Interdisciplinary team education promotes innovations in the home care of older people

This article describes a new type of team training that involves undergraduate students of medicine, students from the Aalto University (industrial engineering and management, architecture, information networks, collaborative and industrial design and bioinformation technology) and specialized home care nurses. During the course, the students learned interdisciplinary teamwork and created innovations in the care of older people. The 18 participants formed six microteams (three persons in each team: one specialized nurse, one medical student and one from Aalto University). The course consisted of two seminars and 3 full days of home visits to older people’s homes. Participants were encouraged to make one innovation in each home visit that would improve the older person’s well-being or streamline the processes of home care. During the course, the participants promptly formed tight teams. They valued the know-how of the other team members and learned openly from each other. They also created a number of practical innovations in home care which they presented to executives of older people’s care in a final seminar. The course received very good feedback from the students.

This course is an encouraging example of how gerontological interdisciplinary team training may be successfully applied. The article describes both the learning outcomes and the innovations the students produced during their home visits. It also discusses the learning theories behind effective interdisciplinary team learning.     

Teacher training and transitions in rural Indonesian schools: a case study of Bogor,West Java

As one of the world's largest and most diverse countries, Indonesia faces an enormous challenge as it seeks to upgrade the skills and knowledge of its widespread primary teacher workforce. This challenge is even more acute in remote rural areas, where practising teachers require specialized training to work in classrooms with children of different ages and grades. Yet, due to their remote locations, these teachers have little access to training opportunities, and teacher educators have few opportunities to assess their needs. To explore training needs and instructional strategies employed by rural teachers, we conducted a case study of nine rural schools in the district of Bogor, West Java. We interviewed headmasters and teachers in these schools, instructors at a major Indonesian university, and a district official. We found that while rural teachers generally consider their training to be helpful, they receive little guidance to help them manage and teach large multigrade classes. As a result, pedagogical practices and perspectives vary across nine schools in the same rural district. At the same time, a growing number of “contract teachers” in these schools has reduced the number of multigrade classrooms while increasing the need for training of novice teachers in rural schools.     

Developmental tasks and well-being in adolescent elite athletes in comparison with recreational/non-athletes

Young elite athletes (EA) have to solve the same developmental tasks (DTs) as non-athletes, even though they spend a lot of time with their sports and have to solve certain sports-related DTs in addition [Ohlert & Kleinert (2014). Entwicklungsaufgaben jugendlicher Elite-Handballerinnen und –Handballer [Developmental tasks in adolescent elite handball players]. Zeitschrift für Sportpsychologie, 21(4), 161–172. doi:10.1026/1612-5010/a000129]. The aim of this study was to find out if this situation leads to a shortfall in certain DTs and, furthermore, to a reduced well-being in adolescent EA. In total, 185 EA participated in the survey together with 166 recreational/non-athletes (RA). Participants were between 16 and 19 years old (69% female) and answered questions regarding the relevance of different DTs, their actual progression, satisfaction with their actual progression, and the WHO-5 measure for well-being. Compared to the RA group, the EA group reported a different relevance for some DTs. No significant differences were found between the two groups in progression or satisfaction with progression. The stepwise multiple regression resulted in two significant predictors for well-being in EA: satisfaction with progression in the DTs “to find oneself” and “circle of friends”. For RA, the analysis revealed only satisfaction with progression in “circle of friends” as a significant predictor. Implications are that, at least for this age group, problems with DTs were not detected for the adolescent EA. However, if satisfaction with the own progression in certain DTs is low, well-being will also be reduced.     

Statistics at German Universities before 1810

This article discusses one of the predecessors of modern statistics: the German university teaching tradition called Staotenkunde or Statistik, the reaction of this tradition to people who started at the end of the eighteenth century to order available (mostly numerical) information in tables, and the probable source for the word “statistics”.     

Implementing Effective Group Work for Mathematical Achievement in Primary School Classrooms in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Education Bureau recommends that primary school pupils’ mathematical achievement be enhanced via collaborative discussions engendered by group work. This pedagogic change may be hindered by Confucian heritage classroom practices and Western-dominated group work approaches that predominate in Hong Kong. To overcome these obstacles, we introduced a relational approach to group work in a quasi-experimental study. Our sample included 20 teachers randomly allocated to experimental (12) and control (8) conditions and their 504 mathematics pupils (aged 9–10). The relational approach focused on the development of peer relationships in a culturally appropriate manner and was implemented over 7 months. Pupils were pre-/post-tested for mathematical achievement and systematically observed, and the teachers were assessed for subject knowledge and pre-/post-tested for pedagogic efficacy. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) results show enhanced mathematical achievement, supported by improved peer-based communication skills and time-on-task for the experimental pupils. Experimental teachers raised their pedagogic efficacy. Results indicate the potential of the relational approach for boosting academic achievement via enhanced child-peer-teacher interaction and the need to reassess the role of peer-based latent collectivist learning in Confucian heritage classrooms.     

Does learner expertise matter when designing emotional multimedia for learners of primary school mathematics?

Educational technology research and development - Recent research on multimedia learning has considered the integration of cognitive and affective aspects of media processing. The literature...     

Controlling Bias in Both Constructed Response and Multiple‐Choice Items When Analyzed With the Dichotomous Rasch Model

Even though guessing biases difficulty estimates as a function of item difficulty in the dichotomous Rasch model, assessment programs with tests which include multiple‐choice items often construct scales using this model. Research has shown that when all items are multiple‐choice, this bias can largely be eliminated. However, many assessments have a combination of multiple‐choice and constructed response items. Using vertically scaled numeracy assessments from a large‐scale assessment program, this article shows that eliminating the bias on estimates of the multiple‐choice items also impacts on the difficulty estimates of the constructed response items. This implies that the original estimates of the constructed response items were biased by the guessing on the multiple‐choice items. This bias has implications for both defining difficulties in item banks for use in adaptive testing composed of both multiple‐choice and constructed response items, and for the construction of proficiency scales.     

An Empirical Investigation of Impact Moderation in Test Construction

This investigation constructed four different kinds of test sections using three methods of test assembly that incorporate the goals of simultaneous moderation of three kinds of impact-gender impact, African-American impact, and Hispanic- American impact. The test sections were administered undetectably to random samples from the appropriate population. The results were evaluated by comparison of the characteristics of moderated sections with those of parallel operational sections. Almost all methods of test assembly produced either moderation of impact in the appropriate direction or no change in impact. Taking impact into account in test assembly tended to lower reliability slightly, raise concurrent validity slightly, and maintain the construct measured by the parallel operational section. It also reduced the relative efficiency for test takers in the middle score range while increasing efficiency for those with more extreme scores.     

A Comparison of Bias Reduction Methods: Clustering versus Propensity Score Subclassification and Weighting

Propensity score (PS) adjustments have become popular methods used to improve estimates of treatment effects in quasi-experiments. Although researchers continue to develop PS methods, other procedures can also be effective in reducing selection bias. One of these uses clustering to create balanced groups. However, the success of this new method depends on its efficacy compared to that of the existing methods. Therefore, this comparative study used experimental and nonexperimental data to examine bias reduction, case retention, and covariate balance in the clustering method, PS subclassification, and PS weighting. In general, results suggest that the cluster-based methods reduced at least as much bias as the PS methods. Under certain conditions, the PS methods reduced more bias than the cluster-based method, and under other conditions the cluster-based methods were more advantageous. Although all methods were equally effective in retaining cases and balancing covariates, other data-specific conditions may likely favor the use of a cluster-based approach.     

Using Group Viewing of Television to Teach Preschool Children Social Skills

This quasi‐experimental field study assessed whether group viewing of television in a day‐care setting can be used to encourage prosocial behavior in young children. Drawing from social learning theory and cognitive‐developmental stage theory, four short‐ term programs were designed and tested. Children (aged 3‐5 years) from eight day‐care centers in Montreal (n = 150) were part of the study. Intact groups (two settings randomly assigned to condition) participated in 8 days of intervention consisting of group viewing of video‐taped segments of Sesame Street, followed by participation in activities. The programs were evaluated using a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial pretest—post‐test design with video‐type (prosocial, cognitive), activity‐type (cooperative, individualistic), and gender as the three factors. Measures included free‐play observations, a perspective‐taking ability test, and two qualitative measures describing the context. Analysis of covariance (pretest and age combined as covariates) revealed a significant main effect for video‐type on prosocial behavior, and a significant interaction between video‐type and activity‐type on antisocial behavior. Results suggest that prosocial modelling using television can encourage prosocial behavior in the day‐care setting. A group‐viewing context, with or without post‐viewing enactive prosocial training, may enhance prosocial modeling effects.