GERIATRIC FOOT CARE: A MODEL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR MID-LEVEL PRACTITIONERS

Studies have indicated that at least 80% of those over age 50 have at least one foot problem. Feet often reflect systemic disease conditions, especially since this population has a higher prevalence of chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes. As a result of a needs assessment completed by nurse practitioners, the Appalachian Geriatric Education Center developed a model educational program in the area of geriatric foot care for mid-level practitioners. The program is designed to prepare the mid-level practitioner with the education and skills necessary to provide foot care to adults and elderly clients in the community. The program includes both didactic and clinical learning experiences with topics such as anatomy, physical assessment, management of minor conditions, and referral for specialty care. The total number of students who have completed the course is 72: 59 nurse practitioners; 12 physician assistants; and 1 physician. There was a significant difference in the pre- and post-test scores, with the post-test scores being significantly higher: t = -13.446, p < .000. In the follow-up evaluation, the majority of the participants said they incorporated what they learned into their clinical practices and have increased their referral base to podiatrists and orthopedic surgeons.     

Intuitive rules in science and mathematics: the case of ‘Everything can be divided by two’

In the last twenty years, researchers have studied students’ mathematical and scientific conceptions and reasoning. Most of this research is content‐specific. It has been found that students often hold ideas that are not in line with accepted scientific notions. In our joint work in mathematics and science education, it became apparent that many of these alternative conceptions hail from a small number of intuitive rules. We have so far identified two such rules: ‘The more of A, the more of B’, and, ‘Everything can be divided by two’. The first rule is reflected in students’ responses to many tasks, including all classical Piagetian conservation tasks (conservation of number, area, weight, volume, matter, etc.), all tasks related to intensive quantities (density, temperature, concentration, etc.), and tasks related to infinite quantities. The second rule is observed in responses related to successive division of material and geometrical objects, and in seriation tasks. In this paper we describe and discuss the second rule and its relevance to science and mathematics education. In a previous paper (Stavy and Tirosh 1995, in press) we described and discussed the first rule.     

The determinants of undergraduate degree performance: How important is gender?

This study uses data drawn from three recent cohorts of undergraduates at the University of Sussex to investigate the key determinants of degree performance. The primary theme of the study is an examination of the gender dimension to degree performance. The average ‘good’ degree rate for female students was found to be superior to the male rate. The modest raw gender differential in first class degree rates favoured women but was found to be attributable to their better endowments, particularly pre-entry qualifications. The largest differential favouring women was in the II:i classification, where almost all of the difference was attributable to differentials in coefficient treatment rather than endowments (or characteristics). The analysis undertaken also allowed the investigation of a number of sub-themes relating to the effects on degree performance of, inter alia, pre-entry qualifications, ethnicity, socio-economic background and health disability. The largest effects were reserved for the role of pre-entry qualifications with more modest effects detected for ethnicity and socio-economic background.