Anti-Semitism on Campus
The authors present results of a study that investigates and compares Jewish and non-Jewish students’ perceptions of the anti-Semitic atmosphere at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The Impact of a University Policy on the Sexual Harassment of Female Students
Research on the sexual harassment of college and university students has been accumulating for over a decade. Surveys exploring the reported incidence of sexual harassment of students have been conducted at nearly twenty institutions of higher learning. While the majority of college and university surveys are similar in that they have been conducted by mail, comparison of results is difficult because of variations in sampling strategies, operational definitions of sexual harassment, and populations sampled [10]. Despite the incomparability of survey results, Dzeich and Weiner maintain that "again and again 20-30 percent of women students report they have been sexually harassed by male faculty during their college years" [7, p. 15]. Although the literature lacks solid statistics describing the national prevalence of sexual harassment on college and university campuses, the results of individual institutional studies affirm that sexual harassment is a problem for significant proportions of female students. Several studies found between one-quarter and one-third of women students affected by sexually harassing behaviors. Benson and Thompson's 1978 Berkeley study found that 29.7 percent of female seniors had experienced at least
Science fairs as learning tool for teaching excellence
Science fairs are usually considered to be a pedagogical and cultural activity that involves the students actively. Gifted students need challenges to further develop their skills while maintaining the motivation level. Science fairs may provide the informal environment that will request and allow these students of excellence to challenge themselves by developing a scientific research project. Despite being well known in different countries, in Portugal first steps are being made on the use and implementation of science fairs as effective pedagogical tool. In this work, we will present a 4 years study that was developed on a Portuguese school with the main goal of evaluating the advantages of this informal way of teaching. The study includes an analysis of the evolution of the students’ knowledge that have participated, or visited, the different science fairs. Some advices for the implementation of these projects will be given. The motivation of the students was monitored as well as the knowledge and skills effectively improved by this activity.