Revisiting the Pink Triangle Exercise: An Exploration of Experiential Learning in Graduate Social Work Education

The pink triangle exercise is an example of an experiential learning exercise that creates cognitive dissonance and deep learning of unrealized internalized biases among social work students. Students wear a button with a pink triangle on it for 1 day and write a reflection paper. The exercise increases self-awareness, cultural competence, and the understanding of abstract concepts. An analysis of reflection papers over three annual courses revealed consistent themes, which were presented back to students. The thematic analyses, an application of the process of experiential learning, and the implications this exercise and type of learning are presented.     

An fMRI study of multimodal semantic and phonological processing in reading disabled adolescents

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated multimodal (visual and auditory) semantic and unimodal (visual only) phonological processing in reading disabled (RD) adolescents and non-impaired (NI) control participants. We found reduced activation for RD relative to NI in a number of left-hemisphere reading-related areas across all processing tasks regardless of task type (semantic vs. phonological) or modality (auditory vs. visual modality). Moreover, activation differences in these regions, which included the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus, and the occipitotemporal region, were largely independent of in-scanner performance in our auditory semantic task. That is, although RD participants and NI participants differed in performance in visually presented conditions, they did not differ significantly in the auditory condition, yet similar patterns of reduced activation were observed in these regions across conditions. These findings indicate a neurobiological marker in RD that is independent of task, modality, or performance. These findings are discussed in the context of current neurobiological models of RD.     

Computers

COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS FOR AN INFORMATION AGE, by Gary Shelly and Thomas J. Cashman (Brea., Calif.: Anaheim Publishing, 1984—price not given, paper)

COMPUTERS: THE NON-TECHNOLOGICAL (HUMAN) FACTORS–A RECOMMENDED READING LIST ON COMPUTER ERGONOMICS & USER FRIENDLY DESIGN, edited by John L. Burch (The Report Store, 910 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 503, Lawrence, KS 66044–$34.95, paper)

HOW TO PREVENT COMPUTER CRIME: A GUIDE FOR MANAGERS, by August Bequai (New York: John Wiley, 1983–$27.95)

VIDEO DISPLAYS, WORK, AND VISION, by the National Research Council (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1983—price not given, paper)

MEMORIES THAT SHAPED AN INDUSTRY: DECISIONS LEADING TO ISM SYSTEM/360, by Emerson W. Pugh (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1984—price not given)

HIGH-SPEED COMPUTING DEVICES, by Engineering Research Associates, Inc. (Los Angeles: Tomash Publishers–distribution by MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.—price not given)

THE COMPUTER COMES OF AGE: THE PEOPLE, THE HARDWARE, AND THE SOFTWARE, by Rene Monceau (Cambridge: - MIT Press, 1984—price not given)

FIRE IN THE VALLEY: THE MAKING OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER, by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2600 Tenth Street, Berkeley, Calif. 94710–$9.95, paper)

EXECUCOMP: MAXIMUM MANAGEMENT WITH THE NEW COMPUTERS, by F. Warren Benton (New York: John Wiley, 1983–$19.95)

ONLINE COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE, by Starr Roxanne Hiltz (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1984—price not given)

INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL AREA COMPUTER NETWORKS, by K.C.E. Gee (New York: Wiley/Interscience, 1983–$16.95, paper)

LOCAL AREA NETWORKS: ISSUES, PRODUCTS, AND DEVELOPMENTS, by V.E. Cheong and R.A. Hirschheim (New York: Wiley/Interscience, 1983–$29.95)

BUSINESS DATA COMMUNICATIONS: BASIC CONCEPTS, SECURITY, AND DESIGN, by Jerry Fitzgerald (New York: John Wiley, 1984–$30.95)

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, edited by Forest W. Horton and Donald A. Marchand (Information Resources Press, 1700 N. Moore St., Arlington, VA 22209–$48.80 including postage)

ELECTRONIC ILLUSIONS: A SKEPTIC'S VIEW OF OUR HIGH-TECH FUTURE, by Ian Reinecke (New York: Penguin Books, 1984–$7.95, paper)     

Phonological awareness predicts activation patterns for print and speech

Using fMRI, we explored the relationship between phonological awareness (PA), a measure of metaphonological knowledge of the segmental structure of speech, and brain activation patterns during processing of print and speech in young readers from 6 to 10 years of age. Behavioral measures of PA were positively correlated with activation levels for print relative to speech tokens in superior temporal and occipito-temporal regions. Differences between print-elicited activation levels in superior temporal and inferior frontal sites were also correlated with PA measures with the direction of the correlation depending on stimulus type: positive for pronounceable pseudowords and negative for consonant strings. These results support and extend the many indications in the behavioral and neurocognitive literature that PA is a major component of skill in beginning readers and point to a developmental trajectory by which written language engages areas originally shaped by speech for learners on the path toward successful literacy acquisition.

History of Computers and Computing

JOHN VON NEUMANN AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN COMPUTING by William Aspray (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990—$35.00, ISBN 0-262-01121-2, 376 pp.)

A HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING edited by Stephen G. Nash (New York: Association for Computing Machinery [ACM) Press; co-published by Addison-Wesley, 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-201-50814-1, 359 pp.)

GLORY AND FAILURE: THE DIFFERENCE ENGINES OF JOHANN MULLER, CHARLES BABBAGE AND EDVARD SCHEUTZ by Michael Lindgren, translated by Craig G. McKay (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990—$45.00, ISBN 0-262-12146-8, 414 pp.)

IBM'S 360 AND EARLY 370 SYSTEMS by Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson, and John H. Palmer (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991—$37.50, ISBN 0-262-16123-0, 819 pp.)     

The Experiential Learning Cycle in Undergraduate Diversity and Social Justice Education

Teaching for diversity and social justice is the teaching of complex abstract ideas about privilege and oppression, such as the social construction of social groups and identity. An effective way to teach this material is with experiential learning, but this approach requires much more than exercises and activities. Courses must be consciously structured to emphasize both the elements and cycle of experiential learning, as well as attending to critical thinking and the potential for cognitive dissonance. An example of this process from an undergraduate course is presented to demonstrate course construction, experiential learning strategies, and initial outcomes.     

Empirical comparison of alternative instructional TV technologies

An experiment was conducted to compare training effectiveness and user acceptance of live instruction andsix different alternative Instructional TV (ITV) technologies: multi‐channel 2‐way video with 2‐way audio, single‐channel 2‐way video with 2‐way audio, 1‐way video with 2‐way audio, 1‐way video with 1‐way audio, 1‐way video with intermittent 2‐way audio, and audiographics. Findings were that, in comparison with live instruction, ITV in several different forms was effective both in terms of student performance and acceptance. The most successful ITV technologies were those allowing continuous 2‐way audio communication between classrooms with either 2‐way or 1‐way video. Student test performance was poorer with ITV systems that restricted remote students' ability to converse with or see the instructor and the performance decrement was evident in both local and remote classrooms.

The research described was performed under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Technology. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors, are not official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Navy department.