positive attitude (peducation in these countries.

Attitudes of High School Students towards Geometry

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Esat Avcı

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this research, attitudes of high school students towards geometry were investigated in terms of gender, grade, types of the field and school. Population of research includes students who were studying at high school in five distincs of Mersin in 2013-2014 academical year. Sample of research includes 935 students from twelve high schools. Attitude scale which was developed by Su-Özenir (2008 was used for data collection. For data analysis, mean, standart deviation, t test and ANOVA were used. A meaningful difference between students’ attitudes towards geometry and variance of gender and grade level wasn’t observed, on the other hand a meaningful difference according to field and school type is observed.Key Words:    Attitudes towards geometry, high school geometry lesson, attitude scale

Developing positive worker attitudes toward radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millis, N.L.

1987-01-01

Teamwork, productivity, and reducing exposure are admirable goals presented to the workers in a nuclear power plant. A common thread to achievement in these areas resides in worker attitudes toward the tasks presented. A positive, alert, and cooperative attitude is an element in a worker's mind that must be created and maintained by good leadership and management practices. At the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, management has used certain strategies to foster good positive worker attitudes toward radiation protection and quality workmanship in all tasks. Strategies differ from management by objectives in that they have no deadlines or timetables in and of themselves. Rather, strategies are preplanned methods that can be called upon when the opportunity arises to improve worker attitudes. A series of five strategies for positive attitude development are described in the full paper. The strategies are identified with buzz words to allow the user a recall mechanism (as with the acronyms abounding in the nuclear industry). They cover the range of management techniques from example setting to reward/recognition. Although not unique to radiation exposure management, nor all inclusive, the strategies provide some though stimulation in creating productive worker attitudes

Changes in the Social Responsibility Attitudes of Engineering Students Over Time.

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Bielefeldt, Angela R; Canney, Nathan E

2016-10-01

This research explored how engineering student views of their responsibility toward helping individuals and society through their profession, so-called social responsibility, change over time. A survey instrument was administered to students initially primarily in their first year, senior year, or graduate studies majoring in mechanical, civil, or environmental engineering at five institutions in September 2012, April 2013, and March 2014. The majority of the students (57 %) did not change significantly in their social responsibility attitudes, but 23 % decreased and 20 % increased. The students who increased, decreased, or remained the same in their social responsibility attitudes over time did not differ significantly in terms of gender, academic rank, or major. Some differences were found between institutions. Students who decreased in social responsibility initially possessed more positive social responsibility attitudes, were less likely to indicate that college courses impacted their views of social responsibility, and were more likely to have decreased in the frequency that they participated in volunteer activities, compared to students who did not change or increased their social responsibility. Although the large percentage of engineering students who decreased their social responsibility during college was disappointing, it is encouraging that courses and participation in volunteer activities may combat this trend.

Student filmmakers' attitudes towards mental illness and its cinematic representation - an evaluation of a training intervention for film students.

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Dale, Jenny; Richards, Felicity; Bradburn, John; Tadros, George; Salama, Rafik

2014-02-01

Government strategy for mental health places tackling stigma as a main priority. National initiatives have attempted to tackle stigma by challenging negative media reporting and the use of stereotyped representations of mental illness, with mixed results. Educational interventions have attempted to address stigmatising attitudes in young people but no studies have explored the value of such interventions for film students. The study aimed to assess the value of a lecture-based training intervention designed to improve the knowledge and attitudes of student filmmakers towards mental illness and its cinematic representation. A self-report questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention, which measured the knowledge and attitudes of the subjects. 32 out of 54 students (59.3%) showed statistically significant improvement in attitudes and knowledge overall, although this was less marked in responses to the attitudinal subset questions compared with knowledge-based questions. Feedback was positive. The training session was successful in its aims for most but not all students. The intervention is reproducible but further work needs to be done to clarify how best to influence attitudes and behaviour as well as knowledge.

STEM Integration in Middle School Life Science: Student Learning and Attitudes

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Guzey, S. Selcen; Moore, Tamara J.; Harwell, Michael; Moreno, Mario

2016-08-01

In many countries around the world, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving science education. Recent reform efforts in the USA call for teachers to integrate scientific and engineering practices into science teaching; for example, science teachers are asked to provide learning experiences for students that apply crosscutting concepts (e.g., patterns, scale) and increase understanding of disciplinary core ideas (e.g., physical science, earth science). Engineering practices and engineering design are essential elements of this new vision of science teaching and learning. This paper presents a research study that evaluates the effects of an engineering design-based science curriculum on student learning and attitudes. Three middle school life science teachers and 275 seventh grade students participated in the study. Content assessments and attitude surveys were administered before and after the implementation of the curriculum unit. Statewide mathematics test proficiency scores were included in the data analysis as well. Results provide evidence of the positive effects of implementing the engineering design-based science unit on student attitudes and learning.

Assessment of the effects of student response systems on student learning and attitudes over a broad range of biology courses.

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Preszler, Ralph W; Dawe, Angus; Shuster, Charles B; Shuster, Michèle

2007-01-01

With the advent of wireless technology, new tools are available that are intended to enhance students' learning and attitudes. To assess the effectiveness of wireless student response systems in the biology curriculum at New Mexico State University, a combined study of student attitudes and performance was undertaken. A survey of students in six biology courses showed that strong majorities of students had favorable overall impressions of the use of student response systems and also thought that the technology improved their interest in the course, attendance, and understanding of course content. Students in lower-division courses had more strongly positive overall impressions than did students in upper-division courses. To assess the effects of the response systems on student learning, the number of in-class questions was varied within each course throughout the semester. Students' performance was compared on exam questions derived from lectures with low, medium, or high numbers of in-class questions. Increased use of the response systems in lecture had a positive influence on students' performance on exam questions across all six biology courses. Students not only have favorable opinions about the use of student response systems, increased use of these systems increases student learning.

An Examination of Psychometric Properties of Positive Functional Attitudes Scale

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Saide Umut ZEYBEK

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of Coping Attitudes Scale: Measure of Positive Attitudes in Depression (CAS among Turkish young adult community sample and determine the psychometric properties (validity and reliability of this scale. This study was conducted with 419 students attending different departments in Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Education in the spring semester of academic year of 2015-2016. Positive Functional Attitudes Scale, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Automatic Thoughts Scale, Positivity Scale and Developed Automatic Thoughts Scale.were used as data collection tools. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA were used for investigation of the psychometric properties of the PFAS. Also, criterion-related validity, test-retest validity, and internal consistency were used calculated. The CFA results showed that standardized item estimates of the CAS ranged between 0.45 and 0.47. Also the CFA results showed that the original factor structure of the PFAS confirmed on the Turkish sample. internal consistency was calculated using the total community sample’s PFAS score. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ort he total scale (.93 was high. Test-retest results of the subscales were 0.76. The findings showed that factor structures of the PFAS’ life perspective, personal accomplishment, positive future, self-worth, coping with problems had psychometric quality in Turkish version. As a result of the study, the Turkish version of PFAS has good validity and reliability for young adult community sample. [JCBPR 2017; 6(2.000: 59-66

Risk of Abnormal Eating Attitudes among Turkish Dietetic Students

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Kiziltan, Gul; Karabudak, Efsun

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes among Turkish dietetic students and the relations between nutrition education and eating attitudes. The study population was 568 female university students (248 dietetic students, 320 non-dietetic students). Two scales were used: Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26)…

Students' attitudes to learning physics at school and university levels in Scotland

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Skryabina, Elena

), which was significantly lower for females than for males. Special attention in this work was given to the problem of university Physics laboratory practice. Possibilities to improve students' attitudes towards laboratory work were discussed. This could be done through introduction of pre-lab (aimed to consolidate students' grasp of the necessary background for performing the experiment) and post-lab (aimed to provide students with opportunity to apply the theory they have learned and skills they have obtained from doing laboratory work to solve everyday problems). Examples of pre- and post-labs that were designed for the first term of the level 1 university Physics laboratory practice are given in the Appendix T. The project was extended from the university to the school area where cross-age analyses (measurements at one time with pupils of different age) of pupils' attitudes towards Science/Physics lessons were performed. Pupils from upper Primary P6/P7 up to Higher S5/S6 were involved in the research. These analyses have shown that patterns of Scottish pupils' attitudes towards Science/Physics lessons are not linear with age: attitudes of pupils who were self-selected towards the subject were not always more positive than attitudes of lower level pupils: primary school pupils' attitudes towards science lessons were significantly more positive than attitudes of secondary S2 pupils; pupils doing Standard Grade Physics course were similar in their evaluations of Physics lessons at both S3 and S4 levels; at Higher Grade Physics pupils' attitudes towards science lessons were significantly less positive than attitudes of Standard Grade Physics pupils. Pupils' attitudes towards Science/Physics lessons can be considered as a good indicator of pupils' reactions towards existing syllabuses in Science and Physics. Special attention in this study was devoted to the so-called "problem of girls in Physics". Separate analyses of boys' and girls' interests towards Physics topics

Teaching science in a technology rich environment: Probeware's effect on student attitude and achievement

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Zelmanowicz, Marc

probeware on student achievement or achievement of mastery; The qualitative component confirmed that probeware positively impact student attitude and achievement. With regards to achievement, the qualitative interviews contradicted the quantitative analysis. Significance Results from this study add to the body of research that probeware can impact student attitude towards science education.

ATTITUDES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS, CLINICIANS AND SPORTS SCIENTISTS TOWARDS EXERCISE COUNSELLING

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Abbyrhamy Gnanendran

2011-09-01

Full Text Available We compared the amount of exercise undertaken by medical students, clinicians, and sport scientists with the National Australian Physical Activity (NAPA Guidelines. A second aim was to compare attitudes to exercise counselling as preventive medicine between university- and clinic-based professionals. The research setting was a university medical school and a sports science sports medicine centre. A 20-item questionnaire was completed by 216 individuals (131 medical students, 43 clinicians and 37 sports scientists. Self-reported physical activity habits, exercise counselling practices and attitudes towards preventive medicine were assessed. The physical activity undertaken by most respondents (70% met NAPA Guidelines. General practitioners had significantly lower compliance rates with NAPA Guidelines than other professionals. More than half of clinicians and medical students (54% were less active now compared with levels of activity undertaken prior to graduate training. Most physicians (68% reported they sometimes discuss physical activity with patients. In contrast, the majority of non-medically qualified respondents (60% said they never discuss physical activity with their doctor. Most respondents (70% had positive attitudes to exercise counselling. Sports scientists and respondents who were highly active in childhood had more positive attitudes to exercise counselling than others. Health professionals in this study were more active than the general population, however healthy exercise habits tend to deteriorate after the commencement of medical training. Despite the important role of doctors in health promotion, the degree of exercise counselling to patients is low

The importance of teacher-student interpersonal relationships for Turkish students' attitudes towards science

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Telli, Sibel; den Brok, Perry; Cakiroglu, Jale

2010-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between Turkish high school students' perceptions of their science teachers' interpersonal behaviour and their attitudes towards science. Students' perceptions of the teacher-student interpersonal relationship were mapped with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), which uses two relational dimensions: influence and proximity. Data on Students' subject-related attitudes were collected with the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). A total of 7484 students (Grades 9 to 11) from 278 science classes (55 public schools) in 13 major Turkish cities participated in the study. Multilevel analyses of variance indicated that influence was related with student enjoyment, while proximity was associated with attitudes towards inquiry and with enjoyment.

Attitudes Toward Autism Spectrum Disorders Among Students of Allied Health Professions.

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Simonstein, Frida; Mashiach-Eizenberg, Michal

2016-12-01

The prevalence of autism has increased dramatically. The objectives of this study were to explore attitudes toward prenatal diagnosis to detect autism prenatally and avoid having an affected child and to understand social acceptability of these disorders among students of allied health professions. In this study, college students of nursing and health systems management answered a structured self-report questionnaire (n = 305). The first part addressed the respondent's personal data. The second part targeted the respondent's attitudes toward prenatal diagnosis of non-life-threatening disorders, including autism spectrum disorders. We found that almost two thirds of the students responded that they would not proceed with a pregnancy if the child were diagnosed with autism, and more than half thought that they would not continue with a pregnancy if the fetus were diagnosed with Asperger's. Age, level of religiosity, and years of education were influential. This study is limited in scope; however, the positive attitude of the students toward prenatal diagnosis to avoid having an affected child might also reflect a negative view of autism spectrum disorders in future health care professionals. Further research of attitudes and the social acceptability of autism spectrum disorders, particularly among health care professionals, is required.

Changes in Speech-Language Pathology Students' Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding During a Pediatric Dysphagia Course.

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Mahurin-Smith, Jamie

2017-11-01

Speech-language pathologists provide infant feeding assessment and intervention; their training in breastfeeding management is highly variable. Research aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate student attitudes toward breastfeeding and self-identified factors in attitude change. Before and after their course in pediatric dysphagia, two cohorts of graduate students in speech-language pathology ( N = 36) completed an assignment designed to capture qualitative and quantitative data on changes in their attitudes toward breastfeeding. Students rated their reactions to two hypothetical breastfeeding scenarios before and after the class, which included multiple sources of information on the importance of human milk and on breastfeeding management. Additionally, they completed a postclass reflection describing the nature of any changes in their attitudes toward breastfeeding and their ideas about the factors that were responsible for these changes. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to assess quantitative results; the qualitative data were evaluated via content analysis to identify themes. Significant positive changes in student attitudes were measured at the completion of the course. Students identified parents' stories as a particularly compelling component of their increased openness to breastfeeding. Attitudes toward breastfeeding may improve significantly over a relatively short period of time following a targeted intervention. Implications for lactation consultants and continuing education providers are discussed.

Knowledge and attitudes of radiation therapists and undergraduate students towards older people

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Donovan, A.; O'Herlihy, A.; Cunningham, M.

2015-01-01

knowledge and very positive attitudes towards older people. - Highlights: • We compare knowledge and attitudes of graduates and students towards older people. • We examine various factors that may influence both. • Both students and qualified RTs report similar knowledge and attitude scores. • Graduate RTs report a lack of preparedness regarding caring for older patients. • “Age attuning” of the profession of radiation therapy is vital for future practice

Medical students' situational motivation to participate in simulation based team training is predicted by attitudes to patient safety.

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Escher, Cecilia; Creutzfeldt, Johan; Meurling, Lisbet; Hedman, Leif; Kjellin, Ann; Felländer-Tsai, Li

2017-02-10

Patient safety education, as well as the safety climate at clinical rotations, has an impact on students' attitudes. We explored medical students' self-reported motivation to participate in simulation-based teamwork training (SBTT), with the hypothesis that high scores in patient safety attitudes would promote motivation to SBTT and that intrinsic motivation would increase after training. In a prospective cohort study we explored Swedish medical students' attitudes to patient safety, their motivation to participate in SBTT and how motivation was affected by the training. The setting was an integrated SBTT course during the surgical semester that focused on non-technical skills and safe treatment of surgical emergencies. Data was collected using the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) and the Attitudes to Patient Safety Questionnaire (APSQ). We found a positive correlation between students' individual patient safety attitudes and self-reported motivation (identified regulation) to participate in SBTT. We also found that intrinsic motivation increased after training. Female students in our study scored higher than males regarding some of the APSQ sub-scores and the entire group scored higher or on par with comparable international samples. In order to enable safe practice and professionalism in healthcare, students' engagement in patient safety education is important. Our finding that students' patient safety attitudes show a positive correlation to motivation and that intrinsic motivation increases after training underpins patient safety climate and integrated teaching of patient safety issues at medical schools in order to help students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for safe practice.

Nursing students' attitudes toward statistics: Effect of a biostatistics course and association with examination performance.

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Kiekkas, Panagiotis; Panagiotarou, Aliki; Malja, Alvaro; Tahirai, Daniela; Zykai, Rountina; Bakalis, Nick; Stefanopoulos, Nikolaos

2015-12-01

Although statistical knowledge and skills are necessary for promoting evidence-based practice, health sciences students have expressed anxiety about statistics courses, which may hinder their learning of statistical concepts. To evaluate the effects of a biostatistics course on nursing students' attitudes toward statistics and to explore the association between these attitudes and their performance in the course examination. One-group quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design. Undergraduate nursing students of the fifth or higher semester of studies, who attended a biostatistics course. Participants were asked to complete the pre-test and post-test forms of The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS)-36 scale at the beginning and end of the course respectively. Pre-test and post-test scale scores were compared, while correlations between post-test scores and participants' examination performance were estimated. Among 156 participants, post-test scores of the overall SATS-36 scale and of the Affect, Cognitive Competence, Interest and Effort components were significantly higher than pre-test ones, indicating that the course was followed by more positive attitudes toward statistics. Among 104 students who participated in the examination, higher post-test scores of the overall SATS-36 scale and of the Affect, Difficulty, Interest and Effort components were significantly but weakly correlated with higher examination performance. Students' attitudes toward statistics can be improved through appropriate biostatistics courses, while positive attitudes contribute to higher course achievements and possibly to improved statistical skills in later professional life. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of differences in psychiatry curriculum of undergraduate medical and physiotherapy students on their attitude towards psychiatry.

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Bhise, Manik Changoji; Marwale, Arun Vishwambharrao; Deshmukh, Apoorva Sadgun; Saoji, Sanjeev Gopal

2016-01-01

Negative attitude toward psychiatry (ATP) among medical students is a serious concern. Some studies have concluded that after training in the subject, attitude changes toward positive side. Currently in India, medical students have a less intense course without separate exam or binding to attend training whereas physiotherapy students have more intense course with separate subject exam and binding to attend training in psychiatry. To ascertain and compare the positive and negative ATP in final year MBBS students and final year physiotherapy (BPTh) students who have completed psychiatry curriculum. This is a cross-sectional study with semi-structured pro forma for sociodemographic variables and ATP-30 questionnaire to evaluate ATP of 94 medical and physiotherapy students each. Nonparametric methods were used for statistical analysis with appropriate tests of significance and P value was set at 0.05. Mean ATP-30 score for medical students was 91.9 (standard deviation [SD] =7.0) and that of physiotherapy students was 105.8 (SD = 9.7), this difference in two groups was highly significant (Kruskal-Wallis H = 81.3, df = 1, P students, 36 (41.4%) had negative attitude while only 2 (2.1%) of the physiotherapy students had negative ATP (χ(2) = 41.7, P Physiotherapy students with intense and planned training in psychiatry as an exam subject have significantly more positive ATP than medical students.

Attitudes of midwifery and nursing students in a Turkish university toward lesbians and gay men and opinions about healthcare approaches.

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Bilgic, Dilek; Daglar, Gulseren; Sabanciogullari, Selma; Ozkan, Semiha Aydin

2018-03-01

Lesbians and gay men are subjected to negative attitudes and poor quality health care by midwives in the process of having children and by nurses in the process of receiving general health care services. Our aim was to investigate midwifery and nursing students' attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and their opinions about health care approaches displayed towards them. The study was designed as a cross-sectional and descriptive one and conducted in one midwifery and two nursing schools in a city in Turkey and comprised 1321 students. To assess the participants' attitudes, the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gays (ATLG) Scale was used. To assess opinions about health care approaches, the students were asked open-ended questions. All the participating students' attitude scores were below the average and they exhibited negative attitudes towards lesbians and gays. While very few of the participants had positive views about health care given to, most of them either had negative views or did not have any opinions. The midwifery students' attitudes were more positive than were those of the nursing students. Students' health care approaches towards lesbians and gay men were insufficient and negative. Educators need to develop training programs, which can help students gain cultural awareness of the health care needs of lesbians and gay men in different cultures before they graduate. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Math Problem: Advertising Students' Attitudes toward Statistics

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Fullerton, Jami A.; Kendrick, Alice

2013-01-01

This study used the Students' Attitudes toward Statistics Scale (STATS) to measure attitude toward statistics among a national sample of advertising students. A factor analysis revealed four underlying factors make up the attitude toward statistics construct--"Interest & Future Applicability," "Confidence," "Statistical Tools," and "Initiative."…

Nursing students' attitudes toward science in the nursing curricula

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Maroo, Jill Deanne

The nursing profession combines the art of caregiving with scientific concepts. Nursing students need to learn science in order to start in a nursing program. However, previous research showed that students left the nursing program, stating it included too much science (Andrew et al., 2008). Research has shown a correlation between students' attitudes and their performance in a subject (Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003). However, little research exists on the overall attitude of nursing students toward science. At the time of my study there existed no large scale quantitative study on my topic. The purpose of my study was to identify potential obstacles nursing students face, specifically, attitude and motivation toward learning science. According to research the nation will soon face a nursing shortage and students cite the science content as a reason for not completing the nursing program. My study explored nursing students' attitudes toward science and reasons these students are motivated to learn science. I ran a nationwide mixed methods approach with 1,402 participants for the quantitative portion and 4 participants for the qualitative portion. I validated a questionnaire in order to explore nursing students' attitudes toward science, discovered five different attitude scales in that questionnaire and determined what demographic factors provided a statistically significant prediction of a student's score. In addition, I discovered no statistical difference in attitude exists between students who have the option of taking nursing specific courses and those who do not have that option. I discovered in the qualitative interviews that students feel science is necessary in nursing but do not feel nurses are scientists. My study gives a baseline of the current attitude of nursing students toward science and why these students feel the need to learn the science.

Investigating students' motivations and attitudes towards reading ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper reports on an investigation into students' attitudes to and motivations for reading. These socio-affective factors relating to students' reading abilities have been largely ignored in L1 and L2 reading research, especially in L2 contexts. Yet, L2 students tend to display differing motivations and attitudes for L2 reading ...

The attitudes of the undergraduate nursing students towards lesbian women and gay men.

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Unlu, Hayriye; Beduk, Tülin; Duyan, Veli

2016-12-01

This study was conducted to determine the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards lesbian women and gay men. Nursing education in Turkey is conducted holistically; in other words, it is an integration of the physical, spiritual, mental and social realms. Students are therefore expected to not express any discrimination due to factors such as religion, language, race and gender. However, some serious problems still exist in terms of the practical applications of that philosophy. This study was descriptive. This study included 964 students. The Attitudes towards Lesbian Women and Gay Men scale and a questionnaire were used to learn about the attitudes of undergraduate nursing students regarding gay men and lesbian women. Results of this study have indicated that the attitudes of religiously educated and/or conservative students towards lesbian women and gay men were negative. Female students from families with high incomes and highly educated families attended social activities and read more than other female students. The students with free life choice options expressed very positive attitudes towards gay men. The nursing education curriculum should cover information about patients with diverse sexual orientations and their absolute rights for equally optimal healthcare. Strategies to discourage traditional gender role stereotypes and educational and media experiences for better acceptance of sexual minorities need to be developed by educational policy makers. Antidiscrimination policies protecting lesbian women and gay men should be developed by the legislative authorities and then taught to students during their nursing education. Getting familiar with diverse sexual orientations might create awareness among nursing students and reduce their attitudinal and behavioural prejudices and biases. To provide equal healthcare services for all patients, nurses must have accurate information about lesbian women, gay men and modify their attitude and behaviour

An examination of student attitudes and understanding of exponential functions using interactive instructional multimedia

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Singleton, Cynthia M.

was increased as a result of the intervention. No significant difference was reported concerning attitudes toward fear and enjoyment of learning mathematics for the control group. The researcher concluded that the use of InterAct Math tutorial software as part of the instructional delivery was beneficial and contributed to a positive attitude change. Other qualitative data obtained from the unstructured interviews of the treatment group supported these findings and reported that the change in attitudes was attributable to the use of the InterAct software in the instructional delivery of the course. The researcher concluded that the results of the study did not provide evidence that InterAct Math software could be credited with producing better learning outcomes. However, it appears that the InterAct Math tutorial software is an effective tutorial tool in promoting positive change in students' attitudes toward learning mathematics; thus, it is an effective tool for mathematics instruction. Based on the above results, it was concluded that the InterAct Math tutorial is an effective tutorial tool in promoting positive attitude change in students toward learning mathematics.

Knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate nursing students toward dementia: An Indian perspective

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Vijayalakshmi Poreddi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective.This work evaluated nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Methodology. This was a transversal, descriptive study carried out with a randomly selected group of nursing students (N = 122 from Bangalore, India, in 2013. The study used the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge scale (30 questions with true-false options and the Attitude toward Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias scale (20 questions scored with seven Likert-type options; the higher the score, the better the attitude. Results. The findings revealed that 56% of the questions were answered correctly and the average attitude score was 95 ± 1.5. A negative correlation was observed between age and knowledge of dementia (r = -0.323; p < 0.001. Conclusion. The participants have inadequate knowledge of dementia. However, they have positive attitudes towards patients with dementia, giving way to improving their knowledge related to this disease. Thereby, there is urgent need to enhance the undergraduate study plan with respect to the content of this theme and strengthen the attitudes of comprehensive care to individuals with dementia.

Student Attitudes towards Laboratory Exercises in Medical Biochemistry.

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Cronholm, Tomas; Hoog, Jan-Olov; Martenson, Dick

2000-01-01

Examines student attitudes towards biochemical experiments and their effect on student learning. Finds that biochemical experiments in the medical curriculum are valuable, but efforts should be directed more towards the development of students' attitudes and approaches to the exercise. (Author/CCM)

Cypriot Urban Elementary Students' Attitude toward Physical Education

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Constantinides, Panos; Silverman, Stephen

2018-01-01

Purpose: This study examined the attitudes of Cypriot elementary school students toward physical education. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade students (N = 763) from six urban Cypriot elementary schools completed an attitude instrument. Methods: Adapting the attitude instrument for Greek-speaking students an extensive two-step pilot study showed the…

Pain management knowledge and attitudes of baccalaureate nursing students and faculty.

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Duke, Gloria; Haas, Barbara K; Yarbrough, Susan; Northam, Sally

2013-03-01

Pain affects approximately 76 million adults in the US. Though pain management has been targeted as a top priority, it continues to be inadequately addressed. Nursing faculty are in a unique position to significantly address the problem through facilitating the acquisition and utilization of knowledge by student nurses. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of and attitudes toward pain in baccalaureate nursing students and faculty to establish a foundation for a systematic and comprehensive integration of pain content in the curricula. The descriptive design included a sample of 162 junior and senior students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program in Texas and 16 nursing faculty. The Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (KASRP) was used to measure knowledge and attitudes toward pain. A direct correlation was found between the level of education and the percentage correct score. Differences found in knowledge and attitudes among the three levels of students and faculty were significant (df = 3.173; F = 14.07, p pain through case scenarios of a patient who was smiling and talking as compared to a patient who was lying quietly and grimacing (X2 = 37.13, p pain assessment and treatment are taught is indicated. Further studies are needed to assess changes in knowledge and attitudes toward pain as curricular revisions are made. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of nurses and nursing students towards HIV/AIDS

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Vallejos, Irma Conejeros; Sánchez, Helga Emig; Lagunas, Lilian Ferrer; Valdés, Báltica Cabieses; Acosta, Rosina Cianelli

2016-01-01

Objective To describe attitudes, knowledge and perceptions of nurses and nursing students towards the people who live with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Methodology Bibliographic study in which six electronic databases were searched using the key words: “attitude”, “knowledge”, “nursing”, perceptions”, “HIV/AIDS”. Publications between 1998 and 2007 were considered. Results 560 articles limited by scientific researches or ministerial reports membership were retrieved. Finally a total of 38 publications were selected, the analysis showed that the level of knowledge of nurses and nursing students about PLWHA is good and the attitudes towards HIV/AIDS have improved over time. Nurses and nursing students have been able to identify both positive and negative aspects in the PLWHA care personally and professionally because there is a more favourable perception. Conclusion There are few studies in Latin America and Chile that study the attitudes and knowledge of the studied population towards PLWHA. According to publications found the knowledge and attitudes have improved because the perception is more favourable. PMID:27499563

Saudi high school students' attitudes and barriers toward the use of computer technologies in learning English.

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Sabti, Ahmed Abdulateef; Chaichan, Rasha Sami

2014-01-01

This study examines the attitudes of Saudi Arabian high school students toward the use of computer technologies in learning English. The study also discusses the possible barriers that affect and limit the actual usage of computers. Quantitative approach is applied in this research, which involved 30 Saudi Arabia students of a high school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The respondents comprised 15 males and 15 females with ages between 16 years and 18 years. Two instruments, namely, Scale of Attitude toward Computer Technologies (SACT) and Barriers affecting Students' Attitudes and Use (BSAU) were used to collect data. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) of Davis (1989) was utilized. The analysis of the study revealed gender differences in attitudes toward the use of computer technologies in learning English. Female students showed high and positive attitudes towards the use of computer technologies in learning English than males. Both male and female participants demonstrated high and positive perception of Usefulness and perceived Ease of Use of computer technologies in learning English. Three barriers that affected and limited the use of computer technologies in learning English were identified by the participants. These barriers are skill, equipment, and motivation. Among these barriers, skill had the highest effect, whereas motivation showed the least effect.

Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking.

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Cho, Kyoung Won; Lee, Jakyoung; Ryu, Ji-Hye; Kim, Soo Jeong

2017-12-01

This study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking. This study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire. For announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847-5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107-11.812). This study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience.

Nursing students' attitudes about home health nursing.

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Prestia, Mindy; Murphy, Susan; Yoder, Marian

2008-09-01

In an effort to address the home care nursing shortage, this pilot study was designed to measure nursing students' attitudes toward home health nursing and to test the Home Health Attitude Questionnaire developed specifically for this study based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Senior undergraduate nursing students and registered nursing to bachelor of science in nursing students completed the questionnaire.

A creative-bonding intervention and a friendly visit approach to promote nursing students' self-transcendence and positive attitudes toward elders: a pilot study.

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Walsh, Sandra M; Chen, Shiue; Hacker, Marcia; Broschard, Dawn

2008-04-01

Nursing students' disinterest in caring for elders presents health care challenges. As the aged population increases, nursing faculty are challenged to improve students' attitudes toward elder care. Reed's self-transcendence theory guided this pilot study with nursing students (n=22) who implemented either a Creative-Bonding Intervention (CBI) or a Friendly Visit (FV) at senior citizen centers to test the effect of creative approaches on student self-transcendence and attitudes toward elders. Demographic data, a revised Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People statements, and Reed's Self-transcendence Scale were analyzed with descriptive, paired t test, ANCOVA, and Pearson correlation statistics. Results demonstrated significant differences in attitudes in the FV and changes in the expected directions in the CBI group. Self-transcendence had no significant changes. Valuable information was provided by students' comments about the interventions. Reed's belief that self-transcendence is present regardless of age was supported. Future studies are suggested with an increased sample size, a combined CBI/FV intervention, and supportive help during students' intervention delivery.

University students' context-dependent conscious attitudes towards ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper considers the results of an empirical investigation of overt language attitudes held by students attending North-West University, South Africa. Attitudes elicited from 325 students with mainly Setswana, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English as home languages are analysed comparatively. The study explores the ...

High School Students' Attitudes towards Spiders: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

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Prokop, Pavol; Tolarovicova, Andrea; Camerik, Anne M.; Peterkova, Viera

2010-01-01

Spiders are traditionally considered to be among the least popular of animals. Current evidence suggests that a negative attitude towards spiders could be influenced by both cultural and evolutionary pressures. Some researchers suggest that science education activities could positively influence students' perceptions of spiders. Their evidence is,…

Attitudes toward Homosexuals among Students at a Canadian University.

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Schellenberg, E. Glenn; Hirt, Jessie; Sears, Alan

1999-01-01

Examined attitudes toward homosexuals among 199 male and female students at a Canadian university. Attitudes toward gay men were more negative than attitudes toward lesbians. For male students, attitudes toward gay men improved with time spent at college, suggesting the influence of college in reducing antihomosexual prejudice. (SLD)

Trapped between the two cultures: Urban college students' attitudes toward science

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Dawson, Roy Edward

most important factors in determining a student's feelings toward science. Outliers to the science attitude profile were interviewed to determine how they maintained a positive attitude toward science when the profile predicted a negative attitude. These students appeared to be resilient and it is not clear if resiliency is a way of defeating the profile, or if resilient students incorrectly identified themselves as outliers to the profile.

The Relationship between Voting Knowledge and Voting Attitudes of Selected Ninth and Tenth Grade Students.

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Golden, Kathleen

1985-01-01

A study showed that the acquisition of voting knowledge in a civics class positively influenced ninth- and tenth-grade students' attitudes toward voting. Teachers should give students a solid foundation concerning the electoral process and encourage students to participate in the political process. (RM)

Evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention program to influence attitudes of students towards peers with disabilities.

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de Boer, Anke; Pijl, Sip Jan; Minnaert, Alexander; Post, Wendy

2014-03-01

In this study we examine the effectiveness of an intervention program to influence attitudes of elementary school students towards peers with intellectual, physical and severe physical and intellectual disabilities. A quasi-experimental longitudinal study was designed with an experimental group and a control group, both comprising two rural schools. An intervention program was developed for kindergarten (n(experimental) = 22, n(control) = 31) and elementary school students without disabilities (n(experimental) = 91, n(control) = 127) (age range 4-12 years old). This intervention consisted of a 3 weeks education project comprising six lessons about disabilities. The Acceptance Scale for Kindergarten-revised and the Attitude Survey to Inclusive Education were used to measure attitudes at three moments: prior to the start of the intervention, after the intervention and 1 year later. The outcomes of the multilevel analysis showed positive, immediate effects on attitudes of kindergarten students, but limited effects on elementary school students' attitudes.

Current state of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward organ transplantation among academic students in Poland and the potential means for altering them.

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Nowak, E; Pfitzner, R; Koźlik, P; Kozynacka, A; Durajski, L; Przybyłowski, P

2014-10-01

Students manifest a high level of social commitment. Improving their knowledge and developing more positive attitudes toward organ transplantation may increase the number of organ donations. This study was an assessment of the knowledge and attitudes toward organ transplantation among young people in Poland, with an overview of current beliefs and potential methods for improving transplantology awareness. The study included 400 medical students and 400 nonmedical students from public universities in Kraków, Poland. Data were collected by using an anonymous questionnaire examining demographic factors and transplantology issues. Despite the overall positive attitude toward transplantology among academic students in Poland, the state of knowledge of the nonmedical population remains relatively low. The most important issues for social education to focus on are the role of presumed consent and brain death diagnosis, actual hazards of living donations, recipient qualification criteria, and the attitudes of religious authorities. The overall level of knowledge and the number of positive attitudes were significantly higher among medical students than among nonmedical students, proving that formal educational programs are more efficient than the more accessible but less reliable sources of knowledge. Introduction of transplantology issues in schools and churches, promoting the positive outcomes of organ transplantation rather than negating false beliefs, and eliminating misleading information from the media may significantly increase young people's knowledge and result in more positive attitudes toward transplantology in a society-wide fashion. This outcome could create a favorable background for introducing an opt-in system of consent for organ donation.

Mobile Learning According to Students of Computer Engineering and Computer Education: A Comparison of Attitudes

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Deniz Mertkan GEZGIN

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile learning has started to perform an increasingly significant role in improving learning outcomes in education. Successful and efficient implementation of m-learning in higher education, as with all educational levels, depends on users’ acceptance of this technology. This study focuses on investigating the attitudes of undergraduate students of Computer Engineering (CENG and Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT departments in a Turkish public university towards m-learning from three perspectives; gender, area of study, and mobile device ownership. Using a correlational survey method, a Mobile Learning Attitude Scale (MLAS was administered to 531 students, analysis of which revealed a positive attitude to m-learning in general. A further investigation of the aforementioned three variables showed a more positive attitude for female students in terms of usability, for CEIT students in terms of advantages, usability and independence, and for those owning a mobile device in terms of usability. An important implication from the findings, among others, is supplementing Computer Engineering curriculum with elective courses on the fundamentals of mobile learning, and/or the design and development of m-learning software, so as to create, in the long run, more specialized and complementary teams comprised of trained CENG and CEIT graduates in m-learning sector.

The Effects of Advertising Education on Business Students' Attitudes toward Advertising.

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McCorkle, Denny E.; Alexander, Joe F.

1991-01-01

An experimental group of 98 business students taught advertising and management principles was compared to a group of 57 who were taught management principles only. Increased knowledge and understanding about the institution and instrument of advertising resulted in more positive attitudes. (Author/JOW)

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices towards Medication Use among Health Care Students in King Saud University

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Abdullah T. Eissa

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Health sciences students are expected to have appropriate knowledge and attitudes toward medication use. However, literary evidence of such expertise among health sciences students of King Saud University is unknown. This study was completed to assess the knowledge about medicines and behavior of health science students towards safe use of medications. It also aims to assess the health knowledge, attitude and practices of the students. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire consisting of 24 questions. This was administered by the researcher between October and December 2009 in the colleges of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, applied medical science and nursing of the King Saud University. The survey consisted of three parts: Ten questions assessed the students’ knowledge on drug safety (Part 1. Four questions assessed student attitude toward medication consultations by the pharmacist (Part 2 and ten questions involved medication use practices and consultation with pharmacists (Part 3. A stratified sampling method was used to select participants. Results: Pharmacy students had better medication knowledge compared to other health sciences students especially regarding antihypertensive drugs, antibiotics, paracetamol and antacids (p<0.05. Pharmacy students showed a positive attitude regarding the trustworthiness of a pharmacist to give a consultation. Nearly all other health science students showed a negative attitude about dispensing and consultation concerning nutritional supplements by a pharmacist. All health sciences students had a similar perception toward medication use and practice. Conclusion Pharmacy students had better knowledge about medication practice compared to other health sciences students. All other health sciences students lacked the appropriate attitude and practice related to the safe use of medications.

The Contribution of Death-Related Experiences to Health Care Providers' Attitudes toward Dying Patients: II. Medical and Nursing Students with No Professional Experience.

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Brent, Sandor B.; And Others

1993-01-01

Compared attitudes toward care of dying patients of beginning medical and nursing students with no professional death-related experience. On five of six attitude measures, female nursing students expressed more positive attitude than either male or female medical students. Hours of death-and-dying coursework and general life experience exerted…

Knowledge, attitudes, and normative beliefs as predictors of hookah smoking initiation: a longitudinal study of university students.

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Sidani, Jaime E; Shensa, Ariel; Barnett, Tracey E; Cook, Robert L; Primack, Brian A

2014-06-01

While cross-sectional studies have shown that hookah tobacco smoking (HTS) is an increasingly popular behavior among university students, little is known about factors associated with initiation. This study sought to determine associations between knowledge, attitudes, and normative beliefs and initiation of HTS among university students. Data were from a prospective longitudinal cohort study of 569 randomly selected first- and second-year university students. Online questionnaires that were developed in accordance with our composite theoretical model were completed in September 2010 and April 2011. About one-seventh (13%) of participants initiated HTS by follow-up. Positive attitudes and favorable normative beliefs were associated with increased adjusted odds of initiation (AOR = 4.12, 95% CI = 2.56, 6.59; and AOR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.35, 2.99, respectively), while negative attitudes were associated with decreased adjusted odds (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.48, 0.80). Correct knowledge regarding toxicants associated with HTS was not significantly associated with initiation. While positive attitudes and favorable normative beliefs are associated with initiation of HTS in a cohort of never-users, increased knowledge about toxins is not associated with lower initiation. It may be particularly valuable for educational interventions to attempt to alter positive attitudes and normative beliefs related to HTS.

Medical students' exposure to and attitudes about the pharmaceutical industry: a systematic review.

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Kirsten E Austad

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The relationship between health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry has become a source of controversy. Physicians' attitudes towards the industry can form early in their careers, but little is known about this key stage of development.We performed a systematic review reported according to PRISMA guidelines to determine the frequency and nature of medical students' exposure to the drug industry, as well as students' attitudes concerning pharmaceutical policy issues. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and ERIC from the earliest available dates through May 2010, as well as bibliographies of selected studies. We sought original studies that reported quantitative or qualitative data about medical students' exposure to pharmaceutical marketing, their attitudes about marketing practices, relationships with industry, and related pharmaceutical policy issues. Studies were separated, where possible, into those that addressed preclinical versus clinical training, and were quality rated using a standard methodology. Thirty-two studies met inclusion criteria. We found that 40%-100% of medical students reported interacting with the pharmaceutical industry. A substantial proportion of students (13%-69% were reported as believing that gifts from industry influence prescribing. Eight studies reported a correlation between frequency of contact and favorable attitudes toward industry interactions. Students were more approving of gifts to physicians or medical students than to government officials. Certain attitudes appeared to change during medical school, though a time trend was not performed; for example, clinical students (53%-71% were more likely than preclinical students (29%-62% to report that promotional information helps educate about new drugs.Undergraduate medical education provides substantial contact with pharmaceutical marketing, and the extent of such contact is associated with positive attitudes about marketing and skepticism

Psychosocial Well-Being of Israeli Students and Attitudes toward Open and Distance Learning

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Gila Kurtz, Yair Amichai-Hamburger, Jeffrey Kantor

2009-04-01

Full Text Available This article reports on a study conducted in Israel at an academic institution. The study investigates the correlation between students’ attitudes toward open and distance learning (ODL and their perceived self-esteem and loneliness at the last stage of their online learning experience. For this study, 120 students were asked to complete a questionnaire. The students were enrolled in three fully online academic courses, which were similar in their instructional design approach although different in content. Findings reveal that there is a positive correlation between self-esteem and attitudes toward e-learning in general and toward online interaction with the instructor in particular. The findings further suggest that there is no correlation between loneliness and student attitudes toward e-learning. Some explanations for these results are raised as are recommendations for further research.

Preparing Attitude Scale to Define Students' Attitudes about Environment, Recycling, Plastic and Plastic Waste

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Avan, Cagri; Aydinli, Bahattin; Bakar, Fatma; Alboga, Yunus

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to introduce an attitude scale in order to define students? attitudes about environment, recycling, plastics, plastic waste. In this study, 80 attitude sentences according to 5-point Likert-type scale were prepared and applied to 492 students of 6th grade in the Kastamonu city center of Turkey. The scale consists of…

Assessment of the knowledge and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS among pre-clinical medical students in Israel

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2014-01-01

Background Today’s medical students are the future physicians of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). It is therefore essential that medical students possess the appropriate knowledge and attitudes regarding PLWHA. This study aims to evaluate knowledge and attitudes of pre-clinical Israeli medical students and to assess whether their knowledge and attitudes change throughout their pre-clinical studies. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among all pre-clinical medical students from the four medical schools in Israel during the academic year of 2010/2011 (a total of 1,470 students). A self-administered questionnaire was distributed. The questionnaire sought student responses pertaining to knowledge of HIV transmission and non-transmission routes, basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS treatment and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. Results The study’s response rate was 62.24 percent. Knowledge among pre-clinical medical students was generally high and showed a statistically significant improvement as students progressed through their pre-clinical studies. However, there were some misconceptions, mostly regarding HIV transmission via breastfeeding and knowledge of HIV prevention after exposure to the virus. Students’ attitudes were found to include stigmatizing notions. Furthermore, the majority of medical students correlated HIV with shame and fear. In addition, students’ attitudes toward HIV testing and providing confidential medical information were contradictory to health laws, protocols and guidelines. Overall, no positive changes in students’ attitudes were observed during the pre-clinical years of medical school. Conclusion The knowledge of pre-clinical medical students in Israel is generally high, although there are some knowledge inadequacies that require more emphasis in the curricula of the medical schools. Contrary to HIV-related knowledge, medical students’ attitudes are unaffected by their progression through medical school. Therefore, medical

Investigating Student Attitudes toward Augmented Reality

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Sirakaya, Mustafa; Kiliç Çakmak, Ebru

2018-01-01

This study aimed at identifying the attitudes of secondary school students toward AR applications and to investigate the change in these attitudes according to different variables. The study also aspired to determine the relationship between attitudes toward AR and achievement. The general survey model was used in the study. The study group was…

University Students' Attitudes toward Physical Education Teaching

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Li, Fengjuan; Chen, Junjun; Baker, Miles

2014-01-01

While there have been many studies into students' attitudes toward Physical Education at the school level, far fewer studies have been conducted at the university level, especially in China. This study explored 949 students' attitudes toward their university Physical Education experiences in four Chinese universities. An intercorrelated model of…

Attitude toward Christianity and paranormal belief among 13- to 16-yr.-old students.

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Williams, Emyr; Francis, Leslie J; Robbins, Mandy

2006-08-01

A small but statistically significant positive correlation (r = .17) was found in a sample of 279 13- to 16-yr.-old students in Wales between scores on the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity and on a new Index of Paranormal Belief. These data suggest that there is little common variance between attitude toward Christianity and belief in the paranormal.

Sex, gender roles and sexual attitudes in university students.

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García-Vega, Elena; Rico, Rosana; Fernández, Paula

2017-05-01

Previous studies usually refer to a greater repertoire of sexual behav-iors and a higher level of erotophilia in men than in women. The main goal of this work is to relate sex, gender roles and sexual attitudes to sexual behavior. 411 un-dergraduate students (218 women and 193 men) at theof University of Oviedo (Spain) completed the following instruments: the Bem Sex Roles Inventory to operationalize the variable gender, the Sexual Inventory which reflects sexual behaviors, and the Sexual Opinion Survey about sexual attitudes. 27% of the sample was typified as an-drogynous. There are were no differences in attitudes, either by sex (p= .50) or by gen-der (p= .77). Sexual behaviors depended on the degree of erotophilia (p= .000). the results suggest that, although regarding sex, the fact that women’s erotophilic attitudes have increased their erotophilic attitudes, although they refer to more conventional sexual behaviors than mens’s attitudes. With regard to gender, a tendency towards androgyny is observed, androgynous women and men report positive attitudes towards sexuality. Gender could act as a mediator of sexual behavior through the attitudinal component.

Examining The Relationships between Attitude Towards Behaviour, Subjective Norms and Entrepreneurial Intention among Engineering Students

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Saraih Ummi Naiemah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationships between attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and entrepreneurial intention among engineering students from Public Higher Educational Institution (PHEI in Malaysia. This research is carried out by using the quantitative method (questionnaire. Data are gathered from 345 respondents which consisted of the final year students from one PHEI in Malaysia. Results presented that entrepreneurial intention are positively associated with attitude towards behaviour (β=.62, p<.01 and subjective norm (β=.25, p<.01. Thus, it is confirmed that both factors of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB, namely attitude towards behaviour and subjective norm are significantly related to entrepreneurial intention among the engineering students in this institution. Elevating the degree of attitude towards behaviour and subjective norm are the best strategies to enhance the level of entrepreneurial intention among the engineering students in this institution. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. In this line, recommendations for the institution management are provided

Czech Student Attitudes towards Geography

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Kubiatko, Milan; Janko, Tomas; Mrazkova, Katerina

2012-01-01

This study investigates 540 Czech lower secondary students' attitudes towards geography. It examined the general influence of gender and grade level on attitudes towards geography with an emphasis on four specific areas in particular: geography as a school subject; geography and the environment; the importance of geography; and the relevance of…

Factors Influencing Arab Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability and their Inclusion in Nursing Curricula.

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Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Felicilda-Reynaldo, Rhea Faye D; Alshammari, Farhan; Alquwez, Nahed; Alicante, Jerico G; Obaid, Khamees B; Rady, Hanan Ebrahim Abd El Aziz; Qtait, Mohammad; Silang, John Paul Ben T

2018-05-17

To assess the factors influencing the attitudes of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students toward climate change and environmental sustainability and the inclusion of these concepts in the nursing curricula of four Arab countries. A convenience sample of 1,059 students from four Arab countries was surveyed using the Environmental Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey-2 (SANS-2) questionnaire in this descriptive-comparative study. The majority of the respondents exhibited positive attitudes toward the five items of SANS-2, with "Environmental sustainability is an important issue for nursing" receiving the lowest mean score and "Issues about climate change should be included in the nursing curriculum" receiving the highest mean score. Saudi students had more positive attitudes toward environmental sustainability in health care compared with students from Iraq, Egypt, and the Palestinian Territories. Country of residence, type of community, and knowledge about environmental issues and their impact on health in any nursing course were significant factors that influenced attitudes toward environmental sustainability. The inclusion of climate change and environmental sustainability in nursing curricula in the Arab region was emphasized by the findings. Including environmental sustainability practices in nursing education will help student nurses develop critical thinking and skills in the adaptive delivery of health care, especially when resources are scarce. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Investigating the Relationship between Internet Usage and Attitude towards Online Friendship (Case Study: Students of Guilan University

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Mohammad Amin Kanaani

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Internet is causing to transform the profile of the everyday life, especially for the youth. Attractiveness of internet has caused that most youth being appealed to the internet friendships, rather than face to face interactions. The present research aimed to investigate the relation between internet usage and attitude towards internet friendship with opposite sex among students. The survey method and researcher constructed questionnaire is used to gather appropriate information. The statistical universe is all under-graduate and post-graduate students of Guilan University, and from among them, 372 students have been selected through proportionate stratified sampling method. The observed positive relations between attitude towards online friendship and internet usage reveal that quantity and quality of internet usage are important variables creating positive attitudes towards online friendships with opposite sex. In accordance with Giddens it can be said that increasing electronic interactions changed traditional attitudes regarding relations between two sexes. The observed relation between the age of students and attitude towards internet friendship reveals the combined effect of time and space factors on changing attitudes. In overall, expansion of internet usage as a part of the process of globalization has an special role on formation of new social meanings such as online friendship with opposite sex, which itself is an apparent feature of modern world.

Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students.

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Giasuddin, Noor Ahmed; Levav, Itzhak; Gal, Gilad

2015-03-01

The shortage of specialized human resources in mental health in Bangladesh requires active recruitment of psychiatric residents. In addition, the involvement of positively inclined health personnel, for example, medical doctors, emerges as an immediate priority. To explore stigma among medical students toward persons with mental disorders (PMDs) and their attitudes toward psychiatry. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Faridpur Medical College in Bangladesh before (First year) and following psychiatric rotation (Fifth year). Students (N = 200) filled anonymous questionnaires measuring stigma toward PMDs and attitudes to psychiatry. Upper medical school year (p = .028), older age (p = .005), mother's lower academic level (p = .043), upper and lower socioeconomic level affiliation (p = .008) and self-consultation for mental or neurological complaints (p = .032) were associated with increased stigma toward PMDs. More favorable attitudes toward psychiatry were found in upper medical school year (p = .073) and were significantly associated with female gender (p = .018) and middle socioeconomic level affiliation (p = .013). The relative improvement in attitudes toward psychiatry in the upper medical school year is overshadowed by the increased stigma toward PMDs. Specific anti-stigma program in the curriculum and strategies to improve the attitudes are required. © The Author(s) 2014.

Attitudes of Turkish High School Students toward Mathematics

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Yenilmez, Kursat

2007-01-01

This study examines high school students' attitudes toward mathematics and analyzes whether there were differences in attitude and its source that could be attributed to gender, class level, type of school, mathematics success, whether the students received preschool education, families' income level, and high school student's place of living.…

Medical Student Attitudes Toward Older Patients: Predictors and Consequences

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1989-12-18

DEC 1989 2. REPORT TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Medical Student Attitudes Toward Older Patients : Predictors and... MEDICAL CENTER . Title of Thesis: " Medical Student Attitudes Toward Older Patients : Predictors and Cons.equences" Name of Candidate: Victoria...dissertation manuscript entitled: 11 Medical Student Attitudes Toward Older Patients : Predictors and Consequences 11 beyond brief excerpts is with

The attitudes of medical students in Europe toward the clinical importance of histology.

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Moxham, Bernard John; Emmanouil-Nikoloussi, Elpida; Brenner, Erich; Plaisant, Odile; Brichova, Hana; Kucera, Tomas; Pais, Diogo; Stabile, Isobel; Borg, Jordy; Scholz, Michael; Paulsen, Friedrich; Luis Bueno-López, José; Alfonso Arraez Aybar, Luis; De Caro, Raffaele; Arsic, Stojanka; Lignier, Baptiste; Chirculescu, Andy

2017-07-01

Many studies have been undertaken to assess the attitudes of medical students to the clinical importance of gross anatomy. However, much less is known about their attitudes toward the clinical importance of histology. Using Thurstone and Chave methods to assess attitudes, over 2,000 early stage medical students across Europe provided responses to a survey that tested the hypothesis that the students have a high regard for histology's clinical relevance. Regardless of the university and country surveyed, and of the teaching methods employed for histology, our findings were not consistent with our hypotheses, students providing a more moderate assessment of histology's importance compared to gross anatomy but more positive than their attitudes toward embryology. Histology should play a significant role in medical education in terms of appreciating not just normal structure and function but also pathology. We conclude that teachers of histology should pay special attention to informing newly-recruited medical students of the significant role played by histology in attaining clinical competence and in underpinning their status as being learned members of a healthcare profession. This work was conducted under the auspices of the Trans-European Pedagogic Research Group (TEPARG). Clin. Anat. 30:635-643, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Attitudes of Jordanian Students Towards Using Group Work in EFL Classrooms

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Sana' Ababneh

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses itself to the outcomes of a field study which was carried out to identify Jordanian EFL students' attitudes towards using group work in EFL classrooms. The study sample consisted of 179 students enrolled in English 101, an elementary language skills course taught at Al- Huson University College, Al -Balqa' Applied University, Jordan. A questionnaire was used to investigate the subjects' attitudes. The findings show that approximately two-thirds of the participants are either very extrovert or somewhat extrovert, i.e. they have positive attitudes towards participating in group work in EFL classes. In contrast, only a third are either somewhat introvert or very introvert, i.e., they do not like to take part in group work in EFL classes. Moreover, the data show that neither the subjects' gender nor their secondary school stream (vocational, scientific, or literary has any significant effect on their preferences.

A longitudınal study on the effect of tailored training and counseling on the professional attitude of nursing students.

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Karadağ, Ayise; Hisar, Filiz; Göçmen Baykara, Zehra; Çalışkan, Nurcan; Karabulut, Hatice; Öztürk, Deniz

2015-01-01

The development of professional attitudes in nursing students is influenced by their learning experiences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and instructors' professional behaviors. Instructors can enhance students' professional attitude by organizing the training environment, being a role model, and providing counseling. This study was conducted as a tailoring intervention study over 4 years (2010-2013) examining 73 nursing students (34 intervention, 39 control) to determine the effect of training and counseling on nursing students' professional attitudes. Data were collected utilizing the Introductory Characteristics Form and the Instrument of Professional Attitude for Student Nurses. Intervention group students were provided training and counseling complementing their current education to develop their professional attitudes. Controls proceeded with their current education. Instrument for Professional Attitude for Student Nurses posttest scores of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of control group students. Furthermore, intervention group scores on all subscales other than "competence and continuous education" significantly increased after training. Controls showed no growth in professional attitudes, other than in "contribution to scientific knowledge." The training and counseling program had a positive influence on the professional attitudes of nursing students. Thus, providing tailored training and counseling associated to professionalism throughout the educational process at schools providing nursing training is recommended. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Students' Attitudes towards Peers with Disabilities : A review of the literature

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de Boer, Anke; Pijl, Sip Jan; Minnaert, Alexander

2012-01-01

The trend towards inclusive education has led to an increase of studies focusing on peer attitudes. This review study presents an overview of studies describing attitudes of students, variables relating to students' attitudes, and the relationship between students' attitudes and the social

Positive Reading Attitudes of Low-Income Bilingual Latinos

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Bussert-webb, Kathy M.; Zhang, Zhidong

2018-01-01

Many assume low-income, emergent bilingual Latinos have poor reading attitudes. To investigate this issue, we surveyed 1,503 Texas public high school students through stratified cluster sampling to determine their reading attitudes. Most represented Latinos and mixed-race Latinos/Whites who heard Spanish at home and whose mother tongue was…

The Importance of Medical Students' Attitudes Regarding Cognitive Competence for Teaching Applied Statistics: Multi-Site Study and Meta-Analysis.

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Natasa M Milic

Full Text Available The scientific community increasingly is recognizing the need to bolster standards of data analysis given the widespread concern that basic mistakes in data analysis are contributing to the irreproducibility of many published research findings. The aim of this study was to investigate students' attitudes towards statistics within a multi-site medical educational context, monitor their changes and impact on student achievement. In addition, we performed a systematic review to better support our future pedagogical decisions in teaching applied statistics to medical students.A validated Serbian Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS-36 questionnaire was administered to medical students attending obligatory introductory courses in biostatistics from three medical universities in the Western Balkans. A systematic review of peer-reviewed publications was performed through searches of Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Medline, and APA databases through 1994. A meta-analysis was performed for the correlation coefficients between SATS component scores and statistics achievement. Pooled estimates were calculated using random effects models.SATS-36 was completed by 461 medical students. Most of the students held positive attitudes towards statistics. Ability in mathematics and grade point average were associated in a multivariate regression model with the Cognitive Competence score, after adjusting for age, gender and computer ability. The results of 90 paired data showed that Affect, Cognitive Competence, and Effort scores demonstrated significant positive changes. The Cognitive Competence score showed the largest increase (M = 0.48, SD = 0.95. The positive correlation found between the Cognitive Competence score and students' achievement (r = 0.41; p<0.001, was also shown in the meta-analysis (r = 0.37; 95% CI 0.32-0.41.Students' subjective attitudes regarding Cognitive Competence at the beginning of the biostatistics course, which were

The Importance of Medical Students' Attitudes Regarding Cognitive Competence for Teaching Applied Statistics: Multi-Site Study and Meta-Analysis.

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Milic, Natasa M; Masic, Srdjan; Milin-Lazovic, Jelena; Trajkovic, Goran; Bukumiric, Zoran; Savic, Marko; Milic, Nikola V; Cirkovic, Andja; Gajic, Milan; Kostic, Mirjana; Ilic, Aleksandra; Stanisavljevic, Dejana

2016-01-01

The scientific community increasingly is recognizing the need to bolster standards of data analysis given the widespread concern that basic mistakes in data analysis are contributing to the irreproducibility of many published research findings. The aim of this study was to investigate students' attitudes towards statistics within a multi-site medical educational context, monitor their changes and impact on student achievement. In addition, we performed a systematic review to better support our future pedagogical decisions in teaching applied statistics to medical students. A validated Serbian Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS-36) questionnaire was administered to medical students attending obligatory introductory courses in biostatistics from three medical universities in the Western Balkans. A systematic review of peer-reviewed publications was performed through searches of Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Medline, and APA databases through 1994. A meta-analysis was performed for the correlation coefficients between SATS component scores and statistics achievement. Pooled estimates were calculated using random effects models. SATS-36 was completed by 461 medical students. Most of the students held positive attitudes towards statistics. Ability in mathematics and grade point average were associated in a multivariate regression model with the Cognitive Competence score, after adjusting for age, gender and computer ability. The results of 90 paired data showed that Affect, Cognitive Competence, and Effort scores demonstrated significant positive changes. The Cognitive Competence score showed the largest increase (M = 0.48, SD = 0.95). The positive correlation found between the Cognitive Competence score and students' achievement (r = 0.41; p<0.001), was also shown in the meta-analysis (r = 0.37; 95% CI 0.32-0.41). Students' subjective attitudes regarding Cognitive Competence at the beginning of the biostatistics course, which were directly linked to

Turkish adolescents' attitudes toward physical education.

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Hünük, Deniz; Demirhan, Giyasettin

2010-10-01

1,163 middle school students (586 girls, 577 boys; Grades 6-8) were selected through a stratified random sampling method to examine their attitudes toward physical education (PE) by grade, student's sex, sports participation characteristics, and teacher's sex. They were administered the Attitude Toward Physical Education Scale for Children. Factorial analysis of variance indicated that Grade 8 students' mean attitude scores were less positive than those of Grade 6 students, but the attitudes of boys and of sports participants were more positive than of girls and nonsports participants. Findings were similar regardless of the teacher's sex.

Attitudes of psychology students to depression and its treatment: Implications for clinical practice.

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Economou, M; Peppou, L E; Geroulanou, K; Kontoangelos, K; Prokopi, A; Pantazi, A; Zervakaki, A; Stefanis, C N

2017-01-01

Stigma and mental health literacy affect access to and quality of treatment of major depression. Though mental health professionals seem better able to recognize major depression than the general public, they often hold similarly stigmatizing attitudes towards people suffering from the disorder. These attitudes are shaped jointly by the public stigma attached to mental illnesses as well as by the content and delivery of mental health professionals' undergraduate training. In line with this, the present study aimed to explore psychology students' ability to recognize major depression, their attitudes towards the disorder, and their views surrounding helpfulness of various interventions. A random sample of 167 undergraduate students was recruited from the psychology department of one public university in Athens. During one university hour, students were administered a vignette describing a woman fulfilling the DSM-IV criteria for major depression. A self-report questionnaire exploring students' recognition abilities, attitudes to depression and views on the helpfulness of various treatment modes was also administered. In total, 80.2% of students correctly recognized major depression from the vignette. Concerning their attitudes, students were unsure about the illness and ambivalent towards the person who suffers from it. With regard to available treatments for depression, students considered discussion with a friend to be the most helpful intervention. Counseling, cognitive behavioural therapy and psychoanalysis were also viewed in a positive light. On the contrary, antidepressants were not deemed helpful by most students. Finally, recognition of as well as attitudes towards depression and its treatments seemed to improve during the second year of undergraduate study; however they remained unchanged thereafter. Consistent with these, psychology students seem to have only a rudimentary knowledge on depression, that cannot not be qualified as mental health literacy

Brazilian Dental Students' Attitudes About Provision of Care for Patients Living in Poverty.

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Dos Santos, Beatriz Ferraz; Madathil, Sreenath; Zuanon, Angela Cristina Cilense; Bedos, Christophe; Nicolau, Belinda

2017-11-01

The aims of this study were to investigate dental students' attitudes toward people living in poverty and the extent to which their perceptions were associated with their willingness to treat those patients in their future practice. All 910 dental students enrolled in three Brazilian public universities in 2010 were invited to take part in a cross-sectional survey. A total of 766 students (83.7% response rate) completed the self-administered questionnaire on their perceptions of and attitudes about poverty and their intention to provide dental care to poor people. The responding students showed slightly positive attitudes about people living in poverty; however, a high percentage (35%) reported thinking they were different from the rest of the population. Nevertheless, most of these students expressed willingness to provide care to underserved populations in their future practice; this willingness was found to be associated with their beliefs about poverty (OR 1.65; 95% CI=1.41-1.94). Overall, the study found that these dental students had altruistic views toward people living in poverty. However, they seemed to lack a deep understanding of poverty that may prevent them from acting on their good intentions.

Medical students' attitudes towards science and gross anatomy, and the relationship to personality

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Plaisant, Odile; Stephens, Shiby; Apaydin, Nihal; Courtois, Robert; Lignier, Baptiste; Loukas, Marios; Moxham, Bernard

2014-01-01

Assessment of the personalities of medical students can enable medical educators to formulate strategies for the best development of academic and clinical competencies. Previous research has shown that medical students do not share a common personality profile, there being gender differences. We have also shown that, for French medical students, students with personality traits associated with strong competitiveness are selected for admission to medical school. In this study, we further show that the medical students have different personality profiles compared with other student groups (psychology and business studies). The main purpose of the present investigation was to assess attitudes to science and gross anatomy, and to relate these to the students' personalities. Questionnaires (including Thurstone and Chave analyses) were employed to measure attitudes, and personality was assessed using the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Data for attitudes were obtained for students at medical schools in Cardiff (UK), Paris, Descartes/Sorbonne (France), St George's University (Grenada) and Ankara (Turkey). Data obtained from personality tests were available for analysis from the Parisian cohort of students. Although the medical students were found to have strongly supportive views concerning the importance of science in medicine, their knowledge of the scientific method/philosophy of science was poor. Following analyses of the BFI in the French students, ‘openness’ and ‘conscientiousness’ were linked statistically with a positive attitude towards science. For anatomy, again strongly supportive views concerning the subject's importance in medicine were discerned. Analyses of the BFI in the French students did not show links statistically between personality profiles and attitudes towards gross anatomy, except male students with ‘negative affectivity’ showed less appreciation of the importance of anatomy. This contrasts with our earlier studies that showed that there

Medical students' attitudes towards science and gross anatomy, and the relationship to personality.

Science.gov (United States)

Plaisant, Odile; Stephens, Shiby; Apaydin, Nihal; Courtois, Robert; Lignier, Baptiste; Loukas, Marios; Moxham, Bernard

2014-03-01

Assessment of the personalities of medical students can enable medical educators to formulate strategies for the best development of academic and clinical competencies. Previous research has shown that medical students do not share a common personality profile, there being gender differences. We have also shown that, for French medical students, students with personality traits associated with strong competitiveness are selected for admission to medical school. In this study, we further show that the medical students have different personality profiles compared with other student groups (psychology and business studies). The main purpose of the present investigation was to assess attitudes to science and gross anatomy, and to relate these to the students' personalities. Questionnaires (including Thurstone and Chave analyses) were employed to measure attitudes, and personality was assessed using the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Data for attitudes were obtained for students at medical schools in Cardiff (UK), Paris, Descartes/Sorbonne (France), St George's University (Grenada) and Ankara (Turkey). Data obtained from personality tests were available for analysis from the Parisian cohort of students. Although the medical students were found to have strongly supportive views concerning the importance of science in medicine, their knowledge of the scientific method/philosophy of science was poor. Following analyses of the BFI in the French students, 'openness' and 'conscientiousness' were linked statistically with a positive attitude towards science. For anatomy, again strongly supportive views concerning the subject's importance in medicine were discerned. Analyses of the BFI in the French students did not show links statistically between personality profiles and attitudes towards gross anatomy, except male students with 'negative affectivity' showed less appreciation of the importance of anatomy. This contrasts with our earlier studies that showed that there is a

Comparison of Attitudes Toward Death Between University Students Who Receive Nursing Education and Who Receive Religious Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakan, Ayse Berivan; Arli, Senay Karadag

2018-03-22

This study aims to compare attitudes toward death between university students who receive nursing education and who receive religious education. This study is cross-sectional in nature. It was conducted with the participation of 197 university students in a university located in the Eastern part of Turkey between June and August, 2017. Data were collected using the socio-demographic form and Turkish form of Death Attitudes Profile-Revised. Of all the students participating in the study, 52.8% received nursing education and 47.2% received religious education. It was found that majority of both groups had no education about death, or found the education they received insufficient. Besides, no significant differences were found between the students who received nursing education and who received religious education in terms of their attitudes toward death (p > 0.05). Results showed that students who received nursing education and who received religious education had similar attitudes toward death. In conclusion, the education given to students about the religious or health aspects of death in accordance with the curriculum seemed to have no effects on students' developing positive attitudes toward death.

Social Identity and Ethnic Attitudes in Students from Chechnya

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Khukhlaev O.E.

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The study focused on analyzing the impact of ethnic and national identity on the ethnonational attitudes among young people living in the North Caucasus. The study involved students residing in the Chechen Republic (214 subjects aged 16—19 years (mean 17.8, girls — 97, boys — 117. We used: 1 Ethnonational attitudes scale; 2 Technique for studying expression of ethnic and national identity; 3 Interethnic Attitudes questionnaire; 4 General Social Attitudes Scale by E.Frenkel-Brunswik. The outcomes of the research indicate that national identity is a weak predictor of ethnonational attitudes. It is associated with ethnic identity, but does not play any significant role in the formation of interethnic relationships. However, ethnic identity does shape the feeling of pride and other positive feelings that one has about his/her own “nationality”. To a lesser extent, but still statistically significant, subjective importance of one’s ethnicity is associated with hostility towards other nationalities and with negative assessment of social equality and cultural diversity.

Exploring Different Patterns of Love Attitudes among Chinese College Students.

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Zeng, Xianglong; Pan, Yiqin; Zhou, Han; Yu, Shi; Liu, Xiangping

2016-01-01

Individual differences in love attitudes and the relationship between love attitudes and other variables in Asian culture lack in-depth exploration. This study conducted cluster analysis with data regarding love attitudes obtained from 389 college students in mainland China. The result of cluster analysis based on love-attitude scales distinguished four types of students: game players, rational lovers, emotional lovers, and absence lovers. These four groups of students showed significant differences in sexual attitudes and personality traits of deliberation and dutifulness but not self-discipline. The study's implications for future studies on love attitudes in certain cultural groups were also discussed.

Students Attitude Towards LGBTQ; the Future Counselor Challenges

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Zadrian Ardi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The condition of sexual disorientation behavior is a condition that develops from various and interrelated factors. This behavior is not the result of a single major factor, its formation occurs throughout the individual life span instead. The sexual behavior disorientation is a phenomenon that is always happening almost in all communities in various countries, which in the modern world popular with the term LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer. Another condition related to this community is that in recent years human rights related to this matter have been straightforwardly defended in some countries. This condition brings many problems and polemics in various dimensions of life. This study focuses on the trend of student attitudes toward LGBTQ phenomena that in the society. Data were collected through a student's attitude scale on the LGBTQ phenomenon adapted from "Worthen's (2012 Attitudes toward LGBT People Survey" and involving 213 respondents. Students in West Sumatera generally have an unfavorable attitude towards the LGBTQ phenomenon. But in one aspect, students have a moderate attitude towards the transgender phenomenon. This has become an important concern for counselors as social workers who deal directly with this issue. Counseling and psychotherapist services are one of the important points in problem solving. Related conditions that need attention are the paradigm and attitude of the students themselves against the LGBTQ phenomenon.

Understanding Student Attitudes toward Bible Reading: A Philippine Experience

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Baring, Rito V.

2008-01-01

Reflecting from the Philippine experience, this article explores an emerging picture that characterizes contemporary Bible reading attitudes of college students. Six new attitude factor definitions are developed following the development of the Bible Reading (BR) attitude scale for college students constructed by this author in a separate study.…

The role of social support in students' perceived abilities and attitudes toward math and science.

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Rice, Lindsay; Barth, Joan M; Guadagno, Rosanna E; Smith, Gabrielle P A; McCallum, Debra M

2013-07-01

Social cognitive models examining academic and career outcomes emphasize constructs such as attitude, interest, and self-efficacy as key factors affecting students' pursuit of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses and careers. The current research examines another under-researched component of social cognitive models: social support, and the relationship between this component and attitude and self-efficacy in math and science. A large cross-sectional design was used gathering data from 1,552 participants in four adolescent school settings from 5th grade to early college (41 % female, 80 % white). Students completed measures of perceived social support from parents, teachers and friends as well as their perceived ability and attitudes toward math and science. Fifth grade and college students reported higher levels of support from teachers and friends when compared to students at other grade levels. In addition, students who perceived greater social support for math and science from parents, teachers, and friends reported better attitudes and had higher perceptions of their abilities in math and science. Lastly, structural equation modeling revealed that social support had both a direct effect on math and science perceived abilities and an indirect effect mediated through math and science attitudes. Findings suggest that students who perceive greater social support for math and science from parents, teachers, and friends have more positive attitudes toward math and science and a higher sense of their own competence in these subjects.

Analysis of prejudices and attitudes of students in the department of physical therapy against people with disabilities.

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Park, Yung Keun; Kim, Je Ho

2017-12-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to examine prejudices and attitudes of students in the department of physical therapy, in order to suggest basic data for constructing an effective program to develop a positive attitude toward people with disabilities and lower social distance from them. [Subjects and Methods] For this study, students in the department of physical therapy participate in the survey examining prejudices and attitude towards people with disabilities. [Results] First, there were statistically significant differences in the prejudice against people with disabilities among student groups divided by whether they had contact on a frequent basis currently with those who have disabilities. Second, there were statistically significant differences in the prejudice against people with disabilities among student groups divided by whether they had an experience of being harmed by people with disabilities. Third, there was a correlation among prejudices against people with disabilities with each other that is articulated in the eighth domain. Finally, as a result of regression analysis, the students' attitudes towards people with disabilities were explained appropriately by the prejudices about performance of daily tasks and NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome. [Conclusion] It is crucial to create an environment where University students in the department of physical therapy can have positive interactions with people with disabilities, to reduce the overall prejudices, and specifically, the prejudices about performance of daily tasks and about NIMBY syndrome.

Undergraduate Students' Attitudes toward Biodiversity

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Huang, Hui-Ju; Lin, Yu-Teh Kirk

2014-01-01

The study investigated American and Taiwan undergraduate students' attitudes toward biodiversity. The survey questionnaire consisted of statements prompted by the question "To what extent do you agree with the following statements about problems with the biodiversity issues." Students indicated strongly disagree, disagree, agree,…

Academic Students' Attitudes toward Students with Learning Disabilities

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Gonen, Ayala; Grinberg, Keren

2016-01-01

Background: Learning disabilities (LD) are lifelong disabilities that affect all facets of a person's life. Aim: Identifying the relationship between academic students' attitudes toward learning disability, self-image, and selected factors. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 213 students from an academic center in Israel. Two different…

The Effects of the Sustained Silent Reading Program on Cultivating Students' Habits and Attitudes in Reading Books for Leisure

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Chua, Siah Poh

2008-01-01

The author examines the effects of the sustained silent reading program on cultivating students' habits and attitudes in reading books for leisure. The author used a time-series design and measured students' reading habits and attitudes three times in twelve months. It was expected that if the program created positive effects on cultivating…

A national study of Chinese youths' attitudes towards students with intellectual disabilities.

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Siperstein, G N; Parker, R C; Norins, J; Widaman, K F

2011-04-01

In recent years, there has been a global effort to support the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in schools and classrooms. China in particular has recently enacted laws that provide for inclusive educational opportunities for students with ID. There are many barriers, however, to successfully including students with ID in regular education schools and classrooms, one of which is negative attitudes. Over the past decade, much research has focused on documenting the attitudes of the adult public; however, adults only represent one segment of society as it is youth who play a critical role in the successful inclusion and acceptance of students with ID in schools and classrooms. The aim of this study was to replicate a previous study of middle school-aged youths' attitudes towards the inclusion of peers with ID conducted with youth in the USA with similar aged youth in China. A survey was conducted with a random sample of 4059 middle school-aged youth in China on their attitudes towards students with ID. Students' attitudes were measured in terms of their perceptions of the capabilities of students with ID, their beliefs about and expectations regarding the inclusion of students with ID and their willingness to interact with students with ID both in and out of school. The findings indicated that youth in China (1) perceive students with ID as moderately, rather than mildly, impaired; (2) believe that students with ID can not participate in their academic classes; (3) view inclusion as having both positive and negative effects on them personally; and (4) do not want to interact with a peer with ID in school, particularly on academic tasks. Structural equation modelling showed that youths' perceptions of the competence of students with ID significantly influenced their willingness to interact with these students and their support of inclusion. The findings replicated previous research conducted with middle school-aged youth in the USA and are

Science Teaching Attitudes and Scientific Attitudes of Pre-Service Teachers of Gifted Students

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Erdogan, Sezen Camci

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine science teaching attitudes and scientific attitudes of pre-service teachers of gifted students due to gender and grade level and also correlation among these variables. It is a survey study that the group is 82 students attending Gifted Education undergraduate level. Data is gathered by Scientific Attitude…

Examining Attitudes of Physical Education Teacher Education Program Students Toward the Teaching Profession

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Gunay Yildizer

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate attitudes of pre-service teachers toward the teaching profession with respect to their gender, grade level, whether participants regularly participate in physical activities, and whether pre-service students have a teacher-parent in their family. Research was conducted on 469 pre-service physical education teachers (Mage=21.35, SDage= 2.49, 188 female (Mage=20.89, SDage= 2.30 and 281 male (Mage=21.66, SDage= 2.57 students from five different universities in Turkey. In this study the “Attitude Scale for the Profession of Physical Education Teaching” was used. It has two factors: “concern for profession” (CP and “affection for profession” (AP. Independent sample t-test results indicated that there were no significant differences with respect to gender or having a teacher-parent in both factors and total attitude points (p> 0.05. Pre-service physical education teachers who participate in physical activity had significantly higher points in AP and the total scale in comparison to those who do not participate in physical activity (p< 0.05. ANOVA results indicated that based on grade level there were significant differences in CP and total attitude (p< 0.05. Students’ concern about employment may be associated with differences in attitude scores between grade levels. The positive effect of physical activity participation and their professional teaching education on stress resilience might also be an important factor for increasing positive attitudes toward the teaching profession.

Influence of Clerkship on Attitudes of Medical Students toward Psychiatry across Cultures: United States and Qatar

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Burgut, F. Tuna; Polan, H. Jonathan

2013-01-01

Objective: To assure adequate treatment for patients with mental illness worldwide, medical schools must impart positive attitudes toward psychiatry. The authors examined the effect of culture on changes in attitudes toward psychiatry among medical students receiving the same psychiatry clerkship curriculum in two different countries. Methods: A…

Results of a drug prevention program in the changing attitudes of students

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Cristóbal VILLANUEVA ROA

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Drug abuse is a problem that the population is highly sensitive. On the other hand, is clear that in the field of education, together with the family, the ideal roomto articulate prevention programmes. One the aspects which many educational programmes have not had the expec ted results has been for not taking into account the family environment and not control his influence. with this research we have found that there are significant differences in the 2nd ESO students attitude, regarding the rejection of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, depending on which the prevention programme is aplied or not to students. Research has been done with quasi experimental pretest postest to not equivalent control group. The analysis of results, shows that the implementation of the programme has been effective as far as the students attitude has highly improved with regard to the prevention of drugs, mainly tobacco which is the most widely abused drug at these ages. Regarding the expected differences in students attitude by the implementation of a prevention programme with parents, we have not seen significant differences in the results possibly because the initial attitudes are very positive and is very short period of time. As a result of the study we believe it is important to recover the educator family role since its influence is decisive in prevention.

Student-teacher relationships and ethnic outgroup attitudes among majority students

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Geerlings, J.; Thijs, J.T.; Verkuyten, Maykel

Children's ethnic outgroup attitudes are influenced by their teachers' beliefs and multicultural education. However, research has ignored the possible impact of interpersonal relationships with teachers on students' ethnic attitudes. Three studies, using comparable datasets gathered among native

Validation of the Catalan version of the communication skills attitude scale (CSAS) in a cohort of south European medical and nursing students.

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Molinuevo, Beatriz; Torrubia, Rafael

2011-04-01

The relevance of healthcare student training in communication skills has led to the development of instruments for measuring attitudes towards learning communication skills. One such instrument is the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS), developed in English speaking students and adapted to different languages and cultures. No data is available on the performance of CSAS with South European students. The aims of the present study were to translate the CSAS into the Catalan language and study its psychometric properties in South European healthcare students. A total of 569 students from the School of Medicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) participated. Students completed a Catalan version of the CSAS and provided demographic and education information. Principal component analysis with oblimin rotation supported a two-factor original structure with some modifications. In general, internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the scales were satisfactory, especially for the factor measuring positive attitudes. Relationships of student responses on the two factors with demographic and education variables were consistent with previous work. Students with higher positive attitudes tended to be female, to be foreign students and to think that their communication skills needed improving. Students with higher negative attitudes tended to be male and to have parents that were doctors or nurses. These data support the internal validity of a Catalan version of the CSAS and support its use in future research and educational studies related to attitudes towards learning communication skills for South European students who speak Catalan.

Exploring Different Patterns of Love Attitudes among Chinese College Students

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Zeng, Xianglong; Pan, Yiqin; Zhou, Han; Yu, Shi; Liu, Xiangping

2016-01-01

Individual differences in love attitudes and the relationship between love attitudes and other variables in Asian culture lack in-depth exploration. This study conducted cluster analysis with data regarding love attitudes obtained from 389 college students in mainland China. The result of cluster analysis based on love-attitude scales distinguished four types of students: game players, rational lovers, emotional lovers, and absence lovers. These four groups of students showed significant differences in sexual attitudes and personality traits of deliberation and dutifulness but not self-discipline. The study’s implications for future studies on love attitudes in certain cultural groups were also discussed. PMID:27851784

Exploring Different Patterns of Love Attitudes among Chinese College Students.

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Xianglong Zeng

Full Text Available Individual differences in love attitudes and the relationship between love attitudes and other variables in Asian culture lack in-depth exploration. This study conducted cluster analysis with data regarding love attitudes obtained from 389 college students in mainland China. The result of cluster analysis based on love-attitude scales distinguished four types of students: game players, rational lovers, emotional lovers, and absence lovers. These four groups of students showed significant differences in sexual attitudes and personality traits of deliberation and dutifulness but not self-discipline. The study's implications for future studies on love attitudes in certain cultural groups were also discussed.

Assessment of medical students' attitudes on social media use in medicine: a cross-sectional study.

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Avcı, Kadriye; Çelikden, Sevda Gerek; Eren, Semih; Aydenizöz, Doğukan

2015-02-15

Social media has created a revolution in health services. Information available on the Internet and via social media is now being used as reference guides for sensitive health issues by nonprofessionals, physicians, and medical students. When used by physicians and medical students, social media has the potential to raise issues such as the blurring of the line between professional and private lives, patient relations, and medical ethics. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the use of social media and attitudes toward its use in medicine among medical students. Medical students from Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Medicine (Afyonkarahisar, Turkey) were asked to participate in a survey consisting of two sections, the first containing questions assessing the frequency of social media use and the second regarding attitudes toward the use of social media in medicine. Survey responses indicated that 93.4% of medical students used social media and 89.3% used social media for professional purposes. Factor analysis showed that attitudes toward social media are based on five factors: professional usefulness, popularity, ethics, barriers, and innovativeness. A structural equation model revealed the highest positive correlation between usefulness and innovativeness; ethics had a low but positive correlation with other factors. Although social media is being used extensively by medical students, they appear unaware of possible ethical issues. Therefore, social media guidelines should be developed.

The role of service-learning in college students' environmental literacy: Content knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors

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Singletary, Joanna Lynn Bush

This study evaluated the relationship of environmental service-learning on environmental literacy in undergraduates. The subjects were 36 undergraduates at a small liberal arts university enrolled in an environmental biology course. To determine the role of environmental service-learning on college students' environmental knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and environmental literacy, this study utilized concurrent mixed methods approach for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A quasi-experimental repeated measures approach was the design of the quantitative component of the study. Data were collected on attitude, behavior, and content knowledge aspects of environmental literacy as measured by the Environmental Literacy Survey (Kibert, 2000). Hypotheses were tested by independent samples ttests and repeated measures ANOVA. Repeated measures ANOVA conducted on participants' three subscales scores for the Environmental Literacy Survey (attitude, behavior, and knowledge) indicated that students who participated in environmental service-learning scored statistically significantly higher than those that did not initially participate in service-learning. Qualitative data collected in the form of journal reflections and portfolios were evaluated for themes of environmental attitudes or affective statements, environmentally positive behaviors and skills, and ecological content. Quantitative and qualitative data support the positive role of environmental service-learning in the development of environmental literacy in undergraduate students.

Changing Medical Students' Attitudes toward Older Adults

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Gonzales, Ernest; Morrow-Howell, Nancy; Gilbert, Pat

2010-01-01

Given the growth in the number of older adults and the ageist attitudes many in the health care profession hold, interventions aimed at improving health professionals' attitudes toward older adults are imperative. Vital Visionaries is an intergenerational art program designed to improve medical students' attitudes toward older adults. Participants…

What Effects Do Didactic Interventions Have on Students' Attitudes Towards Science? A Meta-Analysis

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Aguilera, David; Perales-Palacios, F. Javier

2018-03-01

Improving the attitudes of students towards science is one of the main challenges facing the teaching of the subject. The main objective of this study is to analyze the effect of students' attitudes towards science through different didactic interventions. The bibliographic search was carried out via the Web of Science database, specifically in the Education and Educational Research category, obtaining a population of 374 articles published between 2006 and 2016. We included studies with pre-experimental or quasi-experimental design that used pretest and posttest phases. Following the application of the inclusion criteria, 24 articles were selected with which a random effects meta-analysis was adopted, obtaining an average effect size of 0.54. Three moderating variables were analyzed, with a significant correlation between the type of teaching strategy and the effect of the attitude towards Science (Q = 23.17; df = 8; p educational implications are mainly due to the importance of the teaching/learning strategy used in science education in the development of positive attitudes towards the subject, and the need to increase the number of Didactic Interventions that contemplate students' attitudes towards science as a study variable is also advocated.

The relationship between perceived stress and computer technology attitude: an application on health sciences students.

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Ozyurek, Pakize; Oztasan, Nuray; Kilic, Ibrahim

2015-02-01

The aim of this study is to define attitudes of students in health sciences towards perceived personal stress and computer technologies, and to present the relationship between stress and computer technology attitudes. In this scope, this study has a descriptive nature and thus a questionnaire has been applied on 764 students from Afyon Kocatepe University Health Sciences High School, Turkey for data gathering. Descriptive statistics, independent samples, t test, one way ANOVA, and regression analysis have been used for data analysis. In the study, it is seen that female (=3,78) have a more positive attitude towards computer technology than male students (=3,62). according to the results of regression analysis of the study, the regression model between computer technology attitude (CTA) and perceived stress (PS) has been found meaningful (F=16,291; ptechnology attitude and perceived stress (when computer technology altitude increases, perceived stress decreases), and an increase of one unit in computer attitude results in 0.275 decrease in perceived stress. it can be concluded that correct and proper use of computer technologies can be accepted as a component of overcoming stress methods.

Attitudes of medical students to induced abortion.

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Buga, G A B

2002-05-01

Unsafe abortion causes 13% of maternal deaths worldwide. Safe abortion can only be offered under conditions where legislation has been passed for legal termination of unwanted pregnancy. Where such legislation exists, accessibility of safe abortion depends on the attitudes of doctors and other healthcare workers to induced abortion. Medical students as future doctors may have attitudes to abortion that will affect the provision of safe abortion. Little is known about the attitudes of South African medical students to abortion. To assess sexual practices and attitudes of medical students to induced abortion and to determine some of the factors that may influence these attitudes. A cross-sectional analytic study involving the self-administration of an anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to medical students at a small, but growing, medical school situated in rural South Africa. Demographic data, sexual practices and attitudes to induced abortion. Two hundred and forty seven out of 300 (82.3%) medical students responded. Their mean age was 21.81 +/- 3.36 (SD) years, and 78.8% were Christians, 17.1% Hindus and 2.6% Muslims. Although 95% of the respondents were single, 68.6% were already sexually experienced, and their mean age at coitarche was 17.24+/-3.14 (SD) years. Although overall 61.2% of the respondents felt abortion is murder either at conception or later, the majority (87.2%) would perform or refer a woman for abortion under certain circumstances. These circumstances, in descending order of frequency, include: threat to mother's life (74.1%), in case of rape (62.3%), the baby is severely malformed (59.5%), threat to mother's mental health (53.8%) and parental incompetence (21.0%). Only 12.5% of respondents would perform or refer for abortion on demand, 12.8% would neither perform nor refer for abortion under any circumstances. Religious affiliation and service attendance significantly influenced some of these attitudes and beliefs

Attitudes of students at College of Food and Agricultural Sciences toward agriculture

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Mohammed Saleh Shenaifi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The primary purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes of students at the College of Agriculture toward agriculture programs and the field of agriculture in an effort to better identify, recruit, and retain students in the College of Agriculture. The population of the study was 110 students from the College of Agriculture freshmen enrolling in course 203 Ag. ext. Communication skills in 2009 and 60 students who transferred from the College of Agriculture to another College. Questionnaire was reviewed for content and face validity by a panel of experts from the department of Agricultural Extension at the College of Agriculture, King Saud University. A five-point Likert-type scale was used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.89, which indicated the internal consistency of the scale. Ninety-six of the students were from cities and do not have a farm background. Many of them indicated that they were not happy in the College of Agriculture. Only 31.18% of the respondents (53 indicated that more students should be encouraged to enroll in the College of Agriculture, whereas nearly 69 disagreed or were uncertain. The attitudes of students toward the field of Agriculture were positive. Seventy-one of respondents viewed Agriculture as a scientific area of study, nearly 66% of respondents viewed the field of Agriculture as a blend of scientific principles and agricultural practices. Significant differences at the level of 0.01 were detected, in means of students who had been enrolled in Agricultural program and those students who had not. Students who had enrolled in Agriculture program displayed different attitudes toward the field of Agriculture than did students who were in non-Agriculture program. Generally, students who were studying Agriculture programs possessed attitudes, which were supportive of Agriculture as a career field. Freshmen of the College of Agriculture viewed agriculture as being both scientific and technical. It

Patterns, Attitudes, and Dependence toward WhatsApp among College Students

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Harshavardhan Sampath

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: WhatsApp (WA, a free cross-platform smartphone application has revolutionized social communication over the virtual world. It enables information sharing, both personal and professional, individually and across social groups. Despite these positive changes, there have been concerns about excessive WA use, especially among college students, resulting in the neglect of important social and academic commitments. However, there is lack of quality research on WA use in this vulnerable population. Aims: The aim of this study is to understand the patterns and attitudes toward WA use and measure the level of dependence among college students. Materials and Methods: In a sample of 150 undergraduate medical college students who provided informed consent, comprehensive questionnaires were administered to assess the patterns, attitudes, and dependence toward WA use. Results: WA was the most common social media platform used (70% which eclipsed the time spend on other apps (Facebook, Twitter, etc. While half of the students spent 1–2 h/day, a significant minority (10.67% spent almost 6–7 h/day on WA. Nearly 12% (n = 18 of students qualified for WA dependence. There were no significant differences in patterns of WA use between students with or without WA dependence. Students with WA dependence had significantly lesser negative attitudes toward its use compared to the rest. Scores on all dimensions of WA addiction, namely, salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse were significantly higher in students with WA dependence. Conclusion: WA dependence is an emerging behavioral addiction among college students. With no specific pattern of use to distinguish dependent users, it is difficult to recognize this problem. Changing the attitudes towards WA use by creating awareness about it's addictive potential, monitoring and restricting the use of mobile phones especially during class hours, encouraging face to face

The extent, variability, and attitudes towards volunteering among undergraduate nursing students: Implications for pedagogy in nurse education.

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Dyson, S E; Liu, L; van den Akker, O; O'Driscoll, Mike

2017-03-01

In the aftermath of the Francis Report nurses are being called to account for an apparent lack of care and compassion, leading to debate around pedagogy in nurse education. Absent from this debate is a consideration of student volunteering within undergraduate nursing programmes and its potential to promote student nurses self-esteem and to enhance the development of critical thinking skills. The aim of this study was therefore to understand the extent of and attitudes towards volunteering among nursing students. A mixed methods approach using a specifically developed questionnaire, followed by in-depth interviews to ascertain extent, variability, and attitudes towards volunteering revealed low levels of volunteering among nursing students. Limited time, limited access, and lack of academic support were cited as reasons. Nevertheless, students displayed positive attitudes towards volunteering. While volunteering has been shown to impact upon students abilities to think critically, to develop personal values and respond to the needs of others, volunteering within the UK undergraduate nursing programme considered here is neither structured nor formalized. Nurse educators should pay attention to the positive benefits of volunteering for nursing students and consider ways in which volunteering might be incorporated into the curriculum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beliefs, attitudes and phobias among Mexican medical and psychology students towards people with obesity.

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Soto, Lucero; Armendariz-Anguiano, Ana Lilia; Bacardí-Gascón, Montserrat; Jiménez Cruz, A

2014-07-01

A high prevalence of stigmatizing attitude among healthcare personnel towards obese people has been reported. To evaluate the beliefs, attitudes and phobias that Mexican medical and psychology students have towards obese people. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 528 students enrolled at the Autonomous University of Baja California in psychology and medical schools. Weight, height and waist circumference were evaluated. Beliefs about obesity were assessed with the BAOP scale, attitudes towards obese people by the ATOP scale and obesity phobias by the F-scale. Participants achieved a mean F-scale score of 3.4. Only seven per cent showed neutral or positive attitudes towards obesity (≤2.5). Less fat phobia was associated with beliefs that obesity was not a result of the person's self-control (p = 0.0001) and had better attitudes towards obese people (p = 0.0001). Men had higher risk of fat phobia (OR = 1.5). High prevalence of phobias and negative attitudes towards obesity was observed. Men had higher stigma. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Attitudes toward and willingness to work with older people among undergraduate nursing students in a public university in Sri Lanka: A cross sectional study.

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Rathnayake, Sarath; Athukorala, Yamuna; Siop, Sidiah

2016-01-01

With the increased number of older people globally, caring for older people has become a challenge for many countries. Nurses have a pivotal role in providing quality care for older people and care is affected by their attitudes. The preparation of nurses to deliver quality care needs to be instilled during their studying in the Schools of Nursing. To examine the attitudes of nursing students toward and their willingness to work with older people in Sri Lanka. A purposive sample of 98 first to fourth year undergraduate nursing students in the Department of Nursing, University of Peradeniya completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic variables, Kogan's Attitudes toward Older People Scale, and questions related to willingness to work with older people. Fifty percent of the respondents (n=49) held slightly positive attitudes toward older people while 45% (n=44) held slightly negative attitudes. About one-third of the respondents (29.9%, n=29) selected the elderly group as the least preferred group for their future career from the categorized seven age groups. Only 5.1% (n=5) of the respondents ranked the elderly group as the first preferred group. There was a significant difference in attitudes between students who lived with older people and students who did not live with older people (t=2.565, p=.012). There was a positive relationship between attitudes and preference for working with older people (r=.342, p=.001). Nursing students have moderately positive attitudes toward older people; however, they show little interest in working with older people. Living with older people develops positive attitudes of young people toward older people. Attitudes are related to the selection in area of specialty in nursing. Nursing curricula need to include Gerontological Nursing as a major area. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in Veterinary Students' Attitudes Toward the Rural Environment and Rural Veterinary Practice: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

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Hashizume, Cary T; Woloschuk, Wayne; Hecker, Kent G

2015-01-01

There is a paucity of research regarding veterinary students' attitudes toward the rural environment and rural veterinary practice and how these attitudes might change over the course of a veterinary medicine program that includes rural clinical experience. Using a 23-item questionnaire, attitudes toward rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, opportunities for career and skill development in rural veterinary practice, and inter-professional teamwork in the rural environment were assessed at the beginning and completion of a four-year veterinary medicine program. Eighty-six students (74.4% female) were included in this Canadian study over a six-year period. Thirty-one participants (36.1%) were rural students. Overall, students' attitudes toward the rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, and inter-professional teamwork in rural veterinary practice all significantly decreased (pstudents, rural students had significantly higher rural lifestyle scores at both the beginning (pworking in a rural environment could influence students to exclude rural veterinary practice as a career choice. Rural clinical experiences designed to sustain or increase veterinary student interest in rural practice may not be sufficient to support positive rural attitudes. Given the demand for rural veterinary services in developed countries, the implications of this study may extend beyond Canada.

Students' Attitudes towards Individuals with an Intellectual Disability

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Patel, Meera; Rose, John

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate attitudes held by a British student population towards individuals with an intellectual disability. Students participated in focus groups addressing their attitudes, behaviours and perceptions of individuals with an intellectual disability. Thematic analysis was the method used to identify emergent themes.…

Attitude, Knowledge and Skill of Medical Students Toward E-Learning Kerman University Of Medical Sciences

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Okhovati M

2015-04-01

Full Text Available  Aims: According to the development of e-learning and its high efficiency on the development of Iran’s universities, level of knowledge and the attitude of the students to this modern method of education and indeed students’ skills in using it needed to be assessed to improve the quality and quantity of universities’ education. This study aimed to determine the attitude, knowledge and skill of medical students toward e-learning at Kerman University of Medical Sciences.  Instrument & Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study that was performed in 2013, 196 students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences were selected using proportional stratified sampling method. The research instrument was a valid and reliable questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA and independent T tests by SPSS 19 software.  Findings: The level of knowledge and skill of the students toward e-learning was “moderate” and their attitude was “high”. There were significant relationships between knowledge and skill (p=0.001 r=0.82 and also knowledge and attitude (p=0.001 r=0.37 but there was no significant relationship between skill and attitude (p=0.35 r=0.82. The scores of knowledge and skill were significantly different according to sex, but attitude had no significant difference with sex.  Conclusion: Kerman University of Medical Sciences’ students have a positive attitude to e-learning but according to their moderate knowledge and skills, performing this method of learning is not welcomed in this university.

Nursing students' attitudes towards information and communication technology: an exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approach.

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Lee, Jung Jae; Clarke, Charlotte L

2015-05-01

The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically test a shortened version of the Information Technology Attitude Scales for Health, in the investigation of nursing students with clinical placement experiences. Nurses and nursing students need to develop high levels of competency in information and communication technology. However, they encounter statistically significant barriers in the use of the technology. Although some instruments have been developed to measure factors that influence nurses' attitudes towards technology, the validity is questionable and few studies have been developed to test the attitudes of nursing students, in particular. A cross-sectional survey design was performed. The Information Technology Attitude Scales for Health was used to collect data from October 2012-December 2012. A panel of experts reviewed the content of the instrument and a pilot study was conducted. Following this, a total of 508 nursing students, who were engaged in clinical placements, were recruited from six universities in South Korea. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed and reliability and construct validity were assessed. The resulting instrument consisted of 19 items across four factors. Reliability of the four factors was acceptable and the validity was supported. The instrument was shown to be both valid and reliable for measuring nursing students' attitudes towards technology, thus aiding in the current understandings of this aspect. Through these measurements and understandings, nursing educators and students are able to be more reflexive of their attitudes and can thus seek to develop them positively. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Positive-Themed Suicide Prevention Messages Delivered by Adolescent Peer Leaders: Proximal Impact on Classmates' Coping Attitudes and Perceptions of Adult Support.

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Petrova, Mariya; Wyman, Peter A; Schmeelk-Cone, Karen; Pisani, Anthony R

2015-12-01

Developing science-based communication guidance and positive-themed messages for suicide prevention are important priorities. Drawing on social learning and elaboration likelihood models, we designed and tested two positive-focused presentations by high school peer leaders delivered in the context of a suicide prevention program (Sources of Strength). Thirty-six classrooms in four schools (N = 706 students) were randomized to (1) peer leader modeling of healthy coping, (2) peer leader modeling plus audience involvement to identify trusted adults, or (3) control condition. Students' attitudes and norms were assessed by immediate post-only assessments. Exposure to either presentation enhanced positive coping attitudes and perceptions of adult support. Students who reported suicide ideation in the past 12 months benefited more than nonsuicidal students. Beyond modeling alone, audience involvement modestly enhanced expectations of adult support, congruent with the elaboration likelihood model. Positive peer modeling is a promising alternative to communications focused on negative consequences and directives and may enhance social-interpersonal factors linked to reduced suicidal behaviors. © 2015 The American Association of Suicidology.

Attitude toward Public Health Dentistry as a career among dental students in Odisha: A Cross-sectional study.

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Sharma, Nupur; Jain, Kittu; Kabasi, Soumik

2016-01-01

Knowledge of dental students' expectations of their profession as well as their attitudes to study a particular specialty of dentistry is of great importance. These attitudes and expectations make studying dentistry meaningful to dental students and society and understanding these factors facilitate workforce planning in the dental sector The aim of the study was to assess the attitude of dental students towards considering Public Health Dentistry as their future career. A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted, which included the 3 rd year, 4 th fourth year and dental interns studying in the State of Odisha. It consisted of 27 questions that were graded on 5-point Likert scale. The responses for the attitude questions toward selecting Public Health Dentistry for postgraduation were categorized into three factors, which are a negative attitude (includes score 0-21), neutral attitude (score 22-44), and positive attitude (score 45-64). Differences between groups were examined using Chi-square test for proportions. The level of statistical significance was set at P attitude toward selecting public health dentistry as their future career, and nearly two-third of them (58.23%) had neutral attitude, with very few students having a negative attitude (8.23%) toward the specialty for pursuing postgraduation. Respondents had a considerable amount of interest in pursuing postgraduation in this specialty. Efforts should be intensified, both by the dental council and by the dental colleges, to develop this specialty, keeping in mind the increasing attitude of dental undergraduates toward it.

Counselor Trainee Attitudes toward Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

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Davis, Sharon J.; Sneed, Zachery B.; Koch, D. Shane

2010-01-01

Using the Counselor Trainee Attitudes Measure (CTAM) to assess student attitudes toward alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA), results indicated that students had more positive attitudes toward AODA when they were in recovery or had a family member in recovery. Furthermore, completion of AODA related courses predicted more positive attitudes toward…

Impact of a school district's science reform effort on the achievement and attitudes of third- and fourth-grade students

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Shymansky, James A.; Yore, Larry D.; Anderson, John O.

2004-10-01

This article is about one school district's effort to reform its elementary science curriculum through a program of professional development called Science, Parents, Activities and Literature (Science PALs). The differential exposure of the district's K-6 teachers to Science PALs and differences in how well teachers implemented Science PALs-type inquiry strategies allowed us to conduct a quasi-experimental study of the impact of Science PALs on student achievement and attitudes. We measured achievement with an instrument based on items taken from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS; International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, [1997]) and selected attitudes about science with the Student Perceptions of Classroom Climate (SPOCC; Yore et al., [1998]), an instrument that we designed. Our analyses of student attitude scores as a function of years of teacher participation in Science PALs and supervisor's rating of a teacher's implementation of the project's instructional approaches showed a significant overall positive impact on student attitudes toward school science. Student TIMSS scores on multiple-choice items or constructed-response items did not improve significantly when analyzed by the number of years a student's teacher was involved in the Science PALs effort or by the supervisor's rating of that implementation. We found no significant differences in attitude or achievement scores among students taught by a series of teachers rated high, medium, or low in quality of implementation by the district's science supervisor. We discuss possible explanations for the lack of clear and positive connections between Science PALs and student performance in light of the increased focus on accountability in reform projects.

Contact with Young Adults with Disability Led to a Positive Change in Attitudes toward Disability among Physiotherapy Students

OpenAIRE

Shields, Nora; Taylor, Nicholas F.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To determine whether contact over 8 weeks with a person with disability benefits physiotherapy students' attitudes toward disability and their development of professional behaviours and skills. Methods: Sixteen adults with Down syndrome were matched with 16 physiotherapy students (13 women, 3 men; mean age 22.5 [SD 3.0] years) and randomized to either an 8-week, twice-weekly walking programme or an 8-week, once-weekly social activities programme. Students completed the Interaction wi...

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS? ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

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Dilek OZMEN

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine university students? attitudes towards environmental problems and the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on it. The present descriptive study was carried out at the Celal Bayar University School of Health, SHMYO and Faculty of Medicine (N=742. A questionnaire designed by researches and Environmental Attitudes Scale (EAS were applied to n=410 students who were present at the school at the time of applying. Although 65,0% of the students have stated that they were sensitive to environmental issues, 84,9% of them have not participitated to an activity about environmental issues. Total score of EAS of the students of Faculty of Medicine and School of Health, the students whose age were higher than 20, female students, the students who lived longest at city, the students who were sensitive to environmental issues, the students who thought an education must be given in high school, the students who has siblings fewer than 3 and the students whose parents were university graduate were higher than other students (p < 0,05. An education program should be developed for the students who were sensitive about the environmental issues to change their behavior about environmental matters. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2005; 4(6.000: 330-344

The effects of attitudes towards violence on violent behaviour among secondary school students: Moderation by gender and aggressiveness

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Oljača Milan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to explore the effects of attitudes towards violence on different forms of violence behaviour among secondary school students. The moderator roles of gender and aggressiveness in relationships between attitude and violence were also tested. The Bullying Attitudinal Scale, the Peer Violence and Victimisation Questionnaire (PVVQ, and the Aggressiveness questionnaire AVDH were administered on the sample of 643 second- to fourth-grade secondary school students from urban area (61.7% boysgrade. The results have shown that among boys more positive attitudes towards violence had significant effect on direct violence forms - physical and verbal, but that it depended on aggressiveness whether violence would be manifested as physical. Namely, the boys with more positive attitudes towards violence, who, at the same time, scored higher on aggressiveness, were more prone to physical violence. Unlike them, the boys with more positive attitudes towards violence but with lower aggressiveness were less prone to physical aggression. In the case of verbal violence, it has been shown that boys with more positive attitudes towards violence were more prone to verbal violence, regardless of aggressiveness. Aggressiveness had a unique contribution to the prediction of verbal violence and only a significant effect in the prediction of relational violence. The importance of changing the attitudes towards violence in the context of violence prevention is discussed. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. ON179006 i br. ON179037: Nasilje u savremenom društvu: dispozicioni i kontekstualni činioci

Study on attitudes of students of Islamic Azad University Tehran Medical Branch toward food safety, 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Miri, Ali; Poursadeghiyan, Mohsen; Baneshi, Mohammad Mehdi; Biglari, Hamed; Yari, Ahmad Reza; Khammar, Alireza

2017-05-01

Given the importance of high-quality healthy food for humans, contamination control is the most important concern for healthy staff. To determine the attitudes of students at Islamic Azad University (Tehran Medical Branch) toward food safety. This cross-sectional and analytic-descriptive study was conducted on 326 students of Azad University of Medical Sciences in 2016. A self-made questionnaire consisting of 40 questions was used. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using internal consistency method (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.80). After collecting data, we use descriptive statistical indexes (mean and standard deviation) among demographic variables and the level of knowledge to describe and analyze the data. The participants' attitudes and operation are measured by Spearman tests, and the analytical results are given using SPSS version 20. According to the findings, 55.3, 30 and 14.7 percent of students had high, moderate and low attitude scores toward food safety, respectively. In addition, male and female students had equal attitudes toward food safety, and no significant relationship between sex and attitude was observed a significant difference (p>0.05), but between educational levels (p=0.008) and ages (p=0.001) of students significance was a positive correlation. Due to the low attitudes score of about half of the students of Islamic Azad University Tehran Medical Branch toward food safety, it can be claimed, food safety training in this community is required.