Fostering Activities of Daily Living by Intact Nursing Home Residents

We assessed effectiveness of four education programs in providing nursing assistants with ability to produce a therapeutic milieu supportive of intact residents' activities of daily living, positive self-esteem and mood: (1) a combination of Orem's Systems of Nursing Care and Skinner's Applied Behavioral Analysis, (2) Applied Behavioral Analysis, (3) Orem's Systems of Nursing Care, and (4) regular in-service education. We hypothesized that the combination program was most effective. Results revealed no significant difference among programs. Education alone is not sufficient. Administrative and supervisory involvement and support is crucial for nursing assistants' successful implementation of newly acquired knowledge and skills.     

Water Birth at Home: Two Perspectives

In this column, a grandmother, with a long history as an author and activist for normal birth, and her daughter, a new mother, offer their unique experiences of a water birth at home, attended by family members and midwives. Their unique perspectives demonstrate the trust in the normal birth process that is possible for every birth.     

Exploring Changes in Home Visitors’ Perspectives in the Context of a Professional Development Activity

Early Childhood Education Journal - Research-based professional development opportunities for early childhood home visitors are valuable to the Early Head Start-Home-Based Option (EHS-HBO) and to...     

护理干预56例轻中度血管性痴呆患者的临床观察

目的探讨护理干预对轻、中度血管性痴呆患者的影响。方法将56例轻、中度血管性痴呆患者采用在一般护理的基础上予心理、康复等干预。结果对轻中度血管性痴呆患者采取综合护理干预方法,效果满意。结论护理干预可提高血管性痴呆患者的认知功能、智能和日常活动能力,对疾病康复有积极的促进意义。     

Physical Activity and School Engagement in Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Physical activity is associated with numerous health benefits in youth; however, these benefits could extend further than health, into education. Our aim was to systematically review and combine in meta-analyses evidence concerning the association between physical activity and the dimensions of school engagement, including behavior (e.g., time-on-task), emotions (e.g., lesson enjoyment), and cognition (e.g., self-regulated learning). We conducted meta-analyses using structural equation modeling on results from 38 studies. Overall, physical activity had a small, positive association with school engagement (d = .28, I² = .86), 95% confidence interval [.12, .46]. This association was moderated by study design, with significant associations shown in randomized controlled trials but not in studies employing other designs. Risk of bias was also a significant effect moderator, as studies with a low risk of bias showed significant associations but not high risk of bias studies. Altogether, these results suggest that physical activity could improve school engagement.     

Child Engagement in Inclusive Preschools: Contributions of Classroom Quality and Activity Setting

Preschool process quality and activity setting are considered important aspects influencing child engagement. As such, it is important to understand how educational settings can promote engagement, particularly for children with disabilities and/or at risk. This observational study describes process quality and activity setting in inclusive preschools, analyzing its predictive role for child engagement. Participants were 184 children attending 39 preschools. Three groups of children, nested within classrooms, were considered: with disabilities (n = 45), at risk (n = 59), typically developing (n = 80). Child Observation in Preschool assessed engagement and activity setting; Classroom Assessment Scoring System assessed quality of teacher–child interactions. Research Findings: Results from multilevel regressions show that classroom emotional support and organization and more time in free play were positively predicting child engagement, whereas more time in whole group was a negative predictor of engagement. Besides these main effects, an interaction effect between child developmental functioning and activity settings was found. For at-risk children, more time in whole-group activities had greater negative effects on child engagement. For children with disabilities, more time in free-play had greater positive effects on child engagement. Practice or Policy: Results contribute to inform teachers regarding the importance of individualizing interactions and planning activity settings to promote engagement and participation in inclusive preschools.     

Student Engagement with Artefacts and Scientific Ideas in a Laboratory and a Concept-Mapping Activity

The purpose of this study is to use a comparative approach to scrutinize the common assumption that certain school science activities are theoretical and therefore particularly suited for engaging students with scientific ideas, whereas others are practical and, thus, not equally conducive to engagement with scientific ideas. We compared two school science activities, one (laboratory work) that is commonly regarded as focusing attention on artefacts that may distract students from central science concepts and the other (concept mapping) that is thought to make students focus directly on these concepts. We observed students in either a laboratory activity about real galvanic cells or a concept-mapping activity about idealized galvanic cells. We used a practical epistemology analysis to compare the two activities regarding students' actions towards scientific ideas and artefacts. The comparison revealed that the two activities, despite their alleged differences along the theory–practice scale, primarily resulted in similar student actions. For instance, in both activities, students interacted extensively with artefacts and, to a lesser extent, with scientific ideas. However, only occasionally did students establish any explicit continuity between artefacts and scientific ideas. The findings indicate that some of the problems commonly considered to be unique for school science practical work may indeed be a feature of school science activities more generally.     

2型糖尿病病人家庭护理干预效果分析

目的研究家庭护理干预对 2型糖尿病治疗效果的影响。方法将 2 0 0例 2型糖尿病患者随机分为两组 ,干预组 1 0 0例进行家庭护理干预 ,对照组 1 0 0例未实施干预 ,运用生化控制指标对干预后 6个月的效果进行比较、分析。结果两组疗效比较 ,干预组疗效显著 ,差异有显著性意义 (P <0 0 5 )。结论家庭护理干预可提高 2型糖尿病治疗效果。     

Faculty autonomy: Perspectives from Taiwan

Recent legislative initiatives indicate thatlong-standing traditions of centralized state controlof higher education in Taiwan are being displaced bynew arrangements emphasizing institutional autonomy. Autonomous institutions are assumed to be flexible andresponsive, given their relative freedom fromgovernment control. Institutional autonomy is assumedto ``trickle down' to organizational members, who arethen empowered to devise unique solutions to solveparticular problems. Asserted benefits ofinstitutional autonomy may not accrue, however, whereorganizational members are unable to determine thestructures and processes of their work. The purposeof this study was to examine relationships betweeninstitutional autonomy and dimensions of facultyautonomy. Findings lend conditional support to theclaim that faculty members work within the constraintsof ``regulated autonomy,' where their individualbehaviors are delimited by government and management.     

Postschool Engagement Predictors for Youth with Intellectual Disability: Results from South Carolina

ABSTRACT

Postschool outcomes of youth with intellectual disability (ID) continue to trouble practitioners and scholars. The purpose of this study was to analyze postschool engagement outcome data for 360 survey respondents with ID in South Carolina in the areas of employment and postsecondary education/training. Specifically, we examined the relationship of special education exit reason, as well as, student, school, and district variables to youth’s postschool engagement. We used logistic regression to estimate probability of engagement one year after exiting high school. Results indicated that special education exit reason, gender, school retention rates, district attendance rates, percentage of students with disabilities within a district, percentage of students within a district receiving free and reduced lunch, district retention rates, and district suspension/expulsion rates were significantly related to three postschool engagement outcomes. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Engagement with research: acknowledging uncertainty in methodology

Method creates relationships in research. It positions everyone and everything in the research process. When method is based on a misrepresentation of science, the relationships formed are technical, closed and self-referential. Using a Deleuze–Guattari framework we are concerned that scientific method in qualitative research solidifies, crystallizes and archaeologizes the research. This paper questions what is being ruled out and deemed as unimportant, or indeed contaminating and fallacious in such research. We argue for the acknowledgement of uncertainty as this allows for more engagement with the research and researched. Deleuze and Guattari argue for multiplicity, connectivity and becoming. This paper calls for acknowledging and mentoring uncertainty at every stage of the teaching and learning of method.     

Needs Assessment: Perspectives from the Literature

Careful analysis of an organization's needs is the first step in developing programs for improving performance that are relevant to the organization and to the individuals who use the programs. The purpose of this article is to examine the perspectives of needs assessment that are described in the performance technology and human resource development literature. The first section of the article focuses on the terms used to describe the process of analyzing needs. The perspectives embodied in the definitions and conceptualizations of the terms need, needs assessment, needs analysis, front end analysis, and performance analysis are examined. The second section of the article focuses on various models of needs assessment. It presents different views about where the needs assessment process starts, where it ends, and what results are produced.     

Family Science Talk in Museums: Predicting Children's Engagement From Variations in Talk and Activity

Children's developing reasoning skills are better understood within the context of their social and cultural lives. As part of a research–museum partnership, this article reports a study exploring science‐relevant conversations of 82 families, with children between 3 and 11 years, while visiting a children's museum exhibit about mammoth bones, and in a focused one‐on‐one exploration of a “mystery object.” Parents' use of a variety of types of science talk predicted children's conceptual engagement in the exhibit, but interestingly, different types of parent talk predicted children's engagement depending on the order of the two activities. The findings illustrate the importance of studying children's thinking in real‐world contexts and inform creation of effective real‐world science experiences for children and families.     

Restructuring,Teacher Engagement and School Culture: Perspectives on School Reform and the Improvement of Teacher's Work 1

ABSTRACT

Recent educational policy reports in the U.S. have called for significant changes in teachers’ work to increase their effectiveness. The paper examines the relationship between the restructuring strategies in two comprehensive high schools and teachers’ engagement, which is defined as a multi‐dimensional construct. In one school, the restructuring strategies focused on creating a supportive climate for students, and in empowering students and teachers; in the other, emphasis was on developing professional skills of the faculty and strengthening group cohesiveness. The implications of the strategies for teacher engagement are illustrated with case study data. The discussion points to several conclusions: (1) the effects of restructuring are more bounded than is often assumed; (2) a quality of work life framework drawn from the social scientific literatures is useful for analyzing the effects of reform policies on teachers’ work; (3) teachers make trade‐offs between different types of engagement in order to increase their work satisfaction; and (4) restructuring has potential for increasing teachers’ engagement in schools with mixed socio‐economic and racial populations.

     

Access to Books in the Home and Adolescent Engagement in Recreational Book Reading: Considerations for secondary school educators

The emphasis on schools' providing reading materials for students at home is very much on the primary school years, when the skill of reading is being acquired. Little consideration has been given to the impact of curtailing school‐mediated access to books beyond this point. Regular recreational reading offers a wide range of benefit, and is essential for supporting ongoing literacy development. Without easy access to books, it can be readily surmised that capacity for regular engagement in reading can be limited. This article adds to the body of research supporting the benefit of student access to books in the home, linking access to books in the home with improved attitudes toward and frequency of engagement in recreational book reading, particularly in boys. It also provides analysis of data on students' access to books in the home, as well as discussing alternative avenues of access to books, such as the library and devices. The implications of the findings are explored, with educators ultimately urged to support increased access to self‐selected home reading materials through the secondary school.     

“心智-美德”视角下行业院校学生学习参与对学习结果的影响——基于3所公安本科院校的实证研究

以公安本科院校为例,通过实证研究发现,在行业院校中基于“心智-美德”导向的学习参与模型成立,且均对学习结果产生正向影响。其中,心智导向下的学习参与主要影响学生批判性思维的养成,美德导向下的学习参与主要影响学生成绩排名和职业认同感的形成。行业院校应重视人才选拔和培养质量评价指标的多样化和客观化,以目的为导向,有针对性地激发学生不同类型的学习参与。     

Understanding Engagement in Mental Health Services for Preschool Children: An Analysis of Teacher,Clinician, and Parent Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of mental health clinicians in providing services in the preschool setting. Clinicians provided services for 3 years in urban, northern New Jersey preschools, in order to expand access to mental health services for vulnerable children. At the conclusion of the three-year period, focus groups were conducted with clinicians and teachers, and interviews were conducted with parents to gain their perspectives on the approaches used. Data were coded for emergent themes and a number of themes developed around aspects of engagement, including engaging the community, teachers, other professionals, and parents in order to effectively provide the service to the target population. The data provide insight into techniques that may increase comfort levels for seeking and accepting treatment.