Impact of narrative therapy on American interracial couples’ marital satisfaction.

In the United States, the number of interracial couples has continued to rise since 1967 when miscegenation laws were overturned. Interracial couples face unique challenges related to racism, discrimination, and the complexity of blending cultures. The current study aims to explore the effectiveness of Narrative Therapy (NT) in increasing interracial couples’ reports of martial satisfaction. Twenty couples experiencing low marital satisfaction will be chosen using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to an intervention and control group. Pre-test, post-test, and two-month post-test follow up scores on the Index of Martial Satisfaction will be analyzed to assess for effectiveness of treatment

A Phenomenological Inquiry Into the Client Experience of the Psychotherapy Relationship

Meta-analyses have indicated that there are likely common factors across varied treatment modalities that account for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Research has attempted to identify therapist and treatment relationship components that correlate with effective mental health treatment. Yet, there is a paucity of research directly addressing the qualitative experience of the relationship between psychotherapists and their clients. Eight adult psychotherapy clients were interviewed regarding their experience of the psychotherapy relationship with their mental health therapist. The interviews were analyzed through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Seven themes emerged. Three themes related to the formation, and overall foundation of a therapeutic relationship, were identified as: Knowing the Therapist, Trusting the Therapist (or Treatment Process), and Ruptures (and Resilience). Four themes related to therapeutic components of the psychotherapy relationship were identified as: Re-parenting/Hierarchy-Status, Seen/Witnessed By Therapist (Attunement), Therapeutic Qualities of the Therapy Relationship, and Specialness of the Relationship. Each participant report underscored the significance of the relationship to the therapeutic effect of the mental health treatment

Implementing an Online Learning Environment at a HK International School

This workshop offers participants hands-on training in how to set up a secondary school course in an online learning environment: Moodle (an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). It also reviews the process of implementing Moodle at the American International School (AIS), Hong Kong over the past year, and outlines our future plans. Moodle is a popular free software package designed to deliver an online learning environment offering a user-friendly interface, a large online support community of enthusiastic users, developers and educators at www.moodle.org, and open source availability for custom additions. AIS is currently using Moodle to assist in the delivery of 16 courses, support the faculty in another 5 areas, and implement a school Intranet. A recent directive from the secondary school administration asks all of the teachers to prepare for a potential school closing due to avian flu by making their course materials available online using Moodle. One of the co-presenters, Aaron Metz, a recent HKU MSc[ITE] graduate and current IT teacher at AIS, introduced Moodle to the school as a result of his studies. For the workshop the co-presenters, with the help of several PC workstations and Moodle software installed, will demonstrate how Moodle is used and offer opportunities for participants to review the environment on their own. Software operations demonstrated will include: course creation; developing course materials and resources; the initiation and maintenance of discussion forums; the collection of assignments; and the delivery and marking of assessment tools. Expected discussion will include: the background of Moodle development; the criteria for selecting an appropriate learning environment; proposals for administration; web hosting requirements; software setup; teacher training; the pros and cons of an online learning environment compared to traditional education delivery methods; curriculum delivery options; and an overview of the ongoing Moodle implementation at AIS. The implementation of an online learning environment is an important method of delivering education using IT. This workshop will provide participants an opportunity to discuss an ongoing implementation at a HK international school, and get hands-on experience in the use of a popular software package of this type.published_or_final_versionCentre of Information Technology in Education, University of Hong Kong and Education and Manpower Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong SA

Designing the self: the transformation of the relational self-concept through social encounters in a virtual immersive environment

This article describes the findings of a 3-month study on how social encounters mediated by an online Virtual Immersive Environment (VIE) impacted on the relational self-concept of adolescents. The study gathered data from two groups of students as they took an Introduction to Design and Programming class. Students in group 1 undertook course activities conducted in the Second Life VIE, where they envisioned themselves as college students five years in the future and developed representational avatars based on that idea. Students in group 2 undertook the same course activities in a different order, without the VIE component during the study period. Changes in self-concept were measured at the conclusion of the study period using the Relational Self-Concept Scale, a survey instrument that examines the impact that different social encounters within and around the school context have upon the formation of self-concept (Schott, G., & Bellin, W. (2001a). The relational self-concept scale: A context-specific self-report measure for adolescents. Adolescence, 36, 85-103.). The study found evidence that the VIE experience of group 1 had a significant impact on the students' relational self-concept, specifically a positive change in how content they were with their social selves. This study provides evidence that the development of representational avatars and socializing in a virtual immersive environment can change how adolescents think about themselves in reality. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.postprin

The determinants of perinatal mortality in a teaching group of hospitals in Southern Africa

Icebergs - Why start a thesis thinking about icebergs? Death from medical conditions represents the tip of an iceberg. What causes death in some, will maim, injure or leave damaged in others. Death remains a parameter with which to measure part of the effect of a disorder on the mother or fetus. What will prevent mortality will prevent morbidity and it is largely towards the prevention of the latter that modern medicine is aimed