Public Education about Memory and Aging: Objective Findings and Subjective Insights

Public education about memory was evaluated with a controlled intervention trial. Participants in group 1 (n = 273) attended a symposium covering memory-related topics and received a magazine with identical information. Group 2 (n = 141) only received the magazine. Participants were nonprofessionals and professionals aged between 29 and 88. Outcome measures were knowledge about memory and subjective experience. For nonprofessionals, knowledge increment was higher in group 1 than in group 2, indicating that an objective increment in knowledge is present in nonprofessionals after attending the symposium. No knowledge change occurred in professionals. Furthermore, participants were very satisfied after both interventions, even when knowledge transfer was limited.     

Constructing Altitude Training Standards for the 1968 Mexico Olympics: The Impact of Ideals of Equality and Uncertainty

Today training at altitude is associated with better performances at lower altitudes by the majority of distance runners aspiring to world-class performance. The purpose of this article is to give an account of how certain altitudes and time-spans became a procedural standard of this type of training in spite of scientific controversies. In connection with the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City altitude was a particular pressing physiological problem to be solved. Altitude acclimatization for athletes competing in Mexico City and standards for altitude training, I argue, was a result of the interplay between a ‘procedural standard’ and important ‘design standards’ in athletics where ideals of uncertainty and equality were important. Without the new standards competitions in endurance athletics in the Olympics of 1968 would have been perceived as highly unfair.     

NewLink with Computers

The above authors, all from the Department of Adult Education, Nottingham University, have developed computerbased education and training for disabled adults in six centres in the East Midlands. In its service to the students – if not in its resourcing – it is a model for others to follow.     

The Experience of Parenting an Adolescent with Autism

This study used qualitative research methodology to investigate the experiences of parents of adolescents with autism. Eight parents, representing six separate family units, were interviewed. The primary objectives were to understand the experiences in the lives of the parents interviewed and identify needs of adolescents with autism and their families. Six consistent themes emerged from the interview data: (a) behavioural concerns, (b) social and communication concerns, (c) family‐related concerns, (d) education and related services, (e) relationships with professionals, and (f) independence and future concerns. The findings were discussed in relationship to previous research findings and service provision.     

Testing the Efficacy of a Scholarship Program for Single Parent,Post-Freshmen,Full Time Undergraduates

This study examines the efficacy of a scholarship program designed to assist single parent, post-freshmen, full time undergraduate students and predictors of success among a sample of said students, where success is defined as progress toward completion, academic achievement, and degree completion. Results of fixed effects regression and hierarchical linear modeling indicated that single parents who participated in the scholarship program had higher levels of academic achievement, degree completion rates, and greater progress toward completion than non-participants. Consistent significant predictors of success included participation in a scholarship program, full-time status, and whether someone already held a Bachelor’s degree. The findings suggest that the structure of a single parent program that includes requirements for GPA, full-time status, and credit accumulation, as well as personal, professional, and financial resources for participants may be an efficacious model for other colleges to implement in order assist in the success of single parent undergraduate students.     

New research paradigms in instructional technology: An inquiry

In this paper, we review the current state of research paradigms in the field of instructional technology from the perspective of research standards and paradigms recommended by Leslie J. Briggs in the early 1980s. Our analysis of articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development from 1992 to 1996 revealed that relatively few research paradigms were used and that studies did not, for the most part, adhere to Briggs's (1984) Culture Four standards. Perhaps the most startling result was that more than half the articles published were not empirical studies at all. We discuss some reasons for these findings and suggest that instructional technology (IT) researchers make a renewed commitment to Briggs's standards. IT researchers can again advance knowledge in the field in significant ways by collaborating with partners in the field and focusing on questions related to instructional design processes, questions that require the use of more developmental research methods. She is President Elect of AECT and will assume the presidency in February 2000.     

NASA and the search for life in the universe

Almost from its beginnings in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) set up a life-science program. Because one of the priorities of the organization is to search for life beyond Earth, NASA began designing spacecraft to unravel the mysteries of Mars. The effort to search for life on Mars culminated in the landing of two Viking spacecraft on the surface of the planet in 1976. Although the biology experiments conducted as part of these missions provided some evidence for the possibility of life, the scientific consensus was that they drew a blank. In 1996, however, the 'Mars rock' rekindled interest in life in our solar system. The discovery of an ocean on the Jovian moon Europa, of organic molecules on the Saturnian moon Titan and persuasive evidence that water once flowed on Mars suggests that the solar system is still of considerable exobiological interest. In addition, since 1995 approximately 175 planets have been found beyond our solar system. Although these discoveries are gas giants, NASA spacecraft might soon detect Earth-sized planets. The search for life in the universe continues.