bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Future of Educational Telecommunication
Authors: Suchy John T.
Published: May 2005

Twelve years have gone by since federal funding of educational television began in the United States; seven years since the goal of a national service that is also responsible to local needs was set by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Today there is a working national system which encompasses both educational and cultural purposes. But many of the original ambitious objectives have not yet been attained and much of the system has grown in response to day to day problems.

In an effort to clarify the policy issues and identify future needs for educational telecommunications, the Communication Research Laboratory of Battelle Memorial Institute conducted a planning study for the U.S. Office of Education in 1973. This study was based on evaluations of published information, tempered by in-depth interviews of policy makers, site visits, and lengthy discussions with more than sixty educational broadcast licensees. This paper is based on highlights of the Battelle study.
More Than Mothers and Whores: Redefining the Aids Prevention Needs of Women
Authors: Carovano Kathryn
Published: May 2005

Women are increasingly at risk for AIDS. At the root of this risk is women's relative lack of control over their bodies and their lives. Those women with least control, generally poor women of color, are at greatest risk in both developed and developing countries. To date, AIDS prevention programs have ignored most women, focusing almost exclusively on women in the sex industry and, more recently, prenatal women. We urgently need prevention programs for women that view women as more than “mothers and whores” and recognize that AIDS poses a real risk to many of us; programs that are sensitive to the complex realities of women's lives and offer realistic alternatives that will allow women to protect themselves from HIV infection.
Memorial Contributions: Remembering the Elderly Deceased and Supporting the Bereaved
Authors: Euster Gerald L.
Published: May 2005

While there is considerable evidence that many older persons decline in interpersonal and physical functioning following spousal or sibling losses, little is known about customary forms of support to facilitate the management of bereavement. This study explores the importance of the widely used ritual of “In Memoriam” contributions as a remembrance of deceased elderly persons and support for bereaved family and friends. Answers to two research questions were sought. First, what types of memorial contributions were requested by the bereaved on behalf of deceased elderly South Carolinians during an eight-month period, as published in statewide newspaper obituaries? Second, how do religious, social agency, health care, and educational leaders and administrators perceive the importance of memorial contributions as they impact upon the bereaved following funerals of elderly persons? The findings indicated that in 2, 198 obituaries, 68.2 percent of the families designated contributions to religious institutions and 22.1 percent to health associations/foundations. Rankings by study respondents and additional written comments indicated that memorials were most helpful to the extent that they offered comfort and support to bereaved family, reconfirmed friendship ties, and helped to continue funding for religious and other community programs valued by the deceased. The findings suggest that memorials help in the grief work of many families and provide some tangible repayment for expressions of concern and generosity extended to the deceased and bereaved.
Will Cost Effectiveness Analysis Worsen the Cost Effectiveness of Health Care?
Authors: Himmelstein David U. , Woolhandler Steffie , Bor David H.
Published: May 2005

Cost effectiveness analysis is increasingly advocated as a basis for health policy. Analysts often compare expensive interventions with highly cost-effective programs such as hypertension screening, implying that if the former were curtailed resources would be reallocated to the latter and the efficiency of health care would improve. However, in practice, savings are unlikely to be targeted in this way. We present refined policy models that take into account actual patterns of resource allocation in the United States, and provide more realistic estimates of the likely uses of savings. We illustrate the implications of these models in an analysis of the effects of diverting funds from an expensive but effective practice. Eliminating such a practice would actually worsen the overall cost-effectiveness of U.S. health care unless there are radical changes in health policy. Cost effectiveness analysis incorrectly predicts health and cost outcomes of policy initiatives because it ignores the political constraints to health care decision-making.
A Bayesian Tutoring System for Newtonian Mechanics: Can it Adapt to Different Learners?
Authors: Pek Peng-Kiat , Poh Kim-Leng
Published: May 2005

Newtonian mechanics is a core module in technology courses, but is difficult for many students to learn. Computerized tutoring can assist the teachers to provide individualized instruction. This article presents the application of decision theory to develop a tutoring system, iTutor, to select optimal tutoring actions under uncertainty of students' mastery states. The novelties of this research are: 1) the automation of student diagnosis that is made possible when tutoring alternatives and the utilities for different outcomes are incorporated to the Bayesian network; and 2) the ability of the tutoring system to select test items with difficulties that are appropriate for the students. The results from formative evaluation on iTutor indicate that it is adaptive, working in a well-structured knowledge space, and able to use the information gathered from the student's responses to dynamically modify the presentation in clearly defined ways.
The Mini Mental State Exam as a Predictor of Neuropsychological Functioning after Cardiac Surgery
Authors: Burker Eileen J. , Blumenthal James A. , Feldman Michelle , Thyrum Elizabeth , Mahanna Elizabeth , White William , Smith L. Richard , Lewis Judy , Croughwell Narda , Schell Randy , Newman Mark , Reves J. G.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The present longitudinal study was designed to: 1) determine the ability of the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) to predict neuropsychologic impairment based on neuropsychologic testing five to seven days and six weeks after cardiac surgery; and 2) to determine whether the traditional or the education-related MMSE norms are more appropriate to use for this purpose.

Method:

The day before surgery (T1), before hospital discharge (T2), and six weeks after surgery (T3), 247 subjects completed a battery of five neuropsychologic tests. Subjects also completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Speilberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Subjects completed the MMSE two to three days after surgery.

Results:

Stepwise regression analyses revealed that the MMSE significantly predicted only a small portion of the variance in neuropsychologic test performance at T2, and to an even lesser extent at T3, over and above the demographic variables. In assessing the association between an impairment score (derived from the neuropsychologic test battery) and the MMSE, we found that the traditional MMSE cut-off score maximized specificity (number of true negatives) while the education-adjusted MMSE cut-off scores maximized sensitivity (number of true positives).

Conclusions:

These results suggest that although the MMSE is widely used to assess cognitive mental status, it may have limited value in identifying patients with cognitive impairment post-cardiac surgery, and special attention must be paid to the cut-off scores used in interpreting the MMSE.
Is German Long-Term Care Insurance a Model for the United States?
Authors: Schunk Michaela V. , Estes Carroll L.
Published: May 2005

German long-term care insurance, implemented in 1995, significantly extends the coverage of care-related risks. Given the similarities of German and U.S. institutional features, the German social insurance approach has been put forward as a possible model for long-term care in the United States. Using a political economy framework, the authors conducted a policy analysis that compares the main shortfalls of long-term care (LTC) provision in the United States and Germany, examines the responses provided by LTC insurance in Germany, and relates them to broader trends and proposals for change in welfare policy in both countries. German LTC insurance includes a high degree of consumer direction and compensation and protection for informal caregivers; it supports the extension of community-based services. Its shortfalls include the continued split between health and LTC insurance. In both countries, decentralization and institutional and financial fragmentation are some of the characteristics responsible for the failure to promote egalitarian social policy and substantially expand social protection to family- and care-related risks. The German LTC program is a good model for the United States. With a social insurance approach to LTC, costs are spread across the largest possible risk pool. Major goals that can be reached with such a program include establishment of universal entitlements to LTC benefits, consumer choice, and equitability and uniformity.
Student Beliefs about Pascal Programming
Authors: Fleury Ann E.
Published: May 2005

This study examined the beliefs constructed by college students enrolled in an introductory course in Pascal programming regarding the larger programming process, including design, debugging, testing, and maintenance, as well as coding. Students rated programs on the criteria of ease of comprehension, ease of debugging and testing, ease of maintenance, modification, and extension, and quality of overall design; they also justified their ratings orally. These same interviews were repeated with expert programmers as the participants. The students' and experts' justifications showed that students noticed the advantages of avoiding complexity, while experts noticed the advantages of managing complexity. This article discusses these results in light of the constructivist framework and suggests implications for instruction.
Effect of Gender and Computer Experience on Attitudes toward Computers
Authors: Levin Tamar , Gordon Claire
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender and prior computer exposure (has a computer at home; participated in a computer course; knows how to work with computers) affect students' attitudes toward computers prior to computer instruction in school. An attitude questionnaire including cognitive and affective attitude scales was administered to 222 Israeli pupils in grades 8 through 10 who study in schools where computers have not yet been introduced. The results showed that prior computer exposure (in particular, having a computer at home), had a stronger effect on attitudes toward computers than sex. Pupils owning computers were more motivated to become familiar with computers; felt a stronger need for computers in their lives and had more positive affective attitudes toward computers than pupils who don't have computers at home. Sex differences in affective and cognitive attitudes were also observed where boys had significantly more positive affective attitudes toward computers than girls. They perceived computers as being more “enjoyable,” “special,” “important,” “friendly,” and “cheaper” than girls. Furthermore, boys tended to hold more stereotyped attitudes about who is capable of using computers and had more positive attitudes toward the computer as a medium of instruction than girls.
A Community-Based Health Education Analysis of an Infectious Disease Control Program in Nigeria
Authors: Adeyanju O. Matthew
Published: May 2005

This descriptive study utilized the strategy of primary health care in program development—especially a community-based health education intervention approach—in the control of guinea-worm in rural communities of Nigeria. Two closely related rural communities in two states served as target groups. Committee system approach, nominal group process, interview methods, audio-visual aids, and health care volunteer trainingship were the educational strategies employed in a control and experimental set up. The PRECEDE model was applied in the analysis. Results show a significant control action on guinea-worm infestation in the experimental community and a tremendous achievement in preventive health education interventions through organized community participation/involvement and ultimate self-reliance and individual responsibility. A positive increase in health knowledge and attitude examined through interview method, and observable changes in health behavior were noticed. Wells were provided, drinking water treated, while personal and community health promotion strategies were encouraged by all. The study has shown the effectiveness/efficacy of a community-based effort facilitated by a health educator.
Attitudes toward Life and Death, Religiosity, and Gender in Israeli Children
Authors: Orbach Israel , Florian Victor
Published: May 2005

This study focused on the impact of religion and gender on young children's attitudes toward life and death. One hundred and forty-two boys and girls responded to a semi-projective test involving fairy tales in order to assess attraction and repulsion toward life and death. All the children displayed a pattern of high attraction to life, low attraction to death, low repulsion by life, and high repulsion by death. The religious children in contrast to the nonreligious children displayed a higher attraction to death. There were also differences in the types of rationales provided by the children for their attitudes. Four types of rationales emerged: interpersonal relationships, mental pain and enjoyment, physical pain and enjoyment, and self-actualization. Religious and nonreligious boys and girls differed with regard to the order of the rationales. There was also a main effect of gender and a gender x religiosity interaction. These results are discussed with respect to the religious and cultural impact on the formation of attitudes towards life and death.
The Doctor-Patient Relationship as a Diagnostic Tool
Authors: Clyne Max B.
Published: May 2005

Diagnosis is possible on a number of levels. Traditional, overall, and interrelationship types of diagnosis are differentiated. The effectiveness of the traditional diagnosis, which is used to indicate etiology of disease, to assess the effect of the disorder on structure and function, and to classify the illness, is questioned, since it usually leads to a general prognosis based on statistical probability rather than to a unique prognosis indicating specific predictions and treatments for the individual patient. The doctor, when making this kind of diagnosis, acts as an objective observer and assesses an abstract concept, the illness rather than a person, so that the traditional diagnosis is illness-centered.

By including features of the patient's personality and his relationships with others, the overall diagnosis provides a more embracing overview of the individual's physical and emotional conditions. It has greater ongoing validity in description and of usefulness for treatment by centering upon the patient as an individual whose conflicts and sufferings are felt and understood. It may require lengthy interviewing, but this may be shortened in practice by focusing upon the particular aspect of the patient's world which seems central to the pathology.

This focal area is often determined spontaneously through a “flash,” the mutual intuitive recognition of an important understanding between doctor and patient, leading to further diagnostic and therapeutic work. The flash establishes a climate of high emotional charge and involves both patient and doctor intrinsically in the diagnostic process and its outcome. It is one of the means by which an interrelationship diagnosis, centered on the doctor-patient relationship, may be arrived at. Truly successful treatment in general practice, and perhaps in most branches of medicine, is probably based on some form of interrelationship diagnosis, even though this diagnosis may not have been verbalized or properly conceptualized by the doctor.

Case material illustrates the effectiveness of each type of diagnosis for the physician and for his patient.
The Effect of Mental Simulation on Goal-Directed Performance
Authors: Taylor Shelley E. , Pham Lien B.
Published: May 2005

Mental simulations can have beneficial effects on goal-directed effort and performance. We make a theoretical distinction between simulations of desired goals (outcome simulation) versus simulation of the steps leading to a desired goal (process simulation). In the present study, participants simulated the outcome of writing an effective essay, the process of preparing the effective essay, or they completed no simulation. Following the simulation (or not), participants either wrote on the expected essay topic or were switched to a new topic. Both outcome and process simulations demonstrated enhanced performance on the expected task. There was some evidence that process simulations, but not outcome simulations, facilitated planning of the essay. Outcome simulations enhanced motivation and self-efficacy, but these variables did not mediate the effects of outcome simulations on performance. We discuss the beneficial effects of mental simulation for goal-directed activity.
Chestnut Grove: An Early 19th-Century Lime Burning Industry in the Connecticut Western Reserve
Authors: Kingsley Ronald F.
Published: May 2005

Information is limited regarding the development of early industries along Lake Erie's northeastern shore of the Connecticut Western Reserve. With the opening of the Ohio Country, farmers and pioneer industrialists found the virgin land abundant with natural resources and ready to be exploited. Evidence derived from a rescue excavation of a stone structure at the outlet of the Cowles Creek together with documents established the presence of a lime burning industry. Early settlers found a plentiful wood supply located on the mainland which provided the necessary fuel for burning limestone mined on Cunningham (Kelleys) Island and permitted the construction of shops for use on Lake Erie. Some of the ships that were constructed locally were used to transport lime for the industry. The Sandusky Bay Islands eventually became a rich source of limestone for the expanding American consumer market.
Computer Manuals for Novices: The Rhetorical Situation
Authors: Halse Ronald
Published: May 2005

Writing good computer manuals for beginners is a demanding job. Recently, rhetoricians have advised manual writers who want to write better manuals to consider the audience (computer users) carefully. However, my rhetorical analysis of several computer manuals shows that writers should also consider genre, subject, and writer's purpose. I also found that, while some writers accommodate their rhetorical situation, they may do it unconsciously, given the inconsistency of their rhetorical choices. In conclusion, by paying attention to the overall rhetorical situation, manual writers will surely produce better manuals.
Women and Health Care: A Comparison of Theories
Authors: Fee Elizabeth
Published: May 2005

There are three distinct approaches to the analysis of women's position in society, and thus of women's relation to the health care system. Liberal feminists seek equal opportunity “within the system,” demand equal opportunity and employment for women in health care, and are critical of the patronizing attitudes of physicians. Radical feminists reject “the system” as one based on the oppression of women and seek to build alternative structures to better fill their needs. They see the division between man and woman as the primary contradiction in society and patriarchy as its fundamental institution. They have initiated self-help groups and women's clinics to extend the base of health care controlled by women in their own interests. Marxist-feminists see the particular oppression of women as generated by contradictions within the development of capitalism. Women's unpaid labor at home and underpaid labor in the work force both serve the interests of the owners of capital. The health care system serves these same interests; it maintains and perpetuates the social class structure while becoming increasingly alienated from the health needs of the majority of the population.
Death Orientation in the Suicide Intervention Worker
Authors: Neimeyer Robert A. , Dingemans Peter M. A. J.
Published: May 2005

In light of the apparently important contribution of a counselor's personal characteristics to his/her clinical effectiveness, an examination of the death concerns of suicide intervention workers was undertaken. Results suggest that, relative to controls, crisis workers have consistently higher apprehension about their own mortality, but do not differ from controls in their degree of concern about the deaths of others. The significance of these findings for the selection and training of suicide counselors is noted, and the nature of current measures of death concern is briefly discussed.
CAL and the College Curriculum: Five Cases
Authors: Spraggins John R.
Published: May 2005

Case studies of five academic departments employing computer-assisted learning (CAL) function as basis for the set of speculative statements that conclude this work. These statements, or hypotheses, relate to auricular roles of the various CAL modes and serve as possible foundation for further qualitative or statistically-oriented research dealing with the influence of computer-assisted learning technology on the college curriculum. This work treats questions identified as pertinent through a survey of both the literature addressing college curriculum development issues and that reporting on studies investigating postsecondary applications of CAL. The study examines findings in each of the five cases individually and then seeks, through collation of case data, to identify possible trends.
Immunization for the Migrant Fulani: Identifying an Under-Served Population in Southwestern Nigeria
Authors: Dao Manasseh Y. J. , Brieger William R.
Published: May 2005

Rural populations are often at a disadvantage for receiving health services. Although Nigeria launched its Expanded Programme of Immunization in 1978, and has revised it twice since then, rural immunization coverage is still low. These problems may be compounded when the population is nomadic; thus a study was designed to learn about immunization coverage among a minority group of nomadic Fulani cattle herders living in southwestern Nigeria. It was necessary to conduct a census of the target population first because local government maps and records did not reflect their presence in study area, Ifeloju Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State. Sixty Fulani settlements were located and contained 2197 residents, 22.1 percent of whom were below five years of age and 21.5 percent of whom were women of child bearing age. Only 2.6 percent of children below twenty-four months of age (the EPI target group in Nigeria) had received full immunization, compared to an estimated coverage of 48 percent among all target age children in the LGA. Only 2.1 percent of the women had at least two tetanus toxoid immunization contacts. Immunization coverage was associated with proximity to a town, length of residence in the LGA and awareness of the settlement's leader about EPI. The latter factor gave rise to suggestions that greater outreach efforts should be targeted at Fulani leaders, using staff of the local nomadic education center to help design culturally appropriate health education programs.
The Interactive Videodisc for Computer-Assisted Education and Training in Developing Countries
Authors: Weiss Charles , Jarvis Stan
Published: May 2005

Interactive videodisc (IVD) technology, which combines the visual power of television with the flexibility of the microcomputer, offers attractive possibilities for applications to training and education in developing countries. For example, it can increase the efficiency of training, can teach students in scattered locations, and can supplement the work of live teachers when the latter are scarce. But, IVD requires substantial front-end costs, as well as a local team with a unique blend of talents. The first trial applications in developing countries should provide a high pay-off in the relatively short-term. Candidate applications drawn from the work of development assistance agencies include remedial science teaching for prospective college entrants, and training in the operation, maintenance, and repair of complicated machinery.
Determining Website Usage Time from Interactions: Data Preparation and Analysis
Authors: Sheard Judy , Ceddia Jason , Hurst John , Tuovinen Juhani
Published: May 2005

With the widespread adoption of the Web in tertiary education, students often work in electronic environments away from the direct observation of their educators. It is therefore of critical importance to develop techniques that will inform educators about how their students are using these new environments. A useful metric for gaining an understanding of student use of a Website is the time they spend using the site. This may be determined from captured and recorded student interactions with the Website. However, Website interactions present a large collection of data in a format that is difficult to handle. Using this data to determine access times is not a trivial task and several stages of preprocessing need to be performed. This article presents a method to prepare and analyse Website interaction data to determine site access times. Interactions captured from a courseware Website are used to illustrate this technique. This study has provided valuable information about student use of the site to the educators, informing future enhancements and developments to the Website.
What the Public Needs to Know about Science and Technology: A Report to the Club of Vienna
Authors: Richardson Jacques
Published: May 2005

In a world in which the relationship between science and technology and global problems becomes more intimate each day, we are called upon to deal with new issues. In order to do this effectively, we must know more about the science and technology underlying these problems. It is the task of certain segments of the information media to help their audiences perceive and understand the scientific and technical basis of improved nutrition and health, the limitations of some natural resources and how to cope with these constraints, the machine and computer environment in which we live and which will become ever more complex as microelectronic devices spread throughout our economies — to give only a few examples of the problems we all share.
To be or Not to Be: Assisted Suicide Revisited
Authors: Markson Elizabeth W.
Published: May 2005

Publicity accorded American physician-pathologist Jack Kevorkian and “physician-assisted suicide” bring a new, technological, twist to euthanasia. How and when we die and its meaning and how we live reflect cultural values within a historical context. High costs of medical care for the terminally ill when the cost of health care is the most rapidly rising portion of the consumer price index, Medicare expenses are the highest in the last year of life, and an estimated thirty-seven million people remain uninsured make euthanasia increasingly salient. Faced with great pain and the emotional and financial burden that often accompanies prolongation of life during terminal illness, the decision to die is not necessarily irrational, psychotic, or delusional but pragmatic. Yet inherent risks have often been overlooked in discussions of “the right to die.” This article reviews cultural values associated with beliefs about assisted suicide, the experience of other nations including the Nether; lands with assisted suicide, and the “slippery slopes” inherent in legitimization of physician-assisted suicide.
Psychiatric Emergency Services a Decade Later
Authors: Zonana Howard , Henisz Jerzy E. , Levine Michael
Published: May 2005

The changes in the functioning of the psychiatric component of a general hospital emergency room were assessed over the past decade. The effect of its incorporation into a community mental health center as its emergency service was seen to exert a significant increase in its utilization. Admissions increased threefold over the ten year period and the 15–21 age group increased by twice that amount. Analysis of census and social class data showed a significant effect of distance on only the lower socioeconomic groups. Diagnostic and dispositional shifts were seen as showing an increase in utilization by less disturbed patients who use the emergency room as their primary treatment resource. The rise in the drug addictions is striking and may mask other diagnoses.
Shopfloor Safety Initiatives: The Example of Atmospheric Testing in Telecommunications Cable Vaults
Authors: Newman Dave
Published: May 2005

Strategies for occupational safety and health campaigns often overlook the possibilities afforded by initiatives centered in the workplace itself, as opposed to those focused, for example, at the bargaining table or in the legislature. Workers themselves sometimes may be more cognizant and informed of immediate health and safety issues than are their union representatives, and may formulate innovative or unorthodox approaches to hazard remediation. Such approaches may in fact succeed despite ineffectual contract language or weak regulatory protection. This article examines a successful struggle by a small group of telecommunications technicians to get the employer to revise its obsolete procedures for atmospheric testing of unventilated, underground cable vaults. It demonstrates that increased consideration should be given to shopfloor actions and creative use of the grievance procedure as useful tools in the struggle for occupational safety and health.
Bedlam in the Therapeutic Community: The Disruption of a Hospital Therapeutic Community as a Pattern of Social Conflict
Authors: Massie Henry N.
Published: May 2005

A difficult patient arouses staff feelings to the point where a hospital therapeutic community ceases to function and the patient is forced to leave. The events reveal that there are social forces operative in the community at all times that may become disruptive. They lie in the ambiguities between egalitarian and authoritarian organization of the ward, and role conceptions of attendants, doctors and nurses. Such disruptions may recur more often as conflict over role and status becomes widespread. To manage these forces requires a sensitivity to the dynamics of the community, and a readiness on the part of the members to express their own needs and respond to the needs of others.
On the Uses of Disinformation to Legitimize the Revival of the Cold War: Health in the U.S.S.R.
Authors: Szymanski Albert
Published: May 2005

During the 1970s the Soviet Union experienced rising infant mortality rates and a corresponding levelling off of earlier increases in life expectancy. Several Western critics have misrepresented or exaggerated these statistics, suggesting that these trends indicate a general breakdown in the Soviet health care system as well as the failure of the Soviet form of socialism. This paper examines life expectancy and infant mortality data by Soviet republic, showing that rates are not uniform throughout the U.S.S.R. and in many cases compare favorably with those in Western European countries and the United States. It is suggested that the infant mortality problem in the U.S.S.R. is a temporary negative consequence of rapid progress in the areas of industrialization, employment of women, and socialization of child care. It is concluded that improvements in public health education, the quality of child care facilities, and the manufacture and distribution of infant formula will contribute to the rapid resolution of this problem.
Television Portrayals of Drinking and Driving
Authors: Breed Warren , De Foe James R.
Published: May 2005

Cases of drinking and driving on U.S. prime-time television programs over an eight-year period are described and analyzed. They are also judged according to criteria developed within the industry. Some stories are rated as consonant with public health education, some are not. Central criteria for analysis involve the portrayed consequences of DWI, the way humor is used, and the potential for identification between TV characters and viewers. Recent episodes have reduced the stereotyping found earlier and have presented the greater complexity and subtlety as well as the everyday nature of DWI.
Who is Likely to Acquire Programming Skills?
Authors: Shute Valerie J.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between programming skill acquisition and various measures of individual differences, including: 1) prior knowledge and general cognitive skills (e.g., word knowledge, information processing speed); 2) problem solving abilities (e.g., ability to decompose a problem into its constituent parts); and 3) learning style measures (e.g., asking for hints versus solving problems on one's own). Subjects ( N = 260) received extensive Pascal programming instruction from an intelligent tutoring system. Following instruction, an online battery of criterion tests was administered measuring programming knowledge and skills acquired from the tutor. Results showed that a large amount (68%) of the outcome variance could be predicted by a working-memory factor, specific word problem solving abilities (i.e., problem identification and sequencing of elements) and some learning style measures (i.e., asking for hints and running programs). Implications of the findings for the development of a theoretical framework on which to base programming instruction are discussed.
Navy Training Evaluation—Process and Product
Authors: Mitzel William J.
Published: May 2005

The Navy is presently revising its training and education establishment to conform to the latest principles of Instructional Systems Development (ISD). The systems approach used is that developed by the Interservice Training Review Organization (ITRO), now the approved model for Navy use. This paper describes the major features of this model with emphasis on the Navy training evaluation plan proposed to ensure quality control of each of the analytic and development states or model blocks as well as an assessment of the adequacy of the training through a careful study of the proficiency of the trained man. The plan is patterned after quality assurance techniques as they have been successfully applied to the engineering/management of aerospace systems. The plan is iterative in nature utilizing both objective and subjective technique, standardization, demonstration, and model schoolhouse tryout.
Urine Tests for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia: Great Technology but Will the Community Accept It?
Authors: Smith Lisa V. , Larro Michelle L. , Malotte C. Kevin , St. Lawrence Janet S.
Published: May 2005

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 311 respondents in seven inner-city communities within the United States in an effort to examine factors that promote regular urine-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Results suggested that the majority of respondents were in favor of the use of urine-based testing for the detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), indicating that regular urine testing is important for diagnosis, early detection, prevention, and treatment of STIs. The most common concerns reported were stigma associated with STIs, the time required for testing, the possibility of receiving inaccurate laboratory results, and the higher cost of urine testing. The ease and accuracy of urine testing in addition to its high acceptance suggest that screening programs for STIs using urine-based testing could be implemented and used quite effectively to control the transmission of STIs.
Social Change in the Salience of Death among Adults in America: A Projective Assessment
Authors: Bermann Sandra , Richardson Virginia
Published: May 2005

The relationship between the salience of death and decade, sex, age, and education is explored through a nationally representative, random sample of 1,428 respondents in 1957 and 1976. A thematic apperceptive procedure is utilized and stories are coded for reference to death. An attempt is made to validate the death variable with selected variables from a research questionnaire. A significant historical increase in concerns about death is found, although the change is strongest among women and the young. Implications for psychological research both current and past are discussed.
Concerns about Death in Relation to Sex, Dependency, Guilt about Hostility and Feelings of Powerlessness
Authors: Selvey Carole Light
Published: May 2005

In this study, sixty-one male and sixty-five female college students in a New England state university were administered tests of dependency, guilt about hostility, Rotter's I-E scale, and tests of death concern. In addition, stories about death were subjected to thematic analysis. Results failed to show relationship between death related concerns of loss, violence-mutilation, helplessness-mastery and personality characteristics measured. Discussion of results focuses upon the importance of discriminating between affective fear of death and cognitive preoccupation with death, differences in the sexes' interpretation of questions about death, the importance of early experience in forming death attitudes.
The Need for Better Research in Technical Communication
Authors: Anderson Paul V.
Published: May 2005

Technical communication is not one discipline but three, each addressing its own distinctive set of problems and applying its own particular criteria when deciding which of the alternative solutions it has generated addresses its problems most effectively. Of the three, only the professional discipline is conducting its research satisfactorily; the teaching and theoretical disciplines are not. All three could improve their research activities by posing themselves a wider variety of significant problems, generating a richer array of alternative solutions, and conducting more carefully the activities that enable them to select the alternatives most worthy of continued attention and use.
Confirmatory Evidence for Three Daydreaming Factors in the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory
Authors: Huba G. J. , Tanaka J. S.
Published: May 2005

Confirmatory factor analysis is used to determine whether the structure designed into the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory can be obtained in a sample other than the derivation one. The results indicate that the three hypothesized factors are found in this inventory. Internal consistencies are high and a factor structure comparable to that of the original derivation study is found.
Race, Class, and Violence: Research and Policy Implications
Authors: Spigner Clarence
Published: May 2005

A public health approach to preventing interpersonal violence involving perpetrators and victims is laudable, but fraught with social and political pitfalls. The concept of “race” is little understood and is being exploited by both academics and the media, putting racial minorities—particularly blacks, who tend to be overrepresented in data on reported violence—at further risk. Though race is acknowledged as an ambiguous concept, some dangers nonetheless persist in linking racial minorities to dysfunctional and antisocial behavior within both cultural and biological constructs. Recommendations are given to help ameliorate the effects of such contextual linking, particularly given the present mood of U.S. political conservatism.
Early Elementary Teachers' Receptivity to Tobacco Prevention in One Rural U.S. State
Authors: Carver Vivien , Reinert Bonita , Range Lillian M. , Campbell Catherine
Published: May 2005

Although tobacco prevention programs in public schools may be effective, most focus on high school or middle school students. To assess teacher receptivity at an earlier level, 2,290 early elementary (K-3) teachers in one rural state attended a training workshop that included grade-specific tobacco prevention materials. Four weeks later, 986 completed a follow-up questionnaire. Even on the initial questionnaire, an overwhelming majority thought that tobacco prevention should start in early elementary school, and that they could make a difference in reducing youth tobacco use. Following training, there was a 25 percent increase in number of teachers who had taught tobacco prevention at least once. Early elementary teachers were receptive to grade-specific tobacco prevention efforts that were integrated into their existing curriculum.
Competence and Drug Use: Theoretical Frameworks, Empirical Evidence and Measurement
Authors: Lindenberg Cathy Strachan , Solorzano Rosa , Kelley Maureen , Darrow Vicki , Gendrop Sylvia C. , Strickland Ora
Published: May 2005

Statistics show that use of harmful substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine) among women of childbearing age is widespread and serious. Numerous theoretical models and empirical studies have attempted to explain the complex factors that lead individuals to use drugs. The Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse [1] is one model developed to explain parameters that influence drug use. According to the model, the likelihood of an individual engaging in drug use is seen as a function of the stress level and the extent to which it is offset by stress modifiers such as social networks, social competencies, and resources. The variables of the denominator are viewed as interacting with each other to buffer the impact of stress [1]. This article focuses on one of the constructs in this model: that of competence. It presents a summary of theoretical and conceptual formulations for the construct of competence, a review of empirical evidence for the association of competence with drug use, and describes the preliminary development of a multi-scale instrument designed to assess drug protective competence among low-income Hispanic childbearing women. Based upon theoretical and empirical studies, eight domains of drug protective competence were identified and conceptually defined. Using subscales from existing instruments with psychometric evidence for their validity and reliability, a multi-scale instrument was developed to assess drug protective competence. Hypothesis testing was used to assess construct validity. Four drug protective competence domains (social influence, sociability, self-worth, and control/responsibility) were found to be statistically associated with drug use behaviors. Although not statistically significant, expected trends were observed between drug use and the other four domains of drug protective competence (intimacy, nurturance, goal directedness, and spiritual directedness). Study limitations and suggestions for further psychometric testing of the instrument are described.
Rewriting the Engineering Curriculum: Professionalism and Professional Communication
Authors: Youra Steven
Published: May 2005

Although engineers spend a substantial amount of their time writing or delivering oral presentations, the typical engineering curriculum segregates communications instruction from technical coursework. But out of an increasing sense of responsibility to provide more authentic professional training, engineering educators are developing programs which bring “real-life” contexts into the classroom. As a result, technical communications instruction is changing in significant ways. Writing clinics are tailoring their services to the precise needs of those they serve and expanding the range of professional support they offer. Furthermore, writing across the curriculum has significantly influenced engineering by linking composing and understanding. New communications courses parallel professional classes, and some redesigned engineering courses actually integrate verbal communication with “subject matter” instruction, Since these broad structural renovations are paradigmatic for other professional programs, technical writing teachers can and should facilitate and support such developments.
The First Technical Writer in English: A Challenge to the Hegemony of Chaucer
Authors: Hagge John
Published: May 2005

The claim that Geoffrey Chaucer was “the first technical writer in English,” which appears several times in the recent literature on the history of technical writing in early English, misleads because numerous Middle English technical prose texts either precede Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe or are contemporaneous with it. In fact, an important tradition of technical writing exists in both Old and Middle English and extends through the English Renaissance. Historians of technical writing will find it more profitable to investigate the tradition of English practical prose than to find further firsts for their field.
Pediatric Oncology: A Review of the Changing Psychological Aspects
Authors: Pfefferbaum Betty
Published: May 2005

This paper outlines the psychological concerns in pediatric oncology. Taking an historical perspective, early concerns pertained to issues of death and dying and what to tell the child about his diagnosis. With the marked improvement in the early diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, the psychological issues have changed considerably. There is ample evidence to indicate that psychological problems in the child and his family result from the turmoil from these diseases. However, current concerns may focus on problems of living rather than problems of dying. The child and his family being encouraged to live as normal a life as possible, may need assistance from the professional community in the attempt to achieve this status. This presents an ever increasing need for the health care professional to interface with not only the child and his family, but also with the school and community at large so that the child and his family alone do not shoulder the burden of the normalization process and so that the school and community may be in a better position to assist in the reintegration process.
Job Stress and Job Dissatisfaction of Home Care Workers in the Context of Health Care Restructuring
Authors: Denton Margaret , Zeytinoglu Isik Urla , Davies Sharon , Lian Jason
Published: May 2005

Changes in the social organization of home care work due to health care restructuring have affected the job stress and job dissatisfaction of home care workers. This article reports the results of a survey of 892 employees from three nonprofit home care agencies in a medium-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Survey results are complemented by data from 16 focus groups with 99 employees. For the purposes of this study, home care workers include both office workers (managers, supervisors, coordinators, office support staff, and case managers) and visiting workers (nurses, therapists, and visiting homemakers). Focus group participants indicated that health care restructuring has resulted in organizational change, budget cuts, heavier workloads, job insecurity, loss of organizational support, loss of peer support, and loss of time to provide emotional laboring, or the “caring” aspects of home care work. Analyses of survey data show that organizational change, fear of job loss, heavy workloads, and lack of organizational and peer support lead to increased job stress and decreased levels of job satisfaction.