Non-formal Education Bails Out Impoverished Ethnic Youth

On a hot summer day in August 2006, Lamao Cering crouched in a windy field in west China＇s Qinghai Province murmuring to herself. ＂I want to go to school,＂ she chanted quietly over and over in an almost mantra-like trance, oblivious to her father＇s call to come back and tend the sheep.

Delivering substance use prevention interventions for adolescents in educational settings:A scoping review

Currently,a proportion of adolescents use alcohol,tobacco,and illicit drugs,which inevitably harms their health and academic progress.Adolescence is a peak period for substance use initiation and a critical time for preventing substance use problems.Various entities,such as families,schools,and communities,have implemented a variety of interventions to alleviate adolescent substance use problems,and schools play a unique role.To explore the types,characteristics,and effectiveness of substance use interventions in educational settings for adolescents,we conducted a scoping review and identified 32 studies after screening.We divided the 32 studies according to intervention type,including curriculum interventions focusing on cognitive-behavioral skill enhancement,exercise interventions,peer interventions and family-school cooperation,and electronic interventions.Except for the mixed results on electronic interventions,the results showed that the other interventions were beneficial to different extents in alleviating adolescent substance use problems.In addition,we analyzed and summarized the advantages and challenges of intervening in adolescent substance use in educational settings.Schools can use equipment and human resources to provide adolescents with various types of intervention measures,but they also face challenges such as stigmatization,ineffective coordination among multiple resources,and poor implementation effects.In the future,school-based intervention measures can fully utilize big data and artificial intelligence technology and collaborate with families and communities to intervene appropriately while paying attention to the comorbidity risks of substance use disorders and psychological health issues.

Parental Educational Attainment and Relatives’ Substance Use of American Youth: Hispanics’ Diminished Returns

Background: Research on Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs) has shown higher than expected substance use (tobacco and alcohol use) in middle-class Hispanic and Black youth and adults. In theory, some of this more than expected risk might be due to the high substance use problem of their social networks. Objectives: To better understand the role of social networks as an explanatory mechanism behind higher than expected substance use among middle-class Hispanic and Black youth, this study tested MDRs of parental educational attainment on substance use involvement of biological relatives in Hispanic and Black middle-class youth. We compared ethnic groups for effects of parental educational attainment on substance use involvement of biological relatives among American youth. Methods: The current longitudinal study used waves 1 and wave 4 data of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health-Adolescents (PATH;2013-2018) study. The sample included 4264 nationally representative American youth who were followed for 4 years. The independent variable was parental educational attainment. The dependent variable was substance use involvement of biological relatives. Age, gender, and marital status of the family were the covariates. Ethnicity was the moderator. Linear regression was used to analyze the data. Results: Parental educational attainment was inversely associated with substance use involvement of biological relatives in the pooled sample (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.13 - 1.63 for high school graduation and OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.53 - 0.80 for college graduation). Hispanic ethnicity showed statistically significant interactions with parental educational attainment (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.49 - 3.44 for high school graduation and OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.80 - 4.93 for college graduation), suggesting that the protective effect of parental educational attainment against substance use involvement of biological relatives is smaller for Hispanic youth than for non-Hispanic youth. Conclusions: While high parental educational attainment reduces substance use involvement of biological relatives, this protective effect is weaker for Hispanic than non-Hispanic youth. That means, substance use involvement of biological relatives is still high in middle-class Hispanic youth, which increases their risk of substance use. Future research should explore societal and contextual factors that cause MDRs of parental educational attainment on substance use of middle-class Hispanic families.

Hierarchical Cores Applied to an Analysis of Use of Technologies Level among Higher Education Students in Mexico

Using the theory shown, Cores Optimal Criterion, three factors from which hierarchical aggregation of variables under study was built, as well as hierarchical cores showing the level of use of pocket computing technologies by students. The principal factors influencing the level of use of pocket computing technologies among higher education students are analyzed from a theoretical aggregation development based on hierarchical cores. The theoretical part includes the development of an algorithm used to obtain an interesting class or partition from a hierarchy. The experimental work carried out included design, preparation and application of a questionnaire to higher education students in Mexico. A pilot test was carried out to check timing and repetition of questions. Data was recorded, validated, and mathematically and statistically analyzed.

Research on the Cultivation Model of Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talents with New Technology Use in Higher Education Institutions

The issue of new technology applications in education is a worldwide concern.Following a thorough review of current studies,this paper believes that new technology in a broad sense has"hard technology"(referring to new inventions,discoveries,and creations that can be practically operated and applied)and"soft technology"(generally referring to technology formed in all industry fields in response to new changes,new markets,new industries,and new business models,such as innovative marketing models,new team building,and management strategizing,cultural and creative skills,etc.),with distinctive and external and internal connotations.In a narrow sense,new technology refers to the most recent and cutting-edge technology in a particular industry field.There are also definitions that are based on their applicability,such as referring to new operation methods as new technologies.The premise of how to precisely implement new technology application education in higher education is to understand how students in higher education institutions think.For this reason,this study takes senior graduate students as its target,and through the statistics and analysis of survey data,we get three results.First,education featuring applications of new technology proves highly compelling,particularly given its importance in graduates'career development,thus garnering support;second,such education is both conceptual and practice-based;third,education concerned with the application of new technologies can be carried out in any major,both in engineering and non-engineering disciplines,with different requirements for educational content and technical skills according to the varying disciplines.Based on the investigation and analysis,we propose solutions and recommend methods of applying new applications in higher education.

Innovations in education:A prospective study of storytelling narratives to enhance hepatitis C virus knowledge among substance users

BACKGROUND Even though substance users have the highest hepatitis C virus(HCV)burden,many lack knowledge about the infection.Lack of knowledge is an important obstacle to pursuing HCV care.Although printed materials are conventionally utilized to disseminate HCV-related knowledge,narrative story-telling videos may be an alternative.Data are extremely limited,however,in the ability of storytelling videos to increase HCV knowledge among substance users.In this study,we hypothesized that a story-telling narrative video would increase substance user’s immediate and 1-month HCV-related knowledge compared to a printed format.AIM To assess immediate and 1-month HCV-related knowledge retention among substance users comparing education delivered via a storytelling narrative video compared to a printed format.METHODS We conducted a prospective matched,case-control study among substance users actively prescribed buprenorphine enrolled from two sites.The intervention site received the video and the control site,the brochure.Participants(n=176)were matched on age,gender,and race.We obtained extensive patient and stakeholder input on the video’s design,validated the video’s content,and developed a recruitment plan to guide participant enrollment.Knowledge was assessed by administration of a 25-item instrument immediately before,immediately after,or one month after the intervention.Data were analyzed using nonparametric and generalized linear mixed-effects models.RESULTS We recruited a total of 176 substance users,90 and 86 individuals,from each site,respectively.One-month follow up occurred in 92%and 94%of enrollees in the control and intervention groups,respectively.In comparison with the pre-intervention scores,immediate knowledge recall increased significantly for both the intervention(P<0.0001)and control(P<0.0001)groups.Multivariate modeling revealed a significant improvement in HCV-related knowledge and retention(P=0.033)among participants who viewed the storytelling video.CONCLUSION Storytelling narratives emphasizing HCV education appear to be an effective method to increase HCV-related knowledge among substance users.They should become an educational cornerstone to promote HCV management among this population.

Research on the Curriculum Construction by Promoting Teaching Using Competition Based on Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives,this paper puts forward the construction of curriculum system in the primary stage,intermediate stage and advanced stage by promoting teaching using competition,and provides a theoretical and practical basis for the curriculum construction by promoting teaching using competition,which is of great practical significance to promoting the construction of applied universities.

GIS as an Efficient Tool to Manage Educational Services and Infrastructure in Kuwait

The State of Kuwait Ministry of Education (MoE) has clearly defined land use standards for the location of public schools, and an inventory of reserved lands for future facilities. Unless, there is a geographical efficient tool to manage and plan the education system in a rapidly developing country such as Kuwait there will be huge deficit in such services. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to fill in this gap and effectively evaluate and analyze their facilities and unoccupied lands to ensure they continue to meet the population and future needs of Kuwaiti students. This paper utilized the GIS to inventory, map, and analyze MoE facilities and unoccupied land reservations with a goal of improved planning and decision making. Unfortunately, the initial spatial analysis of the data showed huge percent of districts that have no schools failing to meet the minimum standard of the MoE including kindergartens, primary schools, intermediate schools for girls, intermediate schools for boys, secondary schools for girls and secondary schools for boys at 72%, 71%, 48%, 43%, 54%, and 55% respectively. Such critical results will enable the decision makers to prioritize the immediate action of relocation the schools or widen the services and accessibility. Moreover, the analysis of the data showed a critical and immediate need to reserve land for five districts where they are heavily populated and lacked reserved land. However, based on long term land use plans, there is an urgent need to relocate some land and reserve others to meet the future urbanization plans and population growth.

Patient Education Level and Utilization of Internet Resources by Patients in Orthopedic Hip and Knee Consultations

Introduction: Internet has become an increasingly popular source of reference for patients to learn about their medical problems. It is easily accessible, and a large number of uncensored information is available online written from various sources and perspectives. However, the role of internet and its impact on patient’s care and understanding of the disease remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role and effect of internet use for patients seeking consultation for hip and knee arthritis. More specifically, the relationship between patient’s education level, internet use, motives for doing background readings, perception of internet information, and reactions to the available information will be studied. Method: Patients seeking orthopaedic consultation for knee or hip arthritis at the Toronto Western Hospital were identified and invited to fill out a questionnaire on their first visit. The questionnaire was designed to assess the patients’ pre-consultation reading habits, their use of internet, and their reaction to what they have read on the internet. The questionnaire also included questions about the respondent’s background.Results: In comparing patients holding college/university degree (CU) with patients having no college/university education (NoCU), the CU group were associated with increased internet use (CU vs. NoCU: 71.0% vs. 48.3%;p 0.01) and background reading (CU vs. NoCU: 82.2% vs. 17.8%;p 0.001) prior to consultation;fewer incidence of anxiety following internet use (CU vs. NoCU: 29.9% vs. 53.6%;p 0.05);and higher rates of decisions influenced by internet use (CU vs. NoCU: 20.8% vs. 3.6%, p 0.05). Internet users demonstrated a higher confidence in gathering and understanding medical information (Internet users vs. non-internet users: 6.59 ± 2.05 vs. 5.03 ± 2.78;p 0.001) and rated the accuracy of information on internet at 7.18 ± 2.01 (max = 10). Conclusion: Internet use can influence patient’s treatment decision, anxiety level, and understanding of their disease. Caregivers must recognize the growing trend of internet use and should counsel and educate their patients appropriately based on what they have read to help them accurately appreciate the nature of their disease.

Smokeless Tobacco Use among Women in Kasama District-Zambia

Background: Smokeless tobacco is defined as a product that contains tobacco, is not smoked or burned at the time of use, and commonly consumed orally or nasally. These products can be placed in the mouth, cheek or the lip and are sucked or chewed. The Zambian government, in the 2019 country report, gave an estimated figure of 4.5% of females aged 15 years and above in 2017 used smokeless tobacco and by 31st December, 2018, there was an increase of smokeless tobacco users to 6.8% women of the same age group. This study aimed to explore the extent of smokeless tobacco use among women in Kasama district-Zambia. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional quantitative study design was used to collect data using the modified structured interview schedule, adopted from Medicine for Global Health. Simple random sampling method using rotary technique was used to select 430 respondents after meeting the inclusion criteria. Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained. Data was analysed using version 26.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Appropriate parametric or non-parametric statistical tests (Chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test) were adopted in testing for associations between variables. Univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were employed in identifying smokeless tobacco use among women using an investigator-led stepwise approach, guided by various fit statistics and the likelihood ratio test. All statistical analyses adopted a 5% significance level at 95% confidence interval. Results: The results showed that most of the respondents were aged between 18 and 25 years (45.6%), (53.7%) lived in urban settlements and the majority (80%) were unemployed. The majority of respondents (83.5%) had a friend/relative who used smokeless tobacco and over half (53.5%) thought smokeless tobacco was beneficial to them. The commonly mentioned benefits of smokeless tobacco included body warmth (13.6%) and vaginal tightening (7.9%). The results revealed that most of the respondents attained a secondary level of education (38.4%). According to the study, smokeless tobacco use among women of Kasama-Zambia was significantly associated with the following;age (p Conclusion: Based on these findings, the study recommends that efforts should be channeled towards the dissemination of information on the impacts of smokeless tobacco use in order to overcome cultural beliefs attached to smokeless tobacco use.

“They Will Wonder What Kind of a Girl I Am”: Adolescent Perceptions towards Contraceptive Use in Nairobi

As in other developing countries, contraceptive use among adolescents is low and only one in twenty adolescents is reported to use contraceptives inKenya. Pregnancies early in life expose adolescents to health complications. Establishing perceptions that affect contraception and factors that influence those perceptions is important in developing appropriate programs and policies to increase contraceptive use prevalence among adolescents. We used primary data from a household survey using a systematic random sampling in eight administrative divisions inNairobiCountyin 2010. The study utilized information collected using structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs). The findings revealed that perceptions on parental approval, adolescent approval, ability to get contraceptives for self, knowledge of how to use contraceptives and sexual partner communication had significant effect on contraception. The narratives showed that parents, teachers and service providers had negative perceptions and discouraged contraception among adolescents thereby influencing use. Parents and teachers had inadequate knowledge and skills to communicate sexuality messages creating potential environment likely to have indirect negative influence on adolescents’ perceptions on contraception.

Exploring University Campus Community’s Perceptions and Barriers toward Biking: A Case Study of the University of Tennessee Knoxville

Bicycling constitutes an integral component of sustainable non-motorized means of travel. Despite the immense benefits of bicycling, the modal share of bicycling is quite low, specifically among young and low-income commuters e.g., college and university students. This study explores the perceptions of and barriers to bicycling of the campus community at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with the aim to identify the factors that could enhance bike use among students at the university campus as well as highlight the barriers that keep young population away from biking. An online survey about bike use at the university campus was administered and responses to the survey were recorded. On the methodological front, a binary logit model was estimated with students’ willingness to use bikes at campus as the dependent variable. The survey results revealed that about 47% of the students considered vehicular traffic as the reason for feeling unsafe while biking and emphasized having separate bike routes. Most of the respondents highlighted the need to change clothes after biking in summer or carry things as the reason for not selecting bikes as a mode of transport at the campus, whereas inadequate bike lanes, paths, or trails, insufficient lighting along bike routes, and the lack of adequate bicycle parking were highlighted as the major barriers deterring bike use within the campus. The study suggests development of a campus bike network with proper bike lanes, bike runnels, installation of safety cameras and better lighting at the campus, and bike-supporting infrastructure such as communal showers to be provided in campus buildings to encourage bike use among university students. The study findings can assist campus transportation planners in devising a sustainable campus transportation plan incorporating the influencing factors and deterrents of bike use in a university campus setting.

Collaborative Intelligence in Smart Cities: A Systematic Review

The objective of this research is to present a systematic analysis, in which we seek to identify the concepts of intelligent city, with the intention of recognizing the nature of this intelligence before the participation of the population. Therefore, the research associates concepts as smart cities, citizen participation and social web, identifying publications between 2012 and the first quarter of 2018 and questioning what the intelligent city is and how this concept is able to (re)organize the learning processes of the territory from the informal dynamics of the contemporary city. The qualitative analysis of the documents revealed an innumerable of definitions and related terms: smart, intelligent, ubiquitous, digital, knowledge, sustainable, crowd sourcing, innovative;structured in three types of approaches: technological focus, focus on human resources and focus on citizen-related governance from the following domains: media convergence, public and regulatory information policies, infrastructure management, real-time data mining and extraction, geographic information system, crowd computing, smart cities education, and social monitoring and control. In spite of the access to a great amount of data, we verify that the concept of intelligent city is referenced by a significant number of researches, but, in smaller number, works that present models of construction of a collective intelligence for the city. From this perspective, we identified the need to recognize technological education interventions for communication between individuals and the city. Because we believe that only through the implementation and management of techno-educommunication ecosystems will be able to promote a culture of participation.

College Students’ Perceptions of Sustainability: A Regional Survey

Understanding college students’ perception of sustainability is paramount as today’s students will soon be driving our economy and taking on the responsibility of maintaining a sustainable society. This study conducted a survey of college students attending two regional universities in the United States to capture their current experience levels, expectations, and perceptions with regard to various aspects of sustainability utilizing a questionnaire consisting of structured questions about sustainability knowledge/familiarity levels, green product purchase behavior, attitude-behavior relationship, and sustainability education. The results reveal useful insights into the students’ views on these topics and the demographic data collected were further analyzed to identify any differences due to educational background, academic standing, and gender. The study’s findings support the growing importance of encouraging sustainable behavior among college students and provide a benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of future efforts to improve sustainability education and foster sustainable behaviors.

Why adults and teachers information about sexual behavior and its consequences does not prevent unplanned pregnancies among adolescents in Nairobi, Kenya

Context: Despite a high number of unwanted pregnancies in Kenya, contraceptive use among adolescents is very low. Establishing the nature of sexuality discussions is critical to determine perceptions and barriers affecting contraceptive use among adolescents. Methods: The study used systematic random sampling to collect data to examine sexuality information and knowledge that affect perception and barriers on contra-ceptive use among 1119 adolescents aged 15 - 19 years in Nairobi. The survey was conducted using the 2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey enumeration areas and projections based on the 1999 population census. Data were collected using structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) among adolescents, parents and teachers. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software while qualitative information was analyzed using iT Atlas. Results: Although teachers were identified as a primary source of sexuality information, they were poorly prepared to teach the subject. While the study found negative perceptions on sexuality education, most FGDs and IDIs supported the need for its integration in the school curriculum. Most adolescents who used con- traceptives had perceptions that their parents approved. Source of sexuality information, living arrangement and perceptions on contraceptives for unmarried adolescents were statistically associated with contraceptive use. Conclusion: The study showed that sexuality information from parents and teachers was biased against adolescents using contraceptives. There is need to address attitudes in discussing contraceptive use for adolescents by parents and teachers to enhance positive perceptions and increase contraceptive use by adolescents.

The Social Context of Antibiotic Resistance

There are various socio-economic （poverty, self medication, and non-compliance to prescribed therapy） and behavior factors that affects the way of antibiotic use, which consequently brings the development of antibiotic resistance in patients. In the study, some of these social factors that might have an impact on the resistance of antibiotics in patients of regional of Vlora hospital during the period 2011-2012 were examined. The study was conducted using structured interviews on patients who were previously examined for bacterial cultures and sensitivity. The antibiotic resistance resulted really high in these patients. It is found out that the organisms with higher resistance were Streptococcus and Escherichia coli. 75% of the patients, whose cultures were positive, were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 31% to three or more antibiotics. A significant correlation between the structure of antibiotic resistance and the upper socio economic levels, the low educational level of the patients, self medication and the frequency of antibiotic use was found. These data have influence in the development of the awareness strategies in risky groups in order to clarify the concepts on the proper use of antibiotics.

An exploration into a diversified world of national park systems： China＇s prospects within a global context

A single nomenclature for national park terminology has evolved into a massive global data network from information gathered together from the past 140 years.This has been created using the most recent UNEP-WDPA data and its 98483 national designation records from 192 countries,two other customized databases accommodating 2638 records of officially designated national parks from 184 jurisdictions around the globe,and 2064 records of extended Chinese national park sites.However,mushrooming designations and growing databases are posing significant challenges even though the IUCN and UNEP have both devoted efforts to build and promote a common language called the ＂System of Management Categories for Protected Areas＂.Thus conversely the best possible outcome and the worst confusion might have originated from the same objective that is known by the simple moniker as a national park.This is why much more work needs to be done to enhance communication among different stakeholders from the world.In this paper,the authors are intending to demonstrate that China＇s government agencies should boost a dialogue with the UNEP-WDPA operating staff in order that the current innovative national park programs are recognized by the global community.Meanwhile,the authors also recommend that IUCN needs to revise and refresh the current protected area classification system for the purpose of effectively servicing the diverse stakeholders in such a diversified world of national park systems around the globe.

Medicine prescription practices of homeopathic undergraduate students in West Bengal,India

OBJECTIVE： To our knowledge, prescription of homeopathic medicines by homeopathic undergraduate students has not been studied before though it may possess serious implications. We aimed to determine the practice and attitudes of prescription by homeopathic undergraduate students. METHODS： A cross-sectional study was carried out involving all the students from four government homeopathic schools of West Bengal, India. Ethical requirements were ensured and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Chi-square tests and logistic univariate regression analyses were performed to identify associations and differences. RESULTS： A total of 328 forms were completed. Of these, 264 （80.5%） homeopathic undergraduate students admitted of prescribing medicines independently and most （40.5%） said that they did this 2-3 times a year. The most common reasons for this were ＇urgency of the problem＇ （35.2%）, ＇previous experience with same kind of illness＇ （31.8%）, and ＇the problem too trivial to go to a doctor＇ （25.8%）. About 63.4% of the students thought that it was alright to independently diagnose an illness while 51.2% thought that it was alright for them to prescribe medicines to others. Common conditions encountered were fever, indigestion, and injury. Students who prescribed medicines were more likely to belong to Calcutta Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital （odds ratio = 5.8; 95% confidence interval 2.247-14.972）. Prescription by students gradually increased with academic years of homeopathic schools. Many students thought it was alright for students to diagnose and treat illnesses. CONCLUSION： Prescription of medicines by homeopathic undergraduate students is quite rampant and corrective measures are warranted.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.