The second in seven sets of guidelines based on the consensus of experts in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral problems in mental retardation (MR) focuses on informed consent. Guidelines cover underlying concepts, usual components, informed consent as a process, information to include, what to provide, when to obtain informed consent, and…

Explains that to change an individual's behavior, knowledge about the environment must be associated with environmental sensitivity, personal beliefs, and decision-making and problem solving. Presents a tested, valid survey instrument to measure ecological knowledge, one component of environmental literacy and provides an example of how this…

Examined attitudes and knowledge among U.S., Thai, Costa Rican, and Puerto Rican female college students regarding breast self-examination (BSE). Students completed surveys before and after watching an instructional video on BSE. BSE practice was low in all four countries. Students considered BSE a necessary part of individual healthy behaviors.…

Used national telephone survey data to examine associations between adults' fruit and vegetable consumption and awareness of "5 A Day for Better Health," stage of change, taste preferences, self-efficacy, and perceived benefits, barriers, threats, social support, and norms regarding fruit and vegetable consumption. Strong associations…

Investigated whether underprediction of female college students' performance on standardized knowledge tests would occur in tests tapping four subfields of geography. Students completed the Knowledge of Geography (KOG) test. Test scores, exam grades, and ACT scores highlighted gender differences favoring males throughout the KOG. Test scores…

Compared academic self-efficacy judgments of groups of students with different characteristics of gender, ethnicity, and expertise in a sample of 383 high school students from a previous study. Results indicate that students make more context-specific judgments of their academic self-efficacy as they gain increased expertise in the academic…

Reports on a nationwide survey of 601 members of the Association for Institutional Research concerning perceived levels of institutional research (IR) knowledge and skills, how IR knowledge and skills are acquired, and perceptions of effectiveness. The survey was based on Terenzini's (1993) three tiers of organizational intelligence. (Author/DB)

Constructs a statistical model of classroom learning in order to argue that the goal of student assessment should be measurement of the level of knowledge achieved rather than the value college education has added. Suggests that attention to value added may actually reduce the level of learning. (SK)

A survey of academic chemistry librarians concerning how they obtain and maintain subject knowledge found: 86% took college-level chemistry courses, 64% have a science degree, and 43% have a chemistry degree. Respondents work on professional development activities such as scanning core science journals, subscribing to science discussion lists,…

A study of 34 undergraduates with deafness and 46 typical undergraduates found students with deafness had significantly lower scores on an "HIV/AIDS Knowledge Index" than the hearing students. The students with deafness obtained more of their information about HIV/AIDS from family and friends than hearing students. (Contains references.)…

Investigates the effects of choice and response format on children's search of informational text. Results reveal that choice of topic facilitated both performance and process measures, whereas response format affected process measures only. Prior knowledge emerged as a significant contributor to accuracy and time to locate information. (Contains…

Analyzed the data produced in an experimental study on collaborative learning in which 10th graders were taught qualitative or quantitative knowledge of classical mechanics. Dyads who have been taught differently worked on problems beyond the competence of each student. Qualitatively taught students gained more from the information provided by…

Compares the expectations of mathematical knowledge among mathematics undergraduates upon college entry with their probable actual preparedness based on diagnostic tests. Concludes that some departments are realistic about the backgrounds of their incoming students and some are overly-optimistic. (Author/MM)

Draws on a range of published case studies on settings in which individuals not professionally involved with science address issues that have a scientific aspect. Suggests that at least some areas of knowledge about science should be part of the compulsory school science curriculum. (Contains 61 references.) (ASK)

Purpose: Because of the significant aging of the global population, world regions are experiencing an increase in the number of generations within families. However, to date most practice methods in the health and human services are explicitly organized by age. This article discusses a multigenerational practice approach and the impact of an…