AN EXPERIENTIALLY‐BASED TRAINING PROGRAMME IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

An innovative training programme providing second year students with a real taste of civil engineering practice through the construction of full‐size structures was introduced at the Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore. Students are divided into companies, each responsible for executing the construction project for a profit, and in accordance with contract requirements in the forms of specifications and design drawings. Each company is sub‐divided into management, office and field groups. Thus the students, through a mandatory rotation of the role play, gain valuable experience in the field, office and management functions through personal involvement in such a real‐life project. To reflect the objectives of the programme, a system of assessment was developed based on the student performance at the team, group and individual levels. Due to the short history of the programme and since a true test of the effectiveness of this type of training is through the performance of the graduates, a summative evaluation is difficult to make at the present time. However, some interim feedback from the students, staff members and industrialists on students’ performance subsequent to their second year course work suggest that the programme has served well in achieving its intended objectives.     

The attuned representation model for the primary prevention of eating disorders: An overview for school psychologists

The Attuned Representation Model of eating‐disorder etiology and symptom maintenance is a comprehensive model that can effectively guide prevention and treatment efforts by addressing individual, cultural, and interactive issues. The model integrates the risk factors related to the onset of eating‐disordered behaviors (i.e., biological, psychological, and social) as well as addresses ongoing systemic discordance that plays a significant role in the risk, etiology, and maintenance of eating disorders. To clarify the structure of the model, it is explicated in terms of its fit with the current state of empirical etiological research. After the model is detailed, it is described within the context of the role of the school psychologist in the prevention of eating disorders. Finally, implications for future research are briefly described. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 223–230, 2006.     

Honesty and hope: Presenting human rights issues to teenagers through fiction

She is married to a Baptist minister, and is the author ofThe Answered Call: William Carey and the Dawn of Modern Missions (Harper Collins Religious, 1992).     

Stereotyping and Intergroup Perceptions of Disabled and Nondisabled Children: A New Perspective

This research seeks to establish relationships between the stereotypes, self‐ratings and peer‐ratings of students in an experimental secondary school attended by both disabled and nondisabled young people. To study the influence that contact with disabled classmates has upon intergroup perceptions, responses of these students were compared with those of students attending a secondary school that does not practise mainstreaming.Results vary, depending upon whether subjects were asked to attribute adjectives from a list to classmates, some of whom were disabled, or to the disabled persons in general. This research highlights the need to adopt a new approach to intergroup relations.     

A study of an adapted social–emotional learning: Small group curriculum in a school setting

Clinicians and training programs strive to implement evidence‐based practices and manualized treatments with fidelity. However, the constraints of a local setting may limit the extent to which this is possible. In the current study, an adapted model of an evidence‐based social–emotional learning small group curriculum, the Incredible Years Children’s Small Group Training Series (Webster‐Stratton, 2004), was implemented and evaluated in an elementary school setting. Results of the study demonstrated statistically significant decreases in problem behaviors and intensity of problem behaviors, as rated by teachers. Teachers also reported improvement in classroom behavior, emotion regulation, problem‐solving, and friendship skills, as well as a high overall level of satisfaction with the intervention itself. Discussion of the results includes a review of the strengths and limitations associated with outcome research in a naturalistic setting, suggestions to consider when adapting evidence‐based programs, and recommendations for future research.     

Deal‐making and rule‐breaking: behind the façade of equity in academia

A glass ceiling for women still exists in academia after two decades of equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation in Australia. There are complex factors that when combined make gender inequity in the higher education sector highly resistant to change. Using personal histories as a reflexive device, the paper makes explicit the embedded male patterns of behaviour in academia that operate beneath the façade of policies and rules put into place to counter inequity. In particular, the paper focuses on the cognitive dissonance individuals experience due to the disparity between formal organizational policies promoting equity, such as workload allocations, and perceptions of the unequal opportunities for women and men. Using social identity theory and the leader member exchange (LMX) framework, the daily experiences of three academic women are interpreted, the impediments to equality identified, and suggestions made for more fundamental change to gendered organizational structures within academia. The analysis of such behaviours shows that the traditional emphasis of EEO legislation on formal policies and procedures to bring about gender equity in academia needs to be accompanied by cultural change programs that make explicit and challenge behaviours that reproduce and reinforce male hegemony in academia.