Progressing from Small Group Work to Cooperative Learning: A Case Study from Computer Science*

Although the industrial partners of academe are unanimous in their desire to hire engineering graduates who are experienced in working productively in small groups, implementing small group work in a computer science class can be difficult. The obvious assignment, a group programming project, proved to be a poor choice when implemented in my computer graphics class. An examination of the literature in this area shows that a group programming project has many features in common with a group term paper, the assignment that has been uniquely identified as the worst choice for small group work. Fortunately, there are better choices for cooperative learning in computer science. Assignments with “the three S's“: Same problem, Specific choice, and Simultaneous reporting of group choices, work well. This was implemented in my class by having students work multiple choice quizzes designed to require high level learning skills. Quizzes were first worked by individuals, then by small groups. The small group answers are then compared and discussed in class. This generates the type of interaction between the professor and students which creates positive cooperative learning experiences. Promising results have been seen with this method, from both the student and the professor's perspective.     

The Hartford Study of Supported Employment for Persons With Severe Mental Illness.

The authors compared 3 approaches to vocational rehabilitation for severe mental illness (SMI): the individual placement and support (IPS) model of supported employment, a psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) program, and standard services. Two hundred four unemployed clients (46% African American, 30% Latino) with SMI were randomly assigned to IPS, PSR, or standard services and followed for 2 years. Clients in IPS had significantly better employment outcomes than clients in PSR and standard services, including more competitive work (73.9% vs. 18.2% vs. 27.5%, respectively) and any paid work (73.9% vs. 34.8% vs. 53.6%, respectively). There were few differences in nonvocational outcomes between programs. IPS is a more effective model than PSR or standard brokered vocational services for improving employment outcomes in clients with SMI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Gross et al. (2003).

Reports an error in the original article by D. Gross et al (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2003[Apr], Vol 71[2], pp. 261-278). The article was mistitled. The correct title is "Parent Training with Multi-Ethnic Families of Toddlers in Day Care in Low-Income Urban Communities". (The following abstract of the article originally appeared in record 2003-02091-006.) The authors tested a 12-week parent training program with parents (n=208) and teachers (n=77) of 2-3-year-olds in day care centers serving low-income families of color in Chicago. Eleven centers were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) parent and teacher training (PT + TT), (b) parent training (PT), (c) teacher training (TT), and (d) waiting list control (C). After controlling for parent stress, PT and PT + TT parents reported higher self-efficacy and less coercive discipline and were observed to have more positive behaviors than C and TT parents. Among toddlers in high-risk behavior problem groups, toddlers in the experimental conditions showed greater improvement than controls. Most effects were retained 1 year later. Benefits were greatest when parents directly received training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-child interaction therapy: A comparison of standard and abbreviated treatments for oppositional defiant preschoolers.

Families of 54 behaviorally disturbed preschool-aged children (3 to 5 years) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment conditions: standard parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT; STD); modified PCIT that used didactic videotapes, telephone consultations, and face-to-face sessions to abbreviate treatment, and a no-treatment waitlist control group (WL). Twenty-one nondisturbed preschoolers were recruited as a social validation comparison condition. Posttreatment assessment indicated significant differences in parent-reported externalizing behavior in children, and parental stress and discipline practices from both treatment groups on most measures compared with the WL group. Clinical significance testing suggested a superior effect for the STD immediately after intervention, but by 6-month follow-up, the two groups were comparable. The findings indicate that abbreviated PCIT may be of benefit for families with young conduct problem children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approaching diversity training in the year 2000.

Managing diversity effectively is the most complex human resource challenge of the next century, permeating every aspect of an organization's internal functioning and external marketplace. As organizations continue to contract for diversity consultation and training, expectations for what these programs can offer increase. This article explores the areas that diversity consultation training can successfully address as an intention to meet the organizational challenges to be faced in the next century. A comprehensive model for diversity consultation is proposed to address the multifaceted aspects necessary to build inclusive organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misinformation effects in eyewitness memory: The presence and absence of memory impairment as a function of warning and misinformation accessibility.

The authors report 5 experiments investigating how exposure to misleading postevent information affects people's ability to remember details from a witnessed event. In each experiment the authors tested memory using the modified opposition test, which was designed to isolate retrieval-blocking effects. The findings indicate that retrieval blocking occurs regardless of whether the misleading information is presented before or after the witnessed event. In addition, when people are warned immediately about the presence of misleading information, they can counteract retrieval-blocking effects but only if the misinformation is relatively low in accessibility. The authors discuss the findings in terms of the retrieval-blocking hypothesis and a hypothetical suppression mechanism that can counteract retrieval-blocking effects in some circumstances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual search for size is influenced by a background texture gradient.

Research on the perception of texture gradients has relied heavily on the subjective reports of observers engaged in free-viewing. We asked whether these findings generalized to speeded performance. Experiment 1 showed that an important aspect of subjective perception—size constancy scaling with perceived distance—also predicted the speed of pop-out visual search for cylinders viewed against a texture gradient. Experiment 2 showed that this finding could not be attributed to the local contrast between search items and the background texture. Experiment 3 assessed the relative contributions of 2 separable dimensions of texture gradients—perspective (radial spreading) and comprcssion (foreshortening—finding them to be independent in the more rapid search conditions (long target among shorter distractors) but combined in their influence in the slower conditions (short target among longer distractors). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocal teaching goes to college: Effects for postsecondary students at risk for academic failure.

This study investigated the effects of a structured reading comprehension technique, reciprocal teaching, on postsecondary students at risk for academic failure. The sample comprised 50 at-risk students enrolled in a community college who participated in either the reciprocal teaching or cooperative learning condition. The reciprocal teaching group performed significantly better than the comparison group on reading comprehension and strategy acquisition. There were no differences on perception of study skills. In secondary analyses, poorer readers in the reciprocal teaching condition benefited differentially, outperforming poorer readers in the comparison condition on both reading comprehension and strategy acquisition measures. That a structured reading comprehension strategy for college-age students was effective has implications for the design of remedial courses at 2- and 4-year colleges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital history at midlife as a predictor of longevity: Alternative explanations to the protective effect of marriage.

The association between marital history at midlife (in 1950) and mortality (as of 1991) was studied in a group of intelligent, educated men and women (N?=?1,077) who participated in the Terman Life-Cycle Study initiated by Lewis Terman in 1921. Results confirm that consistently married people live longer than those who have experienced marital breakup but suggest that this is not necessarily due to the protective effects of marriage itself. Individuals who were currently married, but had previously experienced a divorce, were at significantly higher mortality risk compared with consistently married individuals. Furthermore, individuals who had not married by midlife were not at higher mortality risk compared with consistently married individuals. Part of the relationship between marital history and mortality risk may be explained by childhood psychosocial variables, which were associated with both future marital history and mortality risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)