“As Long As You Are Willing To Wait”: Access and Equity in Universities for Students With Disabilities

The demand by people with disabilities to university education has been growing in recent years. A pilot study of five universities reviews their equity profiles and on‐the‐ground practices in relation to students with disabilities. Particular attention is paid to departments of Social Work which are postulated to contain the conditions under which disability issues in education might be recognised. The research suggests that there are major resource problems in meeting needs, exacerbated by bureaucratic conflict in government, and a limited willingness by resource‐pressed universities to plan effectively the recruitment and support of students with disabilities. Greatest progress has occurred where student action is most sustained and senior staff have a personal commitment to change     

IMPACT OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM ON BLACK ADOLESCENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY

This study examines changes in black adolescents’ perceptions of the elderly following participation in an eight‐week intergenerational project. The project matched 19 teenagers with 19 elderly subjects from a large senior citizens center. Using an experimental design, students were matched by age with a control group (n = 20). A 20‐item semantic differential scale and the Children's Perceptions of Aging and Elderly (CPAE) inventory were used to measure attitude change. Posttest results from a matched pair t‐test found significant attitude change in the experimental group: semantic differential (t = 2.8, p < .01); CPAE (t = 4.2, p < .01). Qualitative comments from the youth and elderly participants further indicate positive qualities of the partners program.     

Designing distributed learning environments in support of professional development in the field of psychology

This paper argues that the key to enhancing professional excellence in psychology education lies with ensuring strong alignments between curricular, pedagogical and media/technology mix concerns, delivered within an inter‐linked suite of distributed learning environments designed for the professional preparation of students. An overarching design is necessary because there are recognizable developmental stages of professional competence in psychology, with each stage characterized by specific curricular and pedagogical concerns, which in turn must be supported by different types of distributed learning environments. To equip students for the demands of the profession, deliberate design of distributed learning environments that support all stages of students' professional development in an integrated and purposeful way is essential.

Création d'environnements de formation décentralisée comme support du développement professionnel dans le domaine de la psychologie

Cet exposé démontre que la chose principale qui sert à augmenter le mérite professionnel de l'éducation de psychologie est de créer des rapports importants entre le but du programme des études, l'intérêt pédagogique et le mixe médias‐technologique. Ceci est transmit dans une suite connexe d'environnements de formation décentralisée importants pour la préparation professionnelle des étudiants. Un concept détaillé est nécessaire, parce qu'il existe de différents stages de développement de connaissance professionnelle dans le domaine de la psychologie, et chaque stage est caractérisé par des intérêts specifiques pédagogiques ainsi que par le programme des études, qui doivent être soutenus par de différents types d'environnements de formation décentralisée. Un concept réfléchi d'environnements de formation décentralisée qui soutient tous les stages de développement professionnel d'étudiants d'une manière integrée et orientée sur un but est essentiel.

Bildung dezentralisierter Lernumfelder als unterstützende Maßnahme der beruflichen Entwicklung im Bereich der Psychologie

Dieser Bericht zeigt auf, dass der Schlüssel für die Steigerung einer beruflich hervorragenden Leistung im Bereich der Schulpsychologie darin liegt, starke Verbindungen zwischen dem Lehrplans, den pädagogischen Anliegen und dem medien‐technologischen Mix zu schaffen, die innerhalb einer verknüpften Folge dezentralisierter Lernumfelder gefördert werden, die für die berufliche Qualifizierung von Studenten bestimmt sind. Eine umfassende Konzeption ist erforderlich, weil beim Erwerb beruflichen Fachwissens im Bereich der Psychologie erkennbare Entwicklungsphasen existieren, wobei jede Phase durch spezifische Lehrplan‐ und pädagogische Gesichtspunkte gekennzeichnet ist, die wiederum durch verschiedene Arten dezentralisierter Lernumfelder unterstützt werden müssen. Um Studenten auf die Anforderungen des Berufslebens vorzubereiten, ist es notwendig, dezentralisierte Lernumfelder zu bilden, die alle Phasen der beruflichen Entwicklung von Studenten auf eine integrierte und zielorientierte Art unterstützen.     

The “Fighting Sioux” Conflict: Lessons on Social Justice for Higher Education

Conflict over the University of North Dakota's (UND) “Fighting Sioux” logo and nickname has been protracted and bitter, lasting over 40 years. This article presents four explanations for UND's status as one of the last universities to maintain a Native American nickname and logo: the dynamics of racism, the power of booster culture, North Dakota cultural features, and the influence of a wealthy donor. The article contributes to an understanding of how American Indian sports monikers and images represent the intractable nature of institutionalized white privilege and reflect the consequent failure of educational systems to promote social justice.     

Teaching Object‐Oriented Design Without Programming: A Progress Report

This project is demonstrating the feasibility of using the object‐oriented paradigm to teach students software design in a nonprogramming context. The program, developed using principles of user‐based, prototyping design, teaches students to create responsibility‐driven designs of computer games. Investigations with high school students with little or no knowledge of computers and senior computer science majors have demonstrated that students can indeed learn to use Class‐Responsibility‐Collaborator (CRC) cards to produce creditable high‐level designs in a relatively short time whether or not they have programming experience and can generalize what they have learned to a new design. Although the computer science majors created more complete designs and demonstrated a deeper understanding of the design process than the high school students, these students still found the experience valuable. Both sample groups generally found the process interesting and relatively painless.     

Television as a medium of communication: Implications for how to regard the child viewer

Children respond to television in toto, as a medium of communication. Three repesentational codes are involved: iconic, media‐specific, and generic, e.g., verbal language. Children actively process the codes and messages, by calling upon both generic and media‐specific knowledge.     

Patients' perspectives on the role of prepared childbirth education in decision making regarding elective labor induction

The purpose of our study was to explore reasons why nulliparous women chose to have an elective labor induction and to identify the influence of prepared childbirth classes on their decision. The study included 1,349 nulliparous women at term who participated in a survey regarding their choices for childbirth, their attendance at prepared childbirth classes, and their experience with labor and birth. Sixty-three percent of women who attended childbirth classes and did not have elective induction reported that classes provided helpful information to assist in their decision-making process. Study results suggest attendance at prepared childbirth classes can be an effective source of information regarding elective labor induction and influential in women's decisions regarding whether or not to have elective labor induction. Women perceive prepared childbirth classes positively and find the information provided valuable.