Evidence for the Validity of a Social Connectedness Scale: Connectors Amass Bridging Social Capital Online and Offline

One of the key characteristics of effective opinion leaders is that they are highly connected; they know many people and have numerous weak-tie relationships. Two studies were conducted that found evidence consistent with construct validity. The first (N = 35 and N = 57) found that connectors knew more people from a randomly selected list of names. A second study, with two surveys, was created (N = 561 and N = 189) such that the connectedness scores of some of the subjects in the first survey could be linked to how many subjects knew them in the second. Results indicated that those with higher connection scores were more likely to be known by others. Moreover, in the second survey, measures of Facebook use and bridging social capital were found to be associated substantially with connector scores.     

Weaving Curriculum Connections in International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools

In this article we discuss how school leaders address challenges when implementing innovative international education curricula, namely International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. Specifically, we frame challenges in curriculum implementation of and transition between IB programs from a “disconnection” perspective. We have often noticed when innovative programs are parceled together without preparation and thrust at great speed at schools, they become disconnected. The hasty implementation of multiple IB programs simultaneously at a school also causes disconnection. Drawing on extensive interview data from principals, mid-level leaders, and teachers in five IB schools adopting multiple IB programs in Asia, we detail curriculum disconnection facing IB schools and how school leaders, including teacher leaders, address such challenges by weaving various disconnected points, namely instrumental, intellectual, cultural, professional, and communicative disconnections. Based on findings from the multisite case study, we argue that school leaders in the case of IB schools adopt a range of leadership strategies to weave disconnection points. We reframe the leadership strategies as two aspects of distributed leadership: distributed instructional leadership and teacher leadership. In conclusion, we suggest that a central facet for successful leadership of IB schools that adopt multiple IB programs is about finding, focusing, and facilitating ways to address disconnections in curriculum implementation of and transition between different IB programs.     

Labels [Agrave] La Aristotle

High-stakes standardized student assessments are increasingly used in value-added evaluation models to connect teacher performance to P–12 student learning. These assessments are also being used to evaluate teacher preparation programs, despite validity and reliability threats. A more rational model linking student performance to candidates who actually teach these students is presented. Preliminary findings with three candidate cohorts indicate that the majority of their students met learning objectives and showed substantial pre-to-post learning gains.     

Who says aging is lonely? A phenomenology of Filipino older adults’ experiences of happiness when joining international group tours

Across the literature, travelling has been viewed as a recurring activity for older adults and is driven by a multitude of purposes and reasons. Previous studies have probed touristic activities of older adults however, little is known about their emotional experiences specifically their sense of happiness when joining international group tours, hence this phenomenological study. A qualitative approach was utilized to gather data from a group of 15 purposively selected participants aged 60 years and above. A two-part instrument consisting of a robotfoto and a semi-structured interview was used in this study. Through vertical and horizontal analyses of the field text, this study afforded the development of The Spiraling Model of Aging Filipino Tourists’ Happiness. This model describes aging tourists’ happiness while travelling as a product of Shared Moments, Shared Culture, Shared Memories, and Shared Transcendence. Summarily, findings of this study may provide significant insights to service providers such as hotels, airlines and travel agencies across the globe in developing innovative marketing strategies that cater to this promising age group. Empirically, this study may stimulate further exploration in the field of Cognitive Psychology aimed at adding large-scale data regarding the study of emotions specifically older adults’ happiness when joining international group tours.     

Developing a Model of Medication Adherence among Filipino Elderly

While adherence to medication remains a problematic area in the care of chronically ill elderly, an extended model that incorporates the interaction of studied variables remains a blank spot. Anchored on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, this article details our efforts to develop and test a model of medication adherence among Filipino elderly relative to their medication belief, follow-up visits, consultation satisfaction, memory task, trust with physician, perceived stress, memory strategies, social support, memory load, depression, length of time taking the medication, number of conditions, and self-efficacy with medication adherence. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to study causalities among all parameters. With the participation of 325 older adults located in District IV, Sampaloc, Manila, data needed were gathered through a multiaspect questionnaire consisting of a robotfoto, a memory strategy usage measure, an eight-scale Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, a 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, a General Self-efficacy Scale, a Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a Perceived Stress Scale. Data were analyzed using AMOS version 19. Results revealed that depression, trust with physician, and number of conditions affect adherence positively, while event-based memory, consultation satisfaction, memory load, and external memory strategy affect it otherwise. Some suggested variables were found to have no impact at all. As this study reveals, careful consideration should be given to multiple factors, and their interrelationship should be examined well. Because many factors can influence medication adherence behavior of the elderly, and because the reasons for their noncompliance are also varied, multifaceted solutions must be developed.     

The Filipino Nursing Students' Dilemmas in Geriatric Care

The continually rising percentage of the elderly population and the demand for geriatric nursing care are dramatically related. While it is true that most undergraduate programs prepare nurses for the care of geriatric patients, most receive limited academic preparation in the nursing curriculum (Williams & Mezey, 2000 Williams , C. , & Mezey , M. ( 2000 ). Older adults: Recommended baccalaureate competencies and curricular guidelines for geriatric nursing care . American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing . Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/Gercomp.pdf  [Google Scholar]). This is particularly true in the Philippines where there is no stand-alone geriatric nursing course.

This phenomenological study purports to capture the lived experiences of Filipino nursing students' dilemmas in geriatric care. Five Filipino senior nursing students and three clinical faculty from a comprehensive university in the Philippines were purposely chosen for the study. A two-part instrumentation was used. The first is the robotfoto, a Dutch term which means a cartographic sketch of the subject (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002 Kelchtermans , G. , & Ballet , K. ( 2002 ). The micropolitics of teacher induction: A narrative bibliographical study on teacher socialization . Teaching and Teacher Education , 18 ( 1 ), 105 – 120 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The second was a semi-structured face-to-face interview that was recorded with the consent of the participants. The full texts were phenomenologically reduced using a repertory grid to observe both cool and warm analyses, which facilitates the identification of unique conceptual clusters. Findings of this study have described the elements that define student dilemmas in geriatric care. The emerged Students' Dilemmas in Geriatrics Causality Quadrant (SDGCQ), which consists of (a) Foundational Deficit, (b) Psychological Deficit, (c) Relational-Attitudinal Deficit, and (d) Occupational Deficit, are valuable discussion points for needed reforms in the present-day nursing curriculum.