Fostering Understanding by Structural Alignment as a Route to Analogical Learning

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on the conditions that may promote understanding and abstraction via structural alignment, that is, through a comparison between two partially understood situations. Structural alignment is a route to analogical reasoning which differs from the typical route where an analogy is made by eliciting an unknown situation from a very familiar one. Ninety-nine eighth graders were presented with two pairs of scenarios; the first depicting two phenomena of heat flow and the second, two phenomena of the changing state of matter. Participants were randomly assigned to five different conditions which varied in the degree to which they required a comparisonbetween the phenomena in the scenario pairs. For each pair of scenarios, participants were asked to describe the differences between the two phenomena, explain what happens in the phenomena, rate the similarity between the two, and justify the ratings. Results show that analogical reasoning was promoted more in the condition where participants were asked to jointly interpret the phenomena depicted in the scenarios. For both pairs of scenarios, students in this condition reached a deeper understanding; they were more able to identify alignable differences between the phenomena, and recognize the abstract and general higher-order relational structure implied by the perceptually different situations.     

Diarrhea Management Training in Early Childhood Settings

This study addresses the health of young children and how to safely and effectively care for children with diarrhea in the home and in early child care settings. A baseline survey showed the prevalence of oral rehydration solution (ORS) usage at last diarrhea bout to be low. An educational workshop was developed to train parents and child care professionals on how to properly manage young children with diarrhea and reduce the risk of diarrhea spread at home and in early childhood settings. Specific intervention activities are discussed and program activities, including specially designed materials for mixing homemade ORS are described. A comparison of pre- and postintervention data indicates substantial gains in knowledge among both urban and rural populations. Implications of research findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

The Development and Design of a Framework to Match Mentees and Mentors Through a Systematic Review andThematic Analysis of Mentoring Programs Between 2000 and 2015

ABSTRACT

The need for longitudinal and holistic support of medical students throughout their training has led to the development of formal mentoring programs. Whilst success of formal mentoring programs has been attributed to (a) pairing mentees with trained and experienced mentors (matching), (b) the quality of mentoring interactions and (c) the presence of a nurturing environment, little attention has been attributed to establishing an effective matching process in medical school. We sought, in this review, to redress this gap within the context of matching medical students for mentoring. Modified PRISMA guidelines were followed to guide the review process. PubMed, ERIC, Cochrane Database, OVID and ScienceDirect databases were searched for articles on matching in medical schools and in allied health specialities published between 2000 and 2015.     

Measuring the attitudes of human service professionals toward deafness

The Attitudes to Deafness Scale is a 22-item measure of attitudes toward people who are deaf designed for use with human service professionals. Attitude statements were generated from personal accounts by deaf people in the literature and from a focus group in which deaf people discussed their experience of hearing people's attitudes toward them. A 60-item scale was administered to a group of 121 clinical and forensic psychologists during their training. Item analysis was conducted to select items that effectively distinguished participants with a positive attitude from those with a negative attitude toward deaf people. The scale may be used in any context where a professional group comes into contact with people who are deaf.     

Analogical reasoning in restructuring scientific knowledge

This study presents the results of an experiment which investigated analogical reasoning in knowledge acquisition in a natural school setting. The aims were to evaluate the efficiency of analogy in the conceptual restructuring of a science topic and compare the effects of analogy in different learning conditions. Two analogical topics of physics (water flow and heat flow) were studied by means of two experiments performed in the classroom with concrete objects. Eighty-four 5th graders, divided into three experimental conditions (given analogy, constructed analogy, no analogy), took part in the study. The quantitative analysis mainly confirms the hypothesis that analogy can be a productive way to trigger a process of knowledge restructuring while students learn a new topic. However, the effective use of the analogy was affected by the experimental condition: When the analogy was constructed by the learners themselves, instead of being presented and justified by the teacher, it acted indeed as a more powerful tool in understanding the new topic which required changing their initial conceptions. The qualitative analysis shows the children’s explanations of the heat flow phenomenon and different conceptual outcomes of the learning process. Finally, educational implications are considered.     

Effectiveness of Brief DBT-informed Group Therapy on Psychological Resilience: A Preliminary Naturalistic Study

This naturalistic study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a 4-week skill-based group therapy that focuses on building resilience. The group, informed by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993, 2015), targets general clients at college counseling centers and emphasizes mindfulness as a coping strategy to stress, cognitive rigidity, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal difficulties. Results indicated that group members showed clinically significant improvement in psychological resilience and general mental health at the conclusion of group therapy. Implications are discussed.     

Generic examples: Seeing the general in the particular

This paper explores some of the ambiguities inherent in the notions of generality and genericity, drawing parallels between natural language and mathematics, and thereby obliquely attacking the entrenched view that mathematics is unambiguous. Alternative ways of construing 2N, for example, suggest approaches to some of the difficulties which students find with an algebraic representation of generality. Examples are given to show that confusion of levels is widespread throughout mathematics, but that the very confusion is a source of richness of meaning.     

Counselling Maori people in New Zealand [Aotearoa]

This paper is an edited version of a seminal address given to a national association of counselors in New Zealand by a senior Maori figure professionally involved in the helping field. It focuses on a particular indigenous ethnic minority in terms of appropriate counseling, but has relevance for other traditionally-based cultures. After some attention to the societal context, the address considers major directions of western thought and how these have been reflected in counseling. It then suggests that these are largely inappropriate for Maori people, elaborating contrasts. Three major dimensions of Maori culture relevant to counselling are presented and developed. Finally, attention is given to ways in which counseling in New Zealand might be better developed along bicultural lines.This paper is based on an address given by Mason Durie (of the Rangitane and Raukawa Maori tribes) to a recent New Zealand Counseling and Guidance Association's Annual Conference at Palmerston North, New Zealand. The address was transcribed from tape and edited for publication by Gary Hermansson.