Background:Parenting exerts a profound influence on children’s mental health and behavioral development.Despite the high prevalence of children’s emotional and behavioral problems(CEBP)in China,evidence-based parent...Background:Parenting exerts a profound influence on children’s mental health and behavioral development.Despite the high prevalence of children’s emotional and behavioral problems(CEBP)in China,evidence-based parenting interventions remain scarcely investigated as preventive public health strategies.This pilot study evaluated a school-based intervention for preventing CEBP.Methods:We employed a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching(PSM)to select 28 families(intervention:n=13;control:n=15)from two matched urban primary schools.Quantitative data from seven validated scales were analyzed using t-tests and ANCOVA.Qualitative insights were derived from 10 semi-structured interviews via thematic analysis.Results:Compared to the control group,the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in CEBP(p=0.020,Cohen’s d=0.92),parental adjustment(p=0.031,Cohen’s d=0.80),parenting confidence(p=0.003,Cohen’s d=1.04),and parentchild relationships(p=0.001,Cohen’s d=1.46).Non-significant effects were observed for parenting style,parental relationship,and parenting conflict(p>0.05).Qualitative analysis corroborated these findings and further identified contributing factors for non-significant outcomes,including challengeswithmeasurement adaptability and inconsistent co-parenting practices.Conclusions:This pilot study suggests that an authoritative parenting style may be effective and culturally adaptable in China.Positive parenting interventions appear to mitigate CEBP by reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors.However,improving parental relationships and parenting conflict may require targeted strategies.Given the pilot nature of this PSM-matched study(n=28),the findings should be interpreted as exploratory and used primarily for intervention refinement.展开更多
Although effective school-based alcohol prevention programs do exist, the overall efficacy of these programs has been compromised by implementation failure. The CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was developed to overcom...Although effective school-based alcohol prevention programs do exist, the overall efficacy of these programs has been compromised by implementation failure. The CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was developed to overcome some of the obstacles to high fidelity program implementation. This paper details this development of the CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module. The development involved two stages, both of which were considered essential. The first stage, involved reviewing the literature to ensure the program was based on the most effecttive pedagogy and health promotion practice and the second stage involved collaborating with teachers, students and specialists in the area of alcohol and other drugs, to ensure these goals were realised. The final CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module consists of computer-driven harm minimisation program which is based on a social influence approach. The program consists of six lessons, each with two components. The first component involves students completing an interactive computer-based program, with the second consisting of a variety of individual, small group and class-based activities. This program was developed to provide an innovative new platform for the delivery of drug education and has proven to be both feasible and effective in the school environment. The success of this program is considered to be testament to this collaborative development approach.展开更多
The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a school-based health promotion and education program in improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and behaviours of urban Indigenous young people rega...The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a school-based health promotion and education program in improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and behaviours of urban Indigenous young people regarding chronic disease and associated risk factors. A mixed methods approach was adopted for this evaluation;however, this paper will focus on the quantitative aspect of the study. The Deadly Choices? health education program was delivered weekly at six education facilities in Brisbane, Australia to participants from years seven to 12 over seven weeks. One school that received the Deadly Choices program the following term acted as the control group. Questionnaire data was collected immediately pre and post intervention to assess program impact. As self-reported by participants there were mostly significant improvements over time for questions relating to knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy regarding leadership, chronic disease and risk factors within the intervention group. There were also significant changes within the intervention group regarding breakfast frequency (P = 0.002), physical activity frequency (P ≤ 0.001), fruit (P = 0.004) and vegetable (P ≤ 0.001) intake. Overall, there were few significant differences between the control and intervention groups regarding health attitudes and behaviours;however, there were considerably more improvements relating to self-efficacy and knowledge of chronic disease and associated risk factors between groups. The program also facilitated 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health checks for participants. Deadly Choices is an innovative and comprehensive school-based program which has great potential to improve the health outcomes of Indigenous young people in urban areas by providing education in leadership and chronic disease prevention;engaging students in physical activity participation;and collaborating with health services to facilitate health checks.展开更多
Purpose: Motor abilities of migrant children show worse performance compared with children without migration background. This study investigated whether a one-year intervention, which aimed to increase physical activi...Purpose: Motor abilities of migrant children show worse performance compared with children without migration background. This study investigated whether a one-year intervention, which aimed to increase physical activity (PA), could influence the motor performance of these children positively. Methods: A sub-sample of 525 migrant children (7.1 ± 0.7 years;48.6% male), participated in the study and included an intervention (IG) and control group (CG). The Dordel-Koch-Test was used to assess motor performance. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Differences between IG and CG were examined using ANCOVA. Results: Boys in the IG showed a significant improvement in the conditional skills (F(1, 201) = 8.02, p ≤ 0.005) and girls showed a tendency towards better results. Additionally, girls showed a significant improvement in flexibility (F(1, 226) = 10.72, p ≤ 0.01) compared with the CG. Conclusion: The intervention affects parts of motor skills of migrant children significantly. Future interventions should aim at a target-group-specific promotion to get a holistic improvement in their motor abilities.展开更多
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of Break Free from Depression(BFFD),a school-based depression awareness curriculum,in comparison to a wait list control group.A total of 13 eighth grade classroom...The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of Break Free from Depression(BFFD),a school-based depression awareness curriculum,in comparison to a wait list control group.A total of 13 eighth grade classrooms participated in either an intervention or control group and completed pre-,post-,and three-month follow-up surveys.Students participating in BFFD(N=6 classrooms,166 students)demonstrated enhanced knowledge of and more adaptive attitudes towards depression compared to the control group(N=7 classrooms,155 students).Participants in the BFFD intervention also demonstrated increases in their confidence in knowing how to seek help for depression and in their intent to seek this help if needed.Slight decreases were found at a three-month follow-up in all scales except for intent to seek help.BFFD was effective regardless of gender,ethnicity,or identification as a member of the LGBTQ community.There was a delayed effect on measured constructs for Black students with gains apparent at three-month follow-up.The findings demonstrated that BFFD had a small but significant positive impact on students’knowledge,skills,and attitudes in seeking support for themselves and for others when faced with signs of depression.The implementation of depression awareness curricula in schools hold promise in promoting student mental health,and it is important to consider factors that might have an impact on outcomes.展开更多
Given the rising trend in obesity in children and youth and age-related decline in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity(MVPA)in several Western,African,and Asian-Pacific countries^1 and strong evidence tha...Given the rising trend in obesity in children and youth and age-related decline in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity(MVPA)in several Western,African,and Asian-Pacific countries^1 and strong evidence that past physical activity(PA)interventions have had only a small effect on children’s and youth’s overall activity levels,~2it is important to clarify whether school-based PA interventions warrant resource allocation.Schools represent an accessible and cost-effective展开更多
Objective: Use a school-based food garden as an instrument to improve healthy dietary consumption, habits, and practices among children from the third to fifth grade in public schools in Chile. Design: Quasi-experimen...Objective: Use a school-based food garden as an instrument to improve healthy dietary consumption, habits, and practices among children from the third to fifth grade in public schools in Chile. Design: Quasi-experimental, six-month intervention with an evaluation of dietary consumption, habits, and practices and use of the school-based food garden among the 3rd to 5th grade students. Setting: Two municipal schools in a low-middle income district in Santiago de Chile;one with a school garden intervention and a control school without a garden. Subjects: 155 third to fifth grade children, 63 in the intervention school and 92 in the control school (average age 10 years old, 58% boys). Results: In the intervened school, there was a significant improvement in the children’s dietary habits, such as peeling and slicing fruit (p < 0.05), making sandwiches (p < 0.05), and increased motivation to cook (p < 0.05). Fruit purchases at the school rose from 4% to 37% (p < 0.05) by the end of the intervention. Interest in growing vegetables or fruits at home increased from 48% to 70% (p < 0.05). The school children at the intervention school significantly increased their knowledge about 16 of 21 garden crops (p < 0.05), expanding the spectrum of the vegetables they can consume. There were no significant changes in the control school. Conclusions: The school-based food garden was effective in achieving change in dietary habits and practices among the third to fifth grade children. The project should be carried out for a longer period of time, so that the changes will be reflected in the students’ food consumption and nutritional status.展开更多
Based on an analysis of the existing problems of collage public art education in China, the paper discussed the connotation ofXi＇ an physical education University constructing a ＂one foundation and two supplements ...Based on an analysis of the existing problems of collage public art education in China, the paper discussed the connotation ofXi＇ an physical education University constructing a ＂one foundation and two supplements ＂ public art education curriculums system with its own characteristics and personality, and generalized the principles and concrete measures we should pay attention to during development of school-based curriculum of public art education.展开更多
Wanzhou is located in the northeast of Chongqing, surrounded by mountains and rivers. Beautiful natural landscape, historical sites and numerous folk arts are its unique cultural resources. This paper focuses on the d...Wanzhou is located in the northeast of Chongqing, surrounded by mountains and rivers. Beautiful natural landscape, historical sites and numerous folk arts are its unique cultural resources. This paper focuses on the development of local resources in Wanzhou region. Through the development of art courses with local characteristics, students' regional and cultural self-confidence can be improved, the goal of cultivating morality and people can be realized, and the idea of cultivating foundation and casting soul can be practiced.展开更多
China is the country with pluralistic cultural background of 56 ethnic groups,Manchu is China’s second largest minority,the population is over 10 million.The history of Manchu can be traced back earliest to 7000 year...China is the country with pluralistic cultural background of 56 ethnic groups,Manchu is China’s second largest minority,the population is over 10 million.The history of Manchu can be traced back earliest to 7000 years ago,even so,there are not more than 100 Manchu people can speak the Manchu language,the inheritance and development of Manchu culture are in jeopardy.The article focused on how to educate Manchu culture to pupils in Manchu primary school,especially in Manchu schoolbased curriculum,exploring the present situation and effective ways of the development of Manchu school-based curriculum.展开更多
Schools are an important avenue to tackle the rising prevalence of uncorrected refractive error among children.School-based vision programs are an innovative approach of vision care delivery in the urban school settin...Schools are an important avenue to tackle the rising prevalence of uncorrected refractive error among children.School-based vision programs are an innovative approach of vision care delivery in the urban school setting in the United States.These programs are effective in improving vision outcomes and advancing health equity,especially among the disadvantaged school districts.While most school-based vision programs provide vision screening,eye examinations,and eyeglasses prescription to students directly in schools,different mechanisms and models have been reported.In this paper,we describe two large-scale school-based vision programs,Vision for Baltimore and Helen Keller International’s United States Vision Program,representing national and regional efforts to partner with local communities in improving access to pediatric vision care.These programs also serve as data collection platforms and provide evidence to inform public health policy and guide best practice.Collectively,these two programs showed that one in three students failed vision screening.The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error was high and the demand for eyeglasses was great among those who failed vision screening.While most of the students’uncorrected refractive errors could be addressed in the school setting,one in seven needed additional eye care.We found that schools with more socioeconomically disadvantaged students had greater needs of school-based vision program services.We hope this knowledge helps to maximize the impact of school-based vision programs and promote a system that ensures better health outcomes for all children.展开更多
Low rating reliability has long been the primary concern in school-based oral English achievement tests. In this study, a computer-aided rating system （CARS） was developed to improve inter- and intra-rater reliabili...Low rating reliability has long been the primary concern in school-based oral English achievement tests. In this study, a computer-aided rating system （CARS） was developed to improve inter- and intra-rater reliability through the instantiation of rating criteria, task division and random distribution, on-line training, reliability verification and sound wave ＂reading＂ and ＂writing.＂ A rating experiment was conducted among six raters to compare intra- and inter-rater reliability between traditional rating and rating with CARS. At the end of each round of rating, a conference was held. Both quantitative an~ qualitative analyses show that CARS can significantly improve inter- and intra-rater reliability, mainly through helping raters use criteria more accurately and focus more attention on rating. In addition, the research has also shed light upon further study on improving rating reliability.展开更多
With demands for applied talents dramatically increasing motivated by economic transformation and China's "Going Out " Strategy, College English reform should deepen ESP teaching, stress application of l...With demands for applied talents dramatically increasing motivated by economic transformation and China's "Going Out " Strategy, College English reform should deepen ESP teaching, stress application of language skills to academic and professionallearning, and serve for students' future development. Therefore, it is vital to explore school-based course design in ESP based onneeds analysis.展开更多
Addressing injury and its associated effects is a multi-dimensional and ongoing challenge. This includes recognizing that injury is a significant public health problem capable of affecting the health and wellbeing of ...Addressing injury and its associated effects is a multi-dimensional and ongoing challenge. This includes recognizing that injury is a significant public health problem capable of affecting the health and wellbeing of all populations over short and longer terms, albeit in varied ways and intensities. That recognition has drawn attention to the need to take actions to avert its rate of occurrence particularly in developed nations. While in low-income countries, despite the growing burden of injury, there are few school-based studies from which to develop prevention initiatives. Thus this study describes the cause, nature and types and prevalence of injuries in a cross sectional population of students in Southern Nigeria, in order to provide data for use in developing priorities for injury prevention efforts. An interviewer-administered school-based survey of students attending schools in Southern Nigeria was conducted in 2013. The study sample involved 585 students (60.9% male, 39.2% female and overall mean age of 15 years). We inquired about participants self-reported injuries in the past one year (all injury inclusive). When reported, injuries were further assessed according to cause, intent, nature, type, place, and number of days absent from school due to injury. Overall, there were 549 self-reported injuries in the past one year (93.8%) among the respondents (95.5% for males and 90.8% for females, p = 0.6696). Sex wise, prevalence of injury differ by age, school setting and parents’ occupation (p higher in males compared to females [206 (60.4%) vs 87 (41.8%) p = 0.002, and 10 (2.9%) vs 0 (0.0) p = 0.016] respectively. Traffic injuries and falls decrease progressively with age. Homes and schools were settings injuries occurred mostly. Over 68% of the reported injuries were unintentional. On the average, 2 days of normal school activity were lost per injured persons because of an injury. Given the high prevalence of injury reported in this study, injury like tropical diseases, should be considered a significant public health problem in Nigeria. We expect that this school-based information will be useful in establishing rational priorities for prevention, and the targeting of interventions toward responsible authorities. Also, there is a high need for safety education aiming to educate this young population on how to prevent injury.展开更多
基金supported by the National Social Science Fund of China[18BSH146].
文摘Background:Parenting exerts a profound influence on children’s mental health and behavioral development.Despite the high prevalence of children’s emotional and behavioral problems(CEBP)in China,evidence-based parenting interventions remain scarcely investigated as preventive public health strategies.This pilot study evaluated a school-based intervention for preventing CEBP.Methods:We employed a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching(PSM)to select 28 families(intervention:n=13;control:n=15)from two matched urban primary schools.Quantitative data from seven validated scales were analyzed using t-tests and ANCOVA.Qualitative insights were derived from 10 semi-structured interviews via thematic analysis.Results:Compared to the control group,the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in CEBP(p=0.020,Cohen’s d=0.92),parental adjustment(p=0.031,Cohen’s d=0.80),parenting confidence(p=0.003,Cohen’s d=1.04),and parentchild relationships(p=0.001,Cohen’s d=1.46).Non-significant effects were observed for parenting style,parental relationship,and parenting conflict(p>0.05).Qualitative analysis corroborated these findings and further identified contributing factors for non-significant outcomes,including challengeswithmeasurement adaptability and inconsistent co-parenting practices.Conclusions:This pilot study suggests that an authoritative parenting style may be effective and culturally adaptable in China.Positive parenting interventions appear to mitigate CEBP by reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors.However,improving parental relationships and parenting conflict may require targeted strategies.Given the pilot nature of this PSM-matched study(n=28),the findings should be interpreted as exploratory and used primarily for intervention refinement.
文摘Although effective school-based alcohol prevention programs do exist, the overall efficacy of these programs has been compromised by implementation failure. The CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was developed to overcome some of the obstacles to high fidelity program implementation. This paper details this development of the CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module. The development involved two stages, both of which were considered essential. The first stage, involved reviewing the literature to ensure the program was based on the most effecttive pedagogy and health promotion practice and the second stage involved collaborating with teachers, students and specialists in the area of alcohol and other drugs, to ensure these goals were realised. The final CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module consists of computer-driven harm minimisation program which is based on a social influence approach. The program consists of six lessons, each with two components. The first component involves students completing an interactive computer-based program, with the second consisting of a variety of individual, small group and class-based activities. This program was developed to provide an innovative new platform for the delivery of drug education and has proven to be both feasible and effective in the school environment. The success of this program is considered to be testament to this collaborative development approach.
文摘The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a school-based health promotion and education program in improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and behaviours of urban Indigenous young people regarding chronic disease and associated risk factors. A mixed methods approach was adopted for this evaluation;however, this paper will focus on the quantitative aspect of the study. The Deadly Choices? health education program was delivered weekly at six education facilities in Brisbane, Australia to participants from years seven to 12 over seven weeks. One school that received the Deadly Choices program the following term acted as the control group. Questionnaire data was collected immediately pre and post intervention to assess program impact. As self-reported by participants there were mostly significant improvements over time for questions relating to knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy regarding leadership, chronic disease and risk factors within the intervention group. There were also significant changes within the intervention group regarding breakfast frequency (P = 0.002), physical activity frequency (P ≤ 0.001), fruit (P = 0.004) and vegetable (P ≤ 0.001) intake. Overall, there were few significant differences between the control and intervention groups regarding health attitudes and behaviours;however, there were considerably more improvements relating to self-efficacy and knowledge of chronic disease and associated risk factors between groups. The program also facilitated 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health checks for participants. Deadly Choices is an innovative and comprehensive school-based program which has great potential to improve the health outcomes of Indigenous young people in urban areas by providing education in leadership and chronic disease prevention;engaging students in physical activity participation;and collaborating with health services to facilitate health checks.
基金The program“Join the Healthy Boat”is financed by the Baden-Wurttemberg foundation
文摘Purpose: Motor abilities of migrant children show worse performance compared with children without migration background. This study investigated whether a one-year intervention, which aimed to increase physical activity (PA), could influence the motor performance of these children positively. Methods: A sub-sample of 525 migrant children (7.1 ± 0.7 years;48.6% male), participated in the study and included an intervention (IG) and control group (CG). The Dordel-Koch-Test was used to assess motor performance. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Differences between IG and CG were examined using ANCOVA. Results: Boys in the IG showed a significant improvement in the conditional skills (F(1, 201) = 8.02, p ≤ 0.005) and girls showed a tendency towards better results. Additionally, girls showed a significant improvement in flexibility (F(1, 226) = 10.72, p ≤ 0.01) compared with the CG. Conclusion: The intervention affects parts of motor skills of migrant children significantly. Future interventions should aim at a target-group-specific promotion to get a holistic improvement in their motor abilities.
文摘The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of Break Free from Depression(BFFD),a school-based depression awareness curriculum,in comparison to a wait list control group.A total of 13 eighth grade classrooms participated in either an intervention or control group and completed pre-,post-,and three-month follow-up surveys.Students participating in BFFD(N=6 classrooms,166 students)demonstrated enhanced knowledge of and more adaptive attitudes towards depression compared to the control group(N=7 classrooms,155 students).Participants in the BFFD intervention also demonstrated increases in their confidence in knowing how to seek help for depression and in their intent to seek this help if needed.Slight decreases were found at a three-month follow-up in all scales except for intent to seek help.BFFD was effective regardless of gender,ethnicity,or identification as a member of the LGBTQ community.There was a delayed effect on measured constructs for Black students with gains apparent at three-month follow-up.The findings demonstrated that BFFD had a small but significant positive impact on students’knowledge,skills,and attitudes in seeking support for themselves and for others when faced with signs of depression.The implementation of depression awareness curricula in schools hold promise in promoting student mental health,and it is important to consider factors that might have an impact on outcomes.
基金financially supported by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation(No.160029)
文摘Given the rising trend in obesity in children and youth and age-related decline in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity(MVPA)in several Western,African,and Asian-Pacific countries^1 and strong evidence that past physical activity(PA)interventions have had only a small effect on children’s and youth’s overall activity levels,~2it is important to clarify whether school-based PA interventions warrant resource allocation.Schools represent an accessible and cost-effective
文摘Objective: Use a school-based food garden as an instrument to improve healthy dietary consumption, habits, and practices among children from the third to fifth grade in public schools in Chile. Design: Quasi-experimental, six-month intervention with an evaluation of dietary consumption, habits, and practices and use of the school-based food garden among the 3rd to 5th grade students. Setting: Two municipal schools in a low-middle income district in Santiago de Chile;one with a school garden intervention and a control school without a garden. Subjects: 155 third to fifth grade children, 63 in the intervention school and 92 in the control school (average age 10 years old, 58% boys). Results: In the intervened school, there was a significant improvement in the children’s dietary habits, such as peeling and slicing fruit (p < 0.05), making sandwiches (p < 0.05), and increased motivation to cook (p < 0.05). Fruit purchases at the school rose from 4% to 37% (p < 0.05) by the end of the intervention. Interest in growing vegetables or fruits at home increased from 48% to 70% (p < 0.05). The school children at the intervention school significantly increased their knowledge about 16 of 21 garden crops (p < 0.05), expanding the spectrum of the vegetables they can consume. There were no significant changes in the control school. Conclusions: The school-based food garden was effective in achieving change in dietary habits and practices among the third to fifth grade children. The project should be carried out for a longer period of time, so that the changes will be reflected in the students’ food consumption and nutritional status.
文摘Based on an analysis of the existing problems of collage public art education in China, the paper discussed the connotation ofXi＇ an physical education University constructing a ＂one foundation and two supplements ＂ public art education curriculums system with its own characteristics and personality, and generalized the principles and concrete measures we should pay attention to during development of school-based curriculum of public art education.
文摘Wanzhou is located in the northeast of Chongqing, surrounded by mountains and rivers. Beautiful natural landscape, historical sites and numerous folk arts are its unique cultural resources. This paper focuses on the development of local resources in Wanzhou region. Through the development of art courses with local characteristics, students' regional and cultural self-confidence can be improved, the goal of cultivating morality and people can be realized, and the idea of cultivating foundation and casting soul can be practiced.
基金funded by IGA project of Palacky'University Olomouc:Value of education among the students from different sociocultural environment(Grant number:IGA_Pd F_2017_022)
文摘China is the country with pluralistic cultural background of 56 ethnic groups,Manchu is China’s second largest minority,the population is over 10 million.The history of Manchu can be traced back earliest to 7000 years ago,even so,there are not more than 100 Manchu people can speak the Manchu language,the inheritance and development of Manchu culture are in jeopardy.The article focused on how to educate Manchu culture to pupils in Manchu primary school,especially in Manchu schoolbased curriculum,exploring the present situation and effective ways of the development of Manchu school-based curriculum.
文摘Schools are an important avenue to tackle the rising prevalence of uncorrected refractive error among children.School-based vision programs are an innovative approach of vision care delivery in the urban school setting in the United States.These programs are effective in improving vision outcomes and advancing health equity,especially among the disadvantaged school districts.While most school-based vision programs provide vision screening,eye examinations,and eyeglasses prescription to students directly in schools,different mechanisms and models have been reported.In this paper,we describe two large-scale school-based vision programs,Vision for Baltimore and Helen Keller International’s United States Vision Program,representing national and regional efforts to partner with local communities in improving access to pediatric vision care.These programs also serve as data collection platforms and provide evidence to inform public health policy and guide best practice.Collectively,these two programs showed that one in three students failed vision screening.The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error was high and the demand for eyeglasses was great among those who failed vision screening.While most of the students’uncorrected refractive errors could be addressed in the school setting,one in seven needed additional eye care.We found that schools with more socioeconomically disadvantaged students had greater needs of school-based vision program services.We hope this knowledge helps to maximize the impact of school-based vision programs and promote a system that ensures better health outcomes for all children.
文摘Low rating reliability has long been the primary concern in school-based oral English achievement tests. In this study, a computer-aided rating system （CARS） was developed to improve inter- and intra-rater reliability through the instantiation of rating criteria, task division and random distribution, on-line training, reliability verification and sound wave ＂reading＂ and ＂writing.＂ A rating experiment was conducted among six raters to compare intra- and inter-rater reliability between traditional rating and rating with CARS. At the end of each round of rating, a conference was held. Both quantitative an~ qualitative analyses show that CARS can significantly improve inter- and intra-rater reliability, mainly through helping raters use criteria more accurately and focus more attention on rating. In addition, the research has also shed light upon further study on improving rating reliability.
文摘With demands for applied talents dramatically increasing motivated by economic transformation and China's "Going Out " Strategy, College English reform should deepen ESP teaching, stress application of language skills to academic and professionallearning, and serve for students' future development. Therefore, it is vital to explore school-based course design in ESP based onneeds analysis.
文摘Addressing injury and its associated effects is a multi-dimensional and ongoing challenge. This includes recognizing that injury is a significant public health problem capable of affecting the health and wellbeing of all populations over short and longer terms, albeit in varied ways and intensities. That recognition has drawn attention to the need to take actions to avert its rate of occurrence particularly in developed nations. While in low-income countries, despite the growing burden of injury, there are few school-based studies from which to develop prevention initiatives. Thus this study describes the cause, nature and types and prevalence of injuries in a cross sectional population of students in Southern Nigeria, in order to provide data for use in developing priorities for injury prevention efforts. An interviewer-administered school-based survey of students attending schools in Southern Nigeria was conducted in 2013. The study sample involved 585 students (60.9% male, 39.2% female and overall mean age of 15 years). We inquired about participants self-reported injuries in the past one year (all injury inclusive). When reported, injuries were further assessed according to cause, intent, nature, type, place, and number of days absent from school due to injury. Overall, there were 549 self-reported injuries in the past one year (93.8%) among the respondents (95.5% for males and 90.8% for females, p = 0.6696). Sex wise, prevalence of injury differ by age, school setting and parents’ occupation (p higher in males compared to females [206 (60.4%) vs 87 (41.8%) p = 0.002, and 10 (2.9%) vs 0 (0.0) p = 0.016] respectively. Traffic injuries and falls decrease progressively with age. Homes and schools were settings injuries occurred mostly. Over 68% of the reported injuries were unintentional. On the average, 2 days of normal school activity were lost per injured persons because of an injury. Given the high prevalence of injury reported in this study, injury like tropical diseases, should be considered a significant public health problem in Nigeria. We expect that this school-based information will be useful in establishing rational priorities for prevention, and the targeting of interventions toward responsible authorities. Also, there is a high need for safety education aiming to educate this young population on how to prevent injury.
