Integrated Care in College Health: A Case Study

This case study describes 1 international student's treatment experience with an integrated health program on a college campus. This program uses a multidisciplinary, mind‐body approach, which incorporates individual counseling, primary care, psychiatric consultation, a mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy class, and a meditation group.     

Assessing the effects of a work-based antipoverty program for parents on youth's future orientation and employment experiences

The impacts of New Hope, a 3-year work-based antipoverty program to increase parent employment and reduce poverty, on youth ages 9-19 (N = 866) were assessed 5 years after parents left the program. New Hope had positive effects on the future orientation and employment experiences of boys, especially African American boys. Compared to boys in control group families, boys in program group families were less cynical about work, less pessimistic about their employment prospects, and more involved in employment and career preparation. They also worked for longer periods during the school year than did control group boys. Comparable effects were not found for girls. The developmental significance of the findings, possible processes that led to the impacts, and the policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Computer simulations in the high school: Students' cognitive stages,science process skills and academic achievement in microbiology

Computer-assisted learning, including simulated experiments, has great potential to address the problem solving process which is a complex activity. It requires a highly structured approach in order to understand the use of simulations as an instructional device. This study is based on a computer simulation program, 'The Growth Curve of Microorganisms', which required tenth grade biology students to use problem solving skills whilst simultaneously manipulating three independent variables in one simulated experiment. The aims were to investigate the computer simulation's impact on students' academic achievement and on their mastery of science process skills in relation to their cognitive stages. The results indicate that the concrete and transition operational students in the experimental group achieved significantly higher academic achievement than their counterparts in the control group. The higher the cognitive operational stage, the higher students' achievement was, except in the control group where students in the concrete and transition operational stages did not differ. Girls achieved equally with the boys in the experimental group. Students' academic achievement may indicate the potential impact a computer simulation program can have, enabling students with low reasoning abilities to cope successfully with learning concepts and principles in science which require high cognitive skills.     

Beginning the Process of Rethinking Mathematics Instruction: A Professional Development Program

This article describes a professional development program that introduces middle school teachers to an inquiry approach to mathematics instruction as a vehicle to reform their teaching of mathematics. The program is characterized by the use of a few illustrative units that provide an integrated context for experiences as learners and experiences as teachers. Project participants consisted of mathematics and special education teachers in school-based support teams led by school facilitators. Results suggest that the illustrative units were of considerable value in promoting reform. The benefits of including an heterogeneous group of teachers in the same professional development program and of involving teachers from the same school are also discussed.     

Double Degree Courses: A Viable Proposition for the CAE Sector

Double‐degree courses (studies in which two disciplines are taught in conscious relationship to one another) are almost exclusively a phenomenon of the university sector in Australian tertiary education. This article examines the double‐degree program from the college perspective. It describes a rationale for the approach and suggests why colleges should pursue this type of study program; it describes several organisational models which have been initiated in various institutions both in Australia and overseas; it considers the areas in which such development might take place in a college; it discusses the advantages and limitations of these courses and it highlights some of the difficulties and issues in their implementation.     

The effects of gender on the transition of transfer students into a new school

The present study describes a peer-tutoring program designed to utilize computerassisted instruction to help first through fourth graders who were entering a new school. Tutored girls increased their positive self-perceptions as a result of the tutoring program, whereas boys declined in positive self-perceptions, while exhibiting gains in reading scores. These findings suggest that prevention efforts need to consider the specific adaptation needs of transfer students by gender so as to insure a maximum fit between individual need and program scope.     

A cost/effectiveness evaluation of lay therapy treatment for child abusing and high risk parents

This longitudinal investigation tested the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of a lay therapy treatment program in comparison with a standard social work treatment approach. A pretest-extended posttest research design was used to follow a group of child abusing and high risk mothers who received lay therapy (N = 27) and a randomized control group of similar clients (N = 28) over a 12-month period. Outcome data were obtained through interview and direct observation of the parents and children at six-month intervals. A variety of standardized instruments were used including Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Test, Coopersmith's Self-Opinion Form, and the Nurturance and Parent Observation Scales, adapted from Baumrind. Treatment success was defined as progression toward the mean scores of a matched comparison group (N = 21) obtained from the general population of the community during the pretest. The results indicated a trend toward improvement on the outcome measures for both treatment groups. The group receiving lay therapy treatment improved only slightly more than the group receiving standard treatment; however, there was also significantly less attrition with the lay therapy group. Analysis of time budget study data indicated that the lay therapists spent an average of 17.46 hours per month with each of their clients thus permitting the social workers to spend considerably less time with lay therapy clients. Analysis of the direct costs of the programs, based on time budget information, indicated that the lay therapy treatment involved more direct client contact than the standard treatment approach and was also substantially more costly. The high cost of the program was attributed to low caseloads and redundancy in supervision. This study presents several practical program and research recommendations.     

A group for sexually abused young children: unravelling the web

This paper describes clinical material from a group for young sexually abused children. The group work combines both an educational and dynamic approach drawn from previous models. The group was clearly structured and ran over nine weeks in conjunction with a parallel caregivers' group who were informed each week of the main themes. The caregivers were also involved in evaluating the effectiveness of the therapy by completing questionnaires which recorded symptomatology. A statistical analysis based on the questionnaires showed a significant reduction in problems reported by the caregivers before and after the group therapy. The authors recommend that such therapeutic work be combined with formal evaluation in the future to assess the effectiveness of different approaches with a view to clarifying which aspects are responsible for promoting positive change.     

An evaluation of APT: an Animated Program Tracer for novice Prolog programmers

This paper describes an approach to evaluating the usefulness of an Animated Program Tracer (APT) in communicating run-time information to novice Prolo programmers. The method used in the evaluation consists of a set of programs which have been specially designed to elicit how novices think Prolog programs are executed, and thus to reveal how accurate their model of program execution is. Two experiments are reported. The first determines the misconceptions that novices hold about the runtime actions of the Prolog interpreter, and produces six different categories of misconception. The second experiment investigates the ability of APT to communicate run-time information to novice Prolog programmers. A scoring technique was used to interpret subjects' answers, and shows that there was a significant improvement in the scores of the group who saw programs traced by APT when compared with a control group who saw no trace.     

Using LOGO with Infant School Children

Abstract The recent introduction of micro‐computers into schools is opening up many new avenues for developmental psychologists interested in studying how children learn. Of particular interest at present are approaches in which children program computers themselves, using languages such as LOGO and PROLOG. This paper describes a study in which a simplified version of LOGO was introduced to a group of six‐year‐olds in a severely deprived area of Edinburgh. The children used a special touch‐sensitive keyboard (Concept Keyboard) to control the movements of a floor‐crawling robot called a Turtle. The sessions with the Turtle were marked by high levels of concentration, collaborative problem‐solving and the use of mathematical language. Pre‐ and post‐tests on the British Ability Scales revealed statistically significant gains on the sub‐scales concerned with number and shape: these gains, however, were found only in the boys.     

A Systems Approach for Implementing an Affective Education Program

This article describes a model for implementing an affective education program which was developed using systems analysis techniques. The following seven independent and interdependent functions are identified and described: obtain community involvement, conduct needs assessment, specify program goals, select program materials, prepare for program installation, implement affective education program, and evaluate affective education program. The use of experts and an affective education advisory board is recommended to facilitate program implementation. In addition, assessment techniques and a team approach for remediation are described.     

A constructivist approach to secondary school science experiments

The focus of this study was on the investigation of a laboratory instructional program on electricity designed for conceptual development using constructivist principles for conceptual change. This approach was compared with a traditional laboratory approach in a quasi-experimental design. The sample was 247 grade 10 students (boys) in a large non-government urban school. Covariance analysis with the corresponding pretest as covariate showed statistically and educationally significant gains for the experimental group on cognitive but not attitudinal outcomes when compared to the traditional group. Student and teacher interview data provide some evidence for the success of the experimental approach. Specializations: physics education, constructivist approaches to in practical work. Specializations: science teacher education, learning environments, conceptual change.     

A Learning-to-learn Program in a First-year Chemistry Class

This article describes a national teaching project which set out to address the problem of high student attrition and failure in a first-year introductory chemistry topic, through the introduction of a student-focused learning-to-learn program presented in context and which uses authentic course materials. The program focused on developing students' understanding of the learning process and of their own learning, both in general and in chemistry in particular. As part of the project the student approach to learning was evaluated and monitored by use of the Biggs study process questionnaire (SPQ). Results indicate that students who participated in the program were less inclined to engage only in surface learning activities, achieved better assessment outcomes and persisted with their studies. The 1997 class as a whole showed an overall increase in pass rate and a decline in attrition rate compared to the 1996 cohort. SPQ scale scores were generally not powerful predictors of academic success but positive correlation was observed with the deep approach and achieving approach scales for the third SPQ trial period.     

Dangerous encounters? Boys' peer dynamics and neighbourhood risk

This article traces links between subjectivity, peer relations and neighbourhood risk for a group of boys living in an area of London with high levels of crime, gang activity and socio-economic inequality. Drawing on data from a qualitative study of young people and neighbourhood risk, we use a psycho-social approach to analyse how gendered subjectivities are shaped by the specific social context. We found that tough masculinities were performed by boys across different social arenas of school, neighbourhood and in the context of a weekly research group. But the boys were also troubled by these masculinities, and their own engagement in data analysis illuminated some of their fears. While the tough masculine ideal is revealed often to be a masquerade, it nevertheless exerts a powerful and pernicious influence over the subjectivities of young men trying to navigate safely through a context of everyday risks.     

Books to Use for the Making of Americans

This article describes a professional development program that inspired some high school teachers to drastically reshape their teaching of chemistry toward a more learner-centered practice. Through interviews, they identified a freedom to explore and a sense of being trusted and respected as key aspects that supported this new approach. Rather than advocating a single outcome, the expectation is that teachers will refine their practice in ways that are important for their own contexts.     

Challenging Masculinities: Disability and achievement in testing times

This article describes a feminist classroom project on masculinities undertaken with a group of boys in a UK school for pupils with special educational needs. Positioned by current educational policy as the 'failing/failed boys' of school effectiveness and similar discourses, and excluded from mainstream schooling, these 'underperforming' 1012 year-olds were invested in achieving successful positioning within cultures of hegemonic masculinity. Current official, institutional and media preoccupations with quantifiable academic attainments had served to reinscribe them within a world of hetero/sexist 'laddishness' in which their only hope of success was to prove themselves as macho stars of the football pitch. This article explores some of the tensions and contradictions, as well as the moments of hope, in working with the boys to construct alternative versions of masculinities.     

Guiding Boys in the Early Years to Lead Healthy Emotional Lives

Research has shown that there are distinct differences in the psychological development of boys and girls. It has also been found that boys have more problems in their teen years and into adulthood because of problems during early childhood, particularly in the area of handling emotions. This article first describes gender differences that are supported by research and how society, parents', and teachers' influences shape gender identity during early development. Second, the article discusses problems boys in particular may face later in life if they are not taught how to handle their emotions during childhood. Third, suggestions are offered for teachers and parents to guide boys in early childhood to mature in more emotionally sound ways.