Quantitative and qualitative studies among 469 high school students of average age 17 years were conducted. The students’ attitudes to four practical applications of biotechnology were examined: genetically modified plants (Bt corn), genetically modified animals (salmon), and hemophilia germ line and somatic gene therapy. Each of the four applications was examined from three different viewpoints: usefulness, moral acceptability and risk perception. Bt corn production proved to be the most acceptable in terms of both usefulness and risk perception. Values for genetically modified salmon and germ line gene therapy were comparable, but much lower than those for the other two applications; this was true for both usefulness and moral acceptability. In addition, students found genetically modified salmon to be ethically much less acceptable than Bt corn. Significant gender differences were observed in germ line gene therapy and genetically modified salmon.
COBISS.SI-ID: 6152825
The main goal of this study was to explore whether the use of multimedia in genetics instruction contributes more to students' knowledge and comprehension than other instructional modes. We were also concerned with the influence of different instructional modes on the retention of knowledge and comprehension. In a quasi-experimental design, four comparable groups of 3rd and 4th grade high school students were taught the process of protein synthesis: group 1 was taught in the traditional lecture format (n = 112 students), group 2 only by reading text (n = 124 students), group 3 through multimedia that integrated two short computer animations (n = 115 students) and group 4 by text supplemented with illustrations (n = 117 students). All students received one pre-test in order to estimate their prior knowledge, and two post-tests in order to assess knowledge and comprehension immediately after learning and again after 5 weeks. Results showed that students comprising groups 3 and 4 acquired better knowledge and improved comprehension skills than the other two groups. Similar results were observed for retention of acquired knowledge and improved comprehension. These findings lead to the conclusion that better learning outcomes can be obtained by the use of animations or at least illustrations when learning genetics.
COBISS.SI-ID: 42300514
The purpose of the present study was to explore the ways people achieve their happiness employing two approaches, i.e. a dimension-centred, focusing on the three orientations to happiness (orientation to pleasure, meaning, and engagement), and a person-centred, focusing on patterns of these three orientations within individuals. The predictive validity of individual orientations to happiness and their characteristic patterns for three aspects of subjective well-being was explored. Adult participants (N = 1,142; 33 % male) filled-in the Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire and the Mental Health Continuum-Long Form. Applying the dimension-centred approach, results suggested that all of the orientations represent possible and appropriate ways to achieve happiness. Person-centred analysis yielded four groups of individuals with similar profiles of ways towards happiness and membership of these groups was associated with individual%s well-being. Leading an empty life was associated with the poorest outcomes and full life with the highest well-being, with moderate well-being characterizing individuals pursuing pleasurable and meaningful life. More precisely, pleasurable life and meaningful life had relatively similar predictive value for psychological well-being but demonstrated discriminant validity for emotional and social well-being. This suggests that the profiles are meaningfully different and highlights the importance of the multiplicative influences of the three specific orientations to happiness.
COBISS.SI-ID: 53014114
The construct of individualism-collectivism (IND-COL) has become the definitive standard in cross-cultural psychology, management, and related fields. It is also among the most controversial, in particular, with regard to the ambiguity of its dimensionality: Some view IND and COL as the opposites of a single continuum, whereas others argue that the two are independent constructs. We explored the issue through seven different tests using original individual-level data from 50 studies and meta-analytic data from 149 empirical publications yielding a total of 295 samplelevel observations that were collected using six established instruments for assessing IND and COL as separate constructs. Results indicated that the dimensionality of IND-COL may depend on (a) the specific instrument used to collect the data, (b) the sample characteristics and the cultural region from which the data were collected, and (c) the level of analysis. We also review inconsistencies, deficiencies, and challenges of conceptualizing IND-COL and provide guidelines for developing and selecting instruments for measuring the construct, and for reporting and meta-analyzing results from this line of research.
COBISS.SI-ID: 53324130
This study provides an interdisciplinary account determining how children and adolescents understand urban and architectural aspects of sustainable development. The concept of sustainability implies complex relations between ethical, economical, social, technical and other qualities of our environment. The concept is difficult to understand for children who lack the abilities of abstract reasoning and multidimensional thinking. A new measure of sustainability understanding was formed based on pictorial rather than textual format and was applied to a large sample of over 2000 participants aged 6-19 years. The results indicated that girls had higher levels of appreciation toward sustainability issues than boys. The results also showed that understanding of sustainability issues increased progressively with age, particularly with adolescents from urban environments. The findings are discussed in terms of cognitive changes in adolescence and their implications for educational policy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5360737