A cognitive/experiential approach to aural rehabilitation

This paper describes an experiential speechreading course that was designed to provide hearing-impaired students with real-life communication experiences. The course, intended to function as a supplement to traditional speechreading courses, was evaluated with a self-evaluation questionnaire completed by students who took the course and by a matched control group. Results indicate that the course was effective in increasing student self-perceptions of communication success in real-life situations.     

Teaching Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act (PDSA) in a Supply Chain Context: A Paper Football In‐Class Activity

We develop a single‐class period learning game for the Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act (PDSA) improvement cycle. The experiential activity walks teams through the PDSA problem‐solving process as they create paper American footballs and improve their performance using each step of the cycle. The game is one of the first to focus on PDSA. Key benefits include increased student attention, engagement, and learning. Empirical tests show that participant pre‐ and post‐test scores regarding their understanding of each phase of PDSA improved 21.2% after completing the game. Additionally, the treatment group performed 16.6% higher than the control group. In participant perception questions, 85% of participants felt the game was more effective than lecture or reading, 93% felt the game was fun, 95% felt the game improved their understanding of PDSA, and 98% felt the game was engaging.     

A Qualitative Exploration of Romantic Partners’ Motives for and Content of Communication with Friends Following Negative Relational Events

The purpose of this study was to explore young adults’ motives for and content of extradyadic interactions with friends following a negative relational event in a romantic relationship. Focus group discussions with young adults revealed the following partner motives: improving affect, managing uncertainty, obtaining clarity, and entertainment. In turn, friends were motivated by issues of honesty, friendship quality, and a desire to protect or comfort their friend. Both partners and friends discussed the use of a variety of negative, neutral, and positive message content. Results provide an exploratory look at extradyadic interactions that may have important implications for relationship functioning.     

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.     

A better start to literacy learning: findings from a teacher-implemented intervention in children’s first year at school

Reading and Writing - This study investigated the feasibility of a teacher implemented intervention to accelerate phonological awareness, letter, and vocabulary knowledge in 141 children (mean age...     

The Kansas Family and Children's Trust Fund: funding prevention programs in the eighties

The Kansas Family and Children's Trust Fund is an innovative approach to developing funding for community-based family violence prevention programs. Using a legislated trust fund which generates money from marriage license fees, the program has been developed based on three assumptions. First, funding at the federal level for programs to prevent family violence has probably reached its peak and has never been sufficiently secure as to allow for continuity in prevention programs from year to year. Second, there is a trend toward allowing local communities to assume a greater portion of the responsibility for developing social welfare programming. Third, in the long run more can be accomplished with a small amount of money given to a community-based organization which efficiently uses volunteer time than a larger amount of money given to an agency which has a large infrastructure to support. Information on the procedure utilized to enable passage of the Trust Fund legislation is included as well as a discussion of issues that arose in the legislation process. In addition, an explanation of the current funding procedures for accessing Trust Fund moneys is given along with examples of the types of programs that have received funding. Finally, examples are provided of similar approaches that have been used in other states as well as a call for additional innovative approaches to providing funding for child abuse prevention programs.