Addressing Self‐Injury on College Campuses: Institutional Recommendations

Nonsuicidal self‐injury is a significant concern on college campuses. Hence, the authors, the International Consortium on Self‐Injury in Educational Settings, offer the current position paper. First, the authors review current research in the field. Next, they discuss considerations for colleges' institutional‐wide response to self‐injury, including the role of and recommendations for relevant stakeholders (students, residence staff, mental health professionals) who directly and indirectly support students who self‐injure. Guidelines for response and suggested resources are also presented.     

Designing classroom spaces: Making the most of time

Research has shown that children's perception of the space around them is related to the quality of their play behaviors. Summaries of three research studies with preschoolers show that when children perceive themselves large, they enter complex play more quickly and stay for longer periods of time. The quality of children's play behavior changed when children played in small spaces. In these three studies, space was altered by: (a) creating a screened structure in the classroom, (b) changing the scale of the patterns on the wall of a learning center, and (c) altering the size of the block center. Each study is summarized and suggestions for designing classroom spaces are included. Implications of this program of research for increasing attention span and augmenting complex play and problem solving are discussed.     

Using dentistry as a case study to examine continuing education and its impact on practice

Continuing education is a defining characteristic of work in the professions. Yet the approach various professional groups take to continuing professional development (CPD) differs widely in terms of regulatory frameworks and requirements, modes of delivery and funding. Importantly, little is understood about how CPD impacts on practice.This paper compares the regulatory context of different professional groups and devises a two‐dimensional model to explore differences in CPD practice by mapping control over CPD content and mode. The emergent quadrants we label as liberal, regulated, managed and controlled. The paper continues by using empirical data from two studies of continuing education in dentistry and the wider literature to explore factors affecting CPD impact. The paper ends by considering how the regulatory context may affect impact and concludes that changes in the control of CPD have potential to influence the power of education to make a difference to professional practice.     

Investigations into the relationships of the WRAT,the PIAT,the SORT,and the WISC-R in low-functioning referrals

Research involving standardized reading achievement tests has been widespread, but there has been little investigation into the relationships among the more widely used tests of reading achievement. In the present study, the Reading subtest of the WRAT, the Reading Comprehension subtest of the PIAT, and the SORT were compared with each other and with the WISC-R. Results showed a high correlation between the WRAT and the PIAT, a moderately high correlation between the SORT and the PIAT, and a very low correlation between the SORT and the WRAT. The WRAT and the PIAT had higher correlations with the various components of the WISC-R than did the SORT. These findings imply that the WRAT and the PIAT measure essentially the same dimension of reading achievement, possibly verbal fluency, but that the SORT is measuring a different dimension, one that is also tapped to some extent by the PIAT.     

Improving Learning in Year 9: Making use of personal learning plans

This paper takes an evaluative look at an action-planning initiative which aimed to improve pupils' learning in Year 9. The cornerstone of the process was a one-to-one discussion between pupils and tutors, which focused on their short- and long-term goals and identified targets for improvement. After the dialogue, a personal learning plan was written by the pupil. This was used to monitor development and to inform activities related to Records of Achievement in Year 10. Findings suggested that, overall, this age group benefited from action-planning processes. Pupils gained through greater understanding of their own abilities and improved communication and planning skills. However, links between strategies for lifelong learning and the activities in Year 9 had not been made. There were different effects of the initiative for males and females.