Educating Older Adults about Medicare: The Role of Cognitive Variables

ABSTRACT

A survey was conducted on 3,738 beneficiaries about their knowledge of the Medicare program as well as their reading habits, reading comprehension ability, and metamemory. Factor analysis yielded a reading and a metamemory factor. These factors explained variance in knowledge about Medicare above and beyond the variance explained by formal education. Individuals with good knowledge of memory processes, and those who reported high memory capacity and internal locus of control regarding their memory functioning, as well as frequent readers were more knowledgeable about Medicare. We suggest that cognitive variables be included in studies evaluating the effectiveness of educational materials for older adults.     

Digital Media and Education: cognitive impact of information visualization

In this article I argue that, like other technological innovations, the rise of the digital information age is contributing to shape people's mode of cognition. I review the use of computers in teaching and learning in terms of their impact on our ability to (1) process parallel data, (2) access information in a non‐linear order, and (3) visualize information. I analyse some implications for education stressing the importance of focusing on the meaning and interpretation of information rather than on gathering or memorizing data. In addition, I contend that although hypertextuality is perceived to be dynamic for its engagement with multiple dimensions, it is also a highly mediated form of accessing information. The most significant innovation of the computer, however, is the return to a visually based representation of reality. Paradoxically, the digital visualization of information aids the understanding of abstract concepts while simultaneously increasing conceptual abstraction.     

Determination of the prevalence of anabolic steroids, stimulants, and selected drugs subject to doping controls among elite sport students using analytical chemistry

Drug abuse by adolescents has been investigated in various surveys that reported correlations between age, gender, and activity. However, none of these studies included chemical analyses to help substantiate the statements of participants. In the present study, the urine specimens of 964 students (439 females, 525 males; mean age 22.1 years, s = 1.7), who applied to study sports sciences at university, were assessed for anabolic steroids, stimulants, and selected drugs prohibited in sports. In total, 11.2% of the urine specimens provided contained drugs covered by doping controls. The most frequently detected compound was the major metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (9.8%) followed by various stimulants related to amphetamine and cocaine (1.0%). Indications of anabolic steroid use were found in 0.4% of urine samples but originated from contraceptives containing norethisterone. The present study provided unambiguous data on the status quo of drug (ab)use by adolescents hoping for a career related to elite sport or sports sciences. No use of anabolic steroids was detected. However, evidence for stimulants and tetrahydrocannabinol administration was obtained, although not reported by any participant, which highlights the issue of under-reporting in surveys based solely on questionnaires.     

A closer look at integrated writing tasks: Towards a more focussed definition for assessment purposes

The use of integrated tasks is increasingly common in second language assessment in both high stakes and classroom contexts. However, because of the vague definition of what constitutes an integrated task, the types of tasks included in this area and the assessment of the resulting writing is highly varied. In this paper, we argue for a better definition of the term ‘integrated writing task’. We start by reviewing current definitions available in the literature, discuss the construct underlying integrated tasks and then propose a number of features which we feel need to be present in integrated tasks. We then propose a new, narrower definition of the term. We hope that this will result in better task design, improved assessment outcomes for test takers, more detailed test specifications, better replicability of research and a shared research agenda.     

Modellierung von Lehrerkompetenzen

This contribution will investigate both the subject-specific and the didactic competencies of trainee teachers for lower secondary education in mathematics on the basis of the study “Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21)”, which compares criteria-based samples from Germany, Bulgaria, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and the USA. In order to analyze their strengths and weaknesses more precisely, the paper considers both traditional IRT-scaling of competencies, which involves a simple loading of test performance in mathematics and didactics of mathematics, and an alternative. Under the assumption that solving items concerning didactics of mathematics requires competencies in didactics of mathematics and mathematics itself, a double-barreled approach was used in the alternative. In a further elaboration of this model, knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, functions, geometry and stochastic was used as a set of further explanatory factors for solving the items. This third model, which presumes a hierarchical structure of teaching competencies, displays the best data fit. Only this model reflects the specialisms and focal points of the education and training systems in the countries participating in MT21 concerning the relative learning opportunities in mathematics and didactics of mathematics and concerning the five subject areas in the field of mathematics.