USING COMBINATORIAL APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF THE DISTRIBUTIVE LAW AND MULTIPLICATIVE IDENTITIES

This article reports an alternative approach, called the combinatorial model, to learning multiplicative identities, and investigates the effects of implementing results for this alternative approach. Based on realistic mathematics education theory, the new instructional materials or modules of the new approach were developed by the authors. From the combinatorial activities based on the things around daily life, the teaching modules assisted students to establish their concept of the distributive law, and to generalize it via the process of progressive mathematizing. The subjects were two classes of 8th graders. The experimental group (n = 32) received a combinatorial approach to teaching by the first author using a problem-centered with double-cycles instructional model, while the control group (n = 30) received a geometric approach to teaching, from the textbook by another teacher who uses lecturing. Data analyses were both qualitative and quantitative. The findings indicated that the experimental group had a better performance than the control group in cognition, such as for the inner-school achievement test, mid-term examination, symbol manipulation, and unfamiliar problem-solving: also in affection, such as the tendency to engage in the mathematics activities and enjoy mathematical thinking.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF NEED OF EDUCATIONAL MEDIA PERSONNEL: A NATIONAL STUDY

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions held by community college administrators concerning the types of personnel needed and the academic degrees held by these individuals in the field of educational media. The administrators were asked to respond to a prepared survey instrument designed to obtain information on the degree levels and on the number of librarians, educational technologists, combination librarians‐educational technologists, and paraprofessionals presently employed. In addition the respondents were asked to project future personnel needs and degree levels sought. A third section attempted to identify additional competencies that would be desirable for those presently on the staff and for future employees. The last section tried to determine the attitudes of the respondents toward the importance of educational media. From a population of 164 administrators nationwide, 117 survey instruments were returned. Results showed (1) there is little demand for doctorates in media at the community college level, (2) professional training in media production is more important than instructional development, (3) in the next 5 years there will be approximately a 10% increase in demand for media professionals with a B.S. and above.     

‘THE BREAD,THE JAM AND SOME COFFEE IN THE MORNING’: PERCEPTIONS OF A NURTURE GROUP

The provision of nurture groups has increasingly been advocated as a strategy for meeting the needs of young emotionally disturbed children (DfEE, 1998a, p.44). This article is based on a qualitative evaluation of a nurture group in a primary school situated in an inner‐city area of severe deprivation. Though criteria for success varied, the nurture group was viewed as effective from the different viewpoints of all involved, including teachers, parents and pupils. However, questions are raised about the group in terms of policies of inlcusion and teacher‐parent partnerships, suggesting that exclusion within mainstream schools may be fostered under the flag of inclusion.     

ALTERNATIVES IN AURAL REHABILITATION: PROVIDER TRAINING OF NONAUDIOLOGISTS IN THE DELIVERY OF HEARING‐AID SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO OLDER PERSONS WITH HEARING LOSS

Recently, Patterson and Dancer (1987) suggested a model wherein persons who normally come in contact with older hearing‐impaired persons can be trained to assist the older hearing‐aid user in adjustment to amplification. Their four‐phase educational model offers an alternative to traditional aural rehabilitation programs by using personnel from senior centers, nursing homes, and state and local agencies as program providers.

The present article elaborates more fully on the training that protocol providers will receive from audiologists certified by the American Speech‐Language‐Hearing Association. Providers will be carried through five stages: empathy, effective communication skills, knowledge of the interaction of aging and hearing loss, the phases outlined in the Patterson and Dancer model, and guidelines for referrals. Objective‐based provider and client response criteria are outlined for moving the client from the initial receipt of the hearing aid to its ultimate acceptance and use on a doily basis.     

THE NEED FOR “RULE” ETHICS AND THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUE

Studies on moral development done by some men, such as Kohlberg, have done a disservice to women. When considering the approaches to ethical decisions, such studies have not always considered the experience of women. There are differences between men and women re‐, garding their ideas of good and evil, sin, rights and relationships, and the establishment of priorities. These differences influence the route that men and women take to reach ethical decisions. Even if men and women reach the same conclusions, gender differences affect the approaches used to reach them. Nevertheless, both genders are capable of making sound moral decisions.     

THE RESPONSE OF OLDER WOMEN TO A CREATIVE PROBLEM‐SOLVING PROGRAM

Little work has been done in the development of creativity in older adults. The limited research seems to support the notion that older people are not as creative as younger people.

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether or not creative behavior as measured by Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking can be increased in older adult women through a creative problem‐solving program. The major hypothesis under investigation was: The use of a specific problem‐solving program designed to increase certain creative thinking abilities will increase those abilities at a significant level in older adult women. Forty women volunteers, ranging in age from 60 to 82, participated in the six‐week program.

Experimental subjects did not score significantly higher on the Torrance tests than the control subjects who had not participated in the program. However, information collected via the teacher's log and a questionnaire given to the subjects at the end of the class showed that the experience was unusually positive and creatively beneficial.

It is concluded that the program was not of sufficient intensity and that in order to measure change in creative thinking with older people, a more creative approach in testing may need to be developed.     

INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE GAP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS: THE CASE OF A PRE-ENTRY SCIENCE PROGRAM

This study investigated a gap that may have existed between students’ expectations and perceptions of the 2007 Pre-Entry Science Program (PESP) cohort at the National University of Lesotho and factors that might have influenced these expectations and perceptions. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection and administered to students participating in PESP. The gaps between expectations and perceptions that existed were measured using Cohen′s effect size. A large effect size was found for the ability of presenters to give students a good grasp of concepts within the subject area. Factors that seem to have influenced the students′ expectations and perceptions were identified as students′ background knowledge, previous experience, informal communication, and individual needs. Suggestions made to narrow the gap include knowing students′ expectations at the beginning of the program and then making a conscious effort to meet them.     

HUMAN SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY AND THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY–COMMUNITY COLLABORATION: PERCEPTIONS OF HUMAN SERVICE AGENCY WORKERS

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 1998 the 65-74 years age group (18.4 million) was eight times larger than in 1900, the 75-84 years age group (12 million) was 16 times larger, and the 85 and older years age group (4 million) was 33 times larger. It is anticipated that if this trend continues, by 2030, there will be about 70 million older American persons, more than twice their number in 1998. To meet the needs of the older population, governments, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and other groups will have to continue to work on how to increase availability, accessibility, and adequacy of community-based services. One approach will be to encourage community collaboration and partnerships. Funding agencies have encouraged university-community collaboration in recent years. However, none of the studies reviewed for this paper addressed the need for the type of university-community collaboration that our study deals with (i.e., university-community agency collaboration). In particular, our study investigates human service agency workers' perceptions of the availability, accessibility, and adequacy of services to the elderly in Northwest Ohio, and how collaboration with a university can improve service delivery to consumers. The findings of the study provide a general indication of trends, experiences, and problems common to these agencies. The findings also suggest that agency workers do not necessarily have a negative perception of university-community agency collaboration, rather many do not understand how such collaborations will improve services to consumers. Recommendations regarding how to enhance university-community collaborations are made.     

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT TRENDS AMONG THE POPULATION THIRTY‐FIVE AND OLDER: 1972‐1982 AND PROJECTIONS TO 2000

This paper investigates college enrollment of the population 35 years of age and older from 1972 to 1982 using data collected in the Current Population Survey. Trends in enrollment and enrollment rates by sex are analyzed. It is clear that major increases in college enrollment have been taking place among the mature population. This is due to increased enrollment among females; males have experienced no trend in the likelihood of being enrolled in college after age 35. The characteristics of older college students, including attendance status, marital status, and labor force status are also investigated.

Female college enrollment rates are related to trends in GNP, labor force participation, divorce rates, age structure, and past educational attainment using regression analysis. The significant results are then applied to recent projections of the size of the older population in order to project the number of enrollees 35 years of age and over until the year 2000. Dramatic increases in enrollment among mature students can be expected in the last decade of this century.     

THE OLDER HEARING‐IMPAIRED STUDENT: MANAGING OBSTACLES TO LEARNING

With the number of older Americans increasing, many colleges and universities are attempting to serve the needs of this population by offering tuition reductions, alternative scheduling, and special courses to older learners. Consequently, more and more older persons appear to be returning to colleges and universities on a part‐time or full‐time basis. However, many of these older students may not be receiving maximum benefit from their educational experiences, owing to hearing impairments. This article discusses obstacles and problems that confront the older hearing‐impaired student in the classroom and presents possible management solutions.     

EVALUATING THE NEEDS OF A BIRMINGHAM SECONDARY SCHOOL'S TROUBLED STUDENTS AND THE SCHOOL'S WORKING RESPONSES TO THEM: ‘THE VALUE OF LISTENING’

Given the recent interest in attention difficulties or deficits, it is legitimate to enquire what would be considered “normal” in terms of the length of time on task that one would expect of an individual of a given age group.

This paper explores the issues surrounding selective attention and attention “types”, and conclude by setting down tentative guidelines for making judgements.     

THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTION ON ACCURACY OF STUDENTS’ RESPONSES AND REACTION TIMES TO GEOMETRY PROBLEMS

This study investigates the effect on student performance in drawing their attention to relevant task variables, focusing on accuracy of responses and reaction times. We chose this methodology in order to better understand how such interventions affect the reasoning process. The study employs a geometry task in which the irrelevant salient variable (area) interferes with the reasoning process related to perimeter comparison. We compared eighth graders’ performances in a pretest and a posttest, with or without intervention. The posttest results showed that raising students’ awareness of the relevant task variable activates effortful and time-consuming control mechanisms which help them overcome the interference of the irrelevant variable. The paper discusses the educational importance of helping students to attend selectively to relevant information in order to overcome interference, thus promoting logical reasoning.     

WAYS TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS'''' LISTENING IN HIGH-SCHOOL

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THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF EDUCATION,RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY−THE ISRAELI EXPERIENCE

This article examines the multidimensionality of education, research, and training in gerontology through a discussion of the significance and implications of developments in this area based on the Israeli scene. The discussion focuses on the issue of whether gerontology is an academic discipline based on the development of specialized knowledge, along with education and training, in a distinct academic framework, or whether it constitutes part of professional training in a variety of academic fields. The article begins with a presentation of milestones in the development of gerontology in Israel, focusing mainly on social gerontology. It then offers a definition of an academic discipline and of a profession and distinguishes between them by examining the development of curricula in the field of aging in two contexts: social work studies, on the one hand, and specialization in gerontology toward a Master's degree in this area at Haifa and Ben-Gurion Universities, on the other. A model is presented that examines the mutuality among the evolutions in technology, demography, and information, and their significance in the development of standards in education, training, and the dissemination of gerontological knowledge.     

THE EFFECT OF CLINICAL GERIATRIC TRAINING ON NURSES’ DREAM CONTENT

The dream imagery of 30 first‐year student nurses was monitored by self‐report questionnaires before and during their first clinical placements. Students randomly assigned to the geriatric group (N = 14) trained on a ward in a large metropolitan geriatric hospital. The remaining students (N = 16) were assigned to the medical‐surgical ward of a general hospital where exposure to dying is infrequent (the general clinical group). Analyses revealed no significant differences between the geriatric group and the general clinical group on death association and death symbolism content of their reported dreams. However, in contrast to the general clinical group, the geriatric group reported a significantly greater number of dream images associated with old age (geriatric association) in anticipation of their clinical experience. In addition, there was a significant decrease in geriatric associations for this group during the period of internship in the geriatric hospital.     

LEARNERS’ AND TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE PROCESSES: THE CASE OF BOTSWANA

The conceptual knowledge of science processes possessed by University of Botswana science students and senior secondary school science teachers was sought through a three-part questionnaire. One part requested demographic data of subjects, the second part asked them to select their level of familiarity with the processes, and the third part probed their conceptual definitions of the science processes. The definitions were scored as incorrect, partially correct and correct on an ordinal scale. Statistical analysis was done using Spearman rho correlation and one sample t test. The findings revealed that the science teachers did not have sufficient conceptual knowledge of science processes to help their students to understand in a meaningful way; both students’ and teachers’ views of their familiarity of science processes did not corroborate their demonstrated ability to provide acceptable conceptual definitions of the processes; there was no association between students’ and teachers’ conceptions of the science processes; and if conceptual knowledge of science processes was demanded, the entering students, who were the immediate graduates of the senior secondary schools, might not have enough to pursue tertiary level science courses. It is suggested that both conceptual and operational knowledge of science processes be required at secondary and tertiary levels of science education.     

STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF EQUILIBRIUM AND STABILITY: THE CASE OF DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

Engineering students in control courses have been observed to lack an understanding of equilibrium and stability, both of which are crucial concepts in this discipline. The introduction of these concepts is generally based on the study of classical examples from Newtonian mechanics supplemented with a control system. Equilibrium and stability are approached in different ways at the various stages of a typical engineering syllabus: at the beginning, they are mostly dealt with a static point of view, for example in mechanics, and are subsequently handled through dynamic analysis in control courses. In general, there is a little clarification of the differences between these concepts or the ways in which they are linked. We believe that this leads to much confusion and incomprehension among engineering students. Several studies have shown that students encounter difficulties when presented with simple familiar or academic static equilibrium cases in mechanics. Our study investigates students’ conceptions and misconceptions about equilibrium and stability through a series of questions about several innovative non-static situations. It reveals that the understanding of these notions is shaken when the systems being studied are placed in inertial or non-inertial moving reference frames. The students in our study were particularly uncertain about the existence of unstable equilibrium positions and had difficulty in differentiating between the two concepts. The results suggest that students use a velocity-based approach to explain such situations. A poor grasp of the above fundamental concepts may result from previous learning experiences. More specifically, certain difficulties seem to be directly linked to a lack of understanding of these concepts, while others are related to misconceptions arising from everyday experiences and the inappropriate use of physical examples in primary school.     

FUNCTIONS OF THE TWO‐YEAR COLLEGE CURRICULUM: FACULTY PERCEPTIONS

There are limited empirical data on curriculum in two‐year colleges; this study is designed to address that lack. A literature review is used to identify the functions served by credit courses: transfer, general education, preparation for work, and remediation. Secondary analysis is made of data gathered on a 1977 survey of science, social science, and science‐related technical courses. Instructor perceptions of course purpose(s) are used to determine if the identified functions are served. The findings indicate these functions are served, but predominately as combined functions rather than the discrete functions identified in the literature. Patterns of multiple course functions are identified by academic area and by course. Further, the methodology used is presented as a useful tool in developing empirical data about college curricula.