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1 – 10 of over 57000Amanda Sinai, Andre Strydom and Angela Hassiotis
It is increasingly recognised that people with intellectual disabilities have poorer access to health care. One of the recommendations from the independent report, Healthcare for…
Abstract
Purpose
It is increasingly recognised that people with intellectual disabilities have poorer access to health care. One of the recommendations from the independent report, Healthcare for All is compulsory undergraduate medical teaching about people with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes of medical students towards people with intellectual disabilities. The authors hypothesised that knowledge and attitude will change over the course of a 14‐week Neurosciences block, which included a taught intellectual disabilities module and opportunity to undertake a clinical placement.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a naturalistic prospective study in a London university. Data were collected at the beginning and the end of each of the three 14‐week Neurosciences blocks during the year. Attitude was measured using a self‐report questionnaire, including an amended short form of the Community Living Attitudes Scale (CLAS), administered in hard and e‐copy.
Findings
In total 136 medical students (35 per cent response rate) completed the questionnaire at the beginning and 133 (34 per cent response rate) at the end of the block. By the end of the block, students had increased knowledge of the definition of intellectual disability. Medical students showed generally favourable attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities but there was no significant change in attitude between the start and end of the block.
Originality/value
This study shows that didactic teaching and limited exposure to people with intellectual disabilities, although it increases knowledge, is not enough to affect the kind of changes required to improve attitude. Increased face to face contact with people with intellectual disabilities and other innovative teaching methods are more likely to influence attitude in future medical practitioners. These will require further evaluation.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the students’ attitudes towards private sector work during study.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the students’ attitudes towards private sector work during study.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a comprehensive social survey (including questionnaire and interviewing) distributed to experts in departments and colleges in King Saud University and Princess Nora University.
Findings
This study found that students’ attitudes can be influenced by the financial and social security achieved through private work during study, and the personal development of job skills. Whereas society’s inferior view to private work, study and working hours’ conflicts, and the insufficient information about private work during study are some of the negative factors that influence their attitudes. It also emphasised the role of the private sector in influencing such attitudes by advertising job opportunities for students, giving them flexible work hours and providing training programmes. This study concludes with a proposal suggesting how to modify students’ attitudes towards private sector work during study.
Originality/value
This paper identifies the students’ attitudes towards private sector work during study and suggests a proposal that contributes to support students’ positive attitudes and adjust the negative ones; thus, helping to reduce the unemployment rate among young people.
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The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of personal background and entrepreneurial attitudes on entrepreneurial intentions of Saudi Freshmen students of Al Imam Mohammad…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of personal background and entrepreneurial attitudes on entrepreneurial intentions of Saudi Freshmen students of Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. After reviewing the literature and related theories on entrepreneurship, attitudes and intentions, this study provides a conceptual framework trying to identify the effects of most influential factors on individual’s intention to become an entrepreneur.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a survey study developed from previous empirical studies, the paper aims to investigate the significant elements of intentions from a sample of 103 students randomly selected. This study is both descriptive and analytical using correlations and multiple regressions.
Findings
The findings show that significant correlations among variables were found. The achievement and innovation attitudes are significant elements to entrepreneurial intentions. Students scored quite high on them, but, moderate on personal control and self-esteem attitudes. Students might have a real intention for starting their own businesses later that could be sustained during their studies at university. Additionally, entrepreneurs among relatives and entrepreneurship training were also the other significant elements to intentions.
Research Limitations/implications
Implications for future research are described and some pragmatic recommendations are provided to promote students’ entrepreneurial initiatives and behaviors at university.
Social Implications
The exploratory analysis suggests the need to develop more the awareness of students to entrepreneurship as potential career choice to help them to be active in the society.
Originality/value
In this paper, the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation model is validated for a Saudi university considered as a specific context. Broader reflections about a freshman student entrepreneurship as refocused research agenda is also considered by undertaking some new research and developing a comprehensive and contextual framework.
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Omar E.M. Khalil and Ahmed A.S. Seleim
The information technology (IT) related ethical issues will only increase in frequency and complexity with the increasing diffusion of IT in economies and societies. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
The information technology (IT) related ethical issues will only increase in frequency and complexity with the increasing diffusion of IT in economies and societies. The purpose of this paper is to explore Egyptian students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, access, property, and accuracy, and it evaluates the possible impact of a number of personal characteristics on such attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
This research utilized a cross‐sectional sample and data set to test five hypotheses. It adopted an instrument to collect the respondents' background information and assess their attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, property, accuracy, and access. Egyptian business students at Alexandria University were asked to participate in the survey. A total of 305 responses were collected and analyzed.
Findings
The analysis revealed that students are sensitive to the ethicality of information privacy, information accuracy, and information access. However, students are insensitive to the ethicality of property (software) right. In addition, years of education have a main effect on students' attitudes towards property, and gender and age have an interaction effect on students' attitudes towards access.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this research are based on a cross‐sectional data set collected from a sample of business students at a public university. Students, however, may make poor surrogates for business or IT professionals. Future similar research designs that employ large samples from Egyptian working professionals and students in other private and public universities are needed to verify the findings of this research.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that the investigated university as well as the other similar Egyptian universities should consider integrating ethics education into their curricula. Teaching information ethics, especially from an Islamic perspective, is expected to positively influence students' information ethical attitudes. The enforcement of the existing property right protection laws should also curb software piracy in the Egyptian market.
Originality/value
It is vital to expand the ethical research currently being performed in IT in order to help bridge the gap between behavior and IT. The findings of this research extend the understanding of students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues in Egyptian culture and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on global information ethics.
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Mina Beigi and Melika Shirmohammadi
The purpose of this research is to determine whether Iranian student attitudes toward teamwork are relatively favorable or unfavorable. The authors also examine the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to determine whether Iranian student attitudes toward teamwork are relatively favorable or unfavorable. The authors also examine the influence of variables that affect student attitudes toward teamwork, including concerns about teamwork evaluation and perceptions of the environment for teamwork, gender, age, GPA, education level, major, and teamwork training.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire developed to measure the study variables was administered to 1,811 students across different majors in three large Iranian universities.
Findings
The results indicate that Iranian students have moderately positive attitudes toward teamwork, contrary to the prevalent belief that Iranians are not much interested in teamwork. The results indicate that Iranian students are concerned about how teamwork is evaluated. They believe that the environmental facilities at their universities for teamwork are weak and not supportive. Structural equation modeling showed that student concerns about teamwork evaluation and their perceptions of environmental facilities influence their attitudes toward teamwork. Positive teamwork attitudes are moderately reinforced when students are less concerned about evaluation and when the physical facilities support teamwork activities. Further analysis showed that male students have a slightly better attitude toward teamwork than women.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are valuable to practitioners who may employ current students in the future, and to instructors who plan to include teamwork in their course assignments.
Originality/value
This study was designed to fill the void in the knowledge about Iranian student attitudes toward teamwork and variables that influence this attitude.
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Liz Jackson, Ming Fai Pang, Emma Brown, Sean Cain, Caroline Dingle and Timothy Bonebrake
Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young…
Abstract
Purpose
Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young people’s development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors is not well understood. Past research indicates that geographic context can play a role, while social factors such as age and gender can have a more significant impact on predicting attitudes and behaviors than formal education. Few studies have systematically examined the relationships between education and environmental attitudes and behaviors among youth in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study comparing secondary school students’ environmental attitudes and behaviors with age and related factors in two international schools and two government schools in Hong Kong. Students’ attitudes and behaviors were compared based on school type (curriculum), while the authors additionally compared the significance of social factors and attitudes on students’ behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Attitudes were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the NEP for Children (NEPC), the most commonly used, internationally standardized tools for investigating environmental attitudes and values of adults and young people for comparative purposes. The authors compared NEP/NEPC scores and student self-reported environmental behaviors using a short questionnaire.
Findings
No significant differences were found in attitudes or behaviors based on school type. However the authors did observe a significant effect of gender and age on students’ attitudes, and a significant correlation of student attitudes in the NEP with students’ self-reports regarding air conditioning consumption.
Originality/value
This study builds a foundation for cross-national studies and for evaluating the impact of curricula over time.
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Patrick Clements and Aidan Turkington
This study aims to explore medical students’ attitudes to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The authors sought to determine correlates of baseline attitudes to ECT and whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore medical students’ attitudes to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The authors sought to determine correlates of baseline attitudes to ECT and whether specific forms of ECT teaching improved attitudes to ECT during students’ psychiatry placement.
Design/methodology/approach
At the beginning of their placement, fourth-year medical students completed a questionnaire capturing background information and baseline attitudes. A second questionnaire, in the second half of the placement, recorded educational and clinical experience gained on ECT during placement, in addition to attitudes at this timepoint. The authors measured attitude using a five-point Likert scale and defined a positive shift in attitude as an improvement of ≥ 1 point between the two time points.
Findings
At Timepoint 1, 66% reported a positive attitude to ECT. This was associated with having attended a lecture and with having read a professional article on ECT at some time before the psychiatry placement. Attitudes significantly improved during the placement (66% vs 95% positive). Students who attended a lecture on ECT were more likely to have a positive shift in attitude, as were students who experienced three or more teaching modalities.
Practical implications
Personal, social and medical problems arise from treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders. ECT is a safe and effective treatment for such disorders.
Originality/value
It is hoped that this study will contribute to the development of medical education, so that lectures on ECT, and three or more teaching modalities, are incorporated into the undergraduate medical curriculum.
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Natasha Pennell and Gabriela Sabau
This paper aims to investigate the role of multidisciplinary course requirements in shaping student attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of multidisciplinary course requirements in shaping student attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development. Previous research indicates that students conceptualize sustainability based on their academic discipline; thus, this research investigates whether there is a difference in student attitudes toward sustainability at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, where students are encouraged to cross the borders of their academic disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
This research reports on the findings from a mixed-methods study to assess the impact of program requirements on student attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland. In phase one, an anonymous survey was administered to students regarding their perceptions and attitudes toward sustainability and education for sustainable development. The survey yielded 100 usable responses. Phase 2 consisted of a series of 10 semi-structured expert interviews with key faculty and staff at Grenfell Campus and a representative from the City of Corner Brook, which gave further insights regarding sustainability programming and campus culture.
Findings
Contrary to previous research, the results of this research indicate that the School of Study does not have a statistically significant impact on student attitudes toward sustainability. This may be attributed to Grenfell Campus’s Breadth of Knowledge requirement within the School of Arts and Social Science and the School of Science and the Environment, which requires that students take elective courses from a broad range of subject matter to develop their holistic awareness of social, cultural, scientific and political issues.
Practical implications
The results of this research indicate that students who are exposed to broad multidisciplinary requirements may be more likely to have positive attitudes toward sustainability than students who focus on a single discipline.
Originality/value
A limited number of studies investigate the impact of core program requirements on student attitudes toward sustainability. This paper promotes an effective way of raising sustainability-literate young people/citizens in a Canadian higher education context.
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Poh Chua Siah, Chee Seng Tan, Wan Ying Lee and Mah Ngee Lee
This study examines the hearing students' attitudes and behaviors towards deaf students in Malaysia using the intergroup contact approach.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the hearing students' attitudes and behaviors towards deaf students in Malaysia using the intergroup contact approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Purposive sampling was used to recruit 439 hearing students at secondary schools. Hearing students were asked to fill in questionnaires that contained four measurements: contact with deaf people, sources of knowledge about deaf people, attitudes towards deaf people and behaviors toward deaf people. A serial mediation model was proposed to investigate the hypothetical mediating role of knowledge and attitudes toward deaf students in the relationship.
Findings
The results of this study showed that contact frequency is negatively associated with attitudes towards deaf people. However, such a relationship is suppressed, only when knowledge is included as a mediator. In addition, mediation analysis supports that sources of knowledge and attitudes about deaf people mediate the relationship between contact and behaviors toward deaf people. Moreover, the frequency of contact indirectly contributes to behaviors through knowledge and attitudes.
Originality/value
The findings indicate that increasing the contact between hearing and deaf students would improve hearing students' attitudes and behaviors towards deaf students. However, this is only when the contact can improve hearing students' knowledge about deaf people and deafness.
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Vesna Nikolic, Tamara Vukic, Tatjana Maletaski and Milica Andevski
The purpose of this paper is to examine university students’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development and towards the need for the implementation of education for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine university students’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development and towards the need for the implementation of education for sustainable development into the higher education system. To that end, the paper explores in a process-oriented focus which drivers and barriers are experienced as being the most important ones and how they relate to one another.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the questionnaire for the evaluation of attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development. This instrument consists of 9 batteries with 83 items presented in the form of the five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire evaluated different aspects of respondents’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development, but students’ attitudes in relation to the items from the following subscales will be presented for this paper: understanding the concept of sustainable development, position of sustainable development in the system of higher education, sources of information about sustainable development and entities responsible for sustainable development. The study sample consisted of students from the University of Novi Sad, specifically from the faculties with accredited programs in the field of humanities and technological sciences.
Findings
In general, students recognized the main determinants of sustainable development and they support an integral approach to sustainability, i.e. the need to include the knowledge, values and skills for sustainable development in the higher education programs. In addition, they identified a number of obstacles and the uncertainties of overcoming them. In this regard, the students did not recognize the responsibility of the higher education institutions as the key responsibility or their own responsibility in relation to sustainable development, which can be related to their feeling of marginalization and the doubt that their behaviour and decisions can influence the development of the local society, as well as the development of the society as a whole. On the other hand, the respondents acknowledged the role, the importance and the responsibility of the mass media in the process of developing the attitudes towards and opinions about the problems related to environmental protection and sustainable development.
Practical implications
The results of the study indicate the students’ attitudes towards sustainable development, thus making the directions for higher education reform clearer and in line with the present needs for sustainable development in Serbia. The obtained results can serve as a recommendation to the governing structures, i.e. to the relevant ministries of education and environmental protection, as well as to the universities in terms of which direction their process of planning and creating paths of sustainability should take. This is particularly important in the case of the Republic of Serbia, which is currently in the process of joining the European Union and responding to the requirements set by the process of negotiation for Chapter 27 in terms of improving the strategic framework and plans for the education for sustainable development and building the capacities in response to climate change. On the other hand, linking the results of this research with the results of similar studies around the world contributes to the further enrichment of the scientific knowledge base in this field and confirms the need for stronger and united efforts on the path to a sustainable future. It is a fact that, regardless of the national, economic, socio-political and cultural context, there is a global lack of success in shaping a humane and sustainable relationship between man and nature. Therefore, the results of this research should be considered as an invitation for new research initiatives regarding the ways to support the positive attitudes of students towards the concept of sustainable development and to facilitate their further development in the educational process, as well as in other academic domains.
Originality/value
This research is inspired by the fact that, in the Balkan countries, education for sustainable development has not been extensively discussed within the scientific discourse on higher education for sustainable development. This is one of the first papers to provide data about students’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development and the need for its implementation in the higher education system in Serbia. The value of the paper lies in its potential to help understand the role that different drivers and barriers play in higher education for sustainable development.
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