Investigative interviews of alleged sexual abuse victims with and without anatomical dolls

Verbal and nonverbal responses by alleged victims of child sexual abuse were coded for length, amount of information, and the manner in which they were elicited by the interviewer. In 16 of the interviews, anatomical dolls were employed for the purposes of demonstration, whereas they were not used in another eight cases matched with respect to other characteristics of the children and the alleged events. Children interviewed with dolls provided an equivalent number of details and spoke as many words in the substantive portion of the interview as did children interviewed without dolls, and interviewers in the two groups used similar probes to elicit information. However, the average responses by the children were significantly longer and more detailed when dolls were not used. Children gave longer and more detailed responses to open-ended invitations when dolls were not used. Caution is necessary when interpreting these findings.     

Toward more evidence-based practice

Childbirth educators are responsible for providing expectant parents with evidence-based information. In this column, the author suggests resources where educators can find evidence-based research for best practices. Additionally, the author describes techniques for childbirth educators to use in presenting research-based information in their classes. A sample of Web sites and books that offer evidence-based resources for expectant parents is provided.     

Systems thinking: An experimental course for college freshmen

An experimental interdisciplinary freshman course called The Systems Approach to the Universe was taught at North Carolina State University in the Spring of 1986. The goals of the course were to introduce principles of general systems theory; to provide examples through lectures and readings of applications of these principles in a wide variety of fields and disciplines; and to introduce and provide practice in critical questioning and evaluation. This paper outlines what was done, how it worked, and how the instructors and the students assessed the experience afterwards.He received his B.Ch.E. from the City College of New York, and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University. Barbara A. Soloman is Coordinator of Advising for the Academic Skills Program and Lecturer in the University Studies Program at North Carolina State University. She received her B.S. in mathematics from the City College of New York and her M.S. in mathematics from North Carolina State University.     

The Impact of the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on School Performance in 3rd and 6th Grades

A post hoc matching design was used to compare children who participated in the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) throughout Arkansas to children from the same classrooms who had no preschool experience and children who had other preschool experiences in the third and sixth grades. The program showed modest positive impact on school suspensions, grades, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores at both grade levels.     

The impact of inservice teacher education on mathematics teachers' subject-matter confidence, and competency

Two inservice courses designed to strengthen teachers' subject-matter competencies while introducing them to mathematics curricula for Grades 7 and 8 were investigated. In a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were given a confidence measure and knowledge test. After the inservice training, teachers manifested greater self-confidence in knowledge of curricular material, a corresponding increase in mathematics skills, and high levels of confidence in ability to teach the curriculum. Results suggest that when knowledge tests are not feasible, measurement of confidence in solving problems may be sufficient to evaluate the cognitive impact of an inservice program.     

Disciplining Students: the construction of student subjectivities

While we usually think of higher education as a process through which every able individual's potential may be realised more fully, it can also be seen as one of arbitrarily disciplining the student to particular ends. One of these ends is the production of the ‘good’, or docile and useful, student subject. A Foucauldian analysis of the university as a disciplinary block, an institution saturated with relations of power, points to the ways in which students are disciplined by both the technologies of domination, which originate in the institution, and those of the self. The latter are the many practices that students adopt, producing themselves as the good student, at times to the detriment of their other interests. However, because power relations are only present between those who are ‘acting subjects’, possibilities for resistance and struggle against the normalising tendencies of the university to find other, more satisfying, forms of student subjectivity are ever present     

Community outreach library services in the UK: a case study of Wirral Hospital NHS Trust (WHNT)

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The study evaluates the Community Outreach Library Service at Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust (WHNT). It considers the information seeking behaviour and information needs of primary care staff, and service effectiveness in meeting those needs. METHODS: A literature review established the current context and areas of best practice. The investigative case study used postal questionnaires to 250 primary care staff and an interview with the Community Outreach Librarian. FINDINGS: Themes emerged from the literature regarding information seeking behaviour, information needs, and meeting user needs through effective service delivery. Outreach services have value in terms of improving information skills and providing services at point of need. Time is a major constraint for both users and service providers. CONCLUSIONS: Investment is needed from appropriate funding sources to support the provision and marketing of outreach library services. Librarians benefit from sharing best practice. The continued evaluation of outreach library services is recommended.