Search results

Purpose: The aim of the study is to consider the use of the Internet as a potential facilitator of positive health-related perceptions. Specifically, we propose that online health information seeking fosters positive perceptions of health. Using path modeling, we theorized several mechanisms through which information seeking could be conducive to positive health perceptions, which we conceptualized into the following four dimensions: (1) sense of empowerment in managing health, (2) self-reported ability to take better care of health, (3) sense of improved health-related quality of life, and (4) self-reported improvement of health.

Methodology: Our sample consisted of respondents who have used the Internet as a resource for health information (n = 710), drawn from the largest national probability-based online research panel. Our comparison subsample consisted of older respondents (age ≥ 60; n = 194). We used Internet-specific measures and employed structural equation models (SEM) to estimate the direct, indirect, and total effects of health-related use of the Internet on subjective health perceptions. Based on our review of the literature, competent health communication with healthcare providers and sense of empowerment in managing personal health were modeled as mediator variables. We assessed whether the proposed mediational relationships, if significant, differed across our indicators of positive health perceptions and whether any differential associations were observed among older adults. We run parallel models for each indicator of positive health perception.

Findings: Provider-patient communication informed by the Internet resources were perceived to impart a greater sense of empowerment to manage health among our respondents, which in turn, was associated with perceived contributions to better self-reported ability to provide self-care, increased health-related quality of life, and improvement in self-reported health. The SEM results revealed a good fit with our full sample and subsample.

Research Implications: Conceptualization of the multidimensional aspects of online health information seeking with separate multi-indicator analyses of the outcome variable is important to further our understanding of how technology may impact the pathways involved in influencing health perceptions and as a result health outcomes.

Universities are considered as learning institutions and their output is knowledge. Their main objectives are to promote knowledge and to integrate three main roles: (1) teaching and learning toward an award; (2) research and publication; and (3) activities centred toward work-based learning. Researchers generally categorize knowledge in three dimensions, cognitive, functional and social competence which are clearly consistent with the French paradigm- savoir, savoir faire, and savoir être. Delamare Le Deist and Winterton (2007) acknowledged that knowledge, that is, understanding is captured by cognitive competence, skills are captured by functional competence and behavioral and attitudinal competencies are captured by social competencies. This chapter describes some basic concepts of social competence in the tertiary education and examines the relationship that exists among knowledge, knowledge management, and social competence. Achieving personal goals and at the same time maintaining positive relationship over time and across situations is one of the main definition of social competence, as brought forward by Rubin and Rose-krasner (1992). Social competence also embraces all the social, emotional and cognitive knowledge and skills individuals require to achieve their goals and to be effective in their relations with others (Kostlenik et al., 2014).

Purpose – This chapter describes a university-based reading clinic for struggling readers. Created over 40 years ago, this reading clinic continually evolves as it is founded on well-grounded theory and the most current research. The purpose of the chapter is to explain this foundation and how it has informed the structure and day-to-day operations of a successful clinic program.

Methodology/approach – The reading clinic described in this chapter is based largely on the theoretical premises of self-determination theory. This theory has been widely researched in a variety of fields and contexts, including educational settings. Self-determination theory research and reading research, conducted from a multitude of perspectives, provide support for appropriate practices designed to create a motivating classroom environment.

Practical implications – The ideas presented in this chapter show how research and theory can be successfully applied to classroom settings. The author describes various ways in which the theory and research have led to specific, practical decisions in the reading clinic setting. Broadening the use of these practices to regular classroom contexts is also discussed.

Social implications – Despite research that has established how teachers can create a meaningful, motivating classroom environment, unsound practices continue to be used in classrooms everywhere. If, as most educators claim, we want students to become independent thinkers who are able to contribute meaningfully to society, then we need to seriously examine the controlling, performance-oriented, competitive practices that are typical in many classrooms today. We must move toward creating classrooms where the focus is on learning and where children enjoy ownership of the learning process. This chapter describes a program for struggling readers that operates from this stance.

The transition from comprehensive school to either an academic or a vocational track and from academic track to tertiary education are the key educational transitions during adolescence and young adulthood in many European educational systems. The present chapter approaches engagement and disengagement during these key educational transitions in the context of the 4-C (channelling, choice, co-regulation, compensation) life-span model of motivation and phase-adequate engagement model. In accordance with the life-span model of motivation and the phase-adequate engagement model, school transitions are triggers that channel the engagement and disengagement processes. The former process reflects school-related engagement, whereas disengagement is a key element of the school-burnout process. Engagement in the school context is defined as a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind characterized by vigor and energy, dedication, and absorption. School burnout comprises three dimensions in terms of exhaustion due to school demands: a cynical and detached attitude toward the school, feelings of inadequacy as a student, and disengagement. Cynicism is manifest in an indifferent or distal attitude toward school work in general, a loss of interest in it, and not seeing it as meaningful. Inadequacy refers to a diminished sense of competence, achievement, and accomplishment as a student.

This study develops a structural model to examine the relationships among subjective perception of health, subjective perception of economic and social support, the perceived freedom in leisure, leisure satisfaction, and the well-being of elders. The subject of this study is the elderly who participated in leisure activities at Evergreen Academy in Kaohsiung City. Convenience sampling and quota sampling are adopted. 1,200 self-administered questionnaires are distributed, and 535 are valid, with a response rate of 45%. The results of this study show that subjective perception of health will positively affect perceived freedom in leisure; subjective perception of economics will positively affect perceived freedom in leisure and well-being; social support will positively affect perceived freedom in leisure, leisure satisfaction, and well-being; perceived freedom in leisure will positively affect leisure satisfaction and well-being; leisure satisfaction will positively affect well-being. There are significant differences in the subjective perception of economic and social support between male and female elders. There are significant differences in the subjective perception of economic, leisure satisfaction, and well-being among those with different education levels.

Over the last several decades, as women have increasingly entered the labor force, they are spending less time at home (Bianchi, 1995; Hayghe, 1997). Having a more constrained schedule has resulted in married women and single mothers substantially decreasing the amount of time that they spend on household labor (Bianchi et al., 2000; Robinson & Godbey, 1997). Traditionally, in two-parent households, husbands rarely participated in household tasks. Now that more married women with children are employed outside the home, one might assume that they would turn to their husbands to help them manage their households. However, current research shows that fathers are making only a slightly greater contribution to housework than they did in the past (Gershuny & Robinson, 1988; Robinson & Godbey, 1997). If mothers are now spending fewer hours on housework, and fathers are only contributing slightly more, then there remains a significant proportion of household chores that either must be done by others or must remain undone. Research suggests that children in particular may find themselves responsible for an increasing proportion of household tasks. For example, the more hours mothers work outside the home, the more hours children spend on family work (Benin & Edwards, 1990; Blair, 1992b; Elder & Conger, 2000; Shelton, 1992).

In this chapter, we present the results of a study designed to investigate: (a) the family relations of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), (b) the sources of stress parents in families of children with this disorder experience and (c) the possible modulating role that ADHD subtype and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) have on parenting stress level. One hundred and sixty seven families, divided into two groups, an ADHD group (N=114) and a control group (N=53), participated in the study. Parents of both groups completed a Semi-Structured Interview that gathered information on socio-demographics, family structure and the presence of oppositional behaviour symptoms, as well as the Parenting Stress Index Questionnaire (Abidin, 1990) to evaluate parent stress. The results showed that the relations of children with ADHD with their parents and siblings were significantly more tense than those of children without this disorder with their families. Parenting stress was higher in parents with ADHD children than in parents of non-ADHD children in most scales relating to parent personal variables, with even more sharp differences in measures of parenting stress that are triggered by the child's behaviour. Finally, our results evidenced how the ADHD subtype and ODD comorbidity influence the level of stress in parents. The results of the study suggest that interventions focused only on the behaviour of ADHD children are not likely to improve the developmental course of the disorder in the long run.

Recent research on immersive experiences in online environments for higher education has attributed a fundamental role to two distinct yet connected psychological phenomena: the feelings of being virtually present in the education environment, often simply called presence, and peak episodes of flow. The authors conceptually delimitate these two psychological facets of e-learners’ experiences and examine their interplay. The authors show how flow episodes are elicited by students’ sense of control over the online education environment, their attention being focussed on the learning tasks, and their feelings of being physically placed in the online education setting. Also, the interactivity created by the online education environment evokes an e-learner’s imagery, which in turn triggers presence feelings and episodes of flow. The authors further show that, although presence and flow are triggered by some common antecedents, they differ in the object of the individual’s immersion, and that presence feelings facilitate flow. Moreover, the authors provide practical recommendations for higher education institutions, policy makers and the academic and information and communication technology community involved in e-learning, to make sure e-learner experiences reach their fullest potential.