Group items tagged

"Woodhead, M. (1988). "When psychology informs public policy." American Psychologist 43(6): 443-454."

Jenal Austin December 2010 "When Psychology Informs Public Policy" According to this article, there has been significant evidence that early childhood programs in the United States increase cognitive competence, school readiness, school achievement, social development, and health status in young children. Regardless, the government has not fully acknowledged the importance of such programs on the political agenda. Leaders should know that providing preschool education is a solid financial investment for the country. Children who attend these programs have shown promising long-term impact including higher high school completion rates, greater occupational aspirations, and improved employments rates and reductions in referrals to special education, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy. However, the author reminds us that there are limits to how much we can generalize these findings. He explains that this will not be a one-all, fix-all solution to our society's complex social and economic problems. It is also important to understand that the effects of early childhood intervention cannot be taken in isolation from the context in which it occurs and it may not be possible to replicate all aspects of an experiment of such programs on a national level. "..Effects are the result of a complex interaction of variables in home and school, throughout the school years and beyond, but also… the children themselves play an active part in the process through the images they project and the self-concept they acquire of themselves, either as competent and motivated, or apathetic, problematic, and unwilling." Governments should use the research on the positive impacts of preschool education when designing public policy; however they should not expect a simple solution. "..Where human development is concerned even an experimental approach can rarely yield definitive universally applicable statements about the extent to which a program is effec

This reminded me of discussions we had in the Research Practices class about how to use notebooks to capture ideas, and I thought it might be useful to folks. "Why I Keep an Idea Notebook October 26, 2010, 8:00 am By Natalie Houston The simple practice of keeping an idea notebook has been absolutely essential to my research and writing over the years, and it's something I often recommend to thesis students and others who are starting a large complex project. I designate a small spiral notebook as my idea catcher. It's not for writing notes from texts or critical sources that I'm using, or for writing formal drafts. Instead, it's for capturing my own ideas, which sometimes can seem elusive at certain stages of the writing process. I teach students several forms for distinguishing their own ideas from those of others in the note-taking process (such as writing a precis or using Cornell-style notes), and I use similar strategies myself. But the idea notebook is for those ideas that occur to you at odd moments of the day - usually when you're not at your desk. Of course, your cell phone, smartphone, netbook, tablet, or other mobile device undoubtedly has one or more notepad or notetaking functions. You could also use Evernote to create an always-with-you "notebook." But personally, I find that that the analog notebook works better for me for this purpose, both for quickly capturing my thoughts (I can scribble faster than I can Swype) and for skimming through old entries. Some specific ways I use my idea notebook include: * Jotting down questions, thoughts, and ideas that relate to my current research or possible future projects. I typically get better ideas while I'm cooking or exercising than I do when I sit down at my desk to think about something. * Noting problems, questions, and doubts I have during the research process. Often I find my way to a solution while writing about the problem in just a few minutes. It's also helpful

checklist on resistance to change "The top reason for resistance by managers in the 2005 study [Prosci's 2005 Best Practices in Change Management] was loss of power and control, followed by an overload of current responsibilities and a lack of awareness of the need for change. Notice that none of the top reasons for resistance by managers or employees are related to the particular solution, rather they are tied to how the change is introduced and managed into these groups. "

I think this is a good example of action research. The article discusses the relationship between stress at work and how it can have an effect on employees' health. It also gives ideas on ways to decrease stress at work thus improving the health of employees.

This is as very interesting article. The action research process is used along side quantitative data collection procedures to determine effects and solutions to employee stress and workplace changes. The article is extensive and I confess I did skip over the details of the subjects involved in order to see the author's results. The inclusion of employee input to determine matters that disturb them, which can be underestimated and overlooked, such as the simple need to be validated in the work they do, or the desire to have more input into decisions, is how the researchers were able to create interventions for change, by learning about the actual areas of stress.

An article highlighting the findings of a cohort of 14 teachers from high-needs, urban areas schools who have addressed the education dilemma in a report. The report highlights 5 things that needs to be addressed in order to change the effectiveness of how our schools current operate.