Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Teaching Package Utilizing Behavioral Skills Training and In Situ Training to Teach Gun Safety Skills in a Preschool Classroom

There are a number of different safety threats that children face in their lives. One infrequent, but highly dangerous situation a child can face is finding a firearm. Hundreds of children are injured or killed by firearms each year. Fortunately, behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective approaches for teaching a number of different skills, including safety skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a teaching package for preschool teachers to learn to conduct BST to teach safety skills. Following teacher-implemented BST, the experimenter completed in situ training and supplemental instructions. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching package implemented by the teacher and experimenter with five preschoolers. Five children demonstrated the skills following IST and additional reinforcement or time out. The use of additional reinforcement, as well as treatment fidelity are discussed.     

Evaluating Generalization of Addition-Fact Fluency Using the Taped-Problems Procedure in a Second-Grade Classroom

A multiple-baseline design across math-fact sets was used to evaluate the effects of a taped-problems intervention on students’ performance with addition facts and their inverses in an intact, rural, second-grade classroom. Results suggested that the procedure was effective in improving fluency on math facts as well as their inverses. Across 3 sets of math facts, 15 students increased their fluency (i.e., average increases of 5 digits correct per min or more) on math-problem sets and these improvements were maintained over time. Additionally, results provide evidence that these increases generalized to inverse-problem sets. However, 4 students showed little gains (i.e., average increases of fewer than 5 digits correct per min) on math problems. Discussion focuses on evaluating academic interventions for generalization and directions for future research.     

学习方法对陌生语言字形学习的影响

采用学习——测查的范式,以陌生视觉单词(韩字)为材料,考察了学习方法对陌生语言字形学习效果的影响。在学习阶段,材料分别以连续重复(集中学习)和间隔重复(分散学习)方式呈现6遍,在学习之后半小时、1天以及1个星期之后,分别进行再认记忆测查。结果发现,虽然随着测查间隔时间的增长,两种学习条件的成绩都显著降低,但是在三次测查中,分散学习的成绩都明显好于集中学习。这一结果说明在排除语音、语义等其他言语元素的干扰之后,以分散学习的方式学习新字形的效果好于集中学习。     

The Impact of Early Life Stress on the Neurodevelopment of the Stress Response System

The focus of this article is on the impact of early life stress on the neurodevelopment of the stress response mechanisms of the brain. The functioning of the stress response system and mechanisms of neurodevelopmental change are described. The theoretical and clinical implications of the reviewed literature are discussed.     

Investigating Links from Teacher Knowledge,to Classroom Practice,to Student Learning in the Instructional System of the Middle-School Mathematics Classroom

Using data collected in 125 seventh-grade and 56 eighth-grade Texas classrooms in the context of the “Scaling Up SimCalc” research project in 2005–07, we examined relationships between teachers’ mathematics knowledge, teachers’ classroom decision making, and student achievement outcomes on topics of rate, proportionality, and linear function—three important and cognitively demanding prealgebra topics. We found that teachers’ mathematical knowledge was correlated with student achievement in only one study out of three. We also found a lack of correlations between teachers’ mathematical knowledge and critical aspects of instructional decision making. Curriculum and other learning resources (e.g., technology, student–student interactions) are clearly important factors for student learning in addition to, and in interaction with, teachers’ mathematical knowledge. Our results suggest that mathematics knowledge for teaching may have a nonlinear relationship with student learning, that those effects may be heavily mediated by other instructional factors, and that short-term content knowledge gains in teacher workshops may not persist in classroom instruction. We discuss a need in the field for richer models of how “mathematical knowledge for teaching” works in the context of complete instructional systems.     

不同反应重复量对反应抑制后效应的影响*

研究不同反应重复量对反应抑制后效应的影响。采用停止信号范式,让被试完成不同反应重复量的反应抑制任务。结果显示,总的来说反应重复量因素和重复类型因素的主效应都显著;信号抑制条件下重复一次后比重复三次后无信号试次反应时要显著地长,但都与总的无信号试次反应时没有显著差异;信号反应条件下重复三次后与重复一次后无信号试次反应时没有显著差异,但都比总的无信号试次反应时显著地长。结果表明,不同反应重复量反应抑制后效应在信号抑制条件下既有认知控制调整也有自动化记忆提取,在信号反应条件下仅存在认知控制的执行加工。     

Technology and Early Literacy: The Impact of an Integrated Learning System on High-Risk Kindergartners'Achievement

Two hundred sixty-five kindergarten children from a high-risk community participated in an 10-month evaluation of the effectiveness of the Waterford Early Reading Program, a software program designed to facilitate early literacy development. One hundred fifty-one students in eight experimental classrooms used the program for approximately 15 minutes per day. One hundred fourteen students in seven nonintervention classrooms had varying amounts of access to older hardware and software that was not systematically utilized by their teachers. Students were individually pre-and posttested using the TERA-2, the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test, and the Waterford Inventory. Results indicated that students in the experimental classrooms performed significantly better than nonintervention students on the TERA-2 and the Waterford Inventory. Students in the experimental classrooms also showed a trend to outperform nonintervention students on the Lindamood, although not to a significant degree.     

Promoting Freedom,Responsibility, and Learning in the Classroom: The Learning Covenant a Decade Later

Abstract. This essay discusses an approach to teaching religious studies in a general education or core curriculum that I have experimented with for the last decade, which I call the “Learning Covenant.” The Learning Covenant brings together various pedagogical theories, including transformational, experiential, contract, and cooperative learning, in an attempt to address diverse learning styles, multiple intelligences, and student learning assessment. It has advantages over more traditional teacher‐directed approaches to teaching, including meeting student resistance to “required” courses head‐on by inviting them to identify learning needs regardless of chosen vocation and meeting them in the context of a religious studies course, recognizing the multiple ways in which students learn and providing a variety of opportunities for students to express their learning, and allowing students opportunity to take increased responsibility for their own learning. The essay will focus on the Learning Covenant's development, components, strengths, and drawbacks.     

Impact of a System of Care on a Community's Children's Social Services System

Researchers and practitioners have questioned how the implementation of a system of care influences the broader context of children's social services within a community. We examined the impact that the Dawn Project system of care had on children's services in Marion County, Indiana. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to gain a broad understanding of stakeholder perspectives related to how system-level and other community leaders viewed system of care influences. Qualitative analyses uncovered several common themes including positive impact at the community level, challenges to implementation, and feelings of ambivalence related to program impact. Results were generally positive and suggested that most respondents saw core system of care principles beginning to emerge within the community related to the establishment of the care system. In addition, challenges to implementing the system of care also were uncovered, including some underlying resistance to system-level changes. Implications from our study highlight the importance of continuously working to enhance strengths and collaboration among systems, integrate and coordinate across systems and services, and authentically involve families at all levels.     

Evaluating the Impact of Multicultural Counseling Training

The authors agree that the multicultural counseling movement represents a powerful force with the potential of radically modifying the perspective of the entire counseling profession. To realize its full potential, however, much more research needs to be done within professional training programs to determine the types of instructional strategies that are most effective in terms of developing counselors who are sensitive and effective in working with persons from diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. This article reports on the results of a series of investigations designed to assess the impact of a comprehensive multicultural training model among different groups of graduate students. Implications for future research and training are also discussed. Los autores están de acuerdeo en que el Movimiento de Consejería Multicultural representa una fuerza con la potencia de modificar radicalmente la perspectiva de la profesión entera de consejería. Sin embargo, para cristalizar esta potencia, hay que hacer más investigaciones dentro de programas profesionales de entrenamiento para determinar los tipos de estrategiás instruccionales más eficaces con respecto a consejeros que trabajan sensiblemente y eficazmente con personas culturalmente, raciálmente, y étnicamente diversas. Este artículo presenta los resultados de una serie de investigaciones hechas para estimar el impacto de un modelo comprensivo de entrenamiento de consejería multicultural entre grupos diferentes de estudiantes graduados. También se discuten las implicaciones en las investigaciones y entrenamientos en el futuro.     

Let's Talk About Race: Evaluating a College Interracial Discussion Group on Race

The authors evaluate Dialogues on Race, an interracial group intervention in which undergraduate student facilitators led conversations about race with their peers. The evaluation process is described, including developing collaborative relationships, identifying program goals, selecting measures, and analyzing and presenting results. The authors discuss lessons learned about evaluating an interracial dialogue intervention that did not originally include researchers in the hope that this examination will encourage others to evaluate similar campus interventions. Diálogos sobre Raza es una intervención de grupo interracial en la que estudiantes universitarios moderaron conversaciones sobre raza con sus compañeros. Se describe el proceso de evaluación, incluyendo el desarrollo de relaciones de colaboración, la identificación de objetivos del programa, la selección de medidas, y el análisis y presentación de los resultados. Los autores discuten las lecciones aprendidas sobre la evaluación de una intervención interracial dialogada que en principio no incluyó a investigadores con la esperanza de que este examen animará a otros a evaluar intervenciones similares en sus campus.     

Baseline Response Levels are a Nuisance in Infant Contingency Learning

The impact of differences in level of baseline responding on contingency learning in the first year was examined by considering the response acquisition of infants classified into baseline response quartiles. Whereas the three lower baseline groups showed the predicted increment in responding to a contingency, the highest baseline responders did not. Instead, they responded less in the contingency period relative to baseline. In extinction, the four baseline quartile groups failed to differ. The findings are considered in the context of the law of initial value, and some potential reasons for the effect of baseline responding on contingency learning are discussed. These studies show that variability in baseline responding may compromise our understanding of contingency detection especially for infants with high baseline response levels. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FIRST YEAR CAMPUS ACQUAINTANCE RAPE EDUCATION Evaluating the Impact of a Mandatory Intervention

The current study was designed to evaluate the impact of First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (FYCARE), a mandatory program for first year undergraduates. First, questionnaires were administered to 48 FYCARE participants assessed immediately following workshop participation, 76 FYCARE participants sampled through the unrelated context of introductory psychology courses, and 67 students sampled through introductory psychology who had not yet attended their scheduled FYCARE workshop. Second, ostensibly unrelated telephone surveys were conducted with 93 students who participated in FYCARE 4 to 6 months earlier and 77 first year students who had not yet attended their scheduled workshop. Results indicated a positive impact of participation on attitudes and judgments of a hypothetical scenario, but only when assessed immediately following workshop participation. In contrast, increases in knowledge were maintained for a period of up to 7 weeks, and phone survey responses revealed an increase in the level of support for rape prevention efforts 4 to 6 months following program participation. Finally, superior outcomes were observed among students involved in more than one educational program, thus highlighting the need for repeated intervention.     

Evaluating Therapists' Practices in a Postmodern World: A Discussion and a Scheme

The social constructionist ideas currently reshaping the practice of family therapy are also relevant for supervision. However, if, as postmodernists assert, there is no privileged, expert position, how can supervisors evaluate their trainees? This question — a most pertinent one for university-based supervision, where evaluation is necessary and constant — is addressed both theoretically and pragmatically in this article. Ethical issues are explored, and an evaluation form, developed by the authors for use in a family therapy doctoral program, is presented and discussed.     

Influence of Response Similarity on Interference in Perceptual Motor Learning

Motor interference was measured in terms of average response time in sorting 15 pairs of cards, each pair containing words which were either unrelated or identical but printed in different colors. The two words of each pair were used in labeling two cubicles in such a way that they were apart by 0, 1, 2, or 3 intervening cubicles in quasirandomly chosen directions. Interference was inversely related to response similarity, but this relationship may not appear in the absence of sufficient stimulus similarity. The findings are interpreted in the light of a hypothesis which views motor interference as a tendency for responses to deflect from their own courses and be pulled towards those of other responses with which they are at conflict.