Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz

Using graduate social work students' data (n = 481) in the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) in the United States, the study examined psychometric properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz (KASW), a revision of the Facts on Aging Quiz, to evaluate biopsychosocial knowledge relevant to social work. We examined the intercorrelations of the KASW with the academic and practice experience in aging and score differences by the specialization and school year, and estimated the internal consistencies as reliability. Results showed the convergent validity of the KASW, indicating the items measured theoretically related areas of content with students' skills and experiences in aging. The internal consistencies, nevertheless, remained relatively low, representing the items that failed to measure the expected constructs of biopsychosocial domains. The KASW will be further refined to more sensitively identify students' knowledge deficiencies by selecting an optimal panel of items in biopsychosocial content areas and by providing information relevant to the pedagogical agenda and guidance in field education.     

Relationships matter: some benefits,challenges and tensions associated with forming a collaborative educational researcher group

Growing recognition of the complexity of children’s lives has led to strong advocacy in education research literature for greater collaboration between researchers from different paradigms to address the ‘wicked’ problems that face contemporary children and families. There is little literature, however, exploring how collaboration works in practice. This paper, drawing on researcher reflective narrative, and using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a heuristic framework, describes and critiques the formative stages of an educational research collaborative group of five early and one mid-career early childhood education researchers (the authors), from two universities, and with quite different epistemological and ontological understandings. It outlines, from an insider perspective, some of the outcomes, challenges and tensions associated with participating in the research group, and concludes by providing some implications for policy and considerations for those contemplating forming a collaborative group.     

Comparing effects and side effects of different school inspection systems across Europe

In this article, different inspection models are compared in terms of their impact on school improvement and the mechanisms each of these models generates to have such an impact. Our theoretical framework was drawn from the programme theories of six countries’ school inspection systems (i.e. the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Ireland, the province of Styria in Austria and the Czech Republic). We describe how inspection models differ in the scheduling and frequency of visits (using a differentiated or cyclical approach), the evaluation of process and/or output standards, and the consequences of visits, and how these models lead to school improvement through the setting of expectations, the use of performance feedback and actions of the school's stakeholders. These assumptions were tested by means of a survey of principals in primary and secondary schools in these countries (n?=?2239). The data analysis followed a three-step approach: (1) confirmatory factor analyses, (2) path modelling and (3) fitting of multiple-indicator multiple-cause models. The results indicate that Inspectorates of Education that use a differentiated model (in addition to regular visits), in which they evaluate both educational practices and outcomes of schools and publicly report inspection findings of individual schools, are the most effective. These changes seem to be mediated by improvements in the schools’ self-evaluations and the schools' stakeholders’ awareness of the findings in the public inspection reports. However, differentiated inspections also lead to unintended consequences as principals report on narrowing the curriculum and on discouraging teachers from experimenting with new teaching methods.     

Action learning,the tool for problem-solving in universities; Uganda Martyrs Nkozi,Makerere and Nkumba universities

The article presents an account of how action learning principles were implemented to alleviate complex problems in universities. It focuses on the registrars and administrators under the academic Registrar's department. The Marquardt model of action learning was used in combination with the constructivist theories of learning, namely community of practice, experiential learning, discovery learning, problem-based learning and situated learning. The importance of culture and knowledge sharing is also highlighted. The results indicate that action learning contributes to problem-solving. The community of practice creates a conducive environment for successful implementation of action learning, and different organizational cultures impact on the implementation of action learning.     

Aging IQ Intervention with Older Korean Americans: A Comparison of Internet-Based and In-Class Education

Using the translated contents of the National Institute on Aging (NIA)'s Aging IQ, an educational intervention was delivered to older Korean Americans. The educational program was delivered via two different modalities, Internet-based education (n = 12) and in-class education (n = 11), and the overall feasibility and efficacy were evaluated by the Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. A high level of completion and overall satisfaction with the program was observed in both groups. Both groups also exhibited a significant improvement in their knowledge about aging after the completion of the educational program. However, at the one-month follow-up, the Internet-based group showed a greater retention of the knowledge gained. The findings not only support the value of education on aging for older ethnic minorities but also suggest the use of the Internet as an integral modality of intervention delivery.