Assessing Organizational Functioning as a Step Toward Innovation

Innovate and adapt are watchwords for substance abuse treatment programs in today’s environment of legislative mandates, effective new interventions, and competition. Organizations are having to evolve—ready or not—and those that are ready have superior chances for success and survival. The Texas Christian University Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) survey is a free instrument, with supporting materials, that substance abuse treatment programs use to assess organizational traits that can facilitate or hinder efforts at transition. This article presents organizational change as a three-stage process of adopting, implementing, and routinizing new procedures; describes the use of the ORC; and outlines a step-by-step procedure for clearing away potential obstacles before setting forth on the road to improved practices and outcomes

Knowledge Maps as Scaffolds for Cognitive Processing

Knowledge Maps Are Node-Link Representations in Which Ideas Are Located in Nodes and Connected to Other Related Ideas through a Series of Labeled Links. the Research on Knowledge Mapping in the Last 12 Years Has Produced a Number of Consistent Findings. Students Recall More Central Ideas When They Learn from a Knowledge Map Than When They Learn from Text and Those with Low Verbal Ability or Low Prior Knowledge Often Benefit the Most. the Use of Knowledge Maps Also Appears to Amplify the Benefits Associated with Scripted Cooperation. Learning from Maps is Enhanced by Active Processing Strategies Such as Summarization or Annotation and by Designing Maps According to Gestalt Principles of Organization. Fruitful Areas for Future Research on Knowledge Mapping Include Examining Whether Knowledge Maps Reduce Cognitive Load, How Map Learning is Influenced by the Structure of the Information to Be Learned, and the Possibilities for Transfer. Implications for Practice Are Briefly Delineated

The Effect of Textual Errors on Dyadic and Individual Learning

The Major Objective of the Present Experiment Was to Assess the Effects of Textual Errors on Dyadic and Individual Learning. One Hundred Undergraduates Were Taught a Four-Step Learning Strategy, after Which They Studied a Text Passage Either Dyadically or Individually. Half of the Passages within Both Conditions Contained Syntactic Errors. Total Recall Measures Indicated that Dyads Performed Better Than Individuals on Recall of Text in Sections Not Containing Errors, Whereas the Groups Did Not Differ on Recall of the Material in Text Sections Containing Errors. Further, Dyads Outscored Individuals on Measures of Recall of Error Location, Error Frequency, and Perceived Difficulty of the Text Sections Which Contained Errors. in Addition, Subjective Processing Measures Indicated that Motivation and Interest Were Strongly Related to Recall. © 1989, SAGE Publications. All Rights Reserved

Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

The Effects of Cooperative Learning Strategy Manipulations on the Enactment and Recall of a Medical Procedure Were Explored. One Hundred and Twenty-Three College Students Completed the Experiment. during Training, Participants Were Randomly Assigned to a Dyad in One of Four Conditions: (A) No-Strategy, (B) Baseline Strategy, (C) Prompting Strategy, and (D) Planning Strategy. during Testing, Participants Both Performed and Produced Written Recalls of the Procedure Instructions. Test Order Was Counterbalanced within Dyad. Training and Test Performances Were Videotaped. the Planning Group Produced the Best Recalls and Recalled More Conditions of the Procedure. the Prompting Group Performed Best. Recall of the Procedure in All Groups Was Enhanced by Prior Performance. However, Performance Was Enhanced by Prior Recall in Only Two Groups. the Groups Differed Also in the Nature of the Transition from Training to Testing. Theoretical and Applied Implications of These Findings Are Discussed. © 1988, SAGE Publications. All Rights Reserved

Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria during 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

BACKGROUND: The Millennium Declaration in 2000 brought special global attention to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria through the formulation of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6. The Global Burden of Disease 2013 study provides a consistent and comprehensive approach to disease estimation for between 1990 and 2013, and an opportunity to assess whether accelerated progress has occured since the Millennium Declaration. METHODS: To estimate incidence and mortality for HIV, we used the UNAIDS Spectrum model appropriately modified based on a systematic review of available studies of mortality with and without antiretroviral therapy (ART). For concentrated epidemics, we calibrated Spectrum models to fit vital registration data corrected for misclassification of HIV deaths. In generalised epidemics, we minimised a loss function to select epidemic curves most consistent with prevalence data and demographic data for all-cause mortality. We analysed counterfactual scenarios for HIV to assess years of life saved through prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and ART. For tuberculosis, we analysed vital registration and verbal autopsy data to estimate mortality using cause of death ensemble modelling. We analysed data for corrected case-notifications, expert opinions on the case-detection rate, prevalence surveys, and estimated cause-specific mortality using Bayesian meta-regression to generate consistent trends in all parameters. We analysed malaria mortality and incidence using an updated cause of death database, a systematic analysis of verbal autopsy validation studies for malaria, and recent studies (2010-13) of incidence, drug resistance, and coverage of insecticide-treated bednets. FINDINGS: Globally in 2013, there were 1·8 million new HIV infections (95% uncertainty interval 1·7 million to 2·1 million), 29·2 million prevalent HIV cases (28·1 to 31·7), and 1·3 million HIV deaths (1·3 to 1·5). At the peak of the epidemic in 2005, HIV caused 1·7 million deaths (1·6 million to 1·9 million). Concentrated epidemics in Latin America and eastern Europe are substantially smaller than previously estimated. Through interventions including PMTCT and ART, 19·1 million life-years (16·6 million to 21·5 million) have been saved, 70·3% (65·4 to 76·1) in developing countries. From 2000 to 2011, the ratio of development assistance for health for HIV to years of life saved through intervention was US$4498 in developing countries. Including in HIV-positive individuals, all-form tuberculosis incidence was 7·5 million (7·4 million to 7·7 million), prevalence was 11·9 million (11·6 million to 12·2 million), and number of deaths was 1·4 million (1·3 million to 1·5 million) in 2013. In the same year and in only individuals who were HIV-negative, all-form tuberculosis incidence was 7·1 million (6·9 million to 7·3 million), prevalence was 11·2 million (10·8 million to 11·6 million), and number of deaths was 1·3 million (1·2 million to 1·4 million). Annualised rates of change (ARC) for incidence, prevalence, and death became negative after 2000. Tuberculosis in HIV-negative individuals disproportionately occurs in men and boys (versus women and girls); 64·0% of cases (63·6 to 64·3) and 64·7% of deaths (60·8 to 70·3). Globally, malaria cases and deaths grew rapidly from 1990 reaching a peak of 232 million cases (143 million to 387 million) in 2003 and 1·2 million deaths (1·1 million to 1·4 million) in 2004. Since 2004, child deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa have decreased by 31·5% (15·7 to 44·1). Outside of Africa, malaria mortality has been steadily decreasing since 1990. INTERPRETATION: Our estimates of the number of people living with HIV are 18·7% smaller than UNAIDS's estimates in 2012. The number of people living with malaria is larger than estimated by WHO. The number of people living with HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria have all decreased since 2000. At the global level, upward trends for malaria and HIV deaths have been reversed and declines in tuberculosis deaths have accelerated. 101 countries (74 of which are developing) still have increasing HIV incidence. Substantial progress since the Millennium Declaration is an encouraging sign of the effect of global action. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Cooperative Learner

The Purpose of This Article is to Review a Series of Investigations Conducted to Assess the Role that Individual Learner Characteristics Play in Scripted Cooperative Learning. These Results Point to Three General Conclusions. First, Individual Differences Have Consistently Been Found to Play an Important Role in Determining the Effectiveness of Scripted Cooperation. Students Strong in Cognitive Skills, High in Extroversion, and Average in Test Anxiety Appear to Benefit Most from This Method. Second, the Efficacy of This Learning Tool Can Be Enhanced through the Consideration of Learner Characteristics. for Example, Those Low in Cognitive Abilities Benefit Most from Scripted Cooperation When Paired with a Partner Who is Strong in Such Skills. Third, Dansereau\u27s (1986, 1988) CAMS Model for Group Problem Solving Processes is Largely Supported by These Results, in that Three of the Four Components of the Model (I.e., Cognition, Affect, and Social Processes) Appear to Have a Significant Impact in Determining the Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning, in Terms of Individual Differences. © 1990

Knowledge Maps and the Presentation of Related Information Domains

An Experiment Was Conducted to Assess the Relative Effectiveness of Multiple-Relationship Knowledge Maps and Traditional Text for the Presentation of Related Information Domains. a Secondary Purpose Was to Investigate Comparative Versus Sequential Presentations. Knowledge Maps Were Found to Be Superior to Traditional Text in Acquisition and Affect Associated with Studying for One Type of Material. Moreover, Students in the Map Groups Reported Gaining More Knowledge About their Information Processing and Study Strategies that Would Help Them in Future Learning Than Did Those in the Text Groups. However, These Results Were Not Replicated with Respect to a Second Sample of Text on a Different Topic. Subject Matter and Structural Parameters that Might Account for the Inability to Replicate the Knowledge Map Effect Across Passages Are Identified. © 1992 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Subjective Graphing of Metacognitive, Affective, and Social Processing: A Psychometric Analysis

The Present Experiment Examined a Subjective Graphing Measure Designed to Assess Students\u27 Ongoing Processing While Studying. It is Proposed that This Measure, Which Has Served in a Number of Diverse Investigations, Offers Theoretical and Pragmatic Advantages over Existing Measures. the Internal Structure, Reliability, and Validity of This Assessment Tool Were Tested within the Context of Scripted Cooperative Learning. Results Indicated that the Measure Could Be Described Adequately by Three Relatively Independent, Replicable Factors. in Addition, These Factors Were Consistent with a Priori Expectations based on Dansereau\u27s (1986) Model of Learning Task Performance. Subjective Graphing Was Found to Be Reliable in Terms of Both Internal and Test-Retest Analyses. Further, the Validity Analyses Indicated that Subjective Graphing is Sensitive to Both Performance and Situational Manipulations as Long as Students Are Given Ample Opportunity to Become Acquainted with the Measure. © 1989 Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation