Commonsense objectives in paradoxical interventions.

Discusses paradoxical interventions (PIs) in relation to the objectives for which they are used: to alleviate pressure, gain voluntary control, invalidate operating premises, legitimize, make unacceptable actions conscious, and appeal to "oppositionality." It is suggested that organization by objectives can promote better understanding and use of PIs. The appropriateness of presenting the rationale to the client is related to the objectives of the intervention. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychomotor objectives in occupational therapy education

This article describes the role of educational objective taxonomies in facilitating the specification of intended learning outcomes and the apparent neglect of objectives directed toward psychomotor learning. A review of the literature indicates extensive material is available on motor learning and on the classification of psychomotor levels of behavior according to a systematic framework. Although many of the categories are functional for special areas, no one system has universal applicability. It is suggested that each discipline may need to draw on the literature to formulate its own taxonomic system, and a model taxonomy is offered for occupational therapy education in which levels of psychomotor performance are differentiated by the degree of individuation, the unique quality of performance introduced by the learner. Examples are given at each level and illustrative objectives combine expected behaviors with selected curriculum areas.     

Baccalaureate curriculum. Gerontological nursing objectives

1. Gerontological preparation for nursing practice is no longer a curricular luxury; it is a necessity. Baccalaureate nursing education must include broad content and guided practice in gerontological nursing. 2. Incorporating gerontology into a baccalaureate nursing curriculum often is a challenge. Reasons include gerontology not being a "traditional" specialty area; health care professionals in the United States, including nurses, not viewing older adults differently from younger adults; students not being expected to apply knowledge or concepts specifically related to gerontology; and efforts to incorporate gerontological content into a curriculum being resisted due to ageism--a "natural" avoidance of aging from which nursing faculty are not exempt. 3. Because of the limited numbers of nurses with an advanced education in gerontology, the recruitment of experienced, knowledgeable faculty is difficult. Most gerontology faculty are still largely self-taught and enter nursing education via the fields of medical/surgical, psychiatric, or community nursing. It is largely these faculty who must plan and "pioneer" gerontology in the curriculum.     

Developing behavioral objectives for perioperative staff development

Behavioral objectives (i.e., clear statements that describe intended instructional outcomes) are a crucial component of educational planning for perioperative staff development. Properly written objectives promote positive learning outcomes such as increased motivation, better retention of information, and improved instructional accountability. This article describes the advantages of using behavioral objectives, gives a historical perspective of their development, presents a practical "how-to" approach to formulating them, and delineates their link to the selection of appropriate evaluation methods.     

Aims and objectives for postgraduate learning in anaesthesia

This paper describes the statement of aims and objectives of postgraduate training for the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The objectives of the authors are that after study of this paper, the readers will: (a) Understand the importance of both "stated" and "informal" objectives in teaching and learning. (b) Understand the important terms used in the Faculty of Anaesthetists' Document on objectives. (c) Know the strategies using in writing the Faculty's Document of Objectives.     

Learning objectives and the organization of prose.

The orienting role of objectives was examined in relation to the organization of 2 texts, defined in terms of the ideational prominence of some of their elements. The texts consisted of short passages on energy, which were studied by 108 female college level students. Ideational prominence, which was experimentally manipulated in the study, did influence learning on its own, but it lost its effect when relevant objectives were also provided. Objectives and structure were interpreted as providing redundant orientation in learning, the importance of each being determined by situational factors. Both orienting factors were also found to be little influenced by a time constraint examined in the study. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Program objectives and student outcomes in health education

Thin-layer chromatography was used to find out if there were any quantitative differences in fatty acid content in pus from the palmar pustules in ten patients with psoriasis pustulosa palmo-plantaris (PPP) before and after long-term tetracycline therapy. No significant differences were found, indicating that it was not possible to correlate the good therapeutic effect of antibiotics reported in PPP with a decrease in the fatty acid content of pus from the pustles. However, the series was small and investigations are now in progress to establish whether small differences of significance can be demonstrated in a larger series. By combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry the fatty acids of pus in patients with psoriasis pustulosa palmo-plantaris were analysed. Stearic and palmitic acids were found to be predominant.     

Writing cognitive educational objectives and multiple-choice test questions

Guidelines for writing cognitive objectives and multiple-choice test questions for pharmacy educational programs are suggested. Cognitive educational objectives relate to intellectual skills and can usually be tested with multiple-choice questions. Pharmacy educators writing cognitive objectives should focus on the major, not minor, knowledge or skills that participants in an educational program are expected to acquire; ensure that the objectives are supported by instruction; define the desired performance of the learners; ensure that the objectives are observable and measurable; and define the learning level for each objective (i.e., knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation). Each multiple-choice test question should be written with a view to assessing the learner's achievement of one of the stated objectives. Educators should write test questions that are clear and concise, are in the form of complete sentences, include one clearly correct or best response, are phrased positively rather than negatively, and give no clues as to the correct answer. The learning level of each question should match that of the objective the question is designed to test. Educators should weight tests fairly by including the same number of questions for each objective. It may be necessary to include some higher-level questions to ensure assessment of the competence level at which the program is aimed. Cognitive educational objectives should be observable and measurable; multiple-choice test questions should correspond to specific objectives and be based on the appropriate learning level.     

Generic nursing outcome objectives for use in long-term care facilities

Twenty-two registered nurses employed in four long-term care facilities generated data for a study about nursing diagnoses in long-term care (N = 360). Generic outcome objectives were developed as an integral part of the project. The research team also specified exceptions to the outcomes: instances where meeting outcome objectives might not be possible. The outcome objectives and exceptions for the sample's 20 most frequently occurring nursing diagnoses are presented as working statements. The authors expect that these outcome objectives and exceptions will be revised by nurses who use them in practice, basic and continuing education, and research.     

Main objectives and new aspects of combination treatment of hypertension

AIM: To review the various pharmacological approaches currently proposed for the treatment of hypertension. RESULTS: With the evolution of pharmacological treatment of hypertension, various classes of agent (diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium antagonists and alpha 1-blockers) have become available for the initiation of antihypertensive therapy. As monotherapy, each type of agent will normalize blood pressure in about half of all hypertensive patients. Replacing one drug with another that acts through a different mechanism improves the probability of controlling blood pressure. Another way to increase the number of responders is to increase the dose; however, this often results in more side effects. A preferable way of improving efficacy is to combine low doses of drugs that have different impacts on the cardiovascular system, thus opposing the compensatory responses that tend to limit the blood pressure drop. CONCLUSION: Low-dose drug combinations are generally well tolerated and the treatment of hypertension can be simplified by using fixed-dose combinations. These combinations have the potential to become a valuable alternative in the initiation of antihypertensive therapy.     

当代教学目标分类理论研究的新进展

在课堂教学中,为了把教学目的落实到教学过程中去,必须把教学目的具体化、细拟化和操作化,建立教学目标体系,即教学目标分类.教学目标分类是指运用分类学的理论,把教学目的按照由简单到复杂、从低级到高级连续递增的形式进行有序的排列组合,使之系列化.教学目标体系应该是一套具体可测的、行为操作化的、看得见、摸得着的目标,这对于现实教学的目的和进行课堂教学质量评价具有十分重要的意义.自20世纪50年代以来,人们对教学目标分类问题进行了系统、深入的研究,提出了几种重要的教学目标分类理论.