An integrative approach to counseling for the speech-impaired client

This paper discusses the possibility of providing effective counseling for speech-language impaired clients who, due to a communication breakdown, find themselves in a particularly serious predicament marked by isolation and dependency. Its purpose is to highlight the special needs of these clients and to suggest therapeutic strategies suitable for meeting their needs. To promote the idea of an integrative approach to counseling, it will be shown that the counselor, as the key figure in rehabilitation, can coordinate the work of several professionals and contribute in a unique way to the well-being of these individuals.     

An integrative perceptual approach for teaching Chinese characters

This paper is concerned with an innovative approach to teaching Chinese characters. Traditionally, pupils learn Chinese characters by repeatedly copying them until they can reproduce their form and pronunciation from memory. Most of the characters pupils are required to learn are selected on the basis of their frequency in adult written communications rather in everyday child usage. The process takes many years and is perceived by pupils as laborious and boring. The writers of the paper developed an approach based on the phenomenographic approach to learning and on various pioneering ways of teaching Chinese characters. Learning starts with the pupils’ own language and characters are introduced and used in contexts meaningful to the pupil, attention being drawn systematically to structural features, written form and pronunciation. Characters are learnt in relational clusters, similarities and variations among related characters in the clusters being used by teachers to highlight and emphasise crucial aspects of Chinese characters and words. The learning mastered serves as a foundation for subsequent learning. After an in-depth discussion of theory and pedagogy, the writers report an investigation in four primary schools in Hong Kong that yields strong support for the efficacy of the approach.     

School psychologists as researchers: An approach for initiating training and practice

A project is described that involved school psychology students in doing applied research. The possible impact that implementing such a plan might have on creating cooperative research opportunities, on providing training in applied research, and on influencing the school's perception of the school psychologist's role is considered.     

The cognitive approach to training development: A practitioner's assessment

This article begins this special issue of ETR&D-Development by discussing what the cognitive approach to instructional design (ID) is and how ID practitioners can design training differently using the approach. Following some introductory comments about purpose, scope and perspective, the article is in two parts. The first part describes why the cognitive approach to ID is important and how the current approach to instructional design and training development is different from the cognitive approach. It then explains how learning occurs according to the cognitive point of view, and the different categories of learning according to one type of cognitive psychology. The second part describes a model that synthesizes and summarizes the components of a well-designed lesson, and describes what is different about this model from the current approach to ID. This model relates what learners have to do to learn to what instructional designers have to do to help them do so. It presents and briefly explains and exemplifies a general framework for instructional design based on cognitive psychology. Finally, it presents a table that can be used as a job aid to design training.     

The training of educational administrators: An holistic approach

Starting from the assumption that administrative personnel in educational programmes would be more efficient, if they were professionally trained; this paper outlines the guiding principles of good training and attempts to derive appropriate methods of training. To illustrate its argument, it analyses the current prerequisites for school principals and concludes that the current basic requirement that principals be experienced teachers is inappropriate. On the contrary, principals should be selected from a reservoir wider than the teaching profession, subjected to criteria pertinent to principalship and more thoroughly trained in all dimensions of its functions.     

Communication Skills for Engineering Students: an integrative approach

This paper describes the development of the teaching of communication skills on Engineering Degree courses run by the School of Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Leeds Polytechnic from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s. The development is seen as moving from the notion of Liberal Studies through Communication Studies to eventually the concept of Integrated Studies. The ideas behind Integrated Studies are described and the benefits and problems of this approach are discussed.     

An assessment of on-job training programmes in Kuwait

Like most of the states in the Gulf region, Kuwait suffers from an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled Kuwaiti manpower in almost all sectors of the economy. In 1990, the labour force was 2,120,302 of which 1,552,225 were non-Kuwaitis (73%), and only 568,007 (27%) were Kuwaitis (Ministry of Planning, 1995). The country depends very heavily on expatriates. The Gulf crisis in 1990 created an unexpected situation in which the country's infrastructure was damaged by the ravages of the Iraqi occupation. This presented a great challenge for Kuwaiti decision makers in implementing effective and appropriate action plans for rebuilding the country.In Kuwait, two main public On-the-Job Training Centres (Kuwait University, KU and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, PAAE&T) were looked upon as centres for training Kuwaitis with the required skills. In this paper, some of the empirical results and observations are presented, which describe the views of suppliers (KU and PAAE&T) and recipients (eight main ministries) regarding the various aspects of on-the-job training programmes. The paper argues that for effective and efficient utilisation of on-the-job training programmes, both parties (suppliers and recipients) have to recognise the value of such programmes. The paper concludes that unless decision-makers improve and develop the present situation of on-the-job training programmes, the country will continue to rely heavily on expatriates for years ahead.     

360 degree feedback: an integrative framework for learning and assessment

Feedback is widely acknowledged as the crux of a learning process. Multiplicities of research studies have been advanced to address the common cri de coeur of teachers and students for a constructive and effective feedback mechanism in the current higher educational settings. Nevertheless, existing pedagogical approaches in feedback are fragmented and ad hoc in nature. Taken in isolation, each approach fails to capture the full role and complexity of assessment feedback in the learning process. The paper provides a synthesis of existing practices in the field of assessment feedback and identifies the core guiding elements to develop a holistic and integrated feedback system. The 360 degree (360°) feedback system is proposed and its systematic implementation is demonstrated via the interplay between self-, peer and teacher assessment. It is concluded that the elements of 360° system when combined and integrated help to maximise the functions of feedback to enhance learning.     

The assessment of intention-cue detection skills in children: implications for developmental psychopathology

A reliable measure of children's skills in discriminating intention cues in others was developed for this investigation in order to test the hypothesis that intention-cue detection skill is related to social competence in children. Videotapes were prepared in which one child provoked another child. The intention of the first child varied across videotapes. The subject's task was to discriminate among types of intentions. Care was taken to ensure that scores on this measure were not confounded by a child's verbal capacity or general discrimination skill. This instrument was administered to 176 children in kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade, who were identified by sociometric measures as having a peer status as popular, average, socially rejected, or socially neglected. Scores on this measure were found to increase as a function of increasing age, and normal children (popular and average) were found to score more highly than deviant children (neglected and rejected). The errors by deviant children tended to consist of erroneous labels of prosocial intentions as hostile. Also, children's statements about their probable behavioral responses to provocations by peers were found to vary as a function of subjects' perceptions of the intention of the peer causing the provocation, not as a function of the actual intention portrayed by the peer. Sociometric status differences in these responses were also found. These findings were consistent with a hypothesis of a developmental lag among socially deviant children in the acquisition of intention-cue detection skills.     

An assessment model and methods for evaluating distance education programmes

This paper is adapted from a keynote address given to the AUA Annual Conference, held at Warwick 14–16 March 2005     

Computer-aided authoring of assessment instruments: An activity-theoretical approach

Abstract

Various researches have been conducted on the role and importance of assessment in education as well as its impact on the learner and the overall learning process. In fact, the way assessment is formulated in a particular subject shapes the way students learn. They focus their learning to comply with assessment requirements that they anticipate. In this article, the study is focused on the written examination papers (teacher-made tests) that are normally prepared at the end of a semester or an academic year to assess students of secondary and tertiary levels. The study also investigates how well papers are set and balanced according to the cognitive levels defined by Bloom (1956) and the learning outcomes/objectives as defined for the subjects. A collaborative process model as a framework for the design of such tests that can enhance the evaluation process is proposed. A brief argument is made for a case for a computer-supported collaborative environment to implement such a framework and which is based on activity theory. Such a framework is implemented in the form of MYSTIC; a collaborative authoring software for assessment instruments. The software allows stand-alone as well as collaborative authoring of examination papers and also helps academics' decision-making concerning the examination paper balancing and moderating process by graphically displaying and comparing marks allocated per question paper against the learning objectives     

Risk assessment with actuarial and clinical methods: Measurement and evidence-based practice

Child welfare agencies have adopted assessment tools and instruments to inform the level of risk and guide the agency’s level of intervention with the family. Actuarial assessments may be more uniform but inflexible with respect to practice wisdom whereas clinical or consensus-based assessments are more comprehensive and intuitive but lack objectivity. The purpose of the current study is to compare clinical and actuarial methods of risk assessment used by child welfare workers to make decisions about substantiation and services. The current study examined the (1) association between clinical and actuarial dimensions, (2) association between actuarial dimensions and outcomes, (3) association between clinical dimensions and outcomes, (4) caseworker primary use of actuarial dimensions, and (5) caseworker supplementary use of actuarial dimensions. Findings indicated that the actuarial may not be solely predictive of agency intensity with respect to case decision and service provision. Our findings suggest that dual-measurement does inform intensity, and we speculate from these findings that the measures may be involved with decision-making in a complex way. This study may be best viewed as a means by which researchers begin to parse how decisions are made; with this information, instruments may be better tailored to facilitate clinical, critical thought.     

The strategic impact model: An integrative approach to performance improvement and instructional systems design

Conclusion The Strategic Impact Model is distinctive in its portrayal of the integration of instructional and non-instructional interventions and its suggestion that all performance interventions undergo an analysis-design-development-production cycle, just as instruction does. It also differs from other similar models in its use of evaluative activities at each stage to assure alignment with strategic needs as well as quality control, and its suggestions for improving the chances of successful implementation by carrying out change management activities at each phase of the development process. He has special interests in distance education, historical and philosophical foundations of instructional technology and instructional development processes. He has special interests in planning and evaluating performance improvement initiatives, including training. An erratum to this article is available at .     

ICT teacher training: Evaluation of the curriculum and training approach in Flanders

A policy-evaluation study was set up of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) teacher training in Flanders, focusing on the following questions: (a) What is the validity of the content and format of the teacher training, and (b) to what extent is the ICT teacher training linked to policies of schools? In-depth interviews were organised with respondents of primary, secondary, and adult education schools. The results indicate that ICT school policies are not well developed and reveal a partial match between policies, needs, and the actual in-service training. Innovative applications of ICT are not promoted. The supply-driven approach, the school-based nature, and follow-up activities are questioned.     

An approach to ethical practice in management and trainer training

This paper notes the recent rise in the number of courses, conferences, and publications devoted to the issue of ethics. It considers two different approaches to ethical training, one deduced from first philosophical principles of social ethics, and the other based on case studies of practical issues. The paper argues that a combination of both approaches is necessary to ensure situational applicability, whilst guarding against criticisms of moral relativism and expediency. In addition, the paper argues for an understanding of, and commitment to, personal integrity in professional practice.     

实施整合培养拓宽素质教育途径

21世纪是以知识经济为主导的时代 ,是充满机遇和挑战的时代。以培养人才、发展科学、服务社会为己任的高等教育 ,要以新世纪的时代背景为坐标 ,以更新观念为先导 ,以改革创新为动力 ,把握新趋势 ,明确新目标 ,培养有理想、有道德、有知识、有修养的高素质人才。一、高等教育需转变与更新观念改革开放以来 ,我国的高等教育得到很大发展 ,培养了大批亟需的专门人才。随着时代的进步 ,我国高等教育正在逐步摆脱传统的习惯势力和计划经济模式的影响 :以知识为中心 ,以培养造就少数英才为目的 ;强调共性忽视个性 ;强调科技忽视人文 ;强调按计划盲…     

Continuous training and wages: An empirical analysis using a comparison-group approach

Using German linked employer-employee data, this paper investigates the short-term impact of on-the-job training on wages. The applied estimation approach was first introduced by Leuven and Oosterbeek (2008). Wages of employees who intended to participate in training but did not do so because of a random event are compared to wages of training participants. The estimated wage returns are statistically insignificant. Furthermore, the decision to participate in training is associated with sizeable selection effects. On average, participants have a wage advantage of more than 4% compared to non-participants.     

An ecological approach to the on-line assessment of problem-solving paths: Principles and applications

In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework for designing on-line situated assessment tools for multimedia instructional systems. Based on an ecological psychology approach to situated learning, a graph theoretic methodology is applied to monitor students' performance (solution paths) throughout the learning activity. Deviation of the student's path from the target (expert) path generates indicators which can function as alerts to the student and to the instructor. The information collected in the dribble files and presented visually enables the instructor to identify problems quickly and intervene appropriately. The feasibility of the methodology is explored in case studies describing three instructional systems that teach (1) critical thinking and problem-solving skills, (2) principles of hemodynamic monitoring and treatment, and (3) orthodontic treatment, respectively.