In southern Africa, biotechnology is increasingly important with regard to food security and the development of the pharmaceutical industry. Universities are tasked with providing the relevant capacity development through tertiary-level courses to meet these development needs. However, the knowledge and practices of biotechnology may be…

From a perspective of social practice, learning is a socially constituted practice that is imbued with socio-culturally significant meanings and shaped by the values and norms shared within a community of learners. This focus group study examines the role of e-learning technologies in mediating the social practice of learning among coursework…

This study is conducted to reveal the role of gender in attending leisure time activities and to determine gender perceptions about sports branches. For this purpose, an application was performed with the participation of 7 female students from Abant Izzet Baysal University School of Physical Education and Sport. For 8 weeks, volunteer…

In this study I conducted individual and focus group interviews in order to understand the ways in which students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) perceive the campus climate at West Virginia University and in what ways their experiences are shaped by that climate. Campus climate is defined as "the…

Despite the need for scientific research in psychology to solve the different psychosocial problems of the country (family violence and corruption, for example), studies in this area are not still enough. One of the ways to encourage research is by doing a thesis. However, many students opt for other types of jobs for that purpose. The objective…

This paper reports a research study of Omani EFL learners' motivation to engage in social technologies through the medium of English, adopting Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System as the main theoretical framework, whilst exploring other emergent context-sensitive motivational driving forces. The purpose of the research study was to explore…

Transition to university life can be stressful for all students. In mitigation, most universities in Kenya offer social support to students in form of counselling, financial assistance, health and academic support. Despite this it has been documented that only a minority of university students who experience psychological distress seek…

Constructions of femininity and attendant notions of feminism are being produced in different ways in different places around the world. This is a complicated global process that cannot be reduced to analyses that take place in nation states. This paper seeks to respond to and enhance Angela McRobbie's compelling argument about understandings of…

This article highlights the capacity of an Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander Institution (AANAPISI) to serve as an institutional convertor--by addressing challenges commonly associated with marginalized students--for low-income, Asian American and Pacific Islander students entering college. Through an in-depth case study, we…

Many colleges and universities have seen increases in students identified as having autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or Asperger's syndrome (AS). The purpose of this study was to analyze the needs of college students with autism spectrum disorders. The study implemented a naturalistic inquiry design incorporating three data collection formats. A…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the HPV vaccination for boys and girls starting at age 11, yet adoption rates are low. We use eight focus groups to explore the decision making process, experiences, and social influences, including media and sex education classes, shaping attitudes of male and female college…

Intentionally temporary housing environments, like student housing, where residents know they will settle for a short period may lack the social and physical factors that inspire a sense of home and community. Yet, these environments compete with traditional housing options to retain residents and therefore, universities want to create housing…

This study contributes to the understanding of the structural and cultural influences of Christian college environments on student activism through the framework of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934). The goal of this research was to examine how the students at Christian institutions understand and engage in activism within their…

This paper presents a reflection on students' levels and types of motivation at a college of health sciences in Saudi Arabia and highlights the social and cultural factors possibly contributing to the differences in motivation among those students. The results of this study, which followed a mixed-methods approach, indicate a multiplicity of…

Online games represent a burgeoning market sector of increasing economic importance. However, most previous studies have focused on the utilitarian perspectives of the technology. In other words, there is limited the investigation to social influence on college students' attitude. The aims of this study is to understand the effect of social…