Children of Alcoholics in the schools: Where are they? their representation in special education

The hypothesis that there is a greater frequency of children of alcoholics in special classes for Emotional/Behavioral Disordered (ED) and Learning Disabled (LD) children was explored. A random sample of students in ED, LD, and regular classes was selected and administered the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test. Parents completed the Friel Co-Dependency Assessment Inventory. An analysis of variance in CAST and FCAI scores did not reveal any significant differences among groups. Significant differences were noted in the relationship of marital status and chemical dependency in immediate family. Reported incidence of chemical dependency in the immediate family was identified as a concern warranting further exploration. Issues that may have affected the study such as sample size, respondent participation, and various roles exhibited in the family were considered. The possible impact alcoholism has on children and appropriate program intervention in the schools were discussed.     

The Design of Learning Software: Principles Learned from the Computer as Learning Partner Project

This paper describes general curriculum design principles and specific software design implementations resulting from an ongoing collaboration between software designers and programmers, researchers, and a classroom teacher and his students. Research and observations in the classroom setting led to both the emergence of useful learning principles as well as the design of a specific piece of software, E-LabBook. The paper traces the development of the software in the context of the principles that emerged during the design process.     

The Impact of Three-Dimensional Printed Anatomical Models on First-Year Student Engagement in a Block Mode Delivery

Student engagement is known to have several positive effects on learning outcomes and can impact a student's university experience. High levels of engagement in content-heavy subjects can be difficult to attain. Due to a major institutional restructure, the anatomy prosection laboratory time per subject was dramatically reduced. In response, the authors set out to redesign their anatomy units with a focus on engaging the learning activities that would increase time-on-task both within and outside of the classroom. One of these curriculum changes was the implementation of a suite of anatomy learning activities centered on sets of three-dimensional printed upper limb skeleton models. A two-part mixed-method sequential exploratory design was used to evaluate these activities. Part one was a questionnaire that evaluated the students' engagement with and perceptions of the models. Part two involved focus groups interviews, which were an extension of the survey questions in part one. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students found the models to be an engaging resource that helped improve their study habits. As a result, students strongly felt that the use of the models inspired greater academic confidence and overall better performance in their assessments. Overall, the models were an effective way of increasing the engagement and deep learning, and reinforced previous findings from the medical education research. Future research should investigate the effects of these models on student's grades within osteopathy and other allied health courses.     

A Testing Time: the role of subjective practices in making sense of student performance

This paper examines some of the practices and accompanying assumptions that underlie the work of assessing students' written performance. Examiners are shown to give meaning to, and to construct and reconstruct, the answers that their students provide. In doing this resort is made to common sense or taken for granted concepts, many of which involve labelling. Political processes such as power, negotiation and compromise are also identified. In a climate of moves towards mass higher education where written and distant assessment is likely to grow at the expense of face‐to‐face contact, the tendency of examiners, highlighted in this paper, to rely on interpretive and negotiated methods is not only inevitable but justified.     

How Many Regressions?

In this article the authors provide an analysis of exactly how many regression models exist for a given number of variables.     

Politics: The education effect

This article explores in some detail published research exploring the associations between aspects of education (knowledge and skill acquisition, attitude formation, credential acquisition, participation in networks and institutions) and political outcomes such as participation, partisan choice and political identity. Correlated effects models, direct effects models, and relative effects models are considered in turn. Particular attention is paid to the relative effects of network position. Some notable gaps in the research literature are identified, notably regarding citizens' understanding of the nature of political processes.