Principles that underpin effective school-based drug education

This study identifies the conceptual underpinnings of effective school-based drug education practice in light of contemporary research evidence and the practical experience of a broad range of drug education stakeholders. The research involved a review of the literature, a national survey of 210 Australian teachers and others involved in drug education, and structured interviews with 22 key Australian drug education policy stakeholders. The findings from this research have been distilled and presented as a list of 16 principles that underpin effective drug education. In broad terms, drug education should be evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, sequential, and contextual. Programs should be initiated before drug use commences. Strategies should be linked to goals and should incorporate harm minimization. Teaching should be interactive and use peer leaders. The role of the classroom teacher is central. Certain program content is important, as is social and resistance skills training. Community values, the social context of use, and the nature of drug harm have to be addressed. Coverage needs to be adequate and supported by follow-up. It is envisaged that these principles will provide all those involved in the drug education field with a set of up-to-date, research-based guidelines against which to reference decisions on program design, selection, implementation, and evaluation.     

A randomized test of a small-group interactive social norms intervention

Social norms interventions are a common approach to addressing the problem of college student drinking. An increasingly popular but not yet well-validated social-norms-based intervention consists of providing normative feedback to students in small groups. OBJECTIVE, PARTICIPANTS, AND METHODS: In this study, the authors used a randomized design to test an interactive form of small-group social norms correction with 502 first-year students during September and October 2001. Because the unit of random assignment was at the level of the classroom, the authors used hierarchical linear modeling to estimate variability. They investigated whether small-group interactive social norms correction could influence alcohol perceptions and behaviors above and beyond a noninteractive social norms education approach. RESULTS: Results indicate that the approach has a fairly substantial influence on student perceptions; however, the findings do not support an influence of interactive small-group social norms correction on measures of alcohol use behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Given these findings, the use of interactive small-group social norms approach to influence student misperceptions may be considered as a primer for population-level preventive interventions.     

Conflicts over farming practices in Canada: the role of interactive conflict resolution approaches

An increasing number of articles in professional and scientific journals, as well as in the public press, give evidence to a rising number of conflicts that exist in rural communities. These conflicts arise from changes in farming practices, the increasing number of large-scale production units, resource use, and demographics. Fair, effective and efficient approaches to resolve these conflicts are of increasing interest and importance. An interactive conflict resolution (ICR) approach that focuses on communication and positive social interactions may be a preferred approach for resolving conflicts. The role of ICR approaches in addressing conflicts arising from farming and agri-business practices is presented and discussed in this paper. The paper posits that ICR approaches are efficient from an economic as well as a social perspective and that they provide the greatest potential to realize socially optimal outcomes from a both a theoretical and practical perspective.     

Ten years of experience from interactive ergonomics projects

This paper highlights experiences from ergonomics projects, applying an interactive research approach. The aim of this paper is to summarise experiences from seven interactive ergonomics projects with the aim to improve ergonomics and organizational performance jointly. Results from these seven projects were analysed with a model for assessing sustainable change, including the factors active ownership, professional management, competent project leadership, and involved participants. All factors were found giving support to impact and sustainability of the change projects. However, the role of the researcher is difficult and demanding.     

Mother-infant interactive play: theory and practical application

Mother-infant interactive play during the first 18 months of life is discussed in terms of its genesis, development, character, and function. Interactive play is considered as an “organizer” which reflects four interrelated lines of development. It is further regarded as a prototype for the infant's negotiations with the world at large, a precursor of representational play, and a foundation for developing a sense of mastery and competence as well as ego strength and self-esteem. Specific interactive play patterns (including father-infant play) are described within the context of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. The mother's multifaceted role in interactive play is described in accordance with the developmental stages, as the infant moves from a dependent, receptive mode to an active, initiating position. Interactive play is also considered as a window through which one can observe maladaptive as well as adaptive patterns. The conceptual framework for understanding interactive play suggests a number of practical applications.     

自闭症儿童家庭干预方法的研究

对自闭症儿童家庭的调查发现，自闭症儿童的家长获得干预方法的途径主要来源于咨询机构的老师；家长熟悉的干预方法包括行为治疗法、感统训练法、药物治疗法、游戏疗法等：家长认为有效的干预方法是行为治疗法与感统训练法，认为无效的干预方法为药物治疗法与功能分析法。建议家长在选择干预方法时综合考虑家庭环境、儿童的特点、自身的学历水平和职业特点等多方面因素；干预方法的使用要立足于自闭症儿童的实际感受，服务于儿童生活质量的提高．注意干预的生态效度以及学科跨领域的合作。     

Interactive and higher-order effects of social influences on drug use.

The study of moderators and higher-order effects of social influences on drug use has many implications for theories of health behavior. In the present study, we investigated the longitudinal predictive effects of some of the prominent moderator variables that represent forms of susceptibility toward social influence in teenage drug use. We also studied the possibility that social influence may predict drug use in nonlinear (quadratic) forms, consistent with theories proposing that threshold or decelerating effects may occur in social influences on normatively sanctioned behaviors. Results showed that several of the interactive and quadratic predictive effects were significant. The findings supported the views that certain moderator variables act as buffers, which either protect the individual from social pressures to use drugs, or make the individual more susceptible to such pressures. In addition, two of the obtained quadratic effects of social influence lent support to the application of social impact theory to drug use. Overall, our findings suggest that interactive and nonlinear approaches to social influences on drug use provide a unique and viable theoretical perspective from which to construe this problem health behavior.     

Exploring new ways of inservice teacher education: an action research project

The starting point of the paper is that there is a need to develop new ways of in service teacher education and to examine the nature of the university ‐ school partnerships in school development. In service teacher education needs to be participatory, based on a long‐term commitment to work together, moving from traditional teacher isolation towards a new, collaborative school culture. An essential idea in school development is that teachers take charge of curriculum development through an action research orientation. The process can be facilitated by university researchers in a relationship that is based on an equal status of the participants and mutual trust. These possibilities are explored in the OK school development project (1994‐98), conducted in collaboration with the University of Tampere and six schools in the Tampere region. The paper discusses the design of the project with reference to supporting the teacher's professional development towards interactive professionalism.     

Making projects, making friends: online community as catalyst for interactive media creation

To become full and active participants in today's technologically saturated society, young people need to become creators (and not just consumers) of interactive media. Developing the requisite abilities and capacities is not a wholly individual process; it is important for young people to have access to communities where they can collaborate and share ideas. This article uses the Scratch online community for exploring how different forms of participation and collaboration can support and shape the ways in which young people develop as creators of interactive media. We describe participation in this community in terms of a spectrum ranging from socializing to creating and present examples of three forms of collaboration within the community. We argue that the most exciting interactive media creation and valuable learning experiences are taking place in the middle space, where participants draw on the best of socializing and creating practices.     

Sociology and the virtual: interactive mirrors,representational thinking and intensive power

This article explores the role of images in the workings of contemporary power. It examines one of the central ways in which sociology has approached images as representations and proposes an alternative understanding of images through the concepts of interactivity, intensity and the virtual. Focusing on the examples of three interactive mirrors, one a piece of artwork, another designed to be located in a designer shop and the other a medical mirror for tracking ‘vital signs’, it suggests that the mirrors emphasize the screen and, in so doing, disrupt a notion of images of representations. Images are instead brought to life; intensively experienced rather than extensively read. The article engages, first, with the increasing prevalence of screens and, second, with the moves in sociology towards theorizing the value of the concept of the virtual. Arguing that images are felt and lived out, the article seeks to contribute to how sociology has dealt with, and might further develop, the concept of the virtual as a productive way of understanding the relationships between images, screens, power and life.     

Promoting food security and well-being among poor and HIV/AIDS affected households: Lessons from an interactive and integrated approach

Participatory and interdisciplinary approaches have been suggested to develop appropriate agricultural innovations as an alternative strategy to improve food security and well-being among HIV/AIDS affected households. However, sustainable implementation of such interactive approaches is far from easy and straight forward. This study reports of the Interactive Learning and Action (ILA) approach, a methodology for agricultural innovation which has been adapted to the context of HIV/AIDS. Role players in agriculture and health were brought together to stimulate and sustain innovation among three support groups for poor and affected households in a rural high HIV/AIDS prevalence area in South Africa. The effectiveness of the approach was evaluated using both outcome and process criteria. The results indicate that an interactive approach in which service providers/researchers engage themselves as actors to explore the livelihood system and develop appropriate solutions in joint collaboration with resource users has potential. However, it also revealed that cooperation among participants and stakeholders at the interface of agriculture and HIV/AIDS is complicated and sensitive to erosion. Of particular concern was the difficulty of mobilizing members from poor and affected households to participate and to overcome stigma and discrimination. Lessons and potential applications for the further development of interactive approaches are discussed.     

Trends in International and Internal Teacher Mobility in Three Pacific Island Countries

High‐skilled migration has increasingly been the subject of migration research over the past decade, but the focus has tended to be on health and IT professionals. In this paper, we address the mobility of schoolteachers in a region that has so far received little attention, the Pacific Islands. It is timely to examine trends in teacher mobility in the Pacific, given the shortages that are occurring elsewhere. In particular, the tailoring of immigration policies to attract highly skilled workers in areas of shortage could impact on the Pacific. The focus of the paper is on emigration and we argue that of three countries studied, only Fiji is negatively affected by teacher mobility. The Cook Islands and Vanuatu are currently experiencing low levels of international teacher emigration. Levels of internal mobility are also investigated in an attempt to see if remote areas and outer islands are experiencing teacher shortages. The preference for working near one’s land or on one’s home island is a strong drawcard in bringing people back home to teach. A problem arises, however, when not enough people are trained from a region/island and the incentives to encourage others to go and work there are less than effective.     

An interactive web-based method of outreach to college students at risk for suicide

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: From 2002 to 2005, the authors tested an interactive, Web-based method to encourage college students at risk for suicide to seek treatment. METHODS: The authors invited students at 2 universities to complete an online questionnaire that screened for depression and other suicide risk factors. Respondents received a personalized assessment and were able to communicate anonymously with a clinical counselor online. At-risk students were urged to attend in-person evaluation and treatment. RESULTS: A total of 1,162 students (8% of those invited) completed the screening questionnaire; 981 (84.4%) were designated as at high or moderate risk. Among this group, 190 (19.4%) attended an in-person evaluation session with the counselor, and 132 (13.5%) entered treatment. Students who engaged in online dialogues with the counselor were 3 times more likely than were those who did not to come for evaluation and enter treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The method has considerable promise for encouraging previously untreated, at-risk college students to get help.     

Theory-based evaluation of a comprehensive Latino education initiative: an interactive evaluation approach

Latino student access to higher education has received significant national attention in recent years. This article describes a theory-based evaluation approach used with ENLACE of Hillsborough, a 5-year project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the purpose of increasing Latino student graduation from high school and college. Theory-based evaluation guided planning, implementation as well as evaluation through the process of developing consensus on the Latino population of focus, adoption of culturally appropriate principles and values to guide the project, and identification of strategies to reach, engage, and impact outcomes for Latino students and their families. The approach included interactive development of logic models that focused the scope of interventions and guided evaluation designs for addressing three stages of the initiative. Challenges and opportunities created by the approach are discussed, as well as ways in which the initiative impacted Latino students and collaborating educational institutions.     

Understanding safety culture by visualization of scenarios--development and evaluation of an interactive prototype

To be able to disseminate knowledge about maritime safety culture and safety management to different actors in the Swedish maritime sector, a preliminary pedagogical concept was developed and evaluated. As a first user group, students at upper secondary maritime schools were chosen and the pedagogical concept was adapted for this group. The concept includes an interactive prototype and a teacher's guide and is based on a model for experience-based learning which connects theory and practice by a cyclic approach. The concept was tested in a classroom setting including interaction with the students and a follow-up one week later. A preliminary evaluation of the results shows a very positive response among the students as well as the lecturers. The educational material was successful in immediately creating a relevant discussion about safety culture, and one week later, students could remember many of the safety scenarios included in the pedagogical concept.     

Estimating development cost of an interactive website based cancer screening promotion program

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to estimate the initial development costs for an innovative talk show format tailored intervention delivered via the interactive web, for increasing cancer screening in women 50–75 who were non-adherent to screening guidelines for colorectal cancer and/or breast cancer.MethodsThe cost of the intervention development was estimated from a societal perspective. Micro costing methods plus vendor contract costs were used to estimate cost. Staff logs were used to track personnel time. Non-personnel costs include all additional resources used to produce the intervention.ResultsDevelopment cost of the interactive web based intervention was $.39 million, of which 77% was direct cost. About 98% of the cost was incurred in personnel time cost, contract cost and overhead cost.ConclusionsThe new web-based disease prevention medium required substantial investment in health promotion and media specialist time. The development cost was primarily driven by the high level of human capital required. The cost of intervention development is important information for assessing and planning future public and private investments in web-based health promotion interventions.     

Developing Public Relations 2.0: Practitioners’ perceptions on the implementation of interactive communication strategies

This study employs a qualitative Delphi panel to explore the perceptions of interactive agency executives on the adoption of online interactivity within the communication practices of companies of all trades in one of the biggest European media markets (Spain). The results highlight the serious challenges these practices pose to organizations and identify internal and external factors that affect the decision-making process. The study argues that actors’ definitions of interactivity are crucial in shaping Public Relations 2.0.     

The influence of negative medical diagnoses and verbal and nonverbal support activation strategies on the interactive coping process

Sensitive Interaction Systems Theory suggests that complex problems, including adverse medical diagnoses, can create tension in the social support process. In this experiment one member of a romantic couple received medical feedback that either threatened gender roles or was irrelevant. The couple's interaction was covertly recorded for the support activation behaviors displayed by the support seeker and for the interactive coping behaviors offered by the help giver. Both type of support activation and type of problem affected the use of support behavior.Nonverbal support activation behaviors promoted helpers' use ofavoidance interactive coping behaviors, whereasverbal activation behaviors promotedapproach interactive coping behaviors, suggesting a tit-for-tat dynamic. The gender-role relevance of the medical diagnosis also influenced helpers' use of approach behaviors, although not the support seekers' need for support or efforts to elicit support.     

The interactive effects of political skill and future time perspective on career and community networking behavior

Scholars have suggested that skill (Ferris et al., 2007) and motivation (Forret and Dougherty, 2001) need to be considered in predicting the direction and intensity of networking behaviors. Congruently, the present study argues that skill and motivation operate interactively and assesses the interactive impact of political skill (i.e., the ability to interact effectively with others) and future time perspective on differentially predicting community-based and career-based networking behavior. Results from a sample of managers from a national retail chain (n = 291) indicated that politically skilled individuals who possessed a deep future time perspective were more involved in career-related networking than politically skilled individuals who perceived a shallow future time perspective. Additionally, politically skilled respondents with shallow organizational time perspectives engaged in higher levels of community-based networking than did their counterparts with deeper organizational time perspectives. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of political skill, social networks, and socioemotional selectivity theory.     

Exploring the Learning Experiences of Students Involved in Community Profiling Projects

This article reports on a collaborative pilot study that aimed to improve final year social work students' capacity to reflect on the learning process through the use of an online journal. The ability to reflect on practice is widely regarded as a key skill in social work and journals are seen as a valuable aid in the process. At the same time, there are legitimate reservations about the authenticity of some learning through reflection, given the difficulties of measurement and the potential for dissimulation. Traditional journaling also has a number of limitations and is open to a superficial approach. Students and the social work teacher in this study found that factors such as immediacy, intimacy and convenience of online access improved both the quality of journaling and its recognition as an authentic learning tool, with life-long applicability. The indications are that reflective practices need to be taught in one academic course only as the processes are highly portable and independent of specific content. Asynchronous online journaling, however, should be accompanied by opportunities for students to engage in interactive activities with their peers in order to consolidate their learning and validate their experiences.