Preservice Secondary Science Teachers’ Teaching and Reflections During a Teacher Education Program

The 39 preservice teachers (PSTs) who participated in this study were enrolled in a masters program for secondary science teacher certification. Initially they held broad ideas about teaching and learning gleaned from their own experiences. Guided by the program course work, some PSTs embraced the pedagogical approaches introduced in the program, applied them in their teaching, and reflected on the outcomes. Their reflections showed that they were focused on keeping all of their students interested in science and on student participation in the process of meaning-making. Some PSTs embraced the program goals but struggled to achieve them in teaching. Others focused on transmission of content and did not attempt to develop an environment of student agency. There were nine career-changer PSTs and most of them remained teacher-centered throughout the program. The implications of student- and teacher-centered approaches adopted by the PSTs and the rationales provided by them are discussed in the paper.     

Student attitudes toward cadaveric dissection at a UK medical school

A more humanistic approach toward dissection has emerged. However, student attitudes toward this approach are unknown and the influences on such attitudes are little understood. One hundred and fifty-six first-year medical students participated in a study examining firstly, attitudes toward the process of dissection and the personhood of the cadaver and secondly, the extent to which gender, anxiety, exposure to dissection, bereavement and prior experience of a dead body influenced these attitudes. Attitudes toward dissection were assessed by of levels of agreement toward eleven statements and by selection of adjectives describing possible feelings toward dissection. Students were asked about recent bereavement, whether they had seen a dead body prior to starting their course and exposure to dissection when completing the questionnaire. Validated instruments were used to measure disposition toward generalized anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and toward death anxiety (Collett-Lester Death Anxiety Scale). Between 60% and 94% of students held positive attitudes toward the process of dissection and over 70% of students selected 2 or fewer negative adjectives. Students' attitudes toward the personhood of the cadaver were more disparate. Disposition toward anxiety (particularly death anxiety), and exposure to dissection, influenced attitudes. Female gender and recent bereavement exerted a negative influence. Students with higher levels of anxiety experienced more negative feelings and those recently bereaved were less enthusiastic about dissection. Anticipation of dissection may be worse than reality. Sensitive preparation of students prior to entering the dissecting room for the first time may be beneficial.     

Puppet play as interactive approach in drug abuse prevention

The national strategies of drug abuse prevention across Europe have come to recognise that the drugs abuse problem presents a complex set of issues of which there is no simple solution. There is a considerable increase in investment in prevention, treatment and harm-reduction activities and increased focus on supply reduction. School settings are the focus of most attempts to implement effective prevention programmes. Prevention in schools does not only focus on drugs alone, but also includes personal and social skills, often with family involvement and involvement of local community. The school is an ideal setting for drug abuse prevention and development of active and responsible attitudes against drug abuse. Successful school drug-prevention programmes include personal skills training （decision-making, coping and goal-setting）, social skills training （assertiveness, resisting peer-pressure）, drug education （knowledge about drugs and the consequences of taking them） and developing attitudes （especially correcting misconceptions about peer group drug use）. Effective drug education programmes incorporate a range of activities which provide students with relevant factual information, the opportunity to consider their attitudes and values, and the values of others. For effective delivery of prevention programmes, interactive teaching is better than didactic teaching alone. In that sense, the puppet play could be used as an interactive technique. Puppets help the students engage actively in communicating their emotions, opinions and experiences, and learn about the drug abuse problem. By the means of puppetry and dramatic play, the students may learn about drugs and the consequences of taking them.     

Communication and marital conflict

The researchers discuss the role in communication as it relates to marital conflict and adjustment. The Davis Marital Conflict Index is included as an appendix.     

Prevalence and psychological sequelae of self-reported childhood physical and sexual abuse in a general population sample of men and women

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prevalence and psychological sequelae of childhood sexual and physical abuse in adults from the general population. METHOD: A national sampling service generated a geographically stratified, random sample of 1,442 subjects from the United States. Subjects were mailed a questionnaire that included the Traumatic Events Survey (TES) [Traumatic Events Survey, Unpublished Psychological Test, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles] and the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) [Trauma Symptom Inventory Professional Manual, Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, FL]. Of all potential subjects, 935 (64.8%) returned substantially completed surveys. RESULTS: Sixty-six men and 152 women (14.2% and 32.3%, respectively) reported childhood experiences that satisfied criteria for sexual abuse, and 103 males and 92 females (22.2% and 19.5%, respectively) met criteria for physical abuse. Twenty-one percent of subjects with one type of abuse also had experienced the other type, and both types were associated with subsequent adult victimization. After controlling for demographics, adult history of interpersonal violence, and other child abuse, childhood sexual abuse was associated with all 10 scales of the TSI, and physical abuse was related to all TSI scales except those tapping sexual issues. Sexual abuse predicted more symptom variance than did physical abuse or adult interpersonal victimization. Various aspects of both physical and sexual abuse experiences were predictive of TSI scores. Abuser sex, however, both alone and in interaction with victim sex, was not associated with additional TSI symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood sexual and physical abuse is relatively common in the general population, and is associated with a wide variety of psychological symptoms. These relationships remain even after controlling for relevant background variables.