title: Take five - stay alive: the development and implementation of a classroom-based driver education programme for adolescents

authors: Bruce, Neil Mackay

abstract: This study was an outcome from a head on collision involving the researcher, which resulted in the death of an adolescent motorcyclist. It describes the development, implementation and evaluation of an original driver education programme, TAKE FIVE-STAY ALIVE, which was designed to increase the awareness of safety for secondary school students aged between 15 and 17 years. The programme was implemented in two secondary schools and involved four driver education classes: two during each July-September semester of 1996 and 1997. The focus on classroom implementation was influenced by a lack of research reporting what happens when a driver education (DE) programme is implemented in a classroom. The principal aim for students was to raise awareness in them of factors contributing to collisions because adolescents have maintained the highest levels of death and injury of any group in New Zealand in recent years. 

Driver education research to date, which has mainly relied on positivist research methods and has focussed on summative outcomes, often confirmed minimal long-term safety advantage for groups receiving training. This study departed from a purely quantitative approach and, instead, used formative assessments and analyses of qualitative and quantitative data to improve programme effectiveness as it was being implemented.

Using a multi-faceted, inductive and naturalistic approach, the longitudinal study uses a teacher-as-researcher model of action research. Reported in narrative form, several small action research cycles were evaluated and incorporated within three larger cycles of action research. Action research provided a systematic approach for the management of the research as a whole and for monitoring student progress.

There were several units of analysis operating within each implementation: the process of developing and implementing a DE programme, the observation, reflection and planning of teaching and learning activities, and a narrative account of the research as a whole from the researcher’s perspective of being a lone action researcher, programme developer, driver education teacher and researcher.

Findings highlighted the need to avoid making assumptions about the homogeneity of students and their preparedness to accept, without question, safety ideas from a DE programme or a teacher. Instead it was important to take account of the diversity of adolescents, their individual learning needs and preferred learning styles. Where possible students were encouraged to contribute to programme development through diary entries, discussion and feedback about teaching, programme content and learning outcomes. The researcher was also able to broaden his teaching skills and improve the quality of teaching and learning for many students.
This research found that increasing student awareness of safety through a classroom-based driver education programme is largely dependent on a teacher using formative and summative assessments within the practice of teaching and learning so that tasks and activities could be adjusted to better enable students to make progress.

Finally, this research emphasises that driver educators cannot assume that designing a programme will in itself ensure effective results. It is what happens in the classroom that determines any programme’s impact on students, their ideas and behaviour.

text: Take five - stay alive: the development and implementation of a classroom-based driver education programme for adolescents This study was an outcome from a head on collision involving the researcher, which resulted in the death of an adolescent motorcyclist. It describes the development, implementation and evaluation of an original driver education programme, TAKE FIVE-STAY ALIVE, which was designed to increase the awareness of safety for secondary school students aged between 15 and 17 years. The programme was implemented in two secondary schools and involved four driver education classes: two during each July-September semester of 1996 and 1997. The focus on classroom implementation was influenced by a lack of research reporting what happens when a driver education (DE) programme is implemented in a classroom. The principal aim for students was to raise awareness in them of factors contributing to collisions because adolescents have maintained the highest levels of death and injury of any group in New Zealand in recent years. 

Driver education research to date, which has mainly relied on positivist research methods and has focussed on summative outcomes, often confirmed minimal long-term safety advantage for groups receiving training. This study departed from a purely quantitative approach and, instead, used formative assessments and analyses of qualitative and quantitative data to improve programme effectiveness as it was being implemented.

Using a multi-faceted, inductive and naturalistic approach, the longitudinal study uses a teacher-as-researcher model of action research. Reported in narrative form, several small action research cycles were evaluated and incorporated within three larger cycles of action research. Action research provided a systematic approach for the management of the research as a whole and for monitoring student progress.

There were several units of analysis operating within each implementation: the process of developing and implementing a DE programme, the observation, reflection and planning of teaching and learning activities, and a narrative account of the research as a whole from the researcher’s perspective of being a lone action researcher, programme developer, driver education teacher and researcher.

Findings highlighted the need to avoid making assumptions about the homogeneity of students and their preparedness to accept, without question, safety ideas from a DE programme or a teacher. Instead it was important to take account of the diversity of adolescents, their individual learning needs and preferred learning styles. Where possible students were encouraged to contribute to programme development through diary entries, discussion and feedback about teaching, programme content and learning outcomes. The researcher was also able to broaden his teaching skills and improve the quality of teaching and learning for many students.
This research found that increasing student awareness of safety through a classroom-based driver education programme is largely dependent on a teacher using formative and summative assessments within the practice of teaching and learning so that tasks and activities could be adjusted to better enable students to make progress.

Finally, this research emphasises that driver educators cannot assume that designing a programme will in itself ensure effective results. It is what happens in the classroom that determines any programme’s impact on students, their ideas and behaviour.

year: 2002

title: Simulation, measurement, and design of multi-electrode spinal cord stimulation Leads with a focus on MRI safeness and stimuli induced artefacts

authors: Hartung, Dirk

subjects: MRI safeness

abstract: The electromagnetic (EM) and thermodynamic (TD) models for a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) presented in this work, permit on one hand to analyse the impact of electrical stimuli patterns on artefacts and on the other hand to analyse the impact of RF exposure during MRI scans on tissue heating. Historically, many models have focused on single electrode Leads whereas this work focuses on multi-electrode Leads. Testing of Leads and IPGs for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) compliance is a tedious, time-consuming and expensive process. A table-top RF test bed has been conceived and calibrated to systematically investigate MRI compliance for various RF exposure scenarios. In addition, a table-top test bed has been conceived to determine the propagation constant of electromagnetic (EM) waves along Leads embedded in electrolytes. A thin low permittivity layer around the multi-lumen conduct (MLC) has been added to the EM model to solve the discrepancy between measured and initially calculated propagation constants. Further, several new measures to minimise tissue heating caused by Leads during MRI scans are presented. The work compares EM and TD simulation results obtained from finite element method (FEM) solvers with measurement results obtained from various test beds that have been conceived or adapted. Despite some discrepancies between simulated and measured results the EM and thermodynamic models permit to investigate the impact of stimuli patterns on artefacts and the impact of RF exposure on tissue heating. The results show that worst case tissue heating does not necessarily occur at the distal end electrode in multi-electrode Leads and that RF exposure scenarios have an impact on locations where RF power is dissipated at the distal end. Simulations and measurements show that Lead wire routing anomalies, i.e. changes in RF coupling between Lead wires along a multi-lumen conduct, have a significant impact on locations where RF power is dissipated at the distal end. The measures proposed to minimise tissue heating have proved their effectiveness in both the table-top RF test bed and in a 3 Tesla MRI scanner. Finally, artefacts captured by recording electrodes in multi-electrode Leads can be significantly reduced if the input impedance of the recording amplifier is low during stimuli on therapeutic electrodes.

text: Simulation, measurement, and design of multi-electrode spinal cord stimulation Leads with a focus on MRI safeness and stimuli induced artefacts The electromagnetic (EM) and thermodynamic (TD) models for a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) presented in this work, permit on one hand to analyse the impact of electrical stimuli patterns on artefacts and on the other hand to analyse the impact of RF exposure during MRI scans on tissue heating. Historically, many models have focused on single electrode Leads whereas this work focuses on multi-electrode Leads. Testing of Leads and IPGs for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) compliance is a tedious, time-consuming and expensive process. A table-top RF test bed has been conceived and calibrated to systematically investigate MRI compliance for various RF exposure scenarios. In addition, a table-top test bed has been conceived to determine the propagation constant of electromagnetic (EM) waves along Leads embedded in electrolytes. A thin low permittivity layer around the multi-lumen conduct (MLC) has been added to the EM model to solve the discrepancy between measured and initially calculated propagation constants. Further, several new measures to minimise tissue heating caused by Leads during MRI scans are presented. The work compares EM and TD simulation results obtained from finite element method (FEM) solvers with measurement results obtained from various test beds that have been conceived or adapted. Despite some discrepancies between simulated and measured results the EM and thermodynamic models permit to investigate the impact of stimuli patterns on artefacts and the impact of RF exposure on tissue heating. The results show that worst case tissue heating does not necessarily occur at the distal end electrode in multi-electrode Leads and that RF exposure scenarios have an impact on locations where RF power is dissipated at the distal end. Simulations and measurements show that Lead wire routing anomalies, i.e. changes in RF coupling between Lead wires along a multi-lumen conduct, have a significant impact on locations where RF power is dissipated at the distal end. The measures proposed to minimise tissue heating have proved their effectiveness in both the table-top RF test bed and in a 3 Tesla MRI scanner. Finally, artefacts captured by recording electrodes in multi-electrode Leads can be significantly reduced if the input impedance of the recording amplifier is low during stimuli on therapeutic electrodes.

year: 2019

title: Does within-treatment change on dynamic risk factors and psychopathology predict recidivism for men graduating from Tai Aroha?

authors: Tanner Dempsey, Arden

subjects: dynamic risk factors

abstract: Dynamic risk factors are modifiable aspects of justice-involved people and their environment that can change over time and are associated with criminal behaviour. Because they are considered changeable, they are therefore typically the focus of rehabilitative treatment (Bonta & Andrews, 2024). Research shows that correctional rehabilitation that targets dynamic risk factors effectively reduces recidivism, and psychometric tools assessing these factors generally show improvements during treatment. However, there is a missing link; current research lacks consistent evidence linking changes on dynamic risk factors during treatment to recidivism. Relatedly, there are few studies assessing within-treatment changes in psychopathology and how they may affect recidivism, though they are commonly assessed alongside dynamic risk factors in correctional settings. 
This study, involving 164 people with violent offence convictions who completed the Tai Aroha community treatment programme, aimed to address this missing link. A battery of tests measured pre- and post-programme included dynamic risk factor measures, the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS), Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), Criminal Attitudes to Violence Scale (CAVS), and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III and IV) which is designed to assess personality and clinical psychopathology. Standardised residual change scores were used to account for variance in pre-treatment scores, and Cox regression hazard ratios to test prediction of general and violent recidivism.
Most subscales for dynamic risk factor measures and the MCMI-III and IV showed substantial improvements during treatment, however, this did not translate to predicting the probability of recidivism. While several hazard ratios indicated effects in a positive direction, none were significant when adjusted for multiple comparisons, and controlling for actuarial risk did not improve predictive accuracy. There was some evidence of increased socially desirable responding which increased at the end of treatment, this included responses on the MCMI-III and IV consistent with the “Normal Quartet.” Interpretations of these findings and both theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

text: Does within-treatment change on dynamic risk factors and psychopathology predict recidivism for men graduating from Tai Aroha? Dynamic risk factors are modifiable aspects of justice-involved people and their environment that can change over time and are associated with criminal behaviour. Because they are considered changeable, they are therefore typically the focus of rehabilitative treatment (Bonta & Andrews, 2024). Research shows that correctional rehabilitation that targets dynamic risk factors effectively reduces recidivism, and psychometric tools assessing these factors generally show improvements during treatment. However, there is a missing link; current research lacks consistent evidence linking changes on dynamic risk factors during treatment to recidivism. Relatedly, there are few studies assessing within-treatment changes in psychopathology and how they may affect recidivism, though they are commonly assessed alongside dynamic risk factors in correctional settings. 
This study, involving 164 people with violent offence convictions who completed the Tai Aroha community treatment programme, aimed to address this missing link. A battery of tests measured pre- and post-programme included dynamic risk factor measures, the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS), Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), Criminal Attitudes to Violence Scale (CAVS), and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III and IV) which is designed to assess personality and clinical psychopathology. Standardised residual change scores were used to account for variance in pre-treatment scores, and Cox regression hazard ratios to test prediction of general and violent recidivism.
Most subscales for dynamic risk factor measures and the MCMI-III and IV showed substantial improvements during treatment, however, this did not translate to predicting the probability of recidivism. While several hazard ratios indicated effects in a positive direction, none were significant when adjusted for multiple comparisons, and controlling for actuarial risk did not improve predictive accuracy. There was some evidence of increased socially desirable responding which increased at the end of treatment, this included responses on the MCMI-III and IV consistent with the “Normal Quartet.” Interpretations of these findings and both theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

year: 2024-01-23