EVALUATING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY GERIATRIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING INSTITUTE: WHAT CAN BE LEARNED BY STUDYING PROCESSES AND OUTCOMES?

As recognition of the need for interdisciplinary geriatric teams grows, new and varied training methods will be necessary to reach health and human service professionals in different contexts and settings. This article reports on the development and evaluation of one such model: an interprofessional educational institute sponsored by the Queen's University Gerontology Project in 1993. Data analyzed include information on participants’ backgrounds and teamwork experience and their assessment of session content and group work processes that made up the knowledge acquisition and skills attainment objectives of the program. Major implications of the institute that became evident include the need to develop a strong institutional foundation, the importance of targeted recruitment, the connection between theory and practice, and the need to present practical techniques, strategies, and modeling opportunities.     

Retrieval-Based Learning: A Perspective for Enhancing Meaningful Learning

Learning is often identified with the acquisition, encoding, or construction of new knowledge, while retrieval is often considered only a means of assessing knowledge, not a process that contributes to learning. Here, we make the case that retrieval is the key process for understanding and for promoting learning. We provide an overview of recent research showing that active retrieval enhances learning, and we highlight ways researchers have sought to extend research on active retrieval to meaningful learning—the learning of complex educational materials as assessed on measures of inference making and knowledge application. However, many students lack metacognitive awareness of the benefits of practicing active retrieval. We describe two approaches to addressing this problem: classroom quizzing and a computer-based learning program that guides students to practice retrieval. Retrieval processes must be considered in any analysis of learning, and incorporating retrieval into educational activities represents a powerful way to enhance learning.     

Promoting Reading Achievement

Abstract

This essay argues in favor of college instructors, especially in introductory classes, giving students the freedom to use Wikipedia entries in their research projects. It explores the pedagogy created by rigid prohibitions of potential sources, and argues that at stake are two chief dichotomies: one, students learning by engaging in a process vs. students producing a product, and two, students thinking individually and evaluating vs. students following rules. Within the discussion of these dichotomies is a call for instructors to emphasize evaluation of the content of research material rather than an author's credentials or other external markers.     

No More White History

Abstract History museums and historic sites that back away from telling difficult history do a disservice to the victims of the trauma, the bearers of the historical knowledge, and the public. Staff members and visitors alike are frequently uncomfortable with broaching these subjects, yet helping people talk about difficult topics can promote a sense of relief, bonding, and affirmation. Silence and selective amnesia only perpetuate injustice.     

“What Do You Say to Your Mother When Your Mother's Standing Beside You?” Birth and Adoptive Family Contributions to Adoptive Identity via Relational Identity and Relational–Relational Identity Gaps

Grounded in the communication theory of identity, the present study explores how adoptive identity—an individual's understanding of what it means to be an adopted person—is influenced by the relational layer of his or her adoptive and birth family relationships. Seven focus group interviews were conducted in which participants were prompted to engage in a dialog about their experiences as an adopted individual. Analyses revealed that adoptees' relational identity with both their adoptive and birth families contributed in meaningful ways to their adoptive identity, but these relationships at times come into conflict with one another and with the adoptees' personal layer of identity, generating relational–relational and personal–relational identity gaps.     

General Communication

Virgina P. White's Grants for the Arts (New York: Plenum Press, 1980---$19.50)

Phillip W. Burton and William Ryan's Advertising Fundamentals (Columbus, Ohio: Grid Inc., 1980---$20.95)

Donald Jugenheimer and Peter Turk's Advertising Media (Columbus, Ohio: Grid Publishing, 1980---$24.95)

Paul A. Kolers, et al, eds. Processing of Visible Language: Volume I (New York: Plenum, 1980---$39.95)

Jerry McWilliams' The Preservation and Restoration of Sound Recordings (American Association for State and Local History, 1400 8th Ave. S., Nashville, Tenn. 37203---$7.95, paper)

Robert G. Meadow's Politics as Communication (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing, 1980---$24.95)

Laurell E. Schuerman, et al. Native American Media Needs: An Assessment (Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, P.O. Box 83111, Lincol-i, Neb. 68501---no price given, paper)     

Foreign Systems

Burton Paulu, Television and Radio in the United Kingdom (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981---$39.50)

Annual Review of BBC Audience Research Findings, both Numbers 5 (1977/78) and 6 (1978/79) (BBC Broadcasting Research, The Langham, Portalnd Place, London WIA IAA---L1.50 and £5.00 respectively, paper)

Elias Hedinsson, TV, Family and Society: The Social Origins and Effects of Adolescents' TV Use (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Gamla Brogatan 26, P.O. Box 62-5-101, 20 Stockholm, Sweden---125 Swedish kroner)

Nordicom Review of Nordic Mass Communication. Research (Nordic Documentation Center for Mass Communication Research, Department of Political Science, Yniversity of Goteborg, Storgaten 13, S-411 24 Goteborg, Sweden---no price or frequency of issue given)

Copyright Reporter (GPO Box 3793, Sydney 2001---A$90 in Australia/A$120 by air mail outside of Australia for 12 monthly issues)

Media Information Australia (P.O. Box 305, North Ryde, NSW 2113---A$18 per year to overseas readers)

Fixing the News: Critical Perspectives on the Australian Media by Keith and Elizabeth Windschuttle, eds. (Sydney: Cassell Australia, 1981---A$9.95, 321 pp.)

Australia into the 80s by Phillip Bell and Kathe Boeringer, eds.; and Media in Crisis by Kathe Boeringer, et al, eds. (Communication, Technology and Control Foundation, P.O. Box 217, Broadway 2007---A$8.00 and A$5.00 , paper)

The Last New Movie: The Australian Film Revival (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1981-- 4377773, 337 pp.)

Les Langues Modernes, Vol. LXXIV, Nos. 5-6 for 1980 (Association des professeurs de langues vivantes de l'enseignement public, 19 rue de la Glacire, 75013 Paris---price not given, paper)     

Reliability of the Draw‐a‐man Test

The study reported in this paper was designed to examine three reliability characteristics of the Harris revision of the Goodenough ‘Draw‐a‐man’ Test when used with five‐year‐old school entrants. The test was individually administered to each of 90 children on two occasions, with an average time‐separation of two weeks. Three persons undertook the administration and scoring of the drawings, and the investigation examined the reliability coefficients associated with i) temporal stability (same tester); ii) temporal stability (different testers); iii) marker error. The results indicate that when experienced testers are used, the reliability of the ‘Draw‐a‐man’ scale is of the same magnitude as that reported in previous studies involving older children as subjects. It is also suggested that with school entrants, the influence of different trained testers on the final rank order of scores is probably quite small. The present study shows too, that with the drawings of five‐year‐old children there is less likelihood of the scorer developing a consistent subjective marking standard than is the case with the drawings of older children. Scoring errors tended to be random rather than systematic due probably to the relatively greater number of occasions when uncertainty exists over the interpretation or naming of basic features of immature drawings. It is suggested that the test is more useful for the comparison of groups rather than individual school entrants.